Will the real cover please stand up? Dec.31.2011 For the past seven years or so we have thought that bay area publication SF Weekly have taken some of our covers and used them for inspiration. Season after season their cover “inspiration” have inched closer to conceptual and artistic knockoffs of UM. The prevailing theory is that imitation is the highest form of flattery, so it’s never bothered us. SF Weekly is a huge corporate publication, owned by the Village Voice etc… so it was almost a badge of honor for them to be copying us, a small guerrilla motorcycle publication! Their latest cover depicting the Occupy protests is similar to our cover in color, scope, message, artistic creativity and overall conceptual design. With the exception of course of the male protestor on their cover, it is very similar to ours. Also, doesn’t such a cover on a big corporation owned publication send a waft of hypocrisy into the air? Of course, it could be another coincidence by the SF Weekly, headquartered in the same “small big city” that we are. Our cover was revealed on the Internet and Facebook months before the latest edition of SF Weekly hit the stands. For your amusement here are some, not all because we don’t have the space, comparisons of the covers and features that are similar. In every instance our covers have come months before theirs. Being SF Weekly’s muse is one thing, but constantly being the victim of their copycat leanings is uncool and a blatant example of corporate ripoff of the little guy. Read more on page 6 Hey SF WEEKLY, thanks for showing us how to do a proper story on local boxers. We did it six months earlier, but we’re not real journalists like yourselves. We’re just a bunch of boxers and bikers who’ve taken too many shots to the head. We didn’t know you read our humble little ‘zine even though we share the same racks. Granted, our photographer Conan Soranno did just get an award for his controversial covers, so I can see how you would want to pay “homage” to his work. Whether DKNY makes an Armani suit or they remake Dirty Dancing, it can only get better with retro-engineering, right? We will admit that we missed the flash-point by trying to attach some kind of spiritual path to the brutalist of sports. We should’ve dropped some fresh hip-hop slang, f-bombs, money numbers, and pedantic quotes to describe our blood-brothers, then we would have got some sorely needed “street creds.” SFW thou hast hoisted us upon our own petards good sirs, the day is yours. If you want any more ideas let us know and we’ll send you a free subscription.