Abram Sauer Online

The retirement of the Fighting Sioux brand will leave only about 400,000 similar Native American nicknames and logos in America, including, most prominently, the Washington Redskins and Cleveland Indians—as well as consumer goods incorporating Indian themes such as Indian motorcycles, Land O’Lakes dairy, and Leinenkugel’s Brewing Co.

READ IT at Brandchannel.

For a look at some of the “sound logic” behind keeping the logo, go here: “

“I’m really wondering what’s wrong with these people.  Civil rights when the tribe is refusing a vote.  And you don’t have an identity until they change their logo?  To think if I just sat around all confused because I didn’t have an identity because of the Vikings.”

Earlier I asked if motorcycles were North Dakota’s garden gnomes.  Here’s another one.

Commentor Drew explains: “Motorcycles are easy targets for vandals. Instead of parking them on the street or back alleys where they are frequently tipped over, many riders prefer to keep them as close to their residence as possible to reduce the chance of destruction to their rides. Plus, most bikers think their rides look sweet.”

Totally makes sense. Now I just need to ford a local bike mechanic to get mine running and I can start parking out front too.

Putting no windows in the side of your house that faces the neighbor? Wow. That’s some real Midwest passive aggression right there. Ever hear of curtains? This is ALSO on Chestnut.

Earlier: WTF on Chestnut

There are very specific criteria when it comes to depicting torture onscreen and these criteria very much match up with the public’s perception of when torture is acceptable and works and when it doesn’t and isn’t. The six criteria, most of which must be met to make onscreen torture is necessary and acceptable, reinforces opinion that torture is sometimes acceptable and successful..

READ IT

In North Dakota the local news anchors dress themselves. There are no stylists. Above is what happens when Esquire runs the “stripes are slimming” article too many times.

Earlier: You know it’s quirky because of the font.

Back in June 2008, Print Magazine put together an impressive collection of the “A Frame.”

Print Mag: “But on book covers and on film and theater posters, the leg has evolved very little. In fact, the “A-Frame,” a cut off-torso-spread-leg framing device, is the most frequently copied trope ever use… The earliest known uses were 19th-century engravings that showed spread-legged, Simon Legree–type slave masters lording over cowering victims. In Westerns, the quintessential showdown frames one duelist through the legs of the other, and mid-20th-century pulp magazine covers were known for their noir images of recoiling women seen through the legs of menacing men. Eventually, designers used the conceit to frame all manner of things…” 

I remembered this gallery when I came upon several spectacular examples of the A Frame, which, unsurprisingly given their extremely niche B-film nature, Print missed. By all means check out Print’s gallries. (To the left, the current cover of Psychology Today, which, unfortunately, does not feature an investigation into the latent meanings of the A Frame means)

After the jump, the two A Frame film posters, one very notable because it features some absurd product placement for Bud (and Nike) and because it’s (maybe) the most offensively suggestive A Frame I’ve ever seen..

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A recent Vanity Fair piece by Buzz Bissinger (?!) looks at how  John-Wayne’s legendary dom John Ford more or less made Utah’s Monument Valley an iconic backdrop: “The 1939 movie Stagecoach created three icons: John Wayne, John Ford, and the 30,000 acres of glory on the Utah-Arizona border known as Monument Valley. It was a pioneering rancher, Harry Goulding, who brought Hollywood to his home, and helped shape America’s vision of the West.”

The whole thing is online.

Near the end, Bissinger writes, “They had both lived long enough to see the valley become a cliché—once Madison Avenue had decided it was the right icon for American ruggedness. As Richard Klinck wrote in 1995, “It’s been a long time since Monument Valley was more than just a gimmick—a readily identifiable backdrop.”

And then, just a couple pages after the one pictured, proof that mishaps in contextual advertising are not solely the province of ad-served websites.

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And trucks. The three stages of life.

Check out rack, Hugo’s, North Dakota.

Right: USC quarterback Aaron Corp who, hours after losing to unranked Washington and probably costing USC a shot at the championship, was spotted reveling at a fraternity party.

Left: Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann who was dropped by Stuttgart after being spotted at Oktoberfest just hours after his team lost 2-0 to Cologne.