[FAT] is Toronto Alternative Arts and Fashion Week, happening once a year in Toronto, Canada.  I heard about the event a few years ago and I have been dying to go since then.  But it seemed every year, something came up and I could never make it.  This Friday, April 24, I finally made it to my first [FAT] event and it was an amazing experience! [for more insight into what FAT is all about, see the Summer Festival article in the April09 issue]

I got out of work at 2pm on Friday, filled up my car with gas, stopped at the bank for some Loonies and Toonies, and hit the road.  My two hour trip to Toronto was better than I had feared, no delay at the border and I didn’t get pulled over for a car search, something that always seems to happen to me, but there was some construction on the QEW and of coarse I ended up arriving in Toronto during rush hour.  After the tiring drive, I met up with a friend in Toronto, the lovely Spitfire, and we rushed off to the final night of Alternative Fashion Week.

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One of the great novelists of our time is gone, an explorer of both his own history and of technology and its effect on mankind, J. G. Ballard passed away this week.  Best known for the novel Crash, his exploration of modern man’s fetishization of the automobile, and for Empire of the Sun, his autobiographical retelling of his youth.  Crash or Empire Sun are both fantastic reads, or if you want to delve a little deeper, grab a copy of Atrocity Exhibition or Concrete Island and make sure he is remembered right.

For those not inclined to literature, at the bare minimum, go rent Cronenberg’s 1996 version of Ballard’s Crash.

- Luke

April 21, 2009 in Buffalo, New York marks the The Birthday Massacre’s first stop on the “Show and Tell Tour”. The tour will consists of 22 show dates across North America running through the end of May. Then the band will take a month off and then head over to Europe for the remainder of the summer. This tour is in support of their first ever live CD, Show And Tell. The intensity of their live shows was captured on film in late 2007 in Hamburg, Germany and a DVD version of Show And Tell will be released later this year. Lucky for Auxiliary Magazine, we were at the show and had the opportunity to conduct the following interview. Hope you enjoy.

Interview by Mike of Auxiliary Magazine with Chibi of The Birthday Massacre
Video by Scott Blajszczak

Björk – All is Full of Love

It seems I cannot put one of these lists together lately without including a Chris Cunningham directed video.  While some may be more accustomed to the nightmare inducing qualities of some of his other projects, Cunningham shows here that he can direct with utter poise and beauty in the creation of this mechanical ballet.

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In my boredom or need of a break, I often go to youtube and look up things of interest.  I mostly search for subjects that interest me and see what the general public is posting.  In this particular case I searched “goth” and I stumbled across a west coast couple that have a show dedicated to their goth lifestyle along with art, cooking, humor, music, and of course FASHION!  The show is called Queenie TV and the hosts are Queenie and her boyfriend Hideousboi.  They are both artists that are located in the Encino, California area.

Upon watching their short broadcasts on youtube I was hooked!  For their awesome wardrobes, delightful humor, love of cupcakes, and the fact they are just creative types who enjoy babbling about any and all subjects, I exhaled a giant “WOW”.  It’s a relief to see people who live the so called goth lifestyle that don’t act like complete idiots just for attention.  Yes, it’s a harsh reality that in most people’s minds goth brings up a stereo-typed image.  This is a real life “Goth Talk”.

My favorite part about the show (okay other than their outfits) is how much they both love art!  Creativity is such a wonderful thing to promote on a show like this.  Queenie has a line of dolls that are her own creative cast of characters, along with paintings, drawings, t-shirts, and jewelry.  What goth girl doesn’t need cute Posiez merchandise?  Check out her website, PocketFullofPosiez.com.   I myself am defiantly ordering some swag!

You can view this gothic duo live on Wednesday nights 7pm PST at:
www.ustream.tv/channel/queenietv

Here’s a little taste…

Go watch!

- Meagan

Moby has a new video for the track “Shot In The Back Of The Head” off the forthcoming album Wait For Me.  This video is an interesting mess and all thanks to the imagination of director David Lynch.

The use of stereo on this track is also interesting… make sure you have your left and right speakers far enough apart, or better yet, toss on the headphones.

- Mike

Print copies of the April Issue of Auxiliary Magazine are now available for purchase online!  They are $15 and available through MagCloud at www.magcloud.com.  New this issue, you no longer have to be a member of MagCloud to purchase and new rush shipping options are available.  Read more details on ordering copies on the April Issue print page.  Auxiliary Magazine looks awesome in print, get your copy today!

Issue 3 : April 09 is now online!  It features Combichrist on the cover plus five pages of photos of the band and an interview, sleek android inspired fashion for spring, a beauty editorial for men inspired by music, a guest review by Amir Derakh of Julien-K, and much much more.  You can download it HERE for free.  Print copies will be available in a week.  Enjoy!