Category Archives: Uncategorized

I Was Dr. Ads: My 45 Years in the Boston Media Trenches (I)

Posted on November 6, 2020 by Campaign Outsider

If I had grandchildren (which I do not), they would likely come to me in the next several years and ask, “What did you do in the Great Pandemic of 2020, Gramps?” And I would reply, “Not much, kiddos. Gram … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments

Xavier University Students & Alums Say ‘We’re Number 330!’

Posted on September 20, 2020 by Campaign Outsider

The Wall Street Journal’s College Rankings came out on Friday and – no surprise, really – Harvard came up number one. The hardworking staff, however, was more concerned with how our alma mater Xavier University (class of ’71) fared in … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Alma College, Best Colleges in America Ranked by Value, CNN Money, College Rankings, Pacific Lutheran Unversity, pizza ATM, Wall Street Journal, Xavier University | 2 Comments

Remembering Tommy Ashton, Murdered on 9/11

Posted on September 11, 2020 by Campaign Outsider

Nineteen years ago today, my cousin Tommy Ashton was struck down in his prime by the Al Qaeda terrorists who engineered the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center. From the New York Times great Portraits of Grief memorial: Colleen … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Al Qaeda, Colleen Ashton, John Ashton, Kathy Ashton, Mary Ashton, New York Times, Portraits of Grief, Tommy Ashton, Tommy Ashton 3-on-3 Basketball Tournament, World Trade Center | Leave a comment

The Arts (Not) Seen in NYC (Félix Fénéon at MoMA Edition)

Posted on September 1, 2020 by Campaign Outsider

In a world without coronavirus, the Missus and I would be trundling down to the Big Town in the next week or two to go a-museuming. And one of the places we’d certainly have gone is the newly reopened Museum … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged @novelsin3lines, Boston Museum of Fine Arts, faits divers, Félix Fénéon, Félix Fénéon: The Anarchist and the Avant-Garde—From Signac to Matisse and Beyond, Georges Braque, Georges-Pierre Seurat, Henri Matisse, Italian futurists, Julian Barnes, Le Journal, Le Matin, London Review of Books, MOMA, Museum of Modern Art, Pablo Picasso, Paul Signac, Pierre Bonnard, Pointillists, Queen of Joy, Roberta Smith, Stéphane Mallarmé, Thadée and Misia Natanson, The Thadees, Toulouse-Lautrec and the Stars of Paris | Leave a comment

Dylan Thomas Does Not Go Gentle Into That Bad Ad

Posted on August 29, 2020 by Campaign Outsider

Listen, the hardworking staff enjoys a literary allusion as much as the next person, assuming the next person isn’t James Wood. But this ad in Thursday’s New York Times was just totally misconceived. Right – so Dylan Thomas’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night, Dylan Thomas, James Wood, MyLight, New York Times, poets.org | 2 Comments

The Nude York Times (‘An American in Paris’ Edition)

Posted on July 29, 2020 by Campaign Outsider

From our Grey Lady pearl-clutching desk The hardblushing staff has long chronicled the growing willingness of the New York Times to bare all in the name of art – or commerce – in its advertising. Representative samples include this ulp-skirt ad … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Amedeo Modigliani, An American in Paris, Christie's, Federico Beltran-Masses, Gagosian Gallery, John Currin, Julius LeBlanc Stewart, Louis Vuitton, M.S. Rau, New York Times, ulp-skirt | Leave a comment

Amazon Delivers News Packages to Compliant Media Outlets

Posted on May 26, 2020 by Campaign Outsider

Call it Prime-ing the news pump. In the runup to today’s annual shareholder meeting, Amazon has tried to disinfect its COVID-battered image with a video produced in the form of a news report and distributed to local TV stations around … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Amazon, Courier, COVID-19, New York Times, Prime-ing the news pump, propagambit, Todd Walker | 1 Comment

GoFundMe Won’t Give Funds to Boston North End Bookstore

Posted on April 16, 2020 by Campaign Outsider

No question that fundraising platforms like GoFundMe have done a world of good all over the world. Exhibit Umpteen (via the New York Daily News): Tom Moore, known better as “Captain Tom,” will turn 100 later this month. To celebrate, … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged BBC, Boston's North End, Captain Tom, Claire Kirch, GoF--kMe, GoFixIt, GoFundMe, I Am Books, New York Daily News, NHS Charities, Nicola Orichuia, Tom Moore | Leave a comment

New York Times Has a ‘Manifesto’ for Boston’s MFA

Posted on March 24, 2020 by Campaign Outsider

The other day the New York Times ran a big takeout by art critic Holland Cotter on what major U.S. museums should be doing nowadays with their time and money. For Big Museums, It’s Time to Change As the Metropolitan … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Alice Neel, Ancient Nubia Now, “Why Are There No Great Women Artists?”, Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Holland Cotter, Linda Nochlin, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Times, Women Take the Floor | Leave a comment

NYT’s Marie KONDO-19 Puff Piece Should’ve Been 86ed

Posted on March 23, 2020 by Campaign Outsider

Let’s stipulate that the New York Times has done a terrific job of covering the coronavirus crisis in its news and opinion pages. But did we really need this Like a Boss feature about kiss-it-goodbye queen Marie Kondo in yesterday’s Business section? … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged coronavirus, Marie Kondo, New York Times | 4 Comments