Have you noticed lately on your television that there are a stunning number of crappy infomercial-quality ads running during prime time? That is because the fancy advertisers are broke. We live in Snuggie's world now.

The Simpsons last night was replete with ads for 5 Hour Energy that seemed to have been filmed in one take, in a locker room, with a Handicam. Fortunately the NYT today confirms that this isn't my imagination. The collapse of ad sales, and the decline of the auto industry, means that even regular networks—and even, sometimes, in prime time—are increasingly forced to plug empty spots with cheap ass infomercial standbys.

"Ladies And Gents," a site-specific noir thriller set in a public restroom in 1957 Dublin, will be staged in Central Park's Bethesda Fountain Toilets.

The 35-minute play will be performed from March 17 through 29 with three shows nightly, at 7, 8 and 9 p.m. No seating will be available.

The play, which was a hit at the Edinburgh Fringe a few years ago, is coming to Central Park through the Irish Arts Center and Georganne Aldrich Heller and Semper Fi (Dublin).

Yet that's just what "IRT: A Tragedy in Three Stations" will attempt this weekend.

"The length of the show depends on whether the trains are running express or local," said the writer and director, Brooklynite Jeff Stark. "Our biggest problem has been where to do costume changes, and where to stash our costumes during scenes when they are not needed."

PETA's ad—which features a bevy of beauties who are powerless to resist the temptation of veggie love—was deemed too hot for the Super Bowl. NBC rejected the video because of concerns over "rubbing pelvic region with pumpkin," a woman "screwing herself with broccoli," and more!

Another app, Locale, kicks in when you enter certain zones—you can set your ringer to go silent when you arrive at work, for instance. LifeAware not only tracks your phone, it also allows you to connect with other people running the app on their phones, showing you their current location."

Have you checked out Monty Python’s YouTube channel? It’s got a selection of their brilliant (as always) clips, and it’s got links to buy their DVDs on Amazon. As those crazy Monty Python dudes put it,

“We’re letting you see absolutely everything for free. So there! But we want something in return. None of your driveling, mindless comments. Instead, we want you to click on the links, buy our movies & TV shows and soften our pain and disgust at being ripped off all these years.”

And you know what? Despite the entertainment industry’s constant cries about how bad they’re doing, it works. As we wrote yesterday, Monty Python’s DVDs climbed to No. 2 on Amazon’s Movies & TV bestsellers list, with increased sales of 23,000 percent.

As part of my object remix series, this stereo forces the music source into the center of attention and creates a radically new user interface.

"…the French-Canadian writer, director and animator Patrick Boivin. From his wacky, battle-bot, stop-motion-animation shorts to his more serious live-action work, Boivin has permanently raised the bar for everyone here at Openfilm. In this interview, we discuss how he does it and where he goes from here."

“Miller High Life is all about high quality and great value, so it wouldn’t make sense for this brand to pay $3 million for a 30-second ad,” said High Life senior brand manager Kevin Oglesby, in a press release. “Just like our consumers, High Life strives to make smart choices. One second should be plenty of time to remind viewers that Miller High Life is common sense in a bottle.”

The point is that the pursuit of status can be decoupled from the pursuit of monetary and other economic rewards, and the reputational economy need not ever (though it often does) intersect with the economy in goods and services. Not only is the acquisition of status similar to the acquisition of other forms of property; so, too, are the mechanisms by which it is transferred and protected.