Our thoughts go out to those affected by the plane crash last night in Clarence Center.

story from The Buffalo News

Get a case of beer, a crate of liquor, and enough junk food to last you the weekend (No Stuff, please). We are going to sit down and watch the best/worst of B horror/sci-fi cinema, so invite over some friends, block out any light not cast by the glorious cathode ray, and long live the new flesh!

They Live
1988
Directed by: John Carpenter

Roddy Piper needs to knock on my door one day, and when I answer he needs to say “I came here to chew bubble gum and kick ass, and I’m all out of bubble gum.” I’ll be so happy that I won’t mind when the ass kicking begins.

(more…)

Adornments that make a statement, whether they are a gift to your lover or simply a gift to yourself.

Photographer : Luke Copping
Fashion Stylist : Meagan Breen
Makeup Artist : Rachel Mazurek
Hair Stylist : Jennifer Buscaglia
Assistant : Joe Chalifoux
Models : Jamie Sutton and Christina Chapman

featuring designs by edmdesigns, Federikas, Valerie Masterman, and Raven Eve

from the February Issue of Auxiliary Magazine

The full interview!  With parts not included in the February Issue version.

by Darren M. Orlowski

Babyland - photo by Giuliana Maresca

Babyland’s album The Finger has been in heavy rotation on my iPod for a few years now so I was overly excited when I received the opportunity to interview them.  The opportunity was sprung on me the very night I returned home from vacation.  Of course, my five-hour flight came with a complimentary screaming kid who also enjoyed kicking my seat.  When I finally arrived home, I saw I had a message from Dan Gatto, Babyland’s lead singer/programmer saying he was excited about the interview and we should get together before their show that night.  I was suddenly reminded of how excited I was.  I couldn’t refuse so I forced myself to muster up some energy.  After a brief game of phone tag, a typical LA traffic jam, and a mad dash back to my car to stop it from getting ticketed, I was in front of the venue being greeted by Dan and Michael Smith, Babyland’s junk-chuckers extraordinaire.

Babyland is a performance-based band with an electronic “junk punk” sound from Los Angeles, California.  In February, Metropolis Records’ new signed Babyland will release their sixth full-length album; Cavecraft.   Imagine an energetic band with Dan’s vocals sounding like something straight out of the movie The Decline of Western Civilization and Smith banging on anything he can find, including the kitchen sink.

After brief introductions we walked to a nearby Thai restaurant. Meanwhile, the duo educated me on LA climate and rainfall and how this chilly season was not typical.  Over some hot tea and Thai food I had the chance to learn more on the inner workings of Babyland.

You guys have been working together about twenty years now, did you ever imagine being together this long when you first started?

Smith: Yeah we did, I did, I was thinking… why the hell not?

Dan: I don’t know if I thought about anything twenty years in the future.  I don’t think I had any kind of idea if we would only last for a short time. It was sort of like… It was an idea of progress.

Smith: When I was young, everything was forever.  I actually have this problem of letting go of things.  It was like in some bizarre way, every alliance, every project, everything was supposed to be this, you know, continuing permanent struggle. So this was just a part of that.

In the time that you’ve been together the music industry has completely changed it’s formula.  How have you have been affected by these changes?

Smith: We’ve been around long enough to see a couple different cycles. You know there are sort of business cycles to everything. There are ups and downs for every industry.  The tragic comedy of that cycle is something that we’ve actually learned to sit back and just kind of enjoy as it goes by.  We’ve learned to insulate ourselves from it to the point where really it’s something that happens, kind of over there.  Sometimes we get to catch a wave and go with it for a little while and sometimes it completely has nothing to do with us at all.

Dan: And we were lucky… It could of really gone anyway when we started. I mean, we really didn’t know very much.  But we got involved with an independent punk label called Flipside in Los Angeles, who also ran a magazine, and really what they sort of instilled in us is a very… you know… I don’t know if it’s DIY, the way that people consider DIY.

Smith: It was less idealistic and more skeptical.  That there is no one out there trying to help you, and we can kind of pull together on our own.  But it wasn’t a big idealist sort of revolution… like maybe the MaximumRocknRoll scene was a little more idealistic.  The Flipside scene was just kind of these outcasts, we put on these cool events, we do these interesting things, and we do it for as long as we want cause it’s pure chaos.

Dan: It also was filled with a lot of bands who just had enthusiasm and really didn’t know any better and just thought well, why can’t we put out a record, why can’t we do this?  The bands were lucky because there was the magazine that was distributed nationwide.  People were aware of the magazine and it helped to carry the bands.  So we sort of learned from that and emulated that, even when we left… when Flipside sort of stopped putting out records. We figured, well, let’s just put out our own record.

Smith: We’ll carry on with the same philosophy but just on our own now.

Okay, so that’s why there was the transition from Flipside to your own label Mattress.

Smith: Yeah.  That cycle of the music industry got really, really, crazy weak and screwed up obviously in the late 70s, maybe early 80s.  As the main music industry got really weak you saw all kinds of really great interesting things happen on the peripheral because they couldn’t hammer it flat.  Punk rock and hip hop and all kinds of amazing shit started happening because the major music industry was just ass over tit, just totally weak.  All the great independent punk labels from the 80s started up in that weakness, basically that was the launch bed.  That was the stuff that we were listening to, that we were into when we were teenagers.  And with Flipside we were lucky enough to catch on to the tail end of that.  Over the course of the 90s, the story there was, the music industry got back up on its feet and basically took over everything again.  All those independent labels, that entire model of doing business just didn’t survive.  Very few of them are still around.

Dan:  In many ways it was pure luck that we fell in with the good people that we fell in with, with Flipside, and with the bands.

Smith: …bands that weren’t on Flipside but still extraordinarily helpful to us in terms of our first few shows and giving us pointers when we totally needed it, we weren’t like a band [yet].

Dan:  At the time there was a parallel music industry in LA, where there were people taking headshots and getting signed and this whole sort of “thing”.  If we didn’t fall in with the people we fell in with we might of tried to go that route.  They just basically showed us the way to kind of… do our own thing.

Going back to how the industry has changed, it has also changed in the way of distribution.  I saw that when you first started out you had some trouble getting your records out there.

Smith:  [For] our first record we were lucky that Flipside had distribution through Mordam.  Mordam was the distributor that was basically making all that kind of west coast punk rock labels get into stores.

Dan:  And we’re talking worldwide, you know.

Smith:  They had deals over seas and stuff.  So our first album was pretty well distributed actually.  I’m very happy with how many we were able to get out there and sell.  It went down hill from there.

Dan:  And that could be the basis for how people even still know about us, [the fact that] our record in 1992-93 got out there.

And after that you had trouble?

Smith:  It got harder and harder.

Dan:  Yeah definitely.

Smith:  We did two more records on Flipside after that, and each one was more difficult because basically the independent distribution channels just got more and more restricted.   Mom and pop stores were closing down, college radio was diversifying, kind of out on supporting punk rock or college rock type stuff and getting more into dance music or hip hop.  The major labels were learning, the best example being grunge, not to throw stones at the grunge bands particularly.  [In] that era, the major labels learned how to completely co-opt that entire genre of college rock.  After that, that just shut down that whole sort of channel for people to be able get out there.

That has been opening again, I think, with a lot of the emo stuff and a lot of the electro-clash stuff.  I think that’s been pried open again and it’s awesome.  But for a while there it got harder and harder and it made it really impossible to distribute those kinds of records.  And so Mordam eventually fired Flipside.  Flipside wasn’t really selling enough, or it wasn’t able to hit the mark quiet right, and they had to make decisions in terms of what they could support as a business.  In the long run it wasn’t sustainable to carry those records anymore.  So that was kind of the end.

Your new album Cavecraft is being released by Metropolis, how did this come about?

Dan:  I think starting in about 2006, the industrial, what people call the “industrial scene”, okay, vaguely the industrial scene, we sort of tried to stay away from it for quiet some time. It wasn’t something that we were totally into.  I think for me, what it came down to, was a lot of the bands didn’t play live.  What ended up happening was these bands started playing live more and more and we were asked to play shows.  So we got to know people and we got to know people who put out records through Metropolis.  We got to find out and know that these people are doing the exact same thing that we’re doing, in terms of it’s all do-it-yourself.  Except they spend a lot of time making it look like it’s not all do-it-yourself.  Their aesthetic is, “we live in some castle somewhere”, as opposed to the DIY aesthetic of, “oh yeah we live in this crappy garage and record everything on a 4-track.”  It’s just a different sort of thing.  But they were putting all their time and effort into it, and we met a lot of people, and I think over time for me personally, I felt more and more comfortable with the people who were involved with Metropolis. These bands,  they’re really great people.  We spent time, we recorded this record, and before rushing to say hey let’s just put it out ourselves on our own label, we said, maybe we should send this to Metropolis and see what they think.

What do you consider your main inspiration for Cavecraft?

Smith:  Survival.  Survival in the face of just an overwhelming volume of things that are just utterly depressing.  And yet, somehow, there’s always that kernel of good times to be had somewhere deep beneath it, if you sort of peel away the bloody bandages.  That’s actually, to me at least, the heart of it.

Dan: And it is a focus on looking towards ourselves.  We did a lot of the work ourselves, in terms of mixing and recording certain things.  I think we took on a lot more of the recording.

Smith: More than ever before.

Dan: There was a sense of homemade craft, something that comes from the two of us working together.  The idea that…

Smith: …it’s overwhelmingly primitive.

Dan: Right.

Did you have any difficulty coming up with the songs for this album?

Dan: The longer we do creative things the more we start to realize that it is a continuum.  The idea you had when you were fifteen years old, you might use now.  Nothing really belongs in any particular [order], it’s all a giant toolbox, you can pull from all these different things.  But I think the thing that was different about this one was, the idea that we really didn’t have a deadline on it.  We sort of started pulling things together, then, when it got half way there we realized we had an album.  Then we put a deadline on it and came up with some more stuff.  So it’s this perfect combination between not being pressured and being pressured.  What’s interesting now is that I felt very free to try many different styles.  In a way it’s the most experimental thing we’ve done, only because it’s very different from the very first thing that we’ve done.

Smith: It’s certainly a part of the continuum though.  Like all our records, there are songs that have stewed for a long time, songs that we have been playing live for years and years, that are very well seasoned songs, that almost feel like old songs to us.  Every record has some newer stuff, too. Things that have been finished just in time for the record.  And that combination of seasoned stuff and new stuff, fast stuff, slow stuff, kind of noisy stuff, or poppy stuff; we try to blend a bunch of different things together to have a little bit of variety.  That process is one of the things that is actually fun when you stand and look, “Hmm ok here’s seven songs, ok we want a few more, gee we got this, this, and this, oh well we need some of this.”

Dan: It’s a recipe.

Will you be doing any tour support for the new album?

Smith: We did a little west coast thing in fall of ’08.  In summer of 2009 we should definitely be doing shows somewhere.  It’ll kind of be a question of where does the record go and where do we here back from.  And what does Metropolis have to say about that.

Dan: We do need to get to the east coast, we know that.  The last time we were there was ’96.  It would be great to do a couple weeks and get out there and play some shows back east.  That would be very satisfying.

Have you heard any weird stories of fans making long treks to see a show, or doing weird things to get in to a show?

Smith:  Of course, of course.  We have a very good friend who’s actually now in Europe, but literally he emailed me one evening, and this is quiet a while ago, and he was in Savannah, Georgia.  He was like, “hey, you’re playing tomorrow night in Berkley, California, I’m in Savannah, Georgia, how do I get there?”  We had a little bit of conversation about that and he made it.  And it was like, ok, that was crazy.  The long story is he had an airline voucher he had to use, so basically [he thought], “I might as well go all the way to California, what is something cool in California?”  And then he tracked us down.  That was kind of unique.

We played in Europe once, we played in Europe’s first city, Gelsenkirchen.  It was one show and it was beautiful.

Dan:  The thing that’s actually interesting right now, is that it was the first show for the band Seabound and we’re going to be playing with [them again] in two weeks.

Smith:  At the Roxy, [in LA].

What are you guys listening to these days?

Smith:  For the last few years I’ve pretty much been exclusively listening to extreme metal.  Lots of black metal, lots of death metal.  Bands I’m really into right now run a gamut, from Blind Guardian, or Enslaved, or Sear Bliss, you know we can go on and on.  The beautiful thing about metal today, and particularly on kind of the underground side, [is] that there is so much going on, it’s like literally every week I’m discovering new stuff and completely freaking out on it.  The most fun I’ve had listening to music since I was a teenager.

Dan:  I listen to a lot of, kind of pop music, I think, sort of.  Currently, it’s all about Glasvegas for me, I like a lot of Scottish bands for some reason.  I’m a huge Twilight Sad fan, they’re an incredible band to me.  I like things like Sigur Ros, and things like that.  And old Cocteau Twins, Jesus and Mary Chain, New Order, Joy Division, Human League…. Depeche Mode.  I love Depeche Mode.  But currently it’s tons of Scottish bands, this band Arab Strap, they’re sort of Scottish pop rock… I guess pop rock.  There’s a lot of this bizarre early 60s American pop influence, or late 50s sort of pop influence in a lot of Scottish music for some reason.  And it’s very interesting how it’s sort of been processed and turned back.  So that’s kind of what I listen to.  But I listen to everything, if someone tells me, oh you know here’s this thing, or if something is very popular, I want to hear it because I want to know why it’s popular.  And [when] we go on trips we listen to… you know, it’s Smith [that] is the DJ.

Smith:  **laughs** And so we listen to metal constantly…

You guys are pretty deep in the LA scene.  These days, who are some LA musicians that we should be looking out for?

Dan:  First you should go to The Smell.

Smith:  Yes!

Dan:  No matter what.

Smith:  The Smell is downtown Los Angeles, between 2nd and 3rd street, a half a block west of Main.  It’s a little back alley kind of operation.  If you want to figure out what’s going in underground Los Angeles the places to start would be The Smell, and sort of the Spaceland/Echo crowd.  But really if it’s not happening at The Smell there’s probably something wrong with it.

Dan:  There is a kind of minimal electronic scene that’s happening.  It’s really not something I’m really involved with… Yeah, it’s interesting but it’s definitely a lot younger generation who are now discovering all this stuff.  I went to a show, Absolute Body Control, and they played like… this was their first time playing in LA… and it was very interesting to see all these kids out there listening to this really minimal 808 drum machine with very primitive basslines.  The stuff that when I was a kid, even I thought it was a little old school.  So it was kind of neat, it’s definitely a huge revival of that kind of stuff out here.  But it’s like the really dark minimal stuff.  There’s a group called Minimal LA that puts shows on.  There’s a club called Pherspace that puts on a lot of those kinds of shows.  It’s interesting because all the stuff is combining now, it’s like people who were indie bands who used to be in these punk bands are now doing electronics.  It’s all coming together.

Smith:  The walls between genres definitely seem to be dissolving a little bit.

It’s not a bad thing.

Dan:  No.

Smith:  I’m a little uncomfortable with it.  **laughs**  Which is why I’m sticking to metal, the last true genre.

That about wraps up my questions, is there anything you feel you need to get off your chest?

Dan: I think it’s a good time for us because it’s the first time we actually completed a record and have some kind of confidence that it’s going to get out there.  This is the first interview we’ve done in…

Smith: …years, no, no, there were some people talking to us at the DNA Lounge.

Dan: Yeah and that’s what I mean, finally, there are people who are involved with the scene who have realized that it is about doing things.  So the bands are playing, people are putting their own records out, people are doing magazines, people are doing things again, and that’s a really good thing.  For me I would just say that I am happy to be apart of it.

Smith: Exactly.  All we can do is what we do.

After the interview the three of us headed back to the venue while Dan filled me in on what was what in the LA underground scene.  The venue at which Babyland was performing was called Spaceland, a corner stone in the LA indie scene known for bringing new acts to the forefront.  After thirteen years of service, Spaceland has a bit of a worn look to it but that adds to the general vibe of the place.

Babyland came out swinging with their aggressively dark song “Nativity” off of the album The Finger, and the energy of the place took off.  I went from completely exhausted from a long day of traveling, to one-hundred-percent energized in a matter of seconds.  After that they played “The End of All Summers” and “Rimer Drive Tiger” both off their new album, Cavecraft.  Even though their music has a darker more serious nature to it, the on-stage antics of this band are in comparison to that of most punk bands; complete with raunchy banter, both with each other and the crowd.  With Smith slamming away on his home made drum set and Dan bouncing around the stage with more energy than the whole crowd put together,  the energy of the two is incredible.  Babyland ended their set with “Search and Rescue” but the crowd would not let up.   After a minute or so of chanting, they came back and played “Youth Choker” from Outlive Your Enemies.  That was my first Babyland show and it was a great one.  I said my good-nights to the duo and went home to pass out.

shortened version from the February Issue of Auxiliary Magazine

Gibbous Fashions - photograph by Peter Hinson

by Sally Reardon

Installment II: more antiquated trends in alternative fashion

Retro
Trashy Diva . Topsy Turvy Design . Vintage Hair

Swing dance, hot rods, and greasers!  Nothing conjures up nostalgic fantasies of retro styling like the 1950s.  With the incredible success of the TV series Mad Men, a renewed interest in vintage fashion has taken America by storm.  Though 50s-style fashion is nothing new to underground culture, its always worth a second look for attire ranging from the kitschy and fun to the elegant and sleek.

Retro clothing is varied in appearance and loosely covers 40s to 50s fashion.  Popular women’s styles include skinny pencil skirts paired with blouses or cardigans, fit and flare skirts and dresses, and high heels.  Relaxed or summer fashions might include high-waisted skinny pants (often cropped) and bikinis in fun prints (more modestly cut than modern day bikinis).  Women’s hair is elaborately styled and waved, frequently piled into full and structured up-dos or let loose with wavy curls and “Bettie Paige” bangs (which are blunt-cut in style).

Retro clothing manufacturers are as many as there are variations in approach.  New Orleans’ designer Trashy Diva rises to the top of the pack with her bold prints and exquisite eye for detail.  Though the garments featured on the site are distinctly vintage inspired, they are crafted with an eye for wear-ability, allowing the garments to showcase the figure underneath them.  The company’s strong suit feature full-skirted halter dresses that even come in a more affordable cotton line.

If you’re looking to add some flair to your outfit from the neck up try milliner Topsy Turvy Design outfits with a cocktail hat or hair accessory worthy of the most elegant of events.  Her burlesque styled section contains a treasure trove of vintage goodies from leopard pillbox hats to elegant cocktail hats adorned with rhinestones.  She also offers a delightful array of “fascinators”.

Adding some 50s flair to your wardrobe can be as easy as heading to your local thrift shop.  The sharp-eyed vintage shopper can spot a full-skirted dress or veiled cocktail hat in any local thrift store.  However, one of the least expensive and most impressive ways to emulate a vintage look is to style your hair accordingly.  The livejournal community, “Vintage Hair” contains free instructions for dozens of styles. Many of which require little more than a curling iron, gel, bobby pins, and a bit of free time.  An impressive hairstyle is an excellent and thrifty way to add panache to a simple outfit. Break out the curling iron and practice, practice, practice!

Lolita
egl . Candy Violet . Refuse to be Usual . Viona Art

The word may conjure up heart-shaped glasses and Nabolkov’s famous novel but Lolita fashion and culture is a far cry from these adult themes.  Instead, this frilly style emulates the innocent splendor of a little girl’s tea party complete with frilly dresses, whimsical imagery, and perfectly curled hair.  This trend originally gained a cult following in Japan before achieving international recognition.  Nowadays, Lolita enthusiasts can be found across America organizing elaborate themed outings to parks, parties, and social events.

Classical Lolita fashion resembles little girl’s party dresses, often with a historical or Victorian influences,  including lace, frills, and hyper-feminine elements.  Many Lolitas are brand conscious, favoring the designer styles of Japanese brands, such as Metamorphosis and Angelic Pretty.  Traditionally, Lolita fashion follows fairly strict rules, highlighting full skirts that end around the knee, fluffy petticoats, modest necklines, and a “cute yet elegant” style motto.  Some classic sub-genres of Lolita fashion are “Sweet Lolita” (pastel colors, lots of frills), “Gothic Lolita” (black or darker color schemes and classic Gothic elements such as crosses, veiling, etc.), and “Classic Lolita” (muted colors, more subdued look than “Sweet Lolita”).  If you’re interested in learning more about Lolita fashion and absorbing some of the imagery associated with it, the popular livejournal community, “egl” is an excellent start.

If Lolita fashion is your sugar-sweet cup of tea, you’ll find much to covet in the elegant styling of US designer Candy Violet.  Her line features coordinated skirts, tops and sweetly elegant dresses in classic Lolita style.  Original prints, such as the Eiffel tower on the “Paris Chic” skirt and playing card themed clothing distinguish her from other American Lolita designers.  Those less interested in full-on Lolita fashion will discover a more whimsical line of casual tops featuring carousel horses, playing card suits, and royal crest artwork.

If this style leaves you with a toothache, you may yet enjoy some of the accessories.  A popular look is the frequently copied Vivienne Westwood rocking horse shoe.  Shoes or boots in the Lolita style feature a wood-look platform with an extreme cut out in the front.  (Similar, of course, to the design of a rocking horse!)  Popular ebay seller, Refuse to be Usual offers a wide variety of shoes in this style. This seller offers a fantastic range of footwear from ballet-styled mary-janes that lace up around the leg to boots of all kinds.  They also offer a wide variety of Japanese inspired fashion, including a variety of Lolita clothes.  Another Lolita style accessory that’s an excellent option is a miniature crown.  A bit of Internet research will reveal a host of tutorials explaining how to make your own crown from craft wire, beads, and a little ingenuity. If crafty is not your forte, you can buy an exquisitely crafted, ready-made crown from talented photographer/stylist Viona Art.  Viona’s crowns sparkle and shine with gemstones, luxurious faux fur, feathers, gemstones, and trims to match a variety of outfits and moods.

Lolita fashion can seem like a slightly daunting, specific, and expensive style to navigate. Keep in mind that it has many elements you can add to your wardrobe.  Try a full and frilly skirt with a petticoat for a figure flattering look that’s comfortable and easy to dance in.  Casual tops with feminine details or t-shirts with “royalty” themed artwork can add a dash of Lolita to everyday dress.  Miniature top hats or crowns can bring a touch of irreverent whimsy to your wardrobe, regardless of whether you envision yourself as a young princess or an elegant aristocrat.  Most of all, try trading in some of your tight, low-cut, and revealing garments for clothes that are modest, feminine, and above all, elegant!

Victorian
Loved To Death . Gibbous Fashions

Wasp waists, curiosity cabinets, and slums out of a Dickens’ novel alongside towering mansions all  stem from the Victorian era.  Ripe with social paradox and complexity, the Victorian era is a natural source for inspiration for alt fashion.  Whether choosing to take cues from tattered ruffians or the cultured gentry, macabre sentiments or the average and innocent, clothing inspired by this period is sure to enrich any wardrobe.

Ladies’ Victorian fashion features excessive amounts of rich fabric, creatively draped skirts, defined waists, and an emphasis on glamour.  Iconic clothing and accessories from the era include corsets, puffy sleeves, bustles with yard upon yard of voluminous fabric, granny-style boots, parasols, and top hats of all sizes.  Victorian inspired fashion is incredibly popular in the goth subculture. Inspiration is mainly from mourning fashions of the era with a dark palette, richly beaded rosaries, and veiled hats that swathe the face but is certainly not limited to that genre. Other clothiers draw upon the Victorian fascination with more  unusual or sinister lines.  Fashionable Victorian households kept “curio cabinets” or displays of items as souvenirs from travels abroad. These usually consisted of unusual taxidermy, “conversation pieces”, or strange objects.  This theme has also weaved its way into modern clothing and accessories.

If your taste is for the odd and macabre, the taxidermist jeweler, Loved To Death can bring a little touch of the “curio cabinet” to your home or wardrobe.  Their jewelry features chrome and gold-plated authentic animal skulls and bones, bird claws, and teeth incorporated into jewelry.  These statement-making pieces are strung into necklaces, set on elaborate vintage cameos, and adorned with feathers, creating wearable art that is as beautiful as it is startling.  Loved To Death enforces a stringent “no-kill” policy, using only recycled or by-product parts in the creation of their art-memorials.

The oft-neglected fashion underworld of paupers will take heart in the clothing revolution of Gibbous Fashions.  Rejecting the prim and proper style of the Victorian era, Gibbous’ creations feature a collage or composite look that incorporates hundreds of fabric and trim scraps sewn together using intricate stitching patterns.  Far from resembling a hippie patchwork project, the viewer can imagine a mad seamstress or creative peasant assembling these clothes from the cast-off scraps of the wealthy.  Gibbous’ creations are one-of-a-kind and hand-made, allaying any worry that you will see your fashion doppelganger out and about.

Victorian fashion is easy to add to your wardrobe and remains a lasting favorite in alt fashion.  As a frequently re-visited theme in mainstream fashion you can rest assured that  lace, satin, and silk blouses with Victorian-esque ruffles, puffy sleeves, and a fitted silhouette can be easily found at virtually any major retailer or thrift shop.  Accessories are also an easy way to add some 19th century charm.  Try lace gloves (fingerless or fully-fashioned), cameo brooches, or strings of long pearls to accent your outfit.  If you don’t have the money to buy a bustle, try using a garter belt to gather up a plain, full length skirt for a can-can girl look. If possible, consider sewing your own for that dab of uniqueness.  As for the ultimate investment, contemplate purchasing a corset or a pair of button or granny boots.  Corsets (underbust or overbust) can be extremely versatile and an “instant outfit” in their own right when paired with an elegant skirt.  The right pair of vintage-looking boots can easily make the transition from office to club as well as add some warmth and personality to your look.  One of the best parts about Victorian fashion is its versatility and timelessness.  You can be sure that the gorgeous silk blouse you buy will now be just as stylish ten years from now as the day you bought it.

from the February Issue of Auxiliary Magazine

by Luke Copping

Happily ever after?  Not in these films.  Who said a love story has to have a happy ending?  Check out these films with your valentine this year, or watch them yourself in a bitter film festival.  Either way, all of the following are great films in their own right, but will provide a nice alternative to the sugar coated Hollywood teen love-fests that seem to flood the market every year around this time.

Harold and Maude
Director – Hal Ashby
1971
The mock suicides, the Cat Stevens soundtrack, memorable characters, and possibly the coolest car in the history of cinema all serve to make Harold and Maude one of the truly unique films of the 70s.  But on top of all that it also one of the greatest and most extreme examples of a May-December romance in film.  Harold and Maude is light hearted, funny, shocking, romantic, and tragic.

Splendor
Director – Gregg Araki
2000
The off-beat romantic comedy has become a modern film tradition, usually poorly conceived and even more poorly executed.  Araki’s tale of a young woman who restarts her dating life by jumping into a poly-amorous relationship with two men is an exception to the rule.  Abel and Zed could not be more different, yet they grow to treat each in an almost brotherly fashion in order to hold onto the women they both love.  The movie is full of genuinely sweet moments and off kilter comedy but never becomes overly saccharine.

Natural Born Killers
Director – Oliver Stone
1994
Taking the Bonnie and Clyde archetypes to their natural extremes, Stone’s controversial mid-nineties criticism of crime, romance, trash TV, and violence is a love story in the most negative of ways.  Mickey and Mallory are, of course, morally reprehensible characters that simultaneously sicken and excite the viewer.  At the same time there is a very strong undercurrent of romance between the two that seems to cut through the blood, violence, and wanton murder.

True Romance
Director – Tony Scott
1993
Written by Quentin Tarrantino and starring Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette, True Romance is another love story that follows the same lines as Natural Born Killers.  Featuring appearances by some of the best actors of the time and also by many who went on to become stars.  This hyper violent and quirky story is the perfect blend of cool/geek love.

The Fountain
Director – Darren Aronofksy
2006
A timeless love story in three interwoven narratives.  Aronosky’s film is a study of mortality, love, meta-fiction, and Mayan legend.  The visuals are stunning but the quality that standouts the most are the centuries-spanning romance between Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz which is so haunting that it embeds a cosmic event of culminate and resolve to the story.

3-Iron
Director – Kim Ki-duk
2004
This mostly silent film illustrates that sometimes love goes deeper than words.  A nomadic young man who breaks into and lives in the apartments of others while they vacation meets a battered housewife during one of his extended “visits”.  Despite the woman’s husband trying to keep the two apart, a silent romance develops between them, culminating in the young man developing a very peculiar talent that lets them finally express their love for each other.

But I’m a Cheerleader
Director – Jamie Babbit
1999
The life of a mundane high-school cheerleader is turned on its head when she is sent to a rehabilitation camp for homosexual teens despite her protests.  What ensues is not only her journey of self discovery, but also one of the most romantic films to come out of the 90s.  Babbit’s first feature is notable for the controversy it caused when it was suggested that the film was rated harshly by the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) for its homosexual content.

The House of Yes
Director – Mark Waters
1997
Between the incest and the Kennedy assassination fetish of the main characters, The House of Yes still manages to bring passion and the weird together, though ending tragically in more ways than one.  The film adapted from Wendy MacCleod’s play of the same name, is a low key drama spiked with scenes of manic intensity (mostly brought about Parker Posey’s portrayal of the unstable Jackie).

Annie Hall
Director – Woody Allen
1977
Proving that just because a movie does not have a happy ending does not mean it has to have a sad one.  Allen’s film is an all too realistic interpretation of modern relationships.  Equally heartbreaking and hysterical, Allen and Keaton’s characters are very flawed and very real people, just like any of us.  This is a move that made me realize that I liked Woody Allen’s films.  It is also worth seeing, if you are a Christopher Walked fan, for his short but unsettlingly funny role of Duane Hall.

Dolls
Director – Takeshi Kitano
2002
Three stories that visually overlap, while never really connecting or interfering with each other, Kitano attacks the notions of love and obsession from three very different angles.  A silent couple who are bound together wander the country as the seasons change.  A lonely young man is obsessed to dangerous degree with a pop star.  An aging gangster longs for the romance of his youth and goes to many troubles to find it.  These are the stories that Kitano tells in a very non-linear and colorful style.

from the February Issue of Auxiliary Magazine

by Vanity Kills

Ditch the arctic freeze for a tasty slice of your own private tropical paradise.  No passport necessary.

Living Room Luau

Winter!  If you live in the north eastern US like myself, it’s a dreaded time chock full of monstrous heating bills, frostbite, and crappy driving conditions that would make anyone long for a tropical retreat somewhere completely devoid of freezing precipitation.  Moreover, this is the season of shortest days and lowest temperatures which cause many to experience seasonal depression.  It’s quite tempting to cash in all of your holiday time immediately, ditching this frozen hell hole, and boarding the next plane to Bora Bora.  Thanks to the tanking US economy, paying for a vacation nowadays is comparable in cost to an organ transplant.  If you can’t go to the Garden of Eden, bring the Garden of Eden to you!  Fortunately, you don’t need the vast fortunes of an oil Sheik to do so.

Allow yourself to get swept away by the winds of island madness and surrender to the deliciously kitschy world of Tiki.

Despite it’s roots in Polynesian and Hawaiian mythology, Tiki came to signify all manner of miscellaneous paraphernalia of the Pacific islands.  The most iconic of which are the carved representations of Pacific island gods.  Depending on the carved Tiki in question, the authenticity might vary.  Some are depictions of actual deities while some are created solely for the purpose of being sold to tourists as souvenirs.  All of these carvings are prized and highly sought after by collectors of “Polynesian pop”.

Tiki first cast its infectious south seas spell in the 1930s when Donn Beach opened “Don the Beachcomber” and Victor Bergeron opened “Trader Vic’s” on the California coast.  Copycat establishments soon followed and by the 1950s, mainstream America officially adopted the Tiki bar as a means to escape from life’s everyday headaches.  Envision a dark windowless room (the outside world spoils the fantasy of an island getaway) lit by puffer fish lamps hung in excess over the bar and placed above each booth.  Looking around you will see exotic foliage, fishing nets, black velvet paintings of nude oceanic lovelies seducing you from the walls, while Les Baxter’s “Ports of Pleasure” plays unobtrusively in the background.  Gorgeous women wearing next to nothing serve you tasty rum and fruit juice infused concoctions with campy names like “Mai Tai”, “Singapore Sling”, and “Suffering Bastard” garnished generously with fresh fruit, tropical flowers, and colorful paper umbrellas.  Sometimes one would get “lei’ed” with a flower garland upon being seated at their table.  In the higher end establishments, it was not uncommon to be treated to a full blown Polynesian floor show which included live music and the traditional dances of Tahiti, Samoa, Hawaii, and New Zealand.  A performance of the fireknife dance was always a crowd favorite!  Nobody cared about a late car insurance payment or an unfaithful spouse (if only for a moment) when watching the enchanting hips of a wahine rhythmically swaying as she danced the hula just a few feet away.

By the mid 1970s the Tiki phenomenon became yet another passé trend and many of the legendary bars, nightclubs, and restaurants went the way of the dinosaur, falling victim to the wrecking ball.

Fortunately a Tiki Renaissance bloomed in the mid 1990s and a fresh crop of Tiki bars have been steadily popping up in the last 10-15 years.  Some became successful, others flopped, while several never closed to begin with.  There’s no telling if one will open up in your area in the near future so beat luck to the punch, tell winter to suck it, and host a fabulous Tiki soirée in your very own living room.

Living Room Luau

Vibe
Turn off those harsh overhead lights.  Invest in a few strands of Tiki-themed party lights and string them up in strategic locations around doorways, on the windows, and over the refreshment table.  Purchase several coconut and pineapple shaped ceramic cups, light small votive candles and place them inside.  Make sure you don’t leave them in areas where they’ll be left unattended for long periods of time.  If you can score actual pufferfish lamps, by all means use them though they are a bit hard to find.  Unless you only plan on showing Elvis Presley’s Blue Hawaii (on mute) all night long, don’t dare turn that TV on!  For an authentic flair, delight your guests with the likes of Les Baxter, Martin Denny, and Arthur Lyman.

Decorations
When it comes to Tiki, there’s no such thing as too cluttered.  Stick carved wood Tikis in any place you can fit them.  Whether they’re on the table, the shelves, or guarding the entrance to the bathroom they’re only bound by one rule: the more, the merrier!  Spruce up your walls with tribal war clubs, masks, fishing nets, framed postcards from Hawaii, ceremonial paddles, and velvet paintings.  Wooden signs with words like “Aloha” and “Tiki Bar” etched into them are also appropriate.

Food
A pu-pu platter stacked high with spring rolls, barbecued spare ribs, crab rangoons, and chicken satay is sure to be a palette pleaser.  Serving elaborate examples of Pacific Rim cuisine is more appropriate for smaller, intimate dinner parties while large groups of hungry drunks are more likely to appreciate the easily accessible finger foods.

Booze
The core components of most Tiki drinks are rum and fresh fruit juice.  Good rum can cost you a pretty penny, so I suggest that you plan a projected drink menu ahead of time.  Google up the ingredients in some classic Tiki bar favorites (listing them all here would take up all the pages of Auxiliary Magazine) such as “Navy Grog”, “Singapore Sling”, “Zombie”,  “Mai Tai”, and “Planter’s Punch”.  Compile the list of necessary alcohols and e-mail it to all the party attendees.  It can function as a “liquor registry”.  A boozy potluck is a fun way to have a diverse drink tasting menu at a fraction of the price.  Serving your libations in Tiki mugs is a must!  Popular Tiki mug themes include but are not limited to: skull, pirate, hula girl, Easter Island head, Fu Manchu, coconut, volcano bowls, and Tiki (duhhh!).  Fruit, flower, and mini paper umbrella garnishes are mandatory!

Now get out there and raise some hula hell!

from the February Issue of Auxiliary Magazine

by Aimee Porter (Petite Furie QCRG #26)

When you think of little girls do you still imagine sugar and spice and everything nice?  Do you imagine Barbie dolls and dreams of wedding days and baby names?  Do you imagine fashionistas with pointy shoes, little purses, well stocked kitchens and an innate aversion to dirt, mud, and sweat?

What about striped knee socks, short pleated skirts, a fitted girly tee, a helmet, and a mouthguard?  Does that throw you off?  Not if you are a roller girl.  More than 15,000 women in this country already are.

Roller derby started in the 1920s with skating marathons.  The best parts were when skaters bumped into each other, taking each other down.  The premise of roller derby exacerbates just that.  It is a race, offense, defense, strategy, it is both physically demanding and exhilarating.

The allure of roller derby is rapidly expanding.  Even Hollywood has taken notice with a movie called Whip It in the works and multiple video games being created.  At matches fans pile into local roller rinks to see something reminiscent of the 70s.  However, this game is not fixed; it is not like “wrestling”.  It is not theatrical, it is real and the hits are real.  These women pour their hearts into this game.  These athletes train in 3-4 intense practices each week.  Skating skills assessments must be passed and rules tests must be passed.  Many players work out on top of these practices.  They make many changes to their lives in order to take their game to the next level.  To them, roller derby is more than just a little hobby.

Thousands of DIY leagues are springing up all over the country.  The Women’s Flat Track Derby Association (or WFTDA) governs much of these leagues. They provide guidelines to skaters and leagues that make the game today a legitimate, consistent sport.  These leagues are skater owned and skater operated.  Players volunteer their time, bodies, and money, all for the love of the sport.  They buy their own equipment, uniforms, and skates.  They are the treasurers, marketers, committee heads, the bout production, and the entertainment.

In many articles and online blogs written about roller derby, I have witnessed a lot of stigmas coming back on these women.  Among the many stereotypes against derby girls are “the sport is fake”, “the games are fixed”, “all the girls are lesbians”, “all the girls are fat, ugly man-haters”,  “all the girls are tattooed freaks”, “all the girls are trying to be boys”, and other such nonsense.

Well, I am a roller girl and I am none of those things.  I train hard to own my skates.  I work hard to have agility and endurance.  I even have a personal trainer.  I am not afraid to fall; I have had many bruises, a severely sprained ankle, and more to show for it.  I have a job; a career, actually.  I have a dog and turtles and lizards.  I pay my own bills and clean my apartment and cook dinners.  I like to bake; I make a mean pumpkin pie from real pumpkins.  I am madly in love with a smart, good-looking boy and no, there are no kinky dominant/submissive issues there.  I have one tattoo that has nothing to do with roller derby and I am not ugly, thanks.  I am actually quite fit and attractive, if you must know.   And, I love roller derby.

Aside from pure ignorance, these stereotypes spark a great deal of debate.  We roller girls are indeed many things.  We are teachers, corporate zombies, artists, hairdressers, lawyers, writers, computer geeks, social workers, bankers, mothers, sisters, and daughters.  Some of us prefer the ladies.  Some of us are regular vanilla chicks.  Some of us are married.  Some of us have tattoos.  Some of us even model… so you can throw that ugly comment right out the window!

Any league of 80+ women is bound to have a lot of variety.  You can find that in a grocery store, on a college campus, even at the mall.  What unites us all is a passion for a largely misunderstood sport known for its violence and speed.  Roller derby is the only all female full contact sport.

I suppose some men and even other women would have a problem with any woman breaking out from a traditional gender role.  Since when was it cool for a girl to have stinky, sweaty wrist guards?  Since when were bruises badges of honor for women?  Since when was it a matter of pride to launch someone into the third row?

Is the ultimate legitimacy of roller derby as a sport questioned because women are perpetrating the offense of breaking the mold from traditional masculine/feminine roles?  We have been spoon fed stereotypes for generations.  Boys were encouraged to climb trees, ride mountain bikes, play hockey, and dig in mud.  Boys are supposed to play sports.  It is more socially accepted for boys to take risks and be bolder, all with a “boys will be boys” shrug.  Girls aren’t supposed to take chances or risks, especially physically.  Girls were always told to “be careful”, “watch out”, “don’t do that”, “be afraid of the dark”, be a cheerleader on the sidelines, encouraging the men.  The gender intolerance happens on both sides of the coin as well.  How many “effeminate” males are persecuted, harassed, or picked on?

There have been many occasions, especially in modern history, when women have been able to overcome certain gender limitations.  Think of Rosie the Riveter, Women’s Suffrage, and the rise of women’s role in the workplace and their fight for salary equality.  We can be doctors, lawyers, executives, professors, police officers, and soldiers and do it as well, if not better, than men.  So why can’t we play a sport and do that well?

Come to a bout and see what these women are all about.  Expect to see some fast skating and some hard hits.  Expect it to be real.  Expect it to hurt.  Expect to see one of the most exciting games you have ever seen.  Roller derby: played by women with a little attitude and a lot of guts.

from the February Issue of Auxiliary Magazine

Print copies of the February Issue are now available!  And we are now able to mail copies to Canada and the UK in addition to the US.  Copies are $15 and available through MagCloud.  Read more details on ordering copies on the february 09 print page.  Order you copy now!  :)

- Jennifer

beat the winter gloom with bold neon colors and kitschy animal prints

Photographer : Jennifer Link
Fashion Stylist : Meagan Breen
Makeup Artist : Anna Malskaya
Hair Stylist : Erin Moser
Models : RainbowKandicaine and Michele Stanek

featuring designs by Mode Merr, New York Couture, Rockin Bones, and Switchblade Stiletto

from the February Issue of Auxiliary Magazine