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Goth Is Dead; Long Live Goth. Remembrances Of A New-Grave Past In San Francisco
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:: Please Click To Enlarge The Following Archived Text/Images ::
:: Con’t ✷ After The “Jump” ✷ With Scads Of Photographs & Flyers
To Incite The Smoke Rings Of Your Imagination ::
B U R N I N G , B U R N I N G
Legendary Haunt HOUSE OF USHER: A Resurrection
this weekend: Friday, August 13th & Saturday, August 14th
Two Thousand & Ten A.D.
the roving, decadent, well-bedecked beast
is taking up residence at The Uptown in Oakland, CA
“…as the shades of the evening drew on, within view of the melancholy House of Usher.”
:: but what is this ‘House of Usher’—this legendary construct of myth & mirth & mystery—without its cast of characters, its inhabitants? ::
First, Please Allow Me To Present…
Shawni Brothers, Proprietress of The Estate
The question posited, I hereby present a sampling of retinal treats under the auspices that it might inspire any indecisive whine-&-diners of this, my self-named blogature, to readjust one’s posture.
Sir Xavier Haight, The Gentleman of The House
&
Vocalist/Founder of Malign, The Critically-Acclaimed Darkwave Project
Cutting to the chase, with the swath of a switchblade: If you live anywhere in the vicinity of this one-two punch of delectable darkness: even a cursory glance at the gorgeous creatures that follow should propel you off your gluteous maximus & rifling through your closet.
Case in point? The hyper-hyphenate & über-hottie Zoetica Ebb, as pictured above. Of course, you could stay in tonight & lurk endless jpegs of her posted at Biorequiem, her home base among the internet ethers—or you could even go all brainiacattack (accusations of gay? who, me? NEVER. I would not!) & explore Miss Ebb’s prolific outpourings at the subculturally essential—let alone just downright damn sublime—thick & slick & glossy-paged love-letter to alternative culture known as Coilhouse magazine, of which she was a co-founder.
Or, hey! Here’s an idea: how ’bout you just stay home with a family-sized bag of Cheetos & instead of licking the nuclear-hued dandruff off your fingertips, close your eyes & BEAT IT, BOSS
all breathin’ heavy & visualizing this fab fascinatrix you might—no promises from me, as this world we live in? a pretty damn cruel place…
But yeah, you might have a chance to stand close enough to do borderline* creepy stuff like fill your lungs with the stink of her hair.
The asterisk on “borderline”? Bitch, you already know this! Because when we’re crushed-out, there’s some intense delusional hormones released that sell us clichés like how [we] “can’t help the way we feel,” and “no, I really mean it, you guys: this time isn’t like the last time when I said it’s about time I found the right [pick a pronoun, rinse, repeat; double-up on those appointments to the shrink, as close friends will only sigh in disgust, hang up, or pay someone to fark some sense into you. Quickly].”
Kay, I really need to focus here.
Ah! That’s right! The equation of your hormones with a jaunt to Usher this fine eve…
Unless, of course, you’ve slipped past that veritable point of ABANDON HOPE ALL YE WHO ENTER HERE into a life of Ed Hardy sweatpants, woven leather belts the color of fecal matter, headbands from mega-corporate “non-corporate” franchises prominently listed—even & especially if by invisible ink—on the trustafarian American-Apparel-Apparel-Is-My-Idea-Of-Slumming, Ma-a-an pseudo post-post-ironic Hipster Checklist Of [COUGH!] Cool.
✷ Cunty Ranting Hereby Interrupted for A Ceasura of Correctness Maximus ✷
L O O K † U P O N
T H E S E † L O V E L Y † L A D I E S
Nakoeth [L] a.k.a. ‘The D.J. Formerly Known As Fuchsia’: Esteemed Provisionist of Hand-Picked Auditory Delights, &
Sorrel Smith [R], A Prodigious Talent of The Visual Arts Who Renders
Her Paintings, Portraits, & Illustrations With Consummate Skill
✷ Palettes Cleansed, Corneas Stimulated…HEED THESE WORDS AS ‘CAUTION TAPE’ FOR YOUR PSYCHE, ✷ As There’s A Shifting Of Gears Back To Vitriolic Territory ✷ (Sorry, mom. Sorry, God.) ✷
Pfft! Oh.&.Yeah: The “Checklist of Cool.” That tripe’s more played-out than Dexy Midnight Runner’s lethal earworm known as “Come On Eileen,” but then again? Chances are if you’ve read—that’s read, any blog-skimmerexic stereotypes who’re in full-blown desperato zone, scrolling with sweaty palms & a staggering 2.8 second average attention span (thanks to the ADHD Pharmers calculated into the same demo/grapho/frankly, let’s-not-get-too-graphic, whose intake of Mother’s Little Helpers fluff up those stats as effectively as a porn set’s invaluable blow-hards working behind-the-scenes)…
Anyway, as I was saying–or, at the very least, attempting to communicate before I reverted to an unfortunate habit of interrupting myself with tangential matter & tossing parentheses around with the same ease as a game of horse-shoes…
:: HERE. HERE’S THIS ::
with Ryan Rosprim [L], Maker-Ov-Musick from Kill Sister Kill: A Band Among the ‘Short List’ of House Faves
& on the [R]? Most applicable? The Court Jester, if anything!
(Incidentally, if I look like a bitch here? Alas! A photographic representation that’s accurate)
You you you, yeah, you: with your insatiable hunger for celebrity gossip, commerce tagged as “sharing a secret” (such a flagrant ploy to incite the domino effect among the dumbed-down click, copy, paste & repost crowd to create viral content…yet just like the anything-but-accidental exposure of thongs several inches above [insert name of trendy jeans] horizon being the visual equivalent of a mating call, it’s as fool-proof as the endless supply of fools).
Umm, yeah. Whaddya say we don’t “revisit” the aforementioned yawn-fest (not to mention time-suck kthnxthoractuallyeallynot) & visualize the rapid sweeping gesture responsible for ~magic~ on a dry erase board. Yeah yeah, you know: the trademark disappearing act that occurs when ✷ POOF! ✷ It’s the same blinding white hue working actors & “working boys” have for teeth.
Anyway, so now? Keep that imagination crankin’! Since, upon it, there’s been an addition of verdant green text in which a new topic—an assignment, if you will—occupies that space with the insistence of CAPS LOCK.
The message? Consider this an invitation to (envision air quotes here) follow my lead &
commence whatever personal rituals permit you to complete your destination of being
:: Suited & Booted ::
Above This Text, The Look? Four Words, My Applause: I SEE NO FLAWS
As aforementioned, here’s a dangerously delectable sampling of the historical haunt’s gorgeous creatures dressed in sumptuous fineries. However! Before any butt-hurt gloomophiles dial whine one one for the What About Me?! What About Me!? waaahbumlance to arrive, with a stern tone, I reiterate: this is but a small cross-section of the legendary bar’s “intimate associates.” A vast array of ‘regulars’ populated Usher’s environ over the years; these pictures just happen feature some of the individuals who—for whatever various & sundry reasons—appealed to the “peculiar sensibilities & temperament” of this humble blog’s narrator.
Or, to quote Poe (yet again!): my “reserve [has] been always excessive & habitual.”
Here’s to
Cheers to
T H E † E X C E S S I V E † & † T R A N S G R E S S I V E
Exhibit A:
Sensual, Though Inherently Too Cultivated & Chic For One Dare To Describe As ‘Slutty.’
Sophisticated, Though With A Sufficient Accumulation Of Accolades; i.e., No Need To Be A Show-Off. An Infectiously Engaging Conversationalist—Perhaps The Most Charmingly Macabre Individual I’ve Ever Met, Actually. If you’re familiar with the photography of Eric Kroll, Steve Diet Goedde, Charles Gatewood, &/or Richard Kern (et al), you’ve seen her likeness: or rather, the image this anthropology major & multi-faceted individual chose to project at that precise moment in time.
A maestro of oil, Anna Noelle Rockwell‘s paintings explore the sublime intersection where
the gorgeous & the grotesque intersect. Just click it & check ‘em, already… (For feck’s sake!)
Exhibit B:
Gabriele: Conjurer Of Thunderstorms & Lunar Apparitions, Dark Liquidtrance Bloodscapes,
Scrying, Writhing Vampiric Chasms, Stitch-Witchery Of Glamoured Fabrications,
Brightly-Colored Tarot Playthings In A Physical Shape & Smash-Lit State Of Mind
Like No Other, Cemeterial Moonlit Gloom, & Body-Popping.
No typo, that: Black Magic & Body Popping
A individual in a wonderfully warped sense of the word, & a collector’s dream.
Exhibit C:
Though I Can’t Tell You If It’s From When He Was Or Wasn’t A ‘Prince,’
With All Certainty, I Concur With The Sentiment: Natalie? She’s Got The Look, Yes
Exhibit D:
Paris Sadonis: A Master of Multiple Instruments; A Painter, Performance Artist & Musician Known For Pushing Boundaries—Particularly With The Rotating Cast Of Collaborators in The Audio-Visual Pastiche He Both Created & Orchestrates: EXP. ‘EXPerimentation Without Limitation’ is a doctrine among the collective; ‘Catharticism Is The Key To Our Satisfaction’ is another.
» Oh, but there’s MOAR » “Beneath The Cut!” »
Because There’s Black Magic In The Movement
from Nick Knight‘s brilliant SHOWstudio, the fashion & art broadcasting channel
:: Joie de Vivre ::
an editorial of Gareth Pugh‘s oil-slick, sicker-than-ever Autumn 2010/Winter 2011 collection
✷ Unfortunate, though necessary DISCLAIMER BEFORE VIEWING: This video contains partial female nudity in an artistic context. If you are easily offended, uptight, conservative, under the age of 18 in a country where breasts are against the law for minors to view; if you are on a public computer—including though not limited to libraries, internet cafés, airports, airplanes, and/or places of employment—within a public setting which could potentially expose anyone to partial nudity against his or her free will; if you do not appreciate fashion, have no respect for the beauty of the human body, are a member of the Clergy, adhere to a religion in which viewing the aforementioned will incite questionable behavior, immortal thoughts, if not altogether deem you a candidate for hellfire and eternal damnation; if you are immature, live anywhere on the planet that designates aforementioned material illegal for anyone under the age of 21 and you are not at least 21 years of age, live where obscenity laws are stringent regarding web site content—namely, countries in which women are expected to have their bodies completely clothed in any and all public forums, certain zip codes within the American Bible Belt, or quite frankly, anywhere mired in antiquated notions of morality: do not click on the arrow that appears in the embedded content; do not press “play,” and do not view any other content on this URL under any pretense. In no uncertain terms: please, DO YOURSELF & THE REST OF THE CIVILIZED WORLD A FAVOR & GO AWAY—IMMEDIATELY, NOT ONE SECOND LATER; YES, I AM SERIOUS WHEN I SAY KINDLY NAVIGATE ELSEWHERE & THAT MEANS NOW. ✷
:: whew! ::
That being stated, for the rest of us?
Enable Full Screen
&
C r a n k + T h e + V o l u m e
video description & full credits await
beneath the cut
August/September Issue of Auxiliary Magazine
Auxiliary = alternative, supplementary, to provide what is missing, to give support
from the site page:
“The August/September issue is the eleventh issue of Auxiliary, a magazine dedicated to alternative fashion, music, and lifestyle. This issue is packed with interviews, including Android Lust, Nina Flowers of RuPaul’s Drag Race, Michael Swaim of Cracked.com, and Andy Deane of Bella Morte. The issue also contains a military inspired fashion editorial, a beauty editorial that will teach you to get smart, a style editorial guide to wearing harnesses, a mod inspired style feature, and editorials from two notable writers, Clint Catalyst* and Grumpy Owl. It also features DJ picks from Volvox, a beauty feature on how to achieve the look of a 2026 starlet, and fashion by Steam Trunk, Cyberoptix TieLab, Dace, S&G, Skingraft, Fluevog, Audra Jean, Garbage Dress, EC Star, Steady, and much much more.”
and—although credited in the issue, just as my own little Damn Straight, I Love My Friends—here & now:
*featuring the photography of Dirk Mai, wardrobe by Mother of London & Stacey Hummell make-up artistry.
To download a free .pdf, or for ordering information on a print copy, either click the image above or GO HERE.
✷ Special thanks to editor Jennifer Link! ✷
The Ultimate Pro-Ana Dining Utensil
a single Pinky Diablo silver-plate spoon for each meal
Otherwise? It’s
:: both teaspoon & tablespoon sizes available :: $45 each; free shipping in the US ::
Oh, & if you lack a sense of humor?
Lachen Sie sich tot!
