The slogan “Feed the rush” is being replaced with “Life’s a scream.” Why?
by noon ET Thursday to e-mail your answer to newsquiz@slate.com.
Tuesday’s question (No. 188)–“Two Bad”:
Starbucks and Time Inc. are teaming up. To do what?
“Put people to sleep and wake them up.”–Judith Spencer (Michael Wilde, Daniel Krause, GC, and Charles Star had similar answers.)
“Battle the alliance formed by Lipton and Newsweek.”–Nell Scovell
“Induce another heart attack in Larry King.”–Greg Diamond
“Develop a magazine to be written and published by Guatemalan peasants for 9 cents a day.”–Greg Narver
“Pour coffee into Christopher Hitchens until he’s sober enough to finish his cover story, ‘Friendship.’ “–Susan Vance (similarly, Daniel Radosh and Greg Diamond)
Click for more responses.
Randy’s Wrap-Up
A former Nixon aide, after a few years as a segment producer on the old Letterman show, took over a magazine called American Smoker. Or perhaps it was called Philip Morris magazine. Either way, it was his editorial policy that the essential thing about smoking was not selling a toxic product that kills half a million people a year; it was freedom of choice. He was always in the market for photographs of celebrities smoking, kind of the Larry Flynt of respiratory disease. It is impressive that such a warm and amiable fellow–and he was–could be so profoundly wrong at least twice. However, if the partnership under discussion produces a magazine called Coffee-Time that’s half as engaging as American Smoker, I’m subscribing.
Fresh Roasted Answer
This summer the two companies will launch Joe, a cultural review to be sold in the 2,000 Starbucks. Joe’s subhead: “Life is Interesting. Discuss.”
“It’s going to be a cultural magazine, but not in the gray sense, not in the review sense.” says Managing Editor Scott Mowbray. “Not in the lots of big words sense, not in the complicated ideas that make your head hurt sense, not in the having to think about stuff so hard that it distracts you from shopping and later that night you have that little sexual problem again, not me personally but some other stupider people sense,” he didn’t add.
Dog and Movie Show Extra
Yesterday brought the nominations for the 71st Academy Awards and the winners of the 123rd Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. A comparison.
- Dogs: Bit O Gold Titan Treasure, a Gordon Setter, won the sporting group for an unprecedented third consecutive time. Movies: Meryl Streep, star of One True Thing, nominated as best actress for an unprecedented 107th consecutive time.
- Dogs: Windwalker’s Yes, best in the herding group, did not make self-serving speech invoking the Holocaust. Movies: Steven Spielberg, nominated for best director, did not bite any of the other candidates.
- Dogs: Best in show winner, Kirby, weighs 75 pounds. Movies: Best actress nominee Gwyneth Paltrow, same thing.
- Dogs: Judges say That’s My Boy, the best of nonsporting group winner, “exudes poodley-ness.” Movies: Geoffrey Rush, same thing.
- Dogs: Sunspryte’s Just in Thyme, winner of the terrier group, is owned by Bill Cosby. Movies: Complicated deal forces best supporting actor nominee Billy Bob Thornton to do Cosby’s yard work.
- Dogs: Deep River Joy Ride, best in breed among smooth collies, not even considered for the Thalberg Award. Movies: Norman Jewison, winner of Thalberg Award, unwilling to compete as a collie.
- Dogs: Sundown Alabaster Treasure, a Saluki, was an enormously popular choice for best in hound group. Movies: Elia Kazan, an informer, was an enormously unpopular choice for an honorary Oscar.
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