What is with these new digital billboards? I assume they are everywhere, but in LA, they are everywhere! Inevitably, the bulk of the ads are horrendous and obnoxious but we expect that from the ultimate attention seeker, I mean the ultimate inanimate attention seeker(sorry Britney). In Los Angeles, and most American cities, Clear Channel owns almost all of the billboards, but I heard somewhere that the city must issue permits, giving the final say. Since our District Attorney, Rocky Delgadillo, was recently the guest of honor at some big Clear Channel function, its not surprising that these new billboards keep showing up like a dirty penny or crabgrass.
Since the billboards are here to stay, wouldn't it be nice if they were not 100% urban blight? Being that they are capable of alternating their images every 30 seconds or so, wouldn't it be nice if they were required to flash something cultural and/or artistic say every 30 seconds out of every 5 minutes? Maybe a quote from Martin Luther King or Ghandi, or the Dahlai Lama every once in a while will cut through the bile? Perhaps a view of Picasso's Guernica while driving to work could soothe a soul or two. It should be required, for every unpleasant image, there should be some kind of pleasant counterbalance. But what do I know, other than that LA gets uglier by the minute.
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