Don't judge a book by it's cover, judge the publisher instead 1
Maybe it’s ok to bite the hand that feeds sometimes—like when the hand trying to make you swallow a fist full of shite, as was the case when my friend, Jim Frost, learned of the cover chosen by the publisher of his debut novel. I read an early draft of the book, so I have to admit that certain elements of the cover that St. Press selected do relate to the story, but only in the same way that the face of Frankenstein’s Monster relates to the face of, say, Scarlett Johansen.
Anyway, Jim went and made lemonade by commisioning local sticker artist Dave Warnke to design a new cover, printed on a sticker, so that family, friends and fans could hack the book with a more suitable cover.
Here’s the before (left) and after (right):
Essentially he’s asking people to hack the cover, which fits this age of DIYism we’re in, where consumers often turn into designers &/or innovators when they take their off-the-rack purchase and remix the corporate influences out of ‘em. I can see why the publishers are being quiet in this case. The only thing they offer is a press and the trust of the public that they have good taste, and but technology is undermining the former, and the cover spat undermines the latter… they’re fucking scared, and they should be…
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Life is & Upcoming Events & News
Hello Friendly Person:
Life is being righteous, to Hell with everyone else. It’s about never having to say you’re sorry, because you’re right and everyone else is going to Hell. Life is about being strong, and preaching love and salvation, but only for the people who aren’t going to Hell, people who are going to Hell can fuck right off. Life is also about being Strong, walking a narrow, goodly path, and choking down the urge to get frothy and sweaty with another man as if that urge were a little bit of upchuck that found its way into your mouth through an unexpected belch. Life is about denial of those torrid urges and wanton emotions that rule your dreams and drive you to distraction when you’re preaching to a choir of comely young lads, some of whom really do look like little angels…. Dirty, Dirty little angels. Life is about denying who you are, because of Hell and all, but eventually Life is about all that pent up sexual frustration, an irresistible force of nature, that swells and peaks and explodes in an act that God explicitly said you shouldn’t do, and now you’re going to Hell like everyone else. Life sucks, because now Life is about a jail in Albuquerque, where cops book a doped-up, yammering, fallen minister who was busted in flagrante delicto at a highway rest stop snorting high-speed-chicken-feed off the top of a john with a prostitute who uses the IM name ButterBunz1988 (the latter part referring to the year he was born, the former part referring to his rear, both apparent examples of truth in advertising). At that point Life is about a good lawyer. Then, Life’s about jokes on late night talk shows, reporters constantly calling, and relentless public shaming. Life is Hell. Until you come up with this brilliant idea: Life is about redemption! It’s about second chances, and more importantly, it’s about publicly announcing that, thanks to a short but highly effective respite in a recovery clinic, the irresistible force of nature no longer swells and you’re now cured of all sinful urges. Life is again about being righteous, to Hell with everyone else! Life is so easy.
Happy Valentine’s Day! 8ball@spacecowboys.org
UPCOMING EVENTS
Friday, Feb 16th – MIGHTY BREAKS For February’s Mighty Breaks, SEISMIC is going head to head against our arch rivals, The Space Cowboys. When these two crews get together, mayhem happens. As a special treat, PLAZA de FUNK (West Records, FAT! UK) will be coming over from the UK to headline the event for his US debut. Check out his bio and recent tracks on his MySpace account. PLAZA de FUNK has been putting floor stompers for the past few years. He has an amazing ability to get a dance floor rockin’ and he his ready to bring his sound to San Francisco. SEISMIC DJs: Murphstar, Samira, Trav & Brett Pinkin and Cowboy DJs: 8ball, The Geometrist, Mancub & Evinrude OUT-FRONT – weather permitting: Kapt’n Kirk, Aaron Jae and others TBD More info: Mighty, 119 Utah St. / (@ 15th Street), SF 10:00 PM – 4:00 AM / 21+ with valid ID! $5 presale tickets available: http://tinyurl.com/2vuuxj
Sunday, Feb 18th – PRESIDENTS DAY WEEKEND – OPEL Opel presents Infuse: Elite Intentions. With Elite Force (eliteforcemusic.co.uk / UK) + Shissla, Aaron Pope, Aaron Jae, Bam, Melyss, Jondi, Jayo, Dex Stakker. Mighty, 119 Utah St. / (@ 15th Street), SF 10pm-late night $10 pre-sale, $15 door www.opelproductons.com
March 2 & 3 – SNOWFEST Once again the Space Cowboys will be rockin’ it slopeside with the UNIMOG at Squaw Valley USA for the annual North Lake Tahoe Snow Festival! —Friday, March 2nd The UNIMOG kicks the party off on the deck all afternoon, then into the evening with fireworks, the torch parade and the Snowfest Opening Ceremonies at Olympic Plaza. The festivities continue with the Cowboy DJ’s at the afterparty right there in the Plaza Bar. —Saturday, March 3rd Apres Ski San Francisco Stylee! Join the Space Cowboy’s DJs and RIPE Allstars in the Plaza Bar for a night of ice blocking breakbeat and hearth warming house music. All proceeds from our annual “SnowDown” go towards our non-profit quest to keep your galaxy funky! 9pm – 2am – $5
Saturday, March 10th – DUSTFISH It’s the East Bay, it’s music, it’s the Mog. More details TBD, but Save the Date! http://www.dustfish.com
Friday, April 6th– FRESH presented by Cheeks Cheeks is about to skip town for an undisclosed length of time, so this is the big send off before she heads out for the undiscovered country. Partial proceeds to benefit Leukemia & Lymphoma Research. Expect a night of ass-shaking house from: Brad Robinson (Space Cowboys), Moody Eva (GoodBeats, Big Popsicle), Evan James Shine (1337 Mission St btw 9th & 10th) 9pm – 2am – $5
Friday, April 13th – YURI’S NIGHT 2007 This special event is a natural fit for Space Cowboys, and we’ve been involved with the Yuri’s Night party for a number of years now. Previous iterations of the event were held at the Chabot Observatory in the East Bay, where location restrains required the party to end early and volumes be kept at a low level. This year they’ve relocated for maximum celebratory fun, including Space Cowboy DJs rocking the Mog! 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. – Showcases with guest speakers. 8:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. – 3,2,1, Lift Off!, An all-night collective experience toward the Overview Effect. Sofia Hanger 211 NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA More info: www.yurisnight.net/2007/
OTHER NEWS
Vote for Space Cowboy DJ Mancub to join the fun at Supperclub’s IRON DJ II party next month. Register to vote at: www.xessential.net
Yuri’s Night is looking for artist submissions! Send application or questions to: submissions@yurisnightames.net More information about Yuri’s Night Bay Area 2007: http://www.yurisnightames.net
Burning Man trademark fracas
By now most of the community has probably heard about the John Law vs BM trademark lawsuit. It’s been on Laughing Squid on BoingBoing and even on CNET
The summary of what I’ve read is that John Law wants to the Burning Man trademarks to go Public Domain, while the BM organization wants to retain control because, according to Maid Marrian’s response to the suit, they are concerned about commercialization.
I don’t know a ton about copyright law, except that it’s a tangled ugly mess, and so far I haven’t heard anyone talk about an option that would involve Creative Commons licensing. But to me, this seems like a prefect application of the “Some rights reserved” approach. CC offers flexible licenses that would, for example, allow a Burning Man fan to use the Burning Man trademark in an art piece that goes on public display, but would not allow Mattel to launch Burner Barbie© next x-mas. There are a variety of legal attributions, detailed on the CC site, and I hope when this matter goes to arbitration the parties involved think about what’s right for the community, and keep that in the forefront, regardless of how much they want the other party to eat shit and die.
Mixtape Crime
Apparently making mixtapes now ranks up there with dealing crack and peddling kiddie porn, and law enforcement ain’t playing—they brought in SWAT to take down an ATL hiphop duo’s operation. Once again, RIAA is making the world a safe place for people who suck. More details about DJ Drama and Cannon’s fucked up situation is popping up around the web, but this Pitchfork article includes an email at RIAA should one be inclined to share one’s thoughts with them about their fucked-upery.
Watch out DJs—you could be next.
Also on BoingBoing
(via HiLife)
