by Aaron Colter

I’ve covered a good deal of up-and-coming bands in this column, some of my recent favorites being Talkative, Forest Park, and The Woolen Men. This week, I’m happy to throw support behind one of the most promising new bands I’ve heard in the Portland scene this year – Youth.

A new band with only a few tracks available, Youth have cultivated a sound that draws from the best in surf, lo-fi, and chill-wave to play a brand of northwest beach pop that is as familiar as it is surprisingly fresh.

Youth is set to play a spectacular show as part of Musicfest Northwest along with The We Shared Milk, And And And – both of which I’ve highlighted before as well – and headliners The Helio Sequence.

Plus, Youth is hopefully getting ready to tour with Wild Ones and, yet again another band I’ve talked about, Typhoon. With any luck and a bit of hard work, you’ll start to see Youth in more and more places.

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by Blogbot

Every week we ask the ladies and gentlemen of the social web to show us their finest ink in celebration of Tattoo Tuesday; our favorite submission from Twitter and Tumblr each wins a free 3 month membership to SuicideGirls.com.

Check this week’s winners below.

From Twitter:

@toastycoats a.k.a. Shaina Clough wins with her wise old, Rubik’s cube lovin’ owl. The coordinated blue polish on the pedicure sealed the deal for us!

From Tumblr:

hopelesslymg wins with this gothic Roman head.

If you haven’t won this week, don’t forget that you can enter each week until you do, so good luck next Tuesday, and happy inking!

A few things to remember:

• You have to be 18 to qualify.
• The tattoo has to be yours…that means permanently etched on your body.
• On Twitter we search for your entries by looking up the hashtag #TattooTuesday, so make sure you include it in your tweet!

Check out the Tattoo Tuesday winners of weeks past!

by Laurelin

I don’t like writing when I’m angry. I suppose there is technically something therapeutic about allowing the words to pour from your pen, furiously scribbled thoughts pressed hard into the paper rather than the controlled sentences I usually produce. I am never proud of what I write when I’m angry. I still do it every once in a while I guess; some things just need to be let out so they can be released and hopefully not felt anymore. I remember writing when my heart had been broken, when I was longing for something different, when I was so inspired by something beautiful or sad, but I do not write very often when I’m angry anymore.

When I was younger I was angry a lot. I was easily hurt and I wasn’t able to see the bigger picture. As I got older I developed a little more sense and realized that every little thing that happened would eventually pass. Each hurt that came to my life would make its mark, and each day after that it would hurt a little less, until one day it became just a memory. Some memories and aches are sharper than others, like remembering something terrible I said and didn’t mean makes me cringe, but you take it with a grain of salt. I learned to think before I speak, and that a heartfelt apology goes a long way.

Other memories, like songs, are different. There are some songs that invoke such powerful memories of certain places and people that when I close my eyes I can almost go back in time. I can smell, touch, hear certain things, some happy, some impossibly sad. When I hear “Hey, Jupiter” by Tori Amos I am 14 years old in a bed and breakfast in Stratford, England. I smell lavender on my pillow and in the sheets every time I move as I drift off to sleep. It was my last family vacation before my younger brother got really sick and the whole family was out, it was just me in this beautiful place. Lavender and Tori Amos always make me smile.

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by Steven-Elliot Altman (SG Member: Steven_Altman)

Our Fiction Friday serialized novel, The Killswitch Review, is a futuristic murder mystery with killer sociopolitical commentary (and some of the best sex scenes we’ve ever read!). Written by bestselling sci-fi author Steven-Elliot Altman (with Diane DeKelb-Rittenhouse), it offers a terrifying postmodern vision in the tradition of Blade Runner and Brave New World…

By the year 2156, stem cell therapy has triumphed over aging and disease, extending the human lifespan indefinitely. But only for those who have achieved Conscientious Citizen Status. To combat overpopulation, the U.S. has sealed its borders, instituted compulsory contraception and a strict one child per couple policy for those who are permitted to breed, and made technology-assisted suicide readily available. But in a world where the old can remain vital forever, America’s youth have little hope of prosperity.

Jason Haggerty is an investigator for Black Buttons Inc, the government agency responsible for dispensing personal handheld Kevorkian devices, which afford the only legal form of suicide. An armed “Killswitch” monitors and records a citizen’s final moments — up to the point where they press a button and peacefully die. Post-press review agents — “button collectors” — are dispatched to review and judge these final recordings to rule out foul play.

When three teens stage an illegal public suicide, Haggerty suspects their deaths may have been murders. Now his race is on to uncover proof and prevent a nationwide epidemic of copycat suicides. Trouble is, for the first time in history, an entire generation might just decide they’re better off dead.

(Catch up with the previous installments of Killswitch – see parts ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR, and FIVE – then continue reading after the jump…)

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by Daniel Robert Epstein

Joe Eszterhaus enjoyed a significant run as the number one screenwriter in Hollywood. He worked on popular films like Flashdance, Jagged Edge, and Basic Instinct, but by the mid-90’s he had suffered a couple of major misfires (Showgirls, Jade) and was dealing with some health issues. Eszterhaus stopped working for Hollywood and began penning books. His latest is The Devil’s Guide to Hollywood which is pages of hysterical and insightful anecdotes about screenwriting in Hollywood.

Read our exclusive interview with Joe Eszterhaus on SuicideGirls.com.

Devushka Suicide in Fuego Del Alba

• MAKES ME HAPPY: The sea, sun, nature, basically. When I spend too much time in the city, I need a break to unwind and breathe fresh air. Also, an unexpected visit, a good party, a walk with my dog, and an afternoon creating crafts, clothes.
• MAKES ME SAD: People addicted to suffering and problems, that always complain, and do not know what it is to have a real problem. Intolerance, disrespect, discrimination. The hunger and the enrichment of a few (at the cost of many), the civilization in which we have become. The hypocrisy, and the Materialism.
• HOBBIES: Tribal fusion belly dancing, tattoos, sewing, recycling, going to parties and concerts, and photography.
• 5 THINGS I CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT: Cheese, chocolate, music, sex, love.
• VICES: Cheese, seeing the movies I like many times, tattoos and piercings, secondhand markets, sushi, and apple juice.
• I SPEND MOST OF MY FREE TIME: Watching movies, painting, getting out.

Get to know Devushka better over at SuicideGirls.com!