Warning: this ad is toxic.

Created by the German advertising agency Zeitsprung, this extremely nasty public service announcement depicts HIV in the form of a body modification artist. Yeah, guys with tattoos and earrings and bumps on their heads should be avoided at all costs when it comes to hugs. They might be HIV positive. But big white cuddly bears are okay. You already knew that, right?

Since when has HIV been transmitted through hugging?

The ad is worthless, or at best confusing, as information and propagates an ugly stereotype about people who look different than the average guy on the street.

The message to wear condoms gets lost in the ad’s horror movie shock effect.

 
I’ve spent so much time with this record already, I nearly forgot that this is the day it officially makes its way into the world. Be kind, world ! Actually folks have been extremely kind so far. Prefix mag via KCRW posted up a lovely piece yesterday and there’s a podcast with songs from my shady past and present as well as a pretty good and casual phone interview at Most People Are DJs. And of course, as you doubtless already know due to that flashing ad down there, you can buy your own CD or colored vinyl LP (see above) directly from my superb label, Hometapes.
 

Brad Laner - Eyes Close from Josh Laner on Vimeo.

 
Duncan Dowling has come up with some stylish concepts for redesigning American dollars. The vertical layout makes the money easier to handle because that’s the way paper currency is exchanged between people and machines.
You can read more about the project at Dowling’s website.

We have submitted a design concept to a competition being run by New York designer Richard Smith. The Dollar ReDe$ign Project hopes to bring about change for everyone. We want to rebrand the US Dollar, rebuild financial confidence and revive our failing economy.

 
More bucks after the jump…

 
James Ready Beer has created one very cool ad campaign. In an effort to save their customers money so they can afford to buy more James Ready Beer the brewery created billboard coupons.

By partnering with local retailers, we created a program that allowed people to take a picture of our billboard, show the picture to the corresponding retailer and receive savings on selected products and services. Saving money meant more beer money.

 
Do you “like” us? I mean do you really like us? Then become our Facebook friend and we can pal around in cyber-space!

You can also follow us on Twitter. The main DM Twitter feed is here, Brad Laner’s Twitter feed is here and mine can be found here.

Friend us, follow us, like us!

 
Dear Dangerous Mind reader,

Now that I have your attention, can we talk? You know us, but we really don’t know who you are. Yet.

Would you mind, please, taking a minute to fill out our short questionnaire? Our advertising sales agency, Largetail would like to get an idea of who Dangerous Minds readers are and, frankly, when they’re out there selling advertising for us, it’s handy for them to be armed with information like “76% of DM readers bought a DVD in the past year” or “38% of DM readers have a Blu-ray player” are NetFlix subscribers, have iPhones, are between the ages of etc, etc, etc. You get the idea.

We’re also interested in what kind of culture you are consuming. What movies you are seeing, books you are reading and what music you are listening to. Some of the questions are not of interest to potential advertisers, they are only really of interest to us. Like I was saying, we need this information to sell adverising, yes, but we also want to know who is out there reading this blog.

Won’t you take a minute and fill out the survey, please? Each person who completes the survey will be eligible to win a selection of books from our friends at Feral House and Process Media Inc. Click here to take survey. Thank you!

 
As seen on the Paper Magazine Twitter feed via Henry Holland’s.

 
The Equinox club, which the Dangerous Minds team visited in West Hollywood, is the most tech-saavy, advanced workout arena I’ve ever been to. Their machines are state-of-the-art, their staff is trained to the highest and most current scientific standards, and they even have a full suite of support technology, starting with their own iPhone app.

Simply put, Equinox is AWESOME. It’s like walking into a perfectly-oiled Megascience Machine designed to remake you into your ideal self. And they are offering Dangerous Minds readers a 3-day trial membership.

First off, Equinox looks more like a cruise ship than a traditional gym. The epic facilities include rows of frontline equipment and all of the amenities you would come to expect from a gym, but also so much more: Aromatherapy suites. Tanning areas. Steam rooms. Massage tables. Yoga. Everything you need to conduct your own personal leisure crusade. It’s the type of place you’d want to spend more time at than your own home or office, a gym paradise loaded down with so many features and perks that it might be harder to NOT exercise than to exercise. Gyms have traditionally been sweaty, grunty prisons. Equinox is more like stepping into your own personal comfort zone.

Their training process shows an incredible level of research and attention paid to the newest advances in sports and fitness technology?

 
Equinox Fitness Clubs asked we four at Dangerous Minds to tour their facilities, write up our impressions and offer our readers a 3-day trial membership so they can check out an Equinox near them. Click here to sign up.

I agree with all of what Richard had to say in his post about Equinox. The main thing he mentions is that it was sparkling clean and this is quite true. That’s a big plus for me, too—but I have a few other observations to offer.

From a woman’s perspective, Equinox seems extremely luxurious. The spa looked especially good to me and the prices were better than reasonable. Everything smelled nice, the sauna was extra clean (that word again) and I loved the way everything looked. The yoga studio was very “zen” but at the same time ultra modern and chic. There was nice Italian modernist furniture in the waiting room/lobby area. The spa staff had ready answers to all of our questions, were friendly and very knowledgeable about all they offered there. I’m definitely going to check out the spa one day soon and pamper myself. I’d been looking for a good place to go in LA (without naming names, I had a horrific experience once in what is probably LA’s best known spa chain and so I’m pretty picky!) and I was quite impressed by the day spa at the Equinox club on Sunset Blvd, the club we visited.

Second woman-only observation: I would feel comfortable working out at an Equinox club. The male clientele seems to be on the “classier” side of the equation and I wouldn’t fear dumb guys hitting on me in such a high end gym. There is nothing worse than that and every woman knows what I am talking about.

I got the sense during our tour that the club was undergoing constant upgrading and improvements. Improvements to an already pretty fantastic gym, I should say. They had just gotten a fleet of brand new state-of-the-art Schwinn exercise bikes, and the men’s locker rooms were being redone from the floors up when we were there. I know I keep coming back to the same thing, how clean the club is, but if you think about it, gyms can get really grody, really fast and this place positively gleamed. It’s a big, huge part of enjoying your workout experience, are you with me ladies?

Finally, if you did want to hang out and talk to someone cute afterward, there’s an Elixir health cafe with all kinds of yummy drinks and things right on the premises. I can see myself coming here often after a workout. I’d take an Elixir over a Starbucks any day.

All in all, great experience. What more can I say beside this is the single nicest gym I’ve ever been in? If you’d like to check out an Equinox Fitness Club near you, click here for a 3-day trial membership and tell ‘em Dangerous Minds sent you.