After two months, I’ve finally gotten the photos I took of the Pink Dots online. I’ll work on the write up later. It really was an amazing show. Edward Kaspel brought it. View All Images.
Over the weekend, my sister and sister-in-law came to visit in order to attend my grandmother’s 80th birthday party. My father’s side of the family is convinced that grandma could go at any time, so they’re determined to mark each passing year with an even better celebration than before. Of course, “grandma could go at anytime” has been a decades old theme. She’ll probably out-live us all. Regardless, it’s nice to come together as a family, chit-chat, play with all the new babies, dance, eat, drink, and see people I haven’t seen in a while.
As always, it’s delightful to visit with my sister. At least once a day, I can come up with some reason why I miss her. I realize she’s happier where she’s at, but I can’t help but wish she were still close by. She is inundated with family drama the moment she arrives. I feel bad complaining about my mother to her when I figure she’s just listened to my mother complain about me. Still, she manages to keep it together and remains diplomatic and sensible. Somehow, she manages to make sense out of the senseless.
And on this side of town, the eldest of my two brothers is living out of his car. Altercations with my mother have led him to be flung from the nest and he is currently seeking residence. I’m helping. I’m spending what little time I have to myself scouring Craigslist, helping him write emails, making calls, and giving him pointers. He needs help. I’ll help him. The most entertaining part of all this has been my showing him how to get the free internets on his laptop.
I am utterly stressed out. I can feel it seeping from my pores. I have so many things going on that all I really want to do is crawl under a rock. I haven’t seen my boyfriend in ages. He’s busy with his kids and work and I’m busy with work, the site, and my family. Who has time for anything?
In the midst of chaos, I attempt, feebly, to work on Dark Culture. Night before last, I updated the site design because the previous one was faulty. It worked, but would end up causing problems in the long run. I also find it calming to skim through code and labor over graphics. I’ve also sat down the last couple of nights and have put in some good podcasting time. I’m about half way through. I really only have short spurts of time to work on the site which is not quite enough time to get anything real done. There is so much to do and I fear I’m pissing people off due to lack of attention and failure to keep promises. It’s not for lack of want, it’s just a matter of time. I don’t have any.
Even though I just came back from Europe, I feel like I need a vacation. I just need a couple of real days to veg and update the site. Then I’ll be happy. I haven’t even had time to upload my vacation photos or…yeah, what about those Legendary Pink Dot photos? I might want to turn off my phone this weekend and ignore the world. I might not get a chance. Poor Cinka.
Amidst getting back to work and overcoming jet-lag, I managed to put up my photos from the Buzzcocks show at the Henry Fonda Theater.
Pete and the boys have seen better days, but they still managed to rock it old school style.
Images from the Kommunity FK show at The Knitting Factory are now online along with a brief write up.
I’m currently listening to the new Pet Shop Boys album. I knew they’d had one out, but forgot about it until now. It’s pretty good, but only if you already love the boys. They’re playing The Wiltern in October. Gotta go to that. Their new album “Fundamental” is reminiscent of old PSB albums…as if no time has passed since 1989. Excellent.
Today the Chinese food delivery guy called me “The Tofu Master”. For the last (I don’t know how many) years, I’ve been ordering the same thing from a great take-out place called Wok Master. Orange Tofu and egg rolls. It comes with white rice and I usually order a Dr. Pepper. It’s my treat to myself, generally ordering on a pay day or when I need a pick me up. It’s the best goddamn orange tofu in town…sometimes it’s soft and chewy. Sometimes it’s crisp and a little burnt. Ya never know what you’re going to get. All the delivery guys know me and I always laugh when the girl who answers the phone says “Cordover” instead of “Cordova”. Eight times out of ten, they forget my Dr. Pepper, but they’re a nice bunch of people and they make good food. I take it as a sign that I probably shouldn’t drink soda anyway. As for always ordering the same thing…I’ve tried their other dishes. They just don’t fill my belly with glee the way orange tofu does.
Today at work one of the models said she liked Celine Dion…and meant it. I felt bad for her.
The Last Dance is one of those bands that has been around for ages. Somehow, I never saw them live until recently. I’m so glad I did. They opened up for Kommunity FK and they’re absolutely marvelous. They interacted with the audience and lead singer Jeff Diehm shook his money maker. Even through it was a small crowd, the band gave it their all and I have the pictures to prove it.
Support the local scene. Visit The Last Dance online and buy their music.
My review of the new Deadfly Ensemble is now online:
I have in my possession the premiere release of The Deadfly Ensemble’s An Entire Wardrobe of Doubt and Uncertainty. I was, of course, the last person to receive it. Like the last person picked for teams in Dodge Ball. Still, it’s better late than never and better than not being picked at all. READ MORE
I’ve had little time to do anything Dark Culture related, but luckily, the new site allows me to pre-program content. I had several new items laying in wait, including our new monthly featurette For The Record. This month we query DJ Mistress McCutchan. Also, the second installment of High Priestess Enoch’s column “Gothic Grimoires” on Numerology.
I’ve been trying to add news to the NewWire on a daily basis, but there doesn’t seem much to go around. Over the years, I’ve attempted to get readers involved with the addition of news, but it just hasn’t caught on. The original idea was that the NewsWire would be a community effort. I don’t know if the format isn’t comfortable or people just don’t know about it. Now that SlashGoth is gone, I was thinking people might trickle in…but that doesn’t seem to be happening either. No time to think about it now.
I’m tired. Because of everything that’s going on, there will not be a new podcast this or next week. I’m completely consumed with family, work, helping out, scanning photos for the funeral reception, making phone calls. I need to dye my hair and I need a good night’s sleep. I marvel at how sweet everyone at work is being and am annoyed when someone can’t handle my life being worse than theirs, desperately needing to footnote their own tragedies. Or when someone doesn’t want to hear how horrible my life is right now…they’ll change the subject. People are funny. I haven’t got the energy to laugh.
Even though it was relatively busy at work this week, all I could think about was the new site. Inside my mind, the sound of wheels turning, thinking of new ideas, wondering if the site would crack under pressure. It hasn’t. The site has been running splendidly and traffic has been steady. I have more tasks than I can shake a stick at, but it’s good to be back in the hustle and bustle of Dark Culture life. Rusty, sure, but back on my feet. I’m making every attempt to be consistent and putting good effort into replying to email in a timely manner and fix minor bugs as they arise.
It’s Sunday. A nice, cool morning.
I went to the post office and thrift store yesterday. From the post office, I finally got the new Deadfly Ensemble album and will review that soon. I got a lot of other packages, but haven’t had a chance to look through them. From the thrift store, a nice red mohawked girl-punk pointed out some gems including: Psychedelic Furs, Hoodoo Gurus, The Church, Jesus and Mary Chain, and The Call. All on CD. I don’t even look through the LP’s anymore. Thrift store LP’s are dirty and I never find anything good anymore. I need to hook up my turntable. I don’t really find good clothes anymore either. I remember when I always found something, now I never find anything. Yeah, when moms and their 12 year daughters who feel like going slumming for clothes. Mom tells the daughter…do you know how much Lucky Jeans cost? We should get these. Every pseudo-Bohemian and their 12 year old kids shop at thrift stores…they take all the good stuff. Oh! And this cool, out of the way thrift store in Altadena is closed. Closed for like, a long time. The place is fenced off and it looked like the set of a post-apocalyptic film…starring Charlton Heston as a zombie fighting renegade. Where have all the good thrift stores gone??
I remember being in highschool not caring how filthy thrift store clothes are. Now I’m consumed with thoughts of blood stains or worse. I once found a dress with cum stains on it. Well, it wasn’t pudding. It was man-pudding. I think that was when I decided thrift store clothes are dirty! I still shop there, but gotta watch out for the man-pudding. Maybe take some salad tongs and hand sanitizer with me.
I sometimes forget that I’m publishing on the internets. I forget who reads this blog and rarely think about who might actually find it. I recently discovered that some of my boyfriend’s co-workers came upon my review of An American Haunting. It’s my opinion, not my boyfriends. He’s far too kind to blast someone else’s work in public. It’s my “job”. I review things by nature and I’ve been doing it along time. It’s just habit. I should also mention that my boyfriend is a talented attraction designer. He knows what he’s doing and he’s good at it. I often marvel at his ability to come up with ideas and formulate a plan to express them. He’s an amazingly hard worker and he’s dedicated to his craft. Other than that, it’s probably best not to talk about his work. It’s the same reason why I don’t bitch about my job. I have this feeling that my boss is secretly reading it, so all I can say is: I love my job, I love my boss, and I love taking pictures of HIM candles. And that’s the truth. Or is it? Yeah, that’s the truth…or is it?
I have several bushels of work to do today. I wish I was at the Huntington Gardens right now. It’s such a beautiful day.
Last night the new site went up. It’s been a year in the making, but it’s there. It’s not done, but it’s there. There is quite a lot of work left to do, but it’s functional and it hasn’t crashed yet. Good news. Once I put it up and made sure it was stable, I was overcome with mental fatigue. I spent the two days before hunched over my keyboard tweaking code, making graphics, slurping coffee, and laboring. This is the life I have chosen. This is the life I love. I don’t know what I’d do with my life if I didn’t have Dark Culture. It allows me to figure things out, meet new people, be creative, and actually do something I love.
There is a ton of new content:
An all new Gothic Ann Landers!
High Priestess Enoch writes about Gothic Magic in an all new column titled “Gothic Grimoires”. Be on the look out for her next installment on Numerology.
Matthew J. reviews T. Raumschmiere, Radio Blackout and Nightmare of the Elf, Graveyard Dance Party
Max Sexton waxes nostalgic in Inside an American Cult Series: Dreaming of Buffy
Plus there are several new items in the NewsWire with more on the way!
Well, maybe not a ton, but more that’s seen the light of day in a year. It’s good to be back. Now the real work starts. I’ve already received some errors reports I need to get on, plus some constructive criticism I need to think about. Today, however, I’m recording a new podcast. It never stops. What else would I do? I honestly think I’d be bored to death if I didn’t have Dark Culture.
Enjoy the new site.
David Tibet to Dark Culture Magazine: Suck it.
Several weeks ago, I was asked if I’d like to do an interview with David Tibet. I started to jump at the chance, but had a faulty take off when I realized that I don’t have a telephone land line; which means I couldn’t record a phone interview. I tried to find someone else to do it, but couldn’t. I’m also fairly retarded when it comes to David’s rather confusing religious beliefs and didn’t want to make an ass out of myself. And I had to work during the times he was available. I asked if I could send him some questions via email. I stayed up late one night constructing something somewhat intelligent, and included some standard issue, light hearted, queries. I sent it off. I was rather proud of it and imagined David might enjoy doing something a little different.
After a couple of weeks, I started to get anxious. I emailed his promotions guy and asked on the status. I was told that David likes to take his time with these things and that David didn’t like to be pushed. A day or so later, I received another email from the PR guy (whom I do not blame) telling me that David simply didn’t have time for email interviews; that because he’s a slow typer, he needs time to frame his ideas. While a phone interview might take 30-40 minutes, an email interview would take hours and hours. Although disappointed, the only word I could come up with was “figures”.
So when someone like David Tibet doesn’t have time for your two-bit magazine, what can you do?. Oh no, I don’t mind being brushed off by David Tibet. It’s an honor among honors…as if being pushed out of the way by a king. Thank you, your Grace. Might I have another? Except, this time, the king didn’t actually touch me when he pushed me. He had a middle man do it.
Such is life. You take the good with the bad. Things have been exceptionally bad lately and I’m a little more sensitive than usual. I try not to take these sort of things personal, but I guarantee that David didn’t even bother to look at the site. He waved his hand in dismissal. He has better things to do.
The thing is, when you’re a magazine editor, you’re not supposed to speak negatively about the musicians and labels you support. We’re just another brick in the wall, so if we piss someone off, they won’t come back. Once upon a time, we pissed off Projekt Records. They still don’t send us CD’s for review. A loss I’m hardly sorry about. And the truth is, I don’t make any money at this. I’m broke as a joke. I do it because I love the music and I want to give back. I want to promote the bands that need promotion and entertain the readers who appreciate that. David Tibet doesn’t have time for us? No, he doesn’t. He’s far too important for Dark Culture Magazine. I guess he wouldn’t be David Tibet if he whored himself to every nickel and dime zine in town. David seems to have taken excellent notes from the Morrissey School of Customer Appreciation: Treat your fans like shit and they’ll still come back, begging for whatever pittance you toss at them.
Perhaps there will come a day when David Tibet will wish he’d made the time for his fans.