February 11, 2008

The 2008 Super Bowl broadcast on Fox scored a record 97.5 million total viewers. That makes the game the most-watched Super Bowl ever and the second-highest-rated telecast ever (behind the 1983 M*A*S*H finale). According to Mediaweek magazine, Fox made an estimated $225 million in ad revenue throughout Super Bowl Sunday, and the game itself raked in $170 million with its 63 total commercial availabilities—or $2.7 million per 30-second spot. [Reuters, 2/4/08; columbiatribune.com, 2/9/08]

British bad girl Amy Winehouse came away as the biggest winner at the 50th annual Grammy Awards on Feb. 10. The substance abuse-prone singer won five out of the six categories in which she was nominated, including BEST NEW ARTIST and three awards for her hit single "Rehab." The evening's biggest stunner, then, was her loss to jazz musician Herbie Hancock, whose River: The Joni Letters was crowned ALBUM OF THE YEAR. Additional multiple-trophy winners included Bruce Springsteen (3), Carrie Underwood (2), The Foo Fighters (2), Kanye West (2), Justin Timberlake (2) and The White Stripes (2). [AP, 2/10/08]

The New York medical examiner's office has concluded that actor Heath Ledger's death was an accidental overdose. Officially, the report labeled the cause of death "acute intoxication" caused by an abusive combination of six prescription drugs—a lethal mixture of painkillers, anti-anxiety medications and prescription sleep aids. Ledger's father, Kim, has reacted by releasing a statement highlighting the dangers of prescription drug abuse: "We learned today the combination of doctor-prescribed drugs proved lethal for our boy. Heath's accidental death serves as a caution [regarding] the hidden dangers of prescribing medication." [abcnews.com, 2/6/08; mtv.com, 2/6/08; usatoday.com, 2/6/08]

In a similar, if less-well-publicized case, the Los Angeles County coroner's office has determined that 33-year-old rapper Chad Butler, aka Pimp C, died in December because of a fatal interaction between prescription cough medicine and a pre-existing sleep apnea condition. In a case of life tragically imitating art, the rapper was well known for his affection for cough medicine, which he'd sung about in his song "Sippin' on Some Syrup." "I got the red promethazine," he rapped, "thick orange and yellow 'Tuss.'" [mtv.com, 2/4/08]

A new study by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine (published in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine) has quantified just how frequently references to drugs, alcohol and tobacco turn up in popular music. A team led by Dr. Brian Primack analyzed the lyrics of the top 279 songs of 2005. Their findings? Nearly 80% of rap songs contained references to illicit drugs, alcohol or tobacco—followed by country (37%), R&B (20%), rock (14%) and pop (9%). When these genres were combined, 42% of all songs had some reference to substance abuse. Significantly, about two-thirds of the references portrayed these substances in a positive way by associating them with sex, partying and/or humor. Just four songs mentioned any kind of anti-substance abuse message. The researchers calculated that Americans ages 15 to 18 listen to 2.4 hours of music each day, which translates to 84 references to substance abuse daily and about 30,000 annually. Commenting on how parents might respond. Primack said, "It's not going to be feasible or even desirable to censor these messages. Probably a more empowering approach is to teach kids to analyze and evaluate the messages for themselves." [Reuters, 2/4/08; timesonline.co.uk, 2/3/08; nytimes.com 2/6/08 stats]

According to the a government report from the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, about 3.1 million people between the ages of 12 and 25 have gotten high using cough and cold medicine—about the same amount who have used LSD and far more than have used methamphetamines. And that's not the only common substance being used improperly. Mouthwash, which can be nearly 27% alcohol, has become such a popular "beverage" in Alaska that some supermarkets have moved Listerine and Scope behind the counter. "Especially this summer, you'd see a lot more empty mouthwash bottles laying around on the ground than you would actual liquor bottles," said David Path, who volunteers at an Anchorage homeless shelter. [AP, 1/10-14/08 stats]

Yet another a survey of 48,025 students conducted by researchers at the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research, finds that illicit drug use among teens overall is decreasing, though abuse of prescription painkillers in particular has increased slightly. Marijuana was the most widely used drug in 2007, with 10% of 8th graders, 25% of 10th graders and nearly one in three students in 12th grade using it in the last year. These three groups of students combined also abused the prescription painkiller OxyContin slightly more frequently in 2007 than in 2006, 5.2% vs. 4.3%, respectively. [usatoday.com 12/11/07; time.com, 12/11/07; news.yahoo.com, 12/11/07 stats]

Tobacco, meanwhile, will kill perhaps as many as 1 billion people by the year 2100, according to a study by the World Health Organization. The organization added that governments take in more than $200 billion in tobacco taxes each year, but spend just a miniscule fraction of that on tobacco control. [Time, 2/7/08]

QUOTE: "Since the beginning of time, parents have worried about kids' role models. Can bad ones be destructive? Neuroscience is saying yes. So perhaps it's time to see our obsession with 'perfect' features as being as toxic as secondhand smoke or exposure to pesticides, as likely to cause mental problems as war is to cause post-traumatic stress disorder in soldiers. Kids deserve better." —Salon columnist Robert Burton, on body dysmorphic disorder, a condition that causes people to unhealthily obsess over their looks. Scientists suggest that the condition is partly biological. But it's the culture that triggers people afflicted with the condition to try to achieve physical perfection. [Salon.com, 1/31/08]

Rockstar Games' latest installment of its gratuitous Grand Theft Auto franchise is expected to land on store shelves later this spring. And GTA IV writer and Rockstar vice president Dan Houser said that the company is going further than ever in its controversial pursuit of "realism," this time including drunk driving and strip clubs as elements in the game. Houser said, "I expect [controversy] because we've had so much of it in the past. I wish people would treat video games the same as other media. They seem to not want to do that for reasons that I don't understand. It's a convenient enemy for people." [gamedaily.com, 1/31/08]

UPDATE: Officials for the clothier Abercrombie & Fitch have responded to the confiscation of risqué displays in Virginia Beach, Va., last week, saying that law enforcement agents overreacted. "The marketing images in question show less skin than you see any summer day at the beach. And certainly less skin than the plumber working on your kitchen sink." Indeed, Virginia Beach deputy city attorney Mark Stiles indicated that misdemeanor obscenity charges filed against the store's manager would be dropped, stating that it would be hard to prove that the display was appealing to prurient interests, that it lacked redeeming artistic merit and that it was offensive to prevailing community standards. [AP, 2/4/08]

Despite the ferociously graphic—and arguably gratuitous—violence in Sylvester Stallone's Rambo, the film's tagline, "Either live for something, [or] die for nothing—it's your choice," is reportedly resonating with at least some persecuted Myanmar ex-patriots now living in Singapore. Cinthy, 28, who grew up among Christians fighting for independence in Karen State, vouches for Rambo's accuracy. "Everything is almost—80%—the same as what the movie showed. They rape the Karen people. They kill the Karen people." Others seem to believe that the film might encourage American intervention in Myanmar, which has been governed by a brutal, iron-fisted military regime for 46 years. Stallone said, "Students have now used this film as a rallying point and are using the quote, thinking maybe the American military will intervene and save them." Not surprisingly, the film has been banned in Myanmar. And Stallone, who filmed Rambo in neighboring Thailand, has thrown down the gauntlet to Myanmar officials who might question its veracity. "If they think this movie is a fantasy, I welcome the opportunity to let me come over there and walk around the country without armed guards following me every inch of the way." [Reuters, 2/4/08; AP, 2/4/08; christianpost.com, 2/4/08]