S P A C E C O W B O Y S

Hello Friendly Person:

(Long preamble this morning, so if you’re impatient, skip down for info about Mog appearances at Mighty Breaks tomorrow, the Serpent Mother fundraiser on the 27th, and other goodness.)

Seemed like a good idea at the time. I wish I knew who came up with that phrase, and I’ll bet whoever it was wishes they’d copyrighted the bugger. Think how often it comes up—after Gavin hooked up with his buddy’s wife, right after Chris Daly opens his mouth to says anything, whenever Iraq is mentioned in the White House, and if there’s a God I’m sure he says it whenever he thinks of us. Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time is the only way to explain things like pet rocks, the country meets techno anthem “Cotton-eye Joe”, taking another pill because you’re not “feeling” anything from the first one yet, or any kind of trance ;)

Space Cowboys have done a lot of lame things in our time, and I promise you all of them seemed like a good idea at the time. It’s hard to single out any one moment or act, because they’re all so gloriously lame in their lame, Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time, way. But with Burningman so close, and with discussion in our group turning towards art projects, there is one treasured story that I think is worth sharing. The story of Space Cowboy Byron’s swing. This was somewhere between 98 and 01, the years are all a blur at this point, so let’s just say the theme was The Seven Nebulous Wheels of the Body. Space Cowboy Byron (who has long since retreated into matrimonial seclusion, where his brain cells will be fortunate enough to live out their remaining days and die a natural death) decided that, while our camp had a barter bar, DJs, hot chicks and dangerous playa vehicles, it was missing one thing: a really big swing. So, he went to work. Now, swings have a fairly uniform structure—a couple of supports with something across the top that the swing hangs from is what most of us are familiar with, but Space Cowboy Byron was what you might call a non-conformist. No paired support structures for him, his swing would be a feat of axioms, paradigms and mathematics, or something. He envisioned what ended up looking like a long, narrow upside down V – where the two top tips of the letter were rooted into the ground at an upward angle, that shot the point of convergence up in the air about 30 feet or so, and the swing hung down on a long rope from the apex. He built the whole thing with thick metal pipes, but since he couldn’t find single pieces long enough to achieve the height he was going for, he coupled several together with some sort of threaded joiner. Remember that, because it’s the important part. The swing went up early in the week, and all agreed that he was right – the camp did need a damn swing after all, and for the next few days many of us lazied away the days swaying on what we would later learn was a giant death trap. Flash forward to the Hoe Down. We were having a party, people were dancing, other people were doing weird Burningman shit, customers were trading random crap for dusty booze at the barter bar, and a dozen yards or so away from the dance floor, a couple of hyper-active burner dudes had the bright idea to try red-lining the swing. They’d take running starts at it, they’d stand on the seat upright, they’d flex and grunt, and kick, and keep the swing further and further up. They were doing such a good job at it that soon, they had a small crowd cheering them on. That just encouraged them to push harder, which must’ve seemed like a good idea at the time. But on their most triumphant lurch upward there was an audible crack, and as they hung in mid-air, segments of the pipes separated everything began to plummet. The two guys, having just reached the crest of their swinging, were shot forward from where the 80lbs or so of metal came crashing down, but they still hit the ground hard, and for a moment nothing moved but the cloud of dust that accident kicked up. Because the guys had been swinging so wildly, the crowd had been standing back a respectable distance, so no one else was in what would’ve been the decapitation zone when the metal came down. Space Cowboy Byron and some others jetted over to see if anyone was hurt, particularly the two nummyheads who’d been on the swing, but as soon as they were able two stand they raced off into the night, apparently fearing some sort of retribution for causing the swing’s collapse. A quick investigation into the disaster uncovered that the ends of the pipe, which had been threaded, were now nearly perfectly smooth – the stress caused by the Xtreme-swingers, which was a scenarios not considered in the design’s calculus, had completely stripped the pipes’ threading. And that was the final ride of the Space Cowboy’s Swing-of-Death, which definitely seemed like a good idea at the time.

xo, 8ball@spacecowboys.org

UPCOMING EVENTS

FRIDAY (TOMORROW) – 7/20 – Mighty Breaks presents SHOW YOUR COLORS Mighty Breaks is hosting a field day/pep rally that brings together your favorite Burning Man crews, each with their own color and DJ.

Join us for a musical battle royale as the crews challenge each other to “walk offs,” arm wrestling, dancing competitions and, of course, drinking games. But know this: there are no sanctioned events, so anything is fair game. Burning Man’s loudest cheerleader, The Space Cowboy’s Unimog, will be bringing it on outside all night.

SPACE COWBOYS – ORANGE – 8ball, rrrus, Mancub & Brad Robinson on the Unimog

SEISMIC – RED – Murphstar
HOUSE OF LOTUS – BLUE – Beth Murphy
THE FRINGE – PURPLE – Mopo & friends
DEEP END – PINK – Zach Moore
OPULENT TEMPLE – WHITE – Syd Gris, Zach Moore
GARAGE MAJAL – GREEN – Jive

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Saturday, July 21 – Day Party/Fundraiser at Pier 23 You are invited to an afternoon/evening of dancing in the sunshine (or fog) to celebrate Mango’s soon-to-be bundle of joy! Get your groove on to DJ’s : Ellen Ferrato
Brad Robinson
Zack Darling
Joy Glasier

Pier 23, San Francisco
1pm-8pm, $10 donation requested

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Saturday July 28th – SERPENT MOTHER FUNDRAISER presented by Flaming Lotus Girls We’re bring the Mog to Flaming Lotus Girls’ party to help raise funds for the Serpent Mother World Tour. The day kicks off with our favorite carbon-belligerent activity, BBQing followed by several hours of dancing and libation!
With Space Cowboy DJs Brad Robinson, Mancub, 8ball, Kapt’n Kirk, Aaron Jae, and Pure Evil Also with DJs ShOOey (Deep End), Murphstar (Seismic), Shissla (House of Lotus), and Majitope (Lowpro). From 2pm-2am (BBQ 4pm – 9pm, Dancing ‘til 2am)
354 5th Street @ Harrison

Hello Friendly Person:

When I woke this morning I thought I’d bust out today’s announcement first thing, and then get on with my day. But here we are now almost at the end of the day, and I haven’t had a chance to write a proper preamble. Instead I’m just going to get on with the listings, which include info on tomorrow night’s SNAKE fundraiser at the Porn Palace, and the Friday, July 6th FRESH celebrating Space Cowboy Pootie’s birthday in true ass-slappin’ fashion, a recommendation for The Deep End’s benefit this Saturday, plus some links to new mixes by Aaron Jae and yours truly…

XO,

(L)8ball at space cowboys dot org

UPCOMING EVENTS

Thursday, June 28 – Here Kitty Kitty
Mancub’s throwing down (tonight)
Also with DJs Leo, Shrimp, NoMe, & SimpleGreene
222 Hyde (@ Turk)
9 – 2am / 21+ / NO COVER

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6/29 Friday – Snake @ The Porn Palace – A Fundraiser to support the art of Peter Hudson
Join us for SNAKE, the sultry companion to MONKEY, our first fundraiser in support of homouroboros, Peter Hudson’s next playa project. Thanks to everyone who came out last time and made it a huge success… let’s do it again! We’re ssssuper pssssyched to present a dusk-til-dawn lineup guaranteed to make your rattle shake. Both rooms will be writhing at the Porn Palace, so come in your finest snake attire!

Special guest Lee Coombs – Thrust With his latest album titled “Land of the Monkeysnake”, this man is no stranger to the cause. Don’t miss a minute of his special extended set!

With support from your local charmers:

Bar
1000 MACE (DeckAde)
1100 Ding Dong (Brass Tax)
1200 Felix the Dog (Black Diamond)
0100 shOOey (In Deep)
0200 Wolfie (LA / (Mutaytor)
0300 j9 (Angels of bAss)
0400 Kapt’n Kirk (Space Cowboys)

Dungeon
1100 Smoove (Funketronic)
1200 Laird (Get Yer Freak On!) vs Shissla (House of Lotus)
0100 Lee Coombs (Thrust)
0230 Brad Robinson (Space Cowboys) vs Murphstar (SEISMIC)
0400 Ernie Trevino (Space Cowboys)

Visuals by MEDIA MAN

As if that wasn’t enough, we’ll also tempt you with the forbidden fruit that is The Flaming Lotus Girls, and a special retrospective of Peter’s previous works. 100% of the proceeds benefit the production of Homouroboros. Go to www.hudzo.com to see why.

Porn Palace
942 Mission b/t 5th & 6th
10:00pm – 5:00am

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Tuesday – July 3rd – Evil Breaks, SisterSF, and In Deep presents Dyn-O-Might II @ Mighty

Evil Breaks, Sister SF, In Deep, along with the new addition, the Ambient Mafia, will be teaming up to bring you a 4th of July party celebration you’re not going to forget. And since everyone has the following day off, why not come and spend your Tuesday night in debaucherous style with us at one of the best venues in the city??

Our headliner, Carbon Community will be bringing out his drummer Pete who will be playing on his full drum kit, along with Dave bangin away on his synths & hanging drums. Carbon Community Live has been constantly compared to Uberzone’s Live show, and with the addition of the hanging, light-up drums, it just might be taking it one step further. Come see how amazing a Full Live PA can be!

Carbon Community – FULL LIVE PA!! (w/Cradlerock on drums)

Evil Breaks DJ’s – Aaron Jae, Bam, M.O.D., Athena
In Deep DJ’s – Clark Hamon, shOOey (back room @1am), Zach Moore
SisterSF DJ’s – Forest Green vs Seraphim, Samira vs Icon, Melyss vs Amber
Ambient Mafia DJ’s – Sixtyuk vs Redstickman, Peek vs Speakeasy Ray, Squelchy vs Olde Nasty, Cubik vs Rafiq (Live!), The Captain

Mighty
119 Utah @ 15th
10:00pm – 4:00am
Presales @ http://tinyurl.com/2jkxan: Limited $7, then $10
Door tickets: $10 before 11:30 & $15 afterwards

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Friday, July 6th – FRESH – The Pootie Tang Party presented by Biggie Shortee “A party sooo exclusive, air can’t even get in….”
With Pootie’s Bootyshakers Mancub, Kapt’n Kirk, 8ball

Shine
1337 Mission Street in SF
9PM – 2AM, 21+, $5 or FREE to pimps, hos, and Pootie’s pals!
Shine

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Friday, July 13th – TRIPLE POWER at Il Pirata Musical guests:
Corbin Dooley (bikini wax, vinylholic recording artist) Arizona bikiniwax.com
DJ Butterface (Vinylholic, Bikiniwax, BreaksFM)
Mancub (Space Cowboys, Netamp, Sleevin)
9:30-11:30 Butterface / Corbin tag team set
11:30 – 12:45 Mancub
2:45-end Giamma
info@djbutterface.com

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Saturday, July 21 – Day Party/Fundraiser at Pier 23 You are invited to an afternoon/evening of dancing in the sunshine (or fog) to celebrate Mango’s soon-to-be bundle of joy!
Get your groove on to DJ’s
Ellen Ferrato
Brad Robinson
Zack Darling
Joy Glasier

Pier 23, San Francisco,
1:00PM to 8:00PM
A donation of $10 is requested for this fundraiser

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Flaming Lotus Girls Fundraiser SOMA, July 28th Saturday, 2pm-2am

TENTATIVE Line-Up
Pure Evil (Space Cowboys)
8ball (Space Cowboys)
Shissla (House of Lotus)
Mancub (Space Cowboys)
ShOOey (The Deep End)
Brad Robinson (Space Cowboys)
Murphstar (Seismic)
Kapt’n Kirk (Space Cowboys)
Aaron Jae (Space Cowboys)
More details TBD

RECOMMENDED

Saturday, June 30th – Deep Endup—A Deep End fundraiser Please arrive before 2am to ensure your $15 cover ensures the Deep End camp will bring even more high spirits & deep grooves to the playa in 2007!!
:: Lineup ::
1000 – AJ Medina
1200 – Shissla (House of Lotus)
0100 – Aaron Pope
0200 – shOOey
0300 – Clark Hamon
0400 – John Early
0500 – Syd Gris (Opulent Temple)
0600 – Mike Giannini
0700 – Kramer
0800 – Layne Loomis
0900 – Zach Moore
1000 – JRod
1100 – Matt Hosley

The Endup
401 Sixth St @ 6th
10:00pm – noon
$15 donation at the door

MIXES

Aaron Jae’s new mix, “Crunky”, is ready for your downloading pleasure:
Get it here

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And yes, ANOTHER MIX by 8ball is ready for you as well—this one’s Electro House Con Carne

Tracklistings, and other mixes are here

Hello Friendly Person:

Normally when I omit an event from the announcement, I figure it just wasn’t meant to be. But once in a while I am compelled to retrace my steps and make the world right. And that is the case today, because the not only is the event I spaced an landmark opportunity for the community to come together under the banner of peace, joy and happiness, but (perhaps more importantly) it’s also an event I happen to be playing! That’s right—it’s another big opportunity to see ME, so don’t blow it! (Thanks to shOOey for catching my flub…) – 8b

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Sunday, May 6th – You Can’t Stop Weird!: Opel’s Offical After Party for the How Weird St. Faire

Because of the downsized number of sound stages How Weird is allowed, we don’t get to rock the How Weird St. Faire this year. Have no fear though, you can’t stop weird, as we host one of the official after parties starting at 6pm when the faire is over, right down the street at Mighty.

Indoor / Outdoor Sound with:
Syd Gris (Opel / Opulent Temple)
Hoj (Opel / djhoj.com)
Melyss (Opel / Sister SF)
Mancub (Space Cowboys / amp.net)
Aaron Jae (Evil Breaks / Space Cowboys)
8Ball (Space Cowboys)
shOOey (Deep End)
Scottino (Fix)
Ron/e (Fix)
Nathan Vain (Opulent Temple)
Billy Cassazza (Opulent Temple / Nutbass)
Djeeno (Word of Mouth)

Only $5 bones all night.
2 chill buses in effect
Bring your Toys!
How Weird staff & Volunteers in for Free.
More info at Opel Productions