Wednesday, February 01, 2006

Increase Your Duration!

Sepulveda Pass: 3 Weeks

Sepulveda Pass: 2 Months
Tejon Pass: 3 Weeks








Saw that these signs were still up on my latest swing through Southern California. Although there's an undeniably random factor in how long signs will stay up, here are some basic rules:

Smaller, obliquely placed signs will stay up far longer than large, spectacular ones. A sign need only be as big as it takes to get its message across.

The harder it is for the viewer to physically reach the sign, the longer it'll stay up.

These signs were placed on divided highways, visible only to those going in the opposite direction. To physically reach them would require miles of driving, both to get to the sign itself, and then to get back to the way you were originally going. Hanging them, however, required little more than pulling over and hammering in a couple of nails.

The ability to exploit these kinds of dynamics is one of the many things that makes this job so fun and interesting.

8 comments:

Mal said...

I think Andy is on to something... how long do you plan on putting up these silly lil signs?

While I understand your freedom of speech, you obviously take pride in defacing government property in the means of road signs. Is that your way of "sticking it to the man"???

Come '08 it will be interesting who the Demos put up to run for the Presidents office. Surely not Hillary since her previous days in the White House was eight years filled with lies, deception, and conspiricies.

Freewayblogger said...

Actually what I do for a living is comparatively dull. My "Day Job" as it were, is public relations assistant for a San Diego company that makes landmines. Tiny little things: don't cost more than a couple bucks each. Our biggest clients right now are the U.S. and South Korean armies, but you can still find our products in Afghanistan, Cambodia, Angola/Mozambique... places like that. I do public relations and help run their health insurance program.

Freewayblogger said...

Andy, Mal: just had a great idea. Why don't you two get together and form a support group for all those families grieving over the losses they incurred from Clinton's lying about a blowjob. Show Cindy Sheehan and all those Gold Star families what true suffering means.

Anonymous said...

I can attest to those landmines. Never pick up a rock with "USARMY" printed on it in Cambodia.

Anonymous said...

Have you ever heard of projectbubble?
Its kind of like protesting with other people's signs. Check it out!

Kla said...

You're doing a great job!
I'm just unhappy because i never saw and captured your signs during my last trip in California..
Kla from Italy

Anonymous said...

I've started doing it too and I can tell you that keeping words like these (impeach, etc.)subliminally in people's minds may be the only way to get people who spend all their time watching "Survivor" or some trash on TV while shopping on the Internet to THINK, if only for a moment.
The media does not report the groundswell of support for impeaching this unelected president whose lies have cost going on 2,500 lives, not to count Iraqis!
To even THINK about comparing Clinton to this guy is moronic.
I love doing it and will continue to do it as long as my stamina holds out. We don't have a whole lotta other venues for exposing BushCo. Too many people shopping and watching idiocy on TV.

Anonymous said...

I think it is fantastic. Billboards here cost $60,000 a year to rent. I don't know about you, but I've never met Abramhoff, and I don't have any soft or hard money like that.

Point being, what media do you propose that would be more cost effective and still be exposed to thousands of people.

Others need to know, some are not on board the crazy train. In any suppressed nation, the fear of ostracism or lack of whistle blower protections tend to diminish the desire to put your families well being on the line. Especially if you think you are a minority. If you see evidence of distrust and like minded souls wondering how to get out of this mess, and wondering who to believe. This is a chance for local people in your area to be reminded that many of us are strongly displeased, and demand the appropriate actions.

I'm gonna do it. I've got to do something to ease my guilt. If I do nothing, or have small influence on a tiny amount, I will live for many yeaers to regret it. If I try, and fail, at least I tried, and am hopefully not dragged to my death in the near future for thinking too much and then sending it online and having an NSA cookie report my whereabouts to the NSA and then they have me in their files as a peace nick terrorist.

People like the freewayblogger give me hope. If you don't like freeway blogging yourself, come up with your own creative methods for getting a message to thousands of people. Maybe write a letter to the editor and see if they publish it. Maybe call your neighbor over for a few beers. Or you could have a peace rally in your high school gym with a bunch of people who agree with you already and then hope the TV stations cover it for more than 8 seconds before they spend 15 minutes on sports and the weather.

The evidence surrounds you. The motive is money and you are the slave.