Friday, May 30, 2008

Rat City Rollergirls vs. Starbucks




Seattle P-I

The Rat City Rollergirls of Seattle are this close to being preserved for time immemorial in a video game.

While the game developers do their thing, the all-female roller derby league has to trademark the logo that it has used since the league formed in 2004.

It seemed simple enough. But after the league filed its paperwork in Washington, it realized a challenge: There's another entity in town sporting a round logo with two stars, sans-serif font and a babe in the middle.

Starbucks has asked the league to change its logo, said Quinn Heraty, a New York lawyer representing the Rat City Rollergirls and its national association, The Women's Flat Track Derby Association.

"The issue is with the shape of the logo, including what they're calling concentric circles," she said. "They're saying that the dimensions of the circles are too close to their own. ... I mean, come on, circles and portraits? Big deal. Starbucks didn't invent that."

friday reads

A British resident who is facing the death penalty in Guantanamo Bay has made a final desperate plea to Gordon Brown to end his six-year ordeal and bring him home today.

Thirty-four Americans arrested at the Supreme Court on January 11, 2008 were found guilty after a three-day trial which began on Tuesday, May 27th in D.C. Superior Court. he defendants represented themselves, mounting a spirited defense of their First Amendment rights to protest the gross injustice of abuse and indefinite detention of men at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay.



Memo to Scott McClellan: Here's what happened



Deep in the Amazon jungle, one of the Brazil's last uncontacted indigenous tribes has been photographed from the air, to prove its existence.



India's centuries-old controversy over caste and discrimination brought parts of Delhi to a halt yesterday as thousands of members of an ethnic group demanded that their official status be lowered in order to provide them with better access to jobs and education.



Nearly half of American air travelers would fly more if it were easier, and more than one-fourth said they skipped at least one air trip in the past 12 months because of the hassles involved, according to an industry survey.



Get Busy. Get Equal.

friday random ten

random_ten
Photo by Ryan McManus



Puffy - Jet CD
"Jet Keisatsu"
Puffy
Jet CD (1998)


The Waitresses - Wasn't Tomorrow Wonderful?
"Quit"
The Waitresses
Wasn't Tomorrow Wonderful? (1982)


Experimental Aircraft - Third Transmission: Meet Me on Echo Echo Terrace
"With a Gun"
Experimental Aircraft
Third Transmission: Meet Me on Echo Echo Terrace (2008)


Ra Ra Riot - Ra Ra Riot
"Ghost Under Rocks"
Ra Ra Riot
Ra Ra Riot EP (2007)


Bailter Space - Bailterspace
"Tanker"
Bailter Space
Bailterspace (2004)


Soko - Soko Not Sokute
"I'll Kill Her"
Soko
Not Sokute (2007)


Moimir Papalescu & the Nihilists - Lewis Neptune
"Fast Car"
Moimir Papalescu & The Nihilists
Lewis Neptune (2006)



"Papa Doc"
Dadamah
This Is Not a Dream (1995)


1910 Fruitgum Company - Indian Giver
"No Good Annie"
1910 Fruitgum Company
Indian Giver (1969)


Bruce Springsteen - Darkness on the Edge of Town
"Streets of Fire"
Bruce Springsteen
Darkness on the Edge of Town (1978)


Bonus tracks


Julian Cope - Peggy Suicide
"Hung Up and Hanging Out to Dry"
Julian Cope
Peggy Suicide (1991)


The Acorn - Glory Hope Mountain
"Lullabye (Mountain)"
The Acorn
Glory Hope Mountain (2007)