Recently Auxiliary Magazine’s Luke Copping had a chance to speak with Clark Dever from www.twelvehoursinacity.com about his travels, adventures, and the pitfalls of only being on the ground for twelve hours at a time.

- Luke

Auxiliary’s playful take on the sexy centerfold pin up.  This month we bring you Apnea in Ego Assassin.  Flip the page, cut out, and tac on your wall!

photographer : Steve Prue
hair stylist : Kristin Jackson
model : Apnea

view more photos in the August 09 Issue

Our friends over at Twelve Hours in a City (a project of the Buffalo artists Clark Dever and Joe DiNardo) have started to post the travel logs for the the first ten days of their journey.  If you are not familiar with the project, it’s an alcohol and caffeine fueled journey across America via the all you can fly month long pass that Jet Blue offered.  We will be having Clark from the project in for an interview in the next few days, but in the mean time here is the teaser video from their first day in Boston, MA.

- Luke

Auxiliary’s playful take on the sexy centerfold pin up.  This month we bring you Raquel Reed in Tom Tom.  Flip the page, cut out, and tac on your wall!

photographer : Steve Prue
makeup artist : Doe Deere for Lime Crime
hair stylist : Raquel Reed
model : Raquel Reed

view more photos in the June 09 Issue

We sent Jennifer Serchia out to explore Northside Festival in Brooklyn, New York organized by The L Magazine.

Considering the perpetual rain this summer, there is no denying June gloom is here, or as my pal Tom calls it, “April hangover”.  Although, it is discouraging having summer on hold, I’ve got to say a good alternative to partying outside is partying INSIDE, as demonstrated by the Northside Festival in Williamsburg this past weekend.  Northside took advantage of the grey weather by utilizing neighborhood bars, restaurants, and galleries to host myriad musical performances (and we all know music, eating, and drinking doesn’t go out of season).  Lists of bands were curated for and assigned venues to perform in so concert-goers could choose their own itinerary, sort of like a musical scavenger hunt.  The cost was $35 for a badge that allowed access into any show hipsters could scurry to in time, an economical approach to concert-viewing.  It was also an ingenious way to promote local businesses and introduce new places to anyone interested.

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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

Auxiliary’s playful take on the sexy centerfold pin up. This month we bring you the striking Nofar Avigdor in vivid red Betsey Johnson! So flip the page, cut out, and tac on your wall!

Photographer : Studio X
Makeup Artist : Mimi Makeup
Hair Stylist : Aliza Williams
Model : Nofar Avigdor

dress by Betsey Johnson with hat by Taissa Lada Designs

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Dear Chrissie,
My boyfriend and I have been together for the past four years.  We constantly declare our love for each other and while he does occasionally compliment me, he’s got the worst case of the wandering eye ever.  Whenever we go out, he ogles these cheap looking Paris Hilton look alikes.  I try not to let it bother me, but I can’t help it.  When he looks at girls that look so different from me, I secretly freak out that given the chance he’d dump me for a bleach-blonde tanned bimbo.  How do I deal?  Is it him or me?  Help!

Sincerely, Dakota [Pittsburgh, PA]

Dear Dakota,
While this behavior from your boyfriend might be annoying, you have to realize that he isn’t blind, or dead (yet), and he will notice other girls.  But it is one thing to look and another thing to actually go about trying to get with them.  From what you tell me, you both seem very committed to one another and truly love each other.  So I would guess he isn’t about to go after these girls instead of being with you.  If he were that type of guy then he probably would have done that a long time ago.  I wouldn’t look at it as being a problem so don’t make it a problem.

Luv, Chrissie

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Corporate Goth : because nice boots are expensive

by Vanity Kills

This work is purely fiction.  All characters portrayed in this work are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.  All events detailed below are intended solely for entertainment purposes only.  So you can laugh and enjoy, it’s not real.  As stated in the last installment, “for goodness sake, it’s just GOTH.”

Dear Diary,
“Corporate Goth: because nice boots are expensive.”  At least that’s what the clichéd bumper sticker prominently displayed  in my cubicle at work proudly states.  I tacked it up to the cork board as a humble reminder to keep on rolling with the punches when mandatory overtime, caused by system crashes somewhere in India, cuts into my coffee shop time with the girls.  Yes, the bi-weekly ritual of caffeine and gossip filled “Harpy Hour” is what kept me from hurling myself from the 40th floor of my corporate high rise many times over.  As for the above mentioned sticker?  Every single time the evil overlords on the 40th floor decided that they wanted to morph into micromanaging monsters and found a new way to torture their 12th floor office peons (that would be us), I needed SOMETHING to remind me that the high cost of latex, platform shoes, and couture corsetry is what keeps me at my job.  NOT the good of the company.

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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