What is Garrison thinking?
Has anyone else heard about this?
Apparently, Garrison Keillor is suing a blogger for making a t-shirt that he (Garrison) says is infringing upon his copyright of a "Prairie Home Companion", because the t-shirt, which says "A Prairie Ho Companion," may confuse consumers into believing the t-shirt is endorsed by PHC and Garrison, even though the website where the t-shirt was for sale clearly stated the t-shirt was not endorsed by PHC or GK. Now, my question is: does GK think Minnesotans are really that stupid? I know he's no stranger to the art of parody, satire, and sarcasm, so you would think that he would understand it when it's used against him.
What the hell, Garrison, you're supposed to be our champion Minnesota liberal! Don't give into the the Dark Side!
(Interestingly enough, I found this on a metroblog for Los Angeles - I haven't heard anything about this in the local media!, and just for laughs, it was posted by Wil Wheaton of Star Trek: TNG fame...)
Posted by
tamara on September 16, 2005 08:59 PM | Permalink
Comments
i think it's more a social statement...another way of saying "I'm the companion of a Prarie Ho, and by wearing this t-shirt, I am reaffirming that fact and proclaiming it to the community I live in."
Nonetheless, I believe Garrison is overreacting just a tad. I can't lay a finger on how many slogans and logos have been co-opted for the sake of humor or social statement. It's happening so much these days it's almost camp.
Posted by: in.dog.neato | September 16, 2005 09:33 PM
unless things have changed, there is a small correction to make to the post. It might seem a trivial point to make, but what was done was a cease and desist order was sent. There is no lawsuit at this stage.
Posted by: edgewood | September 17, 2005 12:01 AM
There's more information on this from involved sources here and here, and plus there's this little ditty here.
I've met Rex, and he's a really cool guy. It's kind of maddening: on one hand, it's just a shirt, and he only had 10 of them left at the time of the C&D. He wasn't going to make any more of them anyway. On the other hand, a person can't just sit back and be bullied. But on ...uh...the third hand, who has the money to stand up and continue should this go further?
What really gets me is that Keillor presents himself as such a leftie, and such a nice guy. And then, this.
Never trust a comedian who lacks a sense of humor.
Posted by: Barrett | September 17, 2005 12:23 AM