Coming soon: Fenny and I as the 60's Cobra Typing Pool of Evil
My partner-in-crime Fenny (of Little Asian Sweatshop) and I have started a habit of dressing up in matching outfits at conventions we work, because we are total dorks and LOVE wearing thematically appropriate outfits. We both LOVE dressing up. It's one of the things that brought us together in the early years of our friendship, as we met through the cosplay culture of anime and comic conventions in the late 90's. We both lived in Maryland at the time and went to many conventions in the mid Atlantic, but only attended as cosplayers/fans as opposed to working. It was fun and crazy and we'd wear 3 different costumes a day and pose for pictures and party party party. And as a total goody-two-shoes all through my adolescent years, it was like going from Dawn Weiner to Party Monster over the span of a weekend. My John Hughes moment of the girl dressed for prom having the slow descent down the staircase to show how hot no one knew she was was for me coming down the hotel escalator at Katsucon '00 dressed in a vinyl catsuit as my childhood hero The Baroness from G.I.Joe. Random nerds threw themselves before me and pledged allegiance. Dudes ran up to their hotel rooms to find their Cobra tshirt they KNOW they packed. Friends that knew me didn't recognize me. I had so many people stop me for pictures it was like I was on the red carpet. It was bonkers.
My first cosplay- Pikachu at Otakon 1998.
Subsequent costumes followed.
During this time I was attending and then graduated from the Kubert School where I was studying to pursue my lifelong dream of being a comic book artist, so attending conventions suddenly shifted from being a fun place to hang out in a crazy outfit while blitzed out of your mind to a veritable job fair-meets-minefield full of potential coworkers, mentors and bosses. And there were the opinions my heroes- people whose creations I had been following since childhood to worry about. So thinking I could have my cake and eat it too, I would wear a costume and try to schlep my portfolio around to different creators for advice and editors for jobs. It didn't work out very well.
Dragon*Con 03 Fenny and I were 5th Element Stewardesses
Portfolio reviews on a convention floor are tough enough on their own, but add a vinyl catsuit and a water bottle full of not-so-secret vodka to the mix and you will become a very sweaty, anxious, distracting mess. It still hadn't occurred to me at the time to just say screw it and get my own table to sell my wares and share my work. Get people to come to me instead. Cuz yeah, walking around for portfolio reviews as a young artist is a soul-crushing experience. You're waiting in lines, during a busy show where a lot of people are around you having fun, only to have your best and brightest works be torn down within minutes by a tired, irritable corporate servant looking for someone worthy (ie: safe or a sure bet) of spending the company's money. Which was never me. So I would keep drawing my weird punk rock characters and pinup girls and work my cliche Generation X slacker jobs- barista at an internet cafe, courier, tv/stereo salesperson, Tower Records store artist (the BEST) and Hot Topic manager. And go to conventions where I'd sink a crazy amount of money into costumes that I'd wear for a few hours then never see again. It was ludicrous. I wish I could go back in time and shake myself until the connection of costumes, conventions and retail would light up in my dulled 20's brain sooner.
D*C 03, Fenny and I as poppy and mushroom fairies
I mean eventually it did happen, but I had to really get my life sorted before I had the courage to just put myself out there on an Artist Alley table. I had gone into a full depression in my life outside of conventions and was in an absolute rut personally and professionally. I suffered abuse, had my heart broken and made some really bad choices. Fortunately through a very tumultuous 2004-2007 I was able to get rid of my toxic friends (except Fenny of course, who's awesome), start dating my now-husband Phil Balsman and move to New York City to get an actual art/design related day job. These changes all had profound impacts on me. You can read all about that struggle HERE.
HOODIE OF SADNESS
As I was preparing to get my life together I started to take a step back from cosplay and started focusing more on the pinup aesthetic in both my art and my lifestyle. I also started getting attention for my art outside of the comic and convention culture via roller derby bout posters. I finally was starting to get recognition and realized I didn't necessarily need the approval of the editor reviewing portfolios. To be honest the lofty teenage pipedream of drawing X-Men as a monthly book kinda died years ago. I have friends from college who draw on monthly books. Once you see how a job like that can just grind you into the ground it looks a lot less appealing for a slacker like me. I'd much rather do a comic at my own pace. So instead my newfound artistic outlet of roller derby took me out of obscurity in the comic world and put me in the spotlight of the aging punk/tattoo/DIY/ counterculture, which is full of people all are trying to scrape by and figure out how to just get paid enough to survive doing the silly crap we love to do. This boost of confidence from an audience that was very receptive to my work was what I needed my first time selling at Baltimore Comic Con 2007, after I had moved to NYC the spring before. I was so afraid of failure I didn't tell anyone I was coming down for the show. I was terrified my toxic friends would show up and sabotage my hard work. All I had was prints and no other merch. It was very bare bones. I wore JEANS at the table and sat most of the time (which is UNHEARD of nowadays with me...). I don't remember how much I made or any real solid details but I do recall it being an overwhelmingly positive experience. Enough that I've been going to conventions in a professional capacity ever since. As I went to more and more shows I started using my sales and merchandising training from all my past retail jobs and started applying that to selling stuff I actually could stand behind with full confidence: my own artwork. Every convention is an exercise in trial-and-error, but they most
especially were those first 2-3 years. Awkward merch on precarious
displays. Too many things of stuff no one wants to buy. Overly
complicated signage. You learn something every show you go to. Even the
bad ones. Especially the bad ones.
My first table- Baltimore Comic Con 07. I had no idea what I was doing.
Around this time in my mid-late 20's I was coming into my own physically with quite a bit of a LADY shape. Surprising enough, for most it's a shock that I didn't always look the outrageously curvaceous way I do now. I was a very late bloomer. In 2004 I was going to hip-hop concerts and had no tattoos and was wearing knitted beanies in the summertime like a doofus. At one point I had a super corporate job where I forced myself to dress like a Sunday school teacher. I've gone through a lot of phases. I wasn't cosplaying at all by 2005, but me being me I needed an outlet to
wear what I want. Too many hoodies will depress a person. I missed
feeling and looking like a lady. I also had started getting to know about some other people in Baltimore (outside of the veritable noose that was my circle of friends at the time) via roller derby, and through friends-of-friends encountered Stacey Barich, founder of Atomic Cheesecake Studios. Fortunately through Stacey's photography studio I was introduced to pinup and midcentury fashion, and started incorporating nicer, more structured clothing into my wardrobe that was made to accentuate my body. I looked like a cartoon! I looked like MY cartoons!! But other than conventions, where can I even wear stuff like this and not get made fun of or harassed? Still living in suburban Maryland I didn't want to pull up at the fratty college bar and do a shooter in a tiny hat and corset. Or wear vintage fur and gloves to go over and pick up weed. Not having outlets for awesome outfits was driving me crazy. It wasn't until I moved to NYC that I felt comfortable dressing how I wanted to, because EVERYTHING in NYC is so crazy all the time that it's really not that big of a deal. I started going to events like burlesque shows and art openings where eccentric dress is actually rewarded with compliments and not with drunk rednecks screaming at you from across parking lots. NYC is truly a place where eccentrics like me can run free in their native habitat.
2008-2013's ensembles and costumes. A slippery slope indeed.
Once I started running my own tables and got a pleasant reception about my work, my confidence boosted. This might be a surprise to those of you who have met me in person, but I'm kinda socially awkward. Daresay a bit of a wallflower. At actual social events, I tend to stick to the sidelines. Without the visual aid of my artwork and merch, it's kinda hard to tell the average person what it is I do all day. I've watched people's eyes glaze over as I explain how I letter manga for my dayjob. That doesn't happen nearly as much at conventions I'm vending at. The Artist Alley table I stand behind and the silly outfits I wear are my sword and my shield. I've said before in a previous entry on here and I've said it a zillion times over since, I'm like one of those deep sea fish with the dangly light- I bring people to my table with my big, bright ensembles and sparkling personality then chomp down on them with the concept that I drew (and now SELL) all the artwork in front of me on the table. Some people are actually shocked. "You drew all this stuff?", they say. And it's like yeah, dude I frickin' hustle. As fun as this all is, it's still WORK. I'm my own booth babe. (I actually found a tshirt that says that.) Wearing outfits and getting dressed for conventions makes people happy to see me and that's a nice feeling. It's hard to be in a bad mood while wearing a fantastical outfit and surrounded by positivity and excitement. And especially with the more costumey-spin I've been doing with my convention outfits- it's a way to show my love for a character or property in my own way and on my own terms. Especially superheroes. Like I love both Wonder Woman and Power Girl. I see a lot of myself in them. But as much as I love them, I really don't want to run around with my ass hanging out. Hence why I made them both retro ensembles that evoke the character without having to wear a lycra jumpsuit. That's where being an artist comes in handy. Most of the characters I draw wear what I would wear. My art imitates my life and my life imitates my art. Those costumes (seen in the above collage) are literally items just hanging out in my closet. My Power Girl dress is my *wedding dress*! And then it just makes it awesomer to encounter people who really feel what I'm doing. If I'm gonna go through all the trouble of stepping away from my art and leaving the comfort of my house and getting myself hyped up to talk to people for hours upon hours with no break then goddammit I'm gonna at least look cute and make money. Haha.
So the original reason I wanted to post this! Fenny and I are dressing up as an evil 60's Cobra typing pool! It's like Mad Men-meets-G.I.Joe! It's basically all stuff from my closet!! Yay! So I'm dressing up of course as The Baroness (revisiting one of my 'classic cosplays') and Fenny is being the HR manager!
It's basically just me with a Cobra patch.
Fenny's gonna look ADORABLE.
Other outfits Fenny and I are doing:
The Monster's Mate (aka Phyllis Dyller) and Francesca from Mad Monster Party for Monster Mania in October
Victorian swimmer ladies at Visionary Tattoo Arts Festival in July!
"An immersive theater experience combining a hospital ward, the
writings of Lewis Carroll, and just 15 audience members per show.
Then She Fell is a fully immersive, multi-sensory experience in which
only 15 audience members per performance explore a dreamscape where
every alcove, corner, and corridor has been transformed into lushly
designed world. Inspired by the life and writings of Lewis Carroll, it
offers an Alice-like experience for audience members as they explore the
rooms, often by themselves, in order to discover hidden scenes;
encounter performers one-on-one; unearth clues that illuminate a
shrouded history; use skeleton keys to gain access to guarded secrets;
and imbibe elixirs custom designed by one of NYC’s foremost
mixologists."
Immersive theater has become one of my new favorite things in recent years. There are few opportunities in this world as an adult to totally give yourself over to your imagination and play along within a fantasy alongside actors in sets constructed to make you believe you are in another world. I frequently refer to immersive theater as 'Chucky Cheese for goths'. As I have started to get more involved in writing my own stories for my eventual comic Pearly Whites, these experiences have been paramount in jumpstarting my creativity. To be able to give yourself over to such fantastical situations has given me so much inspiration.
HELL YEAH special Alice in Wonderland themed outfit for the occasion.
I was introduced to the concept of immersive theater with the noir-themed take on MacBeth that is Sleep No More, which I talk about at length in one of my most popular blog posts ever (guest starring Dita Von Teese!). Though there are to be inevitable comparisons between Then She Fell and
Sleep No More, they both have their own strengths and weaknesses. Like the above description states, Then She Fell has only 15 audience members per show. This is definitely something which puts it over Sleep No More, which in it's popularity has caused a veritable cattle call of people clogging stairways, looking at their smuggled phones in disinterest and aggressively crowding around actors in order to attain the coveted 1:1. With a smaller audience at TSF in a much more intimate venue, the itch for the 1:1 experience a seasoned Sleep No More fan such as myself desires is scratched for the full 2 hour runtime of the show. The already small audience gets broken down into smaller and smaller fractions as you are led around the Victorian hospital setting by ushers dressed as nurses. The tracks are specific, so you are not free to roam like in SNM, but this also allows you to experience everything the show has to offer and you never feel as though you've missed something. As a SNM veteran, I was used to being right behind actors, keeping pace so as not to miss anything. Doing this with the ushers of TSF, as I found myself being at the front of a group of three being led down dark corridors to another room, by the time we would reach our destination I would realize that the people behind me were snatched up by other actors and taken to other rooms for their own experiences and I was alone with mine. TSF does amazing things with the spaces provided. Some of the rooms you are placed in are no bigger than a walk-in closet but are transformed into these vignettes between you and an actor where you're asked to take part in the story much like Alice herself. In one room you are prompted to take down notes as a very handsome yet sad Lewis Carroll dictates a love letter to you. In another you are prompted to help paint roses red, surrounded by dried bouquets. One of my favorite scenes was in one of the bigger rooms that contained the Mad Tea Party. The dancing is amazing and you even get to sit alongside the Hatter and company- just be ready to "CHANGE PLACES", of course. One of the only things I think fell flat was the usage of skeleton keys. At the beginning of the night you are issued a ring of keys that you are free to use around the rooms for various lockboxes, drawers and closets. In my experience it was a novel idea at first but I soon kept running across the same Xeroxed paperwork from mental institutions, old photos and poetry over and over again. I think it's almost unnecessary. But that's me. Overall I loved the experience of Then She Fell and highly suggest you check it out if you're ever in the NYC area. I actually lucked out incredibly with this show as the venue is a mere 15 minute walk from my house.
The letter you get at the end of the night. I thought it was nice. ^_^
Bonus:
So when Fenny and I attended back in November, who was in the super-small audience with us but Neil Patrick Harris and his husband David Burtka!! We didn't run into either of them during the actual show, but we were in the room with them at the beginning and end of the show. They were just as well-dressed and fit as you would expect. It was pretty funny because the show was running late because of them and as we're sitting in the waiting room with the other members of the audience they come in like 15 minutes late and I'm all 'geez who are these assholes' under my breath and they turn around and I'm all HOLY SHIT (to myself). Meanwhile, Fenny is completely clueless and as they sit down two seats from me I nudge her and say in her ear 'do you promise not to freak out?' to which she's all 'huh?' and I say 'that's fucking NPH and his husband right there'. Fenny looked over and gasped and I pinched her leg and rasped in her ear 'be cool! be cool!!!!' She was. At the end of the show they got their coats and were whisked away from the venue in a private car. So no one else freaked out either from what I know. Added an extra touch of weirdness to an already surreal night. Haha.
With the recent and incredibly sad news on the death of film director Tony Scott, I figured I should pay tribute to the director of True Romance (my 3rd favorite movie of all time) in the best way I know how- with some good ol' Paigey fanart. Sucks that so many of the fanart-type pieces I've been doing lately are in reaction to someone involved dying. :\
I think I kinda started a trend with myself a couple weeks ago with my Things I Love Thursday Special Edition entry for Sleep No More, which a lot of people seemed to enjoy (myself included). So I'm gonna talk about something else I love at length this go-around, being my 2nd favorite movie in the whole wide world, The Phantom of the Paradise!
With added reason for this 'TILT' entry, being that the Phantom himself, actor William Finley sadly passed away a few weeks ago, which inspired me to draw a portrait of the titular tragic hero he portrayed.
"My music is for Phoenix. Only she can sing it. Anyone else who tries, dies."
If you've never heard of it, it's Brian De Palma's 1974 Satanic/psychedelic rock opera based on a combination of Phantom of the Opera, Faust and The Picture of Dorian Grey. A scathing satire of the music industry, it's the first of DePalma's movies to use the split-screen method he would use again during the infamous pigs blood scene in Carrie. The entire movie also features an amazing original soundtrack by legendary singer/songwriter Paul Williams (who wrote The Rainbow Connection... so yeah...) who also plays the movie's villain, the nefarious record producer Swan. The late William Finley plays Winslow Leach, an ill-fated singer/songwriter who amazingly terrible circumstances becomes the Phantom and terrorizes Swan's music palace The Paradise. I always love movies about talented musicians (or artists) that are just starting out that get swooped up into the cutthroat world of recording/business, then screwed over only to exact their sweet revenge. Or something to that effect. Mostly I just love movies about the music biz and the crazy egos involved, especially with 70s-80s rock.
Here's the schlocky, grindhouse-esque trailer!
Though Phantom, like all my favorite movies, is a bit of an acquired taste and not for everyone (my parents turned it off before Swan's big reveal), if you're a fan of crazy cult movies I highly suggest checking it out. I first saw Phantom in high school and then subsequently went on to buy it on VHS, then DVD and have been slowly collecting the few various bits of merch that they have had available. I own a replica of the Phantom helmet that I sat on a waiting list for 3 years to be able to purchase. Even though I no longer cosplay, I reserve a very strong desire to construct a femme version of the Phantom's costume for a *dream* photoshoot. Ugh, those would be the coolest publicity shots ever. What a way to truly capture my nerdy insanity. Haha... One day... I also have the ultra-rare Medicom Real Action Heroes figure of the Phantom as well, which I purchased 5 years ago ago at Toy Tokyo in NYC when I first moved here for $150, which compared to current eBay listings is a steal. My husband also drew me Phantom fanart for my first birthday we spent together as a couple.
My coworker made a quick little video of me when
I *finally* got the helmet in the mail at work.
What I love about the music in Phantom is how the same songs are played over and over in different genres and by different musicians and it all sounds awesome. They really push that idea in the movie, about the importance of the music, not necessarily who sings/performs it. I really wish there was a full version of the random country guy singing 'Faust' and Beef's over-the-top version of 'Old Souls'. Also, Beef is AMAZING. Though he's only onscreen for the second act, everything he says/does is comedy gold. He's usually everyone's favorite, he's such a great character.
There's been heresay that the Phantom's costume inspired the look of Darth Vader, what with the gnarly yet awesome voicebox and imposing black leather getup. No word whether this is true, but it's an interesting connection. Phantom is actually the favorite movie of one of my most favorite directors, being Edgar Wright of Shawn of the Dead/Scott Pilgrim fame, which is super cool and makes me love his work even more. Edgar Wright has a very touching tribute to William Finley on his blog, that you can see here. The parallels of Swan to Scott Pilgrim's Gideon Graves are such a sweet Phantom phanservice (see what I did there?) that I couldn't help but nerd out when I saw it. There was also talk of them remaking it back in the day (about 10-12 years ago) with Marilyn Manson as The Phantom, but that fell through. While I think this movie is perfect the way it is- such a product of it's time, I gotta admit seeing Manson dressed as the Phantom during his Mechanical Animals heyday would be kinda awesome. Though I'd hate to see a remake, it'd have been pretty sweet if they had done an homage to it for a video or something. Manson has the perfect face to go under the Phantom helmet.
If you haven't seen Phantom yet I hope you give it a chance. It's a strange yet beautiful gem of a movie full of great music, iconic characters and some hilarious scenes.
(I know! I haven't done a TILT entry in awhile- I apologize. But this is definitely something I couldn't *NOT* do an entry for.)
Sleep No More is this off-Broadway play/haunted house/experience in New York City that is described as 'immersive theater', which sounds totally artsy-fartsy but is actually awesome. The actual 'play' you are seeing is a mash-up of MacBeth and Alfred Hitchcock, but instead of the actors speaking lines there's interpretive dancing and acrobatics and screaming and grunting. It's a lot cooler than it sounds, trust me. What it really reminds me of is stuff like Dark City and Disney's The Haunted Mansion, which are two things I adoooore. As an audience member you have free reign (sorta...) of this giant 'Hotel' that is composed of 6 floors and like over a 100 rooms or something. But you have to wear this Plague Doctor-y mask (very Eyes Wide Shut) and are not permitted to talk within the hotel. Except for in the Manderley Bar, which is like if SNM were Pac-Man and the audience members were ghosts, the Manderley would be that little box in the middle. So you wander the halls of this giant expanse of a hotel, and there's sections of rooms that look like the creepy inside of a house, a Londony street, a graveyard, an abandoned looney bin, and you look for actors to follow or dig around in drawers or just wander and take in the amazing production value. The lighting, the sound and the set designs are all top notch. I would absolutely love to see the control room of that show, like the people who run SNM should get ahold of one of those techie cable shows and have a Behind the Scenes special or something. God that'd be cool. But yeah, there's lots of gleaming reviews of the show and it's running til June now and you should try and check it out if you can. Fortunately I'm local to NYC and can see it kinda-sorta whenever I want (it's expensive tho!) and have gotten to see it 3 times now- the more you see it and know what instances to look for the better your experience. You can book tickets here at the site. But there's this whole cult following of it- message boards, tumblrs, long meandering blog threads. Just start Googling around, you'll find all sorts of neat shit.
Don't you love how if you wanna talk about a Sleep No More experience you've gotta send 20 minutes setting it up for the people who've never heard of it? Haha, the other SNM addicts get me.
Ok, but what I *really* want to talk about is my 1:1 bait-and-switch experience with Hecate the Red Witch and burlesque superstar Dita Von Teese. That's what's really cool about SNM, everyone's story is different. Mine is kinda extra-awesome though. Just sayin'.
First, some mood music:
Ok, so I went to Sleep No More with my friend Paul who came up from Baltimore to come see the show with me on a Saturday a little over a month ago. His first time, my third. My first time I had no 1:1, the second time I got the 1:1 with the Nurse in the hedge maze. I'm a huge, HUGE fan of the show. Paul, being a typical first timer, stuck to me like glue the first 45 minutes and I walked him around showing him the coolest rooms to come back to and eventually shook him while one of the actors went tearing down the street scene. Cuz all the cool shit happens when you're by yourself. We were one of the last groups in on the final Saturday show of the night, so it was pretty packed. Stairways got clogged, people got pushed, I was starting to get pissy because alot of the crowd was very douchey. So I went to Hecate's bar/lair since it's one of the places that's always pretty cool and Hecate is always fun to watch. I go in and she's just finishing her lip-synch to 'Is That All There Is?' to about 20 people and starts laughing and hanging off some of the audience members, then stops at me and this other girl and the very end of the crowd closest to the door to the alley. It's become obvious she's looking for a 1:1 now and her and I lock eyes. The other girl got visibly uncomfortable with her being so close and kind of shrunk away. Hecate looks me over and smiles and grabs my hand and we continue holding each others gaze as she starts leading me to the alley door she'll frequently disappear into. My hearts in my throat. Everyone starts following us out into the alley. She leads me to the door and whispers in my ear 'Wait here...' all sexy and throaty, then disappears into the door, which is bathed in this red light. The other girl who didn't get picked is next to me again, impatiently tries to turn the knob and gets stopped by a Black Mask. No one else heard Hecate say 'Wait here', so eventually people start filing out of the alley, leaving me alone with the Black Mask outside Hecate's door for like 45 seconds. So the door opens again, but it's this dark blue light and a woman that's not Hecate whose face I can't see (guess whoooo???) holds her perfectly manicured hand out to mine and I take it. This woman, with her back to me, leads me into what looks like an old-timey dressing room. I can't see her face, I already notice her hair is black and perfectly vintage styled and the hand she's leading me with has this amazingly sparkly bracelet I'm transfixed by. Also, I'm rather tall, like 5'8" and I was wearing flats, and she came up to my nose. So, she leads me into the room, slowly turns around and it is revealed: DITA VON TEESE and I are going to have a 1:1. HOLY SHIT. Like, my eyes must have been GIGANTIC. So she smiles and reaches up and takes my mask off and says "It's you." And me, all sweat-faced and shiny from running and wide-eyed whisper back "Holy crap, it's *you*." She smiles knowingly at me and leads me over to a couch, coffee table and stool, and motions for me to sit on the stool as she sits on the couch right next to me. Like, knee-to-knee. Alone in this room. With Dita. Who I am a big fan of. Yeah, so I'm silently flipping out. My mind's going a mile a minute. I'm like hitting the 'record' button on my brain to try and take everything in. And OMG, she is SO PRETTY. Photos actually do not do her justice. Plus I mean I'm seeing her under perfect sepia lighting and slight fog and fucking Hitchcock music, so it's like the ultimate Dita viewing conditions.
She's even PRETTIER in real life.
(And this is where everything crazy happens and I might have some memory fail. It was A LOT to process, so bear with me.)
Dita pours a cup of tea from the elaborate tea set on the coffee table, puts the cup and saucer in my hands, then holds my hands holding the cup. She then starts to tell me a story about 7 ships that were sent out to sea, but one was lost. She reaches over to the table and pulls out a tiny folded paper ship and sets it on top of the tea in the teacup. Meanwhile, in amazing SNM fashion, the lighting is slowly, slowly changing from sepia to bluish grey and the music is fading out to the sounds of the ocean and ship bows bending. (I swear if SNM doesn't get any awards I'll be so mad.) Dita places her hands back on mine and says that the ship that was lost fell upon a storm, and starts moving our hands so that the tea in the teacup bobs the tiny boat up and down. The storm noises become louder. Thunder cracks. I'm not sure to look at Dita or look at the tea. It's so damn tense. She says something about how the ship sinks, and pushes the boat down into the tea with her finger. She then sets the cup and saucer back down on the table, takes out the wet paper ship and mashes it into my palm, all the while looking me directly in the eye and says gravely 'All has changed and will never be the same.' (I think. I'm freaking out by now. That's what I heard, at least.)
Hecate scared the SHIT outta me.
MEEEANWHILE, Hecate had at some point slipped in the room unbeknownst to me, and comes around from behind me sliding her hand down my arm with this giant psychotic smile, scaring the ever loving shit out of me. Like, I HAD to of jumped. My face must have been priceless. I think Hecate put her finger to my lips to go 'Shhhhh…' then holds out her hand to me and loudly says 'All has changed and will never be the same.', because the storm/thunder/ship noises are really loud now. There might have even been wind. They start repeating 'All has changed and will never be the same.' over and over, and Hecate motions me her hand and I take it. She leads me into a pitch black closet and she comes in with me, hanging off me and cackling and spinning me around and someone sprayed me with water like it was the ocean and there were some strobes like lightning and I honestly thought 'This must be what going insane is like.' and even I started laughing with Hecate and going 'Holy fuck I'm gonna die!'. Then, everything stopped. Black silence. Hecate immediately backed up off me, I felt my mask hurriedly get put back on my face and I was pushed out a secret door at the back of the closet into Hecate's other room where she keeps all the flowers and herbs. I broke the silence rule to breathlessly exclaim 'WHAT THE FUCK.' And leaned against the back wall for a little bit the process everything. I realized I lost my fascinator on my mask and kinda shrugged it off as a sacrifice to the 'Story Gods'. Fortunately it was homemade and is easy to recreate. Maybe Hecate has it? But yeah, I saw Dita two other times that night- sitting with Hecate at the Blood Orgy where I dragged Paul once I saw him again not 5 minutes after my 1:1, and then after the show at the Manderley Bar when she was out of character with friends at a table. I was way too shy to talk to her, so I totally just watched her in awe like a weirdo. In hindsight I probably should have said *something* to her cuz her being a fan of the show herself I'm sure she'd love to hear the amazing job she did. Cuz holy crap, they GOT me GOOD.Honestly, I would love to see the script for this scene I had. Or see it from the outside. That's the crazy thing about this immersive theater shit, it's not like you can rewind it and watch it again. That experience was for what? 4 people that night? Out of however many people go to SNM. I consider myself SUPER lucky to have gotten to see this super rare scene.
Hecate's Apothecary- where I ended up after my 1:1. Alone.
What's also super funny is that the day I was headed to Sleep No More I had posted about it on my Facebook, and one of my friends mentioned how Dita Von Teese has tweetd that day about the show and that maybe I'd see her there. And I remember literally going 'Psssht. Yeah right!!'. But hey- goes to show you that you never know!
What I wore for the show!
PS: As much as I love SNM though it is not for everyone. You will have to work up your imagination and suspend some disbelief to get the most out of the show. As annoyed as I was with all the people pushing and clogging up stairways I still was able to save the entire night by landing that 1:1, which was one of the most surreal and amazing moments in my life, and I was extremely lucky to get the opportunity to experience it. Some people want a 1:1 so badly that the desperation puts the actors off. The actors are amazingly perceptive. They pay attention to what you wear and various visual and gestural queues that will tell them if you are an unappreciative douchebag demanding to be entertained. I’ve seen people during an obvious choosing of 1:1’s thrust their open hand right out in front of an actor who obviously wants someone else. You gotta play it cool, daddio. They’re looking for people who are into the show. I wore a retro cocktail gown (that was stretchy so I could run if needed) and clipped a feather fascinator to my mask so I would actually stand out amongst a sea of otherwise anonymous audience members. You gotta respect and love the show, it may love you back in amazing ways.
***Butthole Surfer's 'Who Was in My Room Last Night?' video***
You ever see something during your formative years that you forget about as you get older only to revisit it as an adult and find out it had a huge subconscious impact on you as a person? That's what I realized about this video. All the hot rod, low brow, kustom kulture stuff that I always had an interest in but only became a serious fan of in the past 3 years or so can probably be traced to me at 12 watching this video on Mtv and having my pasteurized suburban vanilla adolescent mind blown away. I had no idea what I was looking at but I wanted to. Unfortunately it being in the dark ages before the internet, I couldn't look up on Google who did the art for the video (which was Robert Williams, one of the founders of the low brow art movement) and me being a shy, nerdy 12 year old who was still holding on to her Ninja Turtle action figures, I was too intimidated by the 'cool' people in my neighborhood/school/limited social circles to ask about music or bands or anything. So it gestated for about 18 years til I randomly checked out the video on Youtube 18 years later. And all the pieces fell into place.
***Liquid Television's Dog Boy segment***
"Dooooog booooooy!!!! AWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOO------!!"
I've sang the praises of Mtv's Liquid Television before. Oh back when Mtv had smart, relevant programming and actually played videos. Sigh... what's truly upsetting is when you're an oldie like me you remember all this awesome stuff Mtv used to do, and then you see how far the network has fallen. I'm looking at you, Jersey Shore.
Anywho, Dog Boy is based off the work of cartoonist Charles Burns, famous for his run on Black Hole. I love the use of prosthetics, post-production shot framing that looks like a panel and crazy lighting and set design. Everything looks like a comic strip, and I can't get enough of that rubber hair.
***Java's Bachelor Pad Radio Podcast***
From the website: "Every week, The Bachelor Pad Radio Show features music every swinging bachelor needs to have. Lounge, cocktail, exotica, private-eye jazz, and even a touch of retro-swing from the likes of Esquivel, Martin Denny, Yma Sumac, Julie London, Les Baxter, Frank Sinatra, and many others. Tune in and enjoy! "
Java's Bachelor Pad radio is one of the only podcasts I listen to on a regular basis and it is for me the perfect music to draw to. With every episode I find at least 2-3 songs I simply HAVE to have on my iPod right after listening to it. Also, the Podcast ties in with Bachelor Pad magazine, which is a quarterly publication in the style of mid-century men's magazines. I have even taken ads out in a few issues for my blog!
I saw Trainspotting in the theater my junior year of high school on a quasi-date with a classmate. It was my choice of activity, and also our only date. I think I scared him. Haha, oh well. The movie blew my 15 year old brain away. Marcus Renton is also who I would be if I was a dude.
#4:
Streets of Fire
The most recent addition to my top movie list, I finally saw Streets of Fire about 2 years ago via Netflix after being curious about the video cover when I worked at Tower Records back in 2001. I love how dramatic it is, especially with half the songs on the soundtrack written by the great Jim Steinman, who also wrote for Meatloaf and Bonnie Tyler. It also has an evilly hot young Willam DaFoe looking amazing with his quiff and vinyl butcher overalls. And also has Lee Ving, lead singer of the 80's hardcore band Fear and Mr. Boddy from the Clue movie.
#3:
True Romance
I didn't see True Romance until about 2006. I had no idea it was written by Quentin Tarantino, and is his more optimistic version of Natural Born Killers (which he wrote later out of frustration that no one was interested in True Romance). Once I finally saw it though I was in love. Clarence and Alabama are just the absolute ideal of two people completely in love with each other. I even plan on getting my own version of the True Romance cupid tattoo on my inner upper left arm with the words 'You're so cool' in the banner eventually.
#2:
Phantom of the Paradise
I saw Phantom of the Paradise in high school and immediately loved it upon first viewing. The music, the visuals, THAT HELMET. I still want to make a 'femme' Phantom costume and make my BFF Fenny be a lady version of Swan. I've already got the helmet, just need the cape, catsuit and voicebox.
#1:
Rock & Rule
What can I say about Rock & Rule that I haven't already said? Haha, well, I'm going to get Angel, the female lead tattooed on my left arm this spring in Sailor Jerry classic pinup style by Cyn Rudzis, one of my new favorite tattooist. And I really need to just get on making some 'I survived the Mok concert' buttons. If not just for myself.
Soooo... I follow Pee-Wee on Twitter and he said he was going to be at Katz delicatessen at noon, so I BOLTED down there from work (in Midtown) and actually got to meet him and give a fan testimonial! He was going around the city all day today for a promo thing with foursquare and his upcoming Broadway show, which I'm actually going to for my 30th birthday at the end of the month (2nd row center) as a birthday gift from my BFF Fenny. Let me just say- this was a dream come true. My hands were shaking so bad when I met him. Pee-Wee is totally my childhood hero and one of the first people in life who taught me that it's totally awesome to be yourself, no matter how quirky that might be.
The Kurgan from the first Highlander movie has been one of my all time favorite movie villains since high school. Played by the amazing and versatile actor Clancy Brown, The Kurgan is so unapologetically vile, ruthless and brutal that he easily eclipses Christopher Lambert as the real star of the show. And he's just so... so... METAL! His leather jacket has ONE SLEEVE! And SAFETY PINS IN HIS NECK!!! ::swoon:: And he's got the sexiest evil voice ever. I dunno, I just love a villain who sounds like he swallowed a bag of gravel.
Fortunately someone on the internet made a music video of the best Kurgan scenes that properly displays that which makes him so awesome. TO MOTORHEAD. ::squeeeee::
I even started to draw The Kurgan for fun a few months back, but alas deadlines, commissions and other priorities got in the way and so my unfinished sketch sits on my cubicle wall at work, waiting for me to finish him. ::sigh::
***Strolling Tables***
Strolling tables are what looks to be a new thing to hit the party/entertaining scene where a costumed showgirl or drag queen is in the middle of a circular table with a hole cut in the center that is lavishly decorated and serves a double function of serving table and hostess.
Dude, so should've done this for my Artist Alley table at New York Comic Con- THAT would show them! Ah well, there's always next year when they inevitably reject me... again. /bitter You can see more strolling tables at Screaming Queens- so frigging cool. Now I wanna make one myself, that looks like a giant polka dotted pinup girl dress.
***Simon's Cat***
I was recently shown the Simon's Cat cartoons through a friend who posted this one on her facebook. They are entirely too cute, and being a cat person I totally know exactly all of the scenarios all too well.
Comic Con 2010 trailer for The Walking Dead AMC tv series
I am SO EXCITED for this show. Come October I am kissing my ability to sleep soundly goodbye, since I am utterly terrified of the idea of a zombie apocalypse. I would rather fight the Wolfman, Dracula and Frankenstein all at once than have to fight thru a zombie apocalypse. I'm a HUGE fan of the comic series, I will devour each graphic novel in a single night when it comes out- it is the most realistic, heart-wrenching, dark, addictive comic I've read since Preacher. SO AMAZING. What's truly amazing about this series, is that eventually it doesn't so much become about zombies being the scary big bad of the series as much as the possibility of other humans our band of protagonists run into in their journey and what their motivations could be. Because really the only people who would survive an apocalypse are those that would be capable of only the worst possible things. At least you know the zombie's motivations. The humans could sidle up all nice and then boom- death and dismemberment. And to those of you who say it looks like 28 Days Later, the beginning is the only similarity, believe me. It really delves into the human condition. It's known as 'the zombie movie that doesn't end'.
***Tura Satana***
OMG, Tura needs no explanation on why I love her. Just watch this little snippet of an interview, you'll see.
What's funny is I've been familiar with Tura quotes from Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill! since high school thanks to samples used in White Zombie albums. I only in the past couple years have familiarized myself with her sheer awesomeness. I even got a shirt from Pinup Girl Clothing that resembles the one she wore in Pussycat. Pair that shit with some black pants and I can make believe I'm Varla, her bad-ass alter ego. I know I definitely want to draw a picture of Varla one day. Oh yes...
***The music from Bonk's Adventure***
Bonk rules. Released in 1990, it was on the Turbo Grafix 16. My brother and I were lucky enough to get a system at launch cuz my dad won a sweepstakes at Toys R Us and even luckier we had an awesome Mom n' Pop video game rental place in the neighborhood. (Video Game Exchange! Hollah!) So that summer we were the coolest kids on the block. I was *obsessed* with Bonk when I was 9, it was one of t he few games I was actually kinda decent at. If I remember correctly it might've even been the first game I ever beat.
So in pursuit of new blog content I am going to attempt to post 'Things I Love Thursdays', which are when every Thursday you post a small pictoral list of the things you are currently into. A few blogs I follow have been doing it and I think it's a neat idea. Hopefully I can keep it up!
***Ddukbokki***
OM NOM NOM OM OMG! I have recently become obsessed with delicious, delectable ddukbokki since my friend took me to a Korean barbecue joint in K-town for my birthday last year. Apparently it's a popular street food in Korea. It reminds me almost of giant barbecue flavored Spagetti-O's that I get to eat with chopsticks.
***Blue Oyster Cult- Veteran of the Psychic Wars***
If I ever did burlesque, I'd so do a spacegirl number to Blue Oyster Cult's Veterans of the Psychic Wars. In a blue vinyl catsuit with silver gloves and boots. With a fog machine. And blue lights. And a bubble helmet. And it would be glorious. And yeah, I know, I say 'if I ever did burlesque, I'd do a blah blah number to blah blah song' alot. ;P I CAN DREAM CAN'T I??? Believe me, if I didn't have 8 million pieces of artwork to do all the time I would sooo have jumped up on stage by now. Maybe one day when I go freelance and my side work becomes my work-work I can supplement my desire for extra-curriculars with rhinestones and pasties. In the meantime however, I'll just listen to this on my headphones on repeat every morning on the subway.
