CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
October 22, 2000 | ANDREW TONKOVICH, Andrew Tonkovich teaches at UC Irvine and Irvine Valley College
"You're not voting George W., are you?" asks my neighbor. "I'd rather eat rats," I say. "Like on 'Survivor.' " "Democrat, huh?" He looks me over for the Mark of the Beast. "No," I say. "Green. Voting Nader." "Can you do that here?" he asks. Being Green in Orange County means being voted off the island by the Democrats and the Republican rats together and, unwilling to play "Who Wants to Be a Social Darwinist?" on their "Gilligan's Island," embracing the protest vote. Protest.
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
September 15, 2000 | ALISON FEIT
On Tuesday, Vice President Al Gore described a television advertisement that flashes the word "RATS" on screen for a split second while discussing the Gore health plan as "a very disappointing development." When questioned whether subliminal techniques had been used in this advertisement, Republican presidential nominee George W. Bush stated that he found these allegations "bizarre and weird." Bizarre and weird the whole situation surely was.
ENTERTAINMENT
June 6, 1998 | MIKE BOEHM
This 2-hour, 37-minute account of Sublime's career combines the informational and performance elements of a standard music documentary with the silly, sentimental, just-hanging-out-among-ourselves feel of a family album.
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
November 13, 1997 | From Times staff and wire reports
Background music can strongly influence buying decisions in supermarkets, a finding that lends new legitimacy to the largely discredited concept of subliminal advertising. Researchers from the University of Leicester in England set up flag-laden displays of four French wines and four virtually identical German wines in a supermarket, then alternated playing French and German background music over a period of two weeks.
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
April 26, 1996 | STEPHANIE SIMON / TIMES STAFF WRITER
Truth be told, Hot Wheels and Acuras have very little in common. (When was the last time you tripped on your kid's Integra in the middle of the night?) But in the world of automotive advertising--where truth is what you make it--the two are both just toys, although for kids of different ages. So it made perfect sense to Acura's ad folks when they struck upon the idea of comparing the sporty Integra to the miniature die-cast cars.
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
January 28, 1996 | STAN SELLERS, Stan Sellers of North Hills is a comedian and actor
Driving north on Van Nuys Boulevard a few weeks ago, I was returning from my first audition in several months. It had not gone well. I began visualizing my New Year's resolution, "Better Than '95," when I saw it towering above the street as I approached Nordhoff. Then there it was again, this time on Nordhoff facing east, high above a video store. I was outraged! Who was responsible for this indecency?