His stupid hair, his dumb book, his terrible movie, his awful music -- MAD lampoons teen idol Bieber

I guess it is inevitable that when you become a household name you are ripe for ridicule. Trust the venerable MAD magazine to take up the satirical cudgel in its April issue and let the Stratford 'tween heartthrob have it. The nebbishy Alfred E. Neumann grins from under the famous Bieberish haircut (though the singer has changed it recently).

"That was probably the highlight of his career and being on the cover of MAD is the lowlight," MAD Editor-in-Chief John Ficarra told The Associated Press [as reported in the Vancouver Sun]. "He'll hate it and buy every copy, and it will be a sellout. Or, conversely, Bieber won't even notice and we'll probably sell three copies of the issue."

Gaffes dog former Hearst CEO in her new job as New York schools supremo

The appointment of Cathie Black, formerly CEO of Hearst Magazines, as the chancellor of the New York school system was met with some arched eyebrows and some puzzled expressions. Since taking on the job, she's been extremely visible and audible, according to the New York Observer, so much so that she's talked herself into trouble.

Asked by a parent about overcrowding, Black made a wisecrack: "Could we just have some birth control for a while? It could really help us all out a lot."

That kind of humor might prompt a chuckle or two in the slick magazine world, but in a meeting with public-school parents who have legitimate concerns about classroom overcrowding, Ms. Black would have been better served if she'd kept a lid on her boardroom wit.

If that weren't enough, she went on to compare the decisions she must make about classroom space to a series of "Sophie's Choices," a reference, of course, to the William Styron novel about a mother forced to choose which one of her children will live and which one will die in the Auschwitz concentration camp.

Toronto Star story is not same as our story, Maclean's protests

For some reason, Maclean's magazine last night took the highly unusual step of issuing a press release headed "Maclean's issues clarification" and dissociating one of the articles in its universities ranking issue from a Toronto Star story about the article. Here is the press release, in full; make of it what you will:

TORONTO, Nov. 10 /CNW/ - The Toronto Star today published a story, in print and online, about an article that appears in Maclean's 20th anniversary university rankings issue (arriving on newsstands starting tomorrow). Online, the story appeared under the headline "Asian students being forced into university: Maclean's."

Without judgment of the validity of the Toronto Star's report, Maclean's would like to clarify that the subject of its own feature is not the same as the Star's. The Maclean's article discusses issues of racial balance at Ivy League schools and asks whether the same issues are relevant on Canadian campuses today. The subject of the Star's story is whether or not Asian parents are "pushing" their students into university.

Real piggy bank featured in Vancouver and Western Living raises a bit of a stink

A $4,000 piggy bank, made from a real piglet and featured in the gift guides of the current issues of Vancouver and Western Living magazines (Transcontinental Media) has some animal rights activists fuming; their criticisms range from "insensitive and callous" to "disgusting". According to a story carried by the Postmedia news service, the online company that markets the bank, thecheeky.com, says the reaction is overblown.

"We've had a few emails today saying some not very nice things to us," said Ryan McCormick, one of two entrepreneurs behind the online shop selling the $4,000 money container. "Some death threats and many calling us disgusting pigs."

When someone buys a bank, says Ryan McCormick, one of two partners in the shop, they order one of the piglets through a taxidermist. It can take up to 12 months to be delivered from the time it is ordered. So far, no banks have been sold/bought, but doubtless the furor will cause some increased interest.

"This is such an insensitive, callous thing to be promoting this for the holiday season," said Jenelle Petrinchuck, a spokeswoman for the Winnipeg Humane Society, which has asked the sellers to remove the item. The group has also created an online campaign urging the public to send emails and letters demanding the same.

"Everybody we've shown it to has been disgusted by it," added Petrinchuck. "There's no reason to be charging $4,000 for that. There's no reason to be charging anything."

Hmmm....

[This post has been updated]The cover at left is one of the finalists in the lifestyle category in the ASME/Amazon Best Cover contest (see previous post). The one on the right is a recent issue of Le Figaro magazine sent to me by a friend and frequent reader of this blog. Noted that the book is in English and the barcode has been removed.

[UPDATE  If this is a case of stockphoto-itis, it is worth looking at a post from a year ago by freelance visual artist and instructor Charles Apple about the use of stock photos on the covers of the most mainstream magazines. In the case of the image on the TIME magazine cover shown, the photographer says he got $30.]