The Nation’s editors Richard Kim and Betsy Reed have rounded up an army of writers who have contributed essays on the mavericky ex-governor’s brush with greatness. The collection is called Going Rouge: Sarah Palin – An American Nightmare and will conveniently also launch on November 17th.  The book is already making waves with its obviously similar book cover. In both covers, the plucky moose-mama sports the color red and gazes toward a brighter tomorrow. But there are also a few key differences.

First, the use of the word “Rouge” which alludes to Palin’s sex-appeal and sideshow antics during the 2008 election. In what may be a reminder of the how close Palin came to power, the ex-governor is shown with hair tied back and wearing more formal attire, unlike going Rogue’s more innocuous, homey look .

There is also the font size of Palin’s name on Going Rouge which at first glance makes it seem as though she is the author and not the subject. Then of course, the dark clouds and the word “Nightmare” which are pretty self explanatory.

Now many books quietly or inadvertently  use similar cover photgraphs. Take, for instance, the following well known examples. (Thanks to the awesome totallylookslike.com

Going Rogue’s #1 status on Amazon.com has been attributed by some to mass advance buys by right-wing organizations who plan on distributing the volume to their loyal sheep.

But what will the cover’s effect be on launch day? Is it just a playful dig, or a disingenuous and even unethical marketing tactic?

Would the casual buyer unwittingly pickup the wrong copy?

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The young gentlemen is somewhat portly, and somewhat aesthetically challenged. This effect is heightened as he is juxtaposed with Foxy, who as I may have mentioned, is a smokin’ hot mama. But it is the annoyed look of Fox and the hustling attitude of her handlers that made some call the actress a bitch and the pic a freeze-framed visual definition of cruelty.

Now I think Fox and her entourage were not to blame for this perception. It is pretty clear they are trying to get somewhere and obviously they can’t stop for random strangers who accost them with unknown motives…

But what if the positions were reversed? An incorrigible scalawag on Reddit got hold of the pic and using some photoshop trickery, swapped the subjects’ heads for a joke:

The pics are an awesome display of the perceived value disparities between human and human. Beauty, fame and status are wide gulfs indeed….

The original photo was found here:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3605/3633752862_d2a463fdca_o.jpg

The photoshopped version was submitted by “sluice” to Reddit.com and the original link is:
http://bayimg.com/image/eabfpaacc.jpg

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Yes, the stage is a very small place indeed, only several square yards, and many an artist, in the throes of either sincere musical expression or affected posturing, lives life dangerously close to the edge.

From former presidential candidate Bob Dole to countless runway models and Miss USAs, it seems pretty clear that no amount of fame can keep you immune from the inexorable strength of that tyranical god–gravity.

Which leads us to the cringe-worthy videos below. I really don’t know why, but it is just hilarious to see famous people falling over!

However hot the girl is or howevermuch street cred the hardened rapper has, they are humanized in these moments which, thanks to modern technology, will steadily increase in YouTube viewcounts ad infinitum. If it were anyone else falling over, we’d be immediately concerned with their well-being, but for some reason, a celebrity’s physical “lowering”  to “the level” of “the groundlings”  is also an instantaneous social leveling which reveals a definite amount of envy mixed in with our adoration…

#1: Joaquin Phoenix falls off the Stage

Acclaimed actor Joaquin Phoenix made headlines after a bizarre Letterman appearance where his monosyllabic replies, bushy beard and budding rap career made him the butt of hollywood jokes. Some suspected a drawn-out publicity stunt, but this video shows Phoenix at one of his debut rap performances:

#2 Beyonce Falls off the Stage

The popular songstress ate it hard at this Orlando concert:

#3 Lil Wayne Falls off the Stage

Lil Wayne’s success is a sad commentary on the musical tastes of modern youth…but luckily the gods were so offended by his sonic outrages they snuck a karmic banana peel onstage….Wayne reportedly has $150,000 worth of diamonds attached to his teeth (not making this up) which surely saved the young rapper’s choppers from being knocked out during this spill:

#4 Metallica’s Jason Newstead falls in concert

Erstwhile Metallica bassist Jason Newstead has had a tough time of it. Recently replaced by Robert Trujillo and never quite able to step out of the shadow of original bassist Cliff Burton, Newstead had to endure being the “outsider” throughout Metallica’s most mainstream days. Here, falls onstage and hilariously continues playing as a sort of “i meant to do that” reflex:

#5 Jennifer Lopez’s Close Call

A conveyor belt + an elevated stage + J Lo anyone? But what sounds like the perfect storm for this post is sadly thwarted by the singer’s nimble recovery. (Although her massive gluteal cushion would likely have provided enough padding to prevent any injury…)

#6 The Jonas Brothers’ Repeated Falls

The Jonas Brothers’ saccharine-pop-rock stylings are clearly a form of noise pollution, and yet their clean cut looks and simple songs have fueled the unspeakable fantasies of a legion of pre-pubescent whitebread admirers.

As for falling onstage–the tween heartthrobs have done it so many times that a fan actually put together a compilation clip:

#7 Akon Oversteps His Bounds

Modern R&B juggernaut Akon’s voice  is as smooth as buttah. Unfortunately, so was the floor at at this concert:

#8 The Game Steps Up…and is Humbled

The rapper known as the Game appeard on the scene destined for success. He was after all, the product of the 50 Cent-Eminem-Dre hit factory, but his rhymes tended toward boasting about rims, his shoe collection and various shots out to mentors…

When watching this video, you could say the comeuppance of hubris has triumphed over streetwise braggadocio, but because the Game plays off the fall with just the right mix of charm and swagger, I wouldn’t call this one a total fail…

#9 John Petrucci’s Slide Guitar

John Petrucci’s soulless technical shred guitar work in Dream Theater has made him a fixture of the prog-speed metal underground. But his neither his lightning fast hands nor his metronome could have prepared him for the wiles of his arch-nemesis: a slippery floor:

#10 Mya Wipes Out

Faded R&B crooner Mya’s best performances may be behind her, but her behind’s best performances are clearly yet to come!

#11 Method Man Misses the Mark

Wu-Tang stalwart Method Man loses his balance, flails, then decides why fight it? He falls, yes, but it’s all good–his homies in the audience have literally “got his back”.

#12 Bonus Fall: Yes, A Horse!

The nauseating level of pretension at a fashion show is unquestionably the perfect location for a fall. But models tripping is passe…we need animals dammit! And here we have horse proudly strutting down the catwalk until…well, watch for yourself:

The best thing about this clip is how calm and collected the horse is compared to the hysterical onlookers. No embarrassed apology or awkward recovery here, just one chill, laid back steed…

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I was at an “End the Fed” rally in LA recently, and I beheld a man burn a dollar bill as a statement of contempt for the the federal reserve system, which may be largely to blame for the country’s downturn.  The whole time, I was wondering two things: first, why wasn’t he burning a c note instead to show even more contempt, and second: how could I snatch away the bill and use it toward the above mentioned dimebag? Unfortunately, the dollar met its crispy end before I could save it from its Libertarian captors, but the incident got me thinking about the use of money as an artistic statement. Enter master tattoo artist Scott Campbell and his astonishing art, etched onto stacks of bills.

check out more amazing examples here.

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I’m assuming its for real and not some regular animation overlayed upon a background of city walls. If so, it had to have been amazingly time consuming for the artist (BLU) to spray on a frame, take its picture and spray it out over and over….

The grafitti portrays the bizarre evolution of man-thing and makes use of everyday objects and surfaces found in a typical inner city block. Now if we could only persuade the ghetto gang-bangers to lay down their glocks and devote their spray cans to art!

Definitely awesome stuff. Here is another vid.

Make sure you check out the artist BLU’s site. He has a bunch of other amazing drawings and videos.

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Find a friend with explosive diarrhea, punch him in the stomach, and deftly catch the resultant  on a few black t-shirts. What do you get? Yes! The latest crop of illegible metal logos! AC’s first illegible metal logo post was really popular, so I thought I’d compile a second list of the finest, splattery examples of the art form.

Drawn from the cartoonishly twisted world of extreme metal, goregrind and related genres, these band logos try their best to hide their names from the viewer–after all, only sell-out bands have names that you can actually “read” or lyrics you can actually “understand”…..

Xasthur

Wolves in the Throne Room

Waking the Cadaver

Vomitory

Summoning

Sublime Cadaveric Decomposition

Spermswamp

Senthil

Nightbringer

Nagaroth

Methadone Abortion Clinic

Korgonthurus

Katharsis

Gutrot

Goat’s Ass Trumpet

Embryonic Depravity

Bosque

Bloodbath

Bestial Summoning

Abyssmal Nocturne

Be sure to check out Illegible Metal Logos Part I

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I’m a little late in running across pixlr’s amazing photo editor, surely a godsend if you’re po’.

Photoshop would be hard to improve upon– the industry heavyweight has everything a casual user, a professional graphic designer and everyone in between could ever want.

But of course there is a drawback–unless you’re “young, black and famous, with money hangin’ out the anus”, buying a legit copy is a major investment. There are of course other methods *cough* demonoid *cough* but that would of course be wrong…

Enter pixlr.com, a site which allows the user to access an amazing photoshop-esque interface and many of the familiar features of Adobe’s cash cow. And all at the charming price of $0.00! No longer will people toil in the dark ages under the tyranny of the retarded child emperor known as MS paint. A reasonable editor is now within the grasp of anyone with a internet connection and basic PS skillz.


You have Swedish programmer Ola Sevandersson to thank for the application. He spent over a year refining it in his spare time and the result is something very functional and very free. I wonder if he’ll get sued? I hope not. I think its far more likely Adobe would buy the software…but who knows….

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My first thought was that it was some kind modern hippie protest against materialism, similar to a satanist’s or political protester’s inversion of the cross or flag.

But it turns out that trees were hung upside down in Germany in the 12th century and may have had some religious symbolism attached to them.

Many consider such trees to be offensive to the Christmas spirit, and ugly to boot. The rebellious conifer is even the reigning champ at http://ugly-christmas-trees.com/, a website that does indeed exist…But its anyone’s guess if they’ll be making a widespread appearence this Yule.

images: thegreenhead.com

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Enter the Museum of Bad Art, a collection of works so bad that they’re good. Well not really–they’re just bad. The stated purpose of the MOBA is “to bring the worst of art to the widest of audiences,” a promise they fulfill admirably. From loathsome landscapes to poopy portraits, the works have only one thing in common–they must be cleansed in fire.

http://www.museumofbadart.org/

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Adrian Knopik’s designs are surely some of the best I’ve ever seen, and his creations have a wide range of use–from clothing and logos to advertising.

Check out the artist’s page to see more stunning works and to contact him.

found at: http://www.behance.net/RARRFC

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