February 2011Monthly Archives

Not content to censor a book that combines literary criticism and fiction by including JRR Tolkien as a character, the Tolkien estate has shut down Adam Rakunas, who makes and gives away buttons that have the word Tolkien on them:

Back in the late 2009, I got into a Twitter conversation with Madeline Ashby about geek culture, fandom, and a bunch of stuff like that. Madeline wrote, “While you were reading Tolkien, I was watching Evangelion.” I thought this was an excellent encapsulation of the divide in SF/F/Whatever fandom, and thus took to Zazzle to make little buttons with her quote. I bought a bunch, handed them out at a few conventions, then I had a kid and promptly forgot all about it.

Until today, when Zazzle emailed me to say they were pulling the buttons for intellectual property right infringement.

And guess who complained about their rights being infringed?

I’ve tried to come up with something more to say about this, but I’m too angry and confused and tired to say anything more than I did in the title of this post. Have fun milking your dad’s stuff, Christopher Tolkien!

The Tolkien estate has long had a censorious bent — a writer I admire was forced to put a series of books that in no way infringed upon Tolkien’s copyrights out of print because the estate threatened to make her publisher’s life a living nightmare (not naming names, because the writer has chosen not to go public with the story). The professional descendants making millions off a long-dead writer have become a serious impediment to living, working writers — and readers. If this isn’t the greatest proof that extending copyright in scope and duration screws living creators and impedes the creation of new works, I don’t know what is.

The JRR Tolkien Estate Can Go Fuck Itself (via Futurismic)

Zazzle user Harpocrates has a thoroughgoing response to the Tolkien estate’s insistence that a badge reading “While You Were Reading Tolkien, I Was Watching Evangelion” infringes on its rights — a series of tees and buttons.

C_ri_top_er T_lki_n C_ns_r_d My B_dg_ (Thanks, Moonbuggy, via Submitterator)

 

• Tolkien estate censors badge that contains the word “Tolkien …
• Mieville on Tolkien – Boing Boing
• Tolkien estate tries to kill novel starring fictionalized Tolkien …

SalJake sez, “Nifty infographic outlining the money path from the Koch brothers to Wisconsin’s ‘never negotiate, never surrender’ governor and Tea Party darling Scott Walker. The blogger who successfully prank called to Da Gov was impersonating billionaire David Koch. Thanks to this prank, we have him recorded as asking Fake David Koch to finance advertisements in the home districts of GOP senators, because people there are PISSED OFF. And rightly so, I might add.”

Koch Bros Present: Monopoly (Thanks, SalJake, via Submitterator!)

I haven’t played a stringed instrument since high school, but “Captain Beefheart’s 10 Commandments of Guitar Playing” sounds like damned good advice for whatever you’re passionate about.

…2. Your guitar is not really a guitar
Your guitar is a divining rod. Use it to find spirits in the other world and bring them over. A guitar is also a fishing rod. If you’re good, you’ll land a big one.

3. Practice in front of a bush
Wait until the moon is out, then go outside, eat a multi-grained bread and play your guitar to a bush. If the bush doesn’t shake, eat another piece of bread…

7. Always carry a church key
That’s your key-man clause. Like One String Sam. He’s one. He was a Detroit street musician who played in the fifties on a homemade instrument. His song “I Need a Hundred Dollars” is warm pie. Another key to the church is Hubert Sumlin, Howlin’ Wolf’s guitar player. He just stands there like the Statue of Liberty — making you want to look up her dress the whole time to see how he’s doing it.

8. Don’t wipe the sweat off your instrument
You need that stink on there. Then you have to get that stink onto your music.

Captain Beefheart’s 10 Commandments of Guitar Playing (via Making Light)