by Blogbot
A gathering of the Occupy tribes was held in NYC’s Central Park on Saturday, April 14th. The event, which was intended to serve as a Spring Awakening for the movement, succeeded in its goal, attracting a large and diverse crowd. Among them was Christopher Sean Grosek and his Occupy Lego Land miniature friends.
Photography: Nicole Powers
For more Spring Awakening images visit our gallery on SuicideGirls.com
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 links below – then continue reading after the jump…)
by Damon Martin
The Walking Dead will begin principle photography again this May in Georgia, with Season 3 set to debut most likely in October 2012, but that doesn’t mean fans aren’t already clamoring for more information. The Season 2 finale left a lot of jaws hitting the floor after Herschel’s farm and house were stormed by walkers, and the group fled for cover hoping to stay together and find refuge from the zombie apocalypse.
The Walking Dead‘s executive producer and show runner Glen Mazzara has let a few secrets out of the bag surrounding the next season of the popular AMC drama. One of the most anticipated aspects will be the continuation of the close of the final episode of last season in which a cloaked and hooded figure carrying a sword and two armless, jawless zombies came out from nowhere to lop the head off an attacker, and save Andrea, who was left behind amidst the madness at the farm.
Fans of the comic book realized pretty quickly that this katana wielding badass was Michonne, a pivotal character in creator Robert Kirkman’s zombie opus. Now Mazzara, who revealed the casting behind Michonne just after the season finale, lets a little bit more information slip about a character that he says will be extremely important to The Walking Dead:
“Michonne is one of the lead characters in the graphic novel, so we’re excited to finally introduce her. She is a loner. She’s a kick ass character. She’s very dynamic and we really see her as a very, very important addition to the cast. She’s a significant character and she’ll be carrying a lot of story, so we’re excited about her…
“We’re also excited about (Denai Guerrera) who is the young actress who is going to play this role, so we’re lucky to have her and look forward to seeing what she does with it.”
While the show has deviated from Kirkman’s source material on several occasions, as well as introduced new characters that were never actually in the comic books, Mazzara looks at Michonne as a piece that comes from the page straight to the screen. From her shadowy entrance cloaked in darkness to what they have planned for her in season three, Michonne will be a pivotal part of the group when they pick up later this year. Mazzara explains:
“She comes from the comic book. She feels like she stepped off those pages into the show. I think that’s exciting. That’s a challenge for us but, you know, knowing me as a writer, I think I’m going to keep it real, keep it grounded because if it doesn’t feel real I think the audience will not be able to put themselves in the immediate circumstances of the story…
“I think our show is successful because people watching say, oh, I’d be dead now or I’d kill that guy or I’d shoot him in the leg and get away. I think that’s what’s fun about the show. We’re very consciously trying not to keep the show too serialized, not have an overdeveloped mythology so that it’s accessible to people in the way that a good horror movie is. I find the best horror movies to be very simple and that’s something that’s important and so I think overall my entire intention of the show is to keep the show grounded, real and Michonne is going to be a great challenge.”
Another major character that will be introduced in Season 3 is the brutal villain known only The Governor. Portrayed by veteran British actor David Morrissey, The Governor is the leader of the town of Woodbury in the comic books, and was rated No. 86 by IGN in the greatest villains in comic book history. Mazzara says that The Governor and his town of Woodbury will be a big part of Season 3, but the prison that was introduced in the closing scenes of Season 2 will also be a major player this year and it will roll into Season 4 as well. Mazzara said:
“I do see that prison as a significant storyline for Season 3 and Season 4. I do think that’s a major story line. I know we were on the farm for longer than perhaps people wanted. There were reasons for that. I think what we want to do is make sure that that prison does not become claustrophobic. I think the farm played a little claustrophobic for people. The farm — now that the entire landscape has fallen to the zombie apocalypse and zombies are literally at the gate of the prison — if you see the graphic novel, that prison is really, you know, a very, very small, safe corner and there’s a lot of danger around. So it won’t feel like we are bottled up in the same way that we were in — on the farm in Season 3 let’s say…
“So I do think that prison is a significant storyline. But we’re interested also in opening up the world. You know, the governor has a world of (Woodbury). There are other factors out there in the world, other groups. So I think that Rick’s group is really stumbling into a much larger world.”
As a whole, The Walking Dead has tackled some tough subjects head on thus far through two seasons, but readers of the comic books know that The Governor gets his wickedly evil reputation through his deeds and heinous self-serving behavior. There are some extremely brutal scenes therefore played out in the comic book, but would the show runners at The Walking Dead on AMC be able to work those particular aspects into the show, or are some things just taboo?
“I know what you’re referring to and we have to put our own spin…I would say this, there’s no place we won’t go…Everything is on the table. This is a cutting edge cable drama. I’m comfortable with that material and we answered a lot of these questions on The Shield when I worked there, so I’m comfortable dealing with very, very edgy material.”
Some other interesting plot points that Mazzara revealed about possible Season 3 moments include the introduction of more characters from the comic books such as Tyrese. We’re also likely to discover what happened to Morgan and Duane (the characters introduced in the first episode that helped to save Rick). The re-introduction of Michael Rooker’s character Merle Dixon (Rooker also confirmed his role previously for Season 3) is also much anticipated.
Season 3 may still be a month out from shooting, and several months away from debuting on AMC, but it looks like there are plenty of surprises in store for fans when the show returns later this year.
Related Posts:
NEW SG Interview: The Walking Dead’s Michael Rooker – Merle Is Back
NEW SG Interview: The Walking Dead’s Irone Singleton aka T-Dog
The Walking Dead Season 2 Finale Recap: And Hell Followed Them
by Fred Topel
“My personal preference is space armor.”
– Holly Conrad, cosplayer
One of the most impressive aspects of San Diego Comic-Con is the annual masquerade, where cosplayers show off their creative designs. Everyday people create the images of comic book, movie and video game characters with costumes rivaling big Hollywood productions. For his documentary on Comic-Con, Morgan Spurlock chose one cosplay artist to follow for a portion of the film.
Holly Conrad designed an entire ensemble of Mass Effect costumes for the 2010 masquerade. Comic-Con: Episode IV – A Fan’s Hope follows Conrad from designing the costumes in her garage through assembling them on stage, as one of four stories surrounding the convention. Spurlock also follows a group of artists seeking mentorship, a comic book shop owner and a couple of geeks in love.
Conrad is one of the film’s breakout stars. Simply from the ingenuity of her Mass Effect costumes, producers of the Mass Effect movie offered her a job as a consultant on the film. Everywhere she goes in her Shepard costume, she stands out and gets compliments from impressed onlookers. That includes driving to the film’s Los Angeles press junket. Conrad planned to give all her interviews in costume, so she was suited up as she drove to Beverly Hills one Thursday morning. We spoke with her by phone, her very first interview of the day, to celebrate the glory of cosplay. She also wore her costume to the film’s Hollywood premiere.
Read our exclusive interview with Holly Conrad on SuicideGirls.com.
Iluvenis Suicide in Sweet Valentine
Get to know Iluvenis better over at SuicideGirls.com!
by Blogbot
Artist / SG Member Name: Fimbis
Mission Statement: Being a straight edge guy in Ireland means I don’t spend quite as much of my time propping up the bar as the stereotypes would lead you to believe. Couple that with living in a very small-minded town and insanity probably isn’t far away if action is not taken! Being creative is my outlet, a way to keep my brain active and fresh.
Art was all I was ever interested in while at school. I couldn’t paint or draw all that well, so I gravitated towards the computer in the corner of the room and have been sitting there ever since. I can think of an idea walking down the street, looking through a magazine, listening to music or watching TV and immediately take note of it to return to at a later date. The idea I start out with pretty much always evolves to be something different at the end and I love the process.
Medium: 95% digital (Photoshop/Illustrator) and 10% pencil/pen.
Aesthetic: Multi colored glowstick.
Notable Achievements: Standing on a box on Grafton Street in Dublin (Ireland’s busiest street) at 2 PM on a Saturday, April 2006 and giving a speech about my speech impediment.
Flying to Australia (and staying for a year) on my own in 2008 with just the clothes on my back and my laptop after my luggage had been lost in a London airport.
Being asked to design flyers for Karma Suicide.
Selling something on Society6.com/.
Why We Should Care: How often do you stumble upon an Irishman who does not drink? Exactly!! For that reason alone, my work is worth a look!!!
I Want Me Some: You can find my work on Bahance, Society6, and in this thread on the SG Fan Art Group.
By Blogbot
Co-founded by two former LA Weekly editors, Joe Donnelly and Laurie Ochoa, Slake is a highly collectable quarterly compendium “devoted to the endangered art of deeply reported narrative journalism and the kind of polished essay, memoir, fiction, poetry, and profile writing that is disappearing in a world of instant takes and unfiltered opinion.” Slake takes form as a hybrid of book and magazine, combining the non-disposability of the former with the kind of editorial prowess of the latter that harks back to an era when Bukowski wrote for the likes of Hustler and the LA Free Press.
Earlier this year we caught one of Slake’s live events, for which they are increasingly becoming renowned. Held at the Last Bookstore in DTLA, the reading featured many of the writers that have contributed to the lastest edition of Slake, which explores the concept of “Dirt” in all its forms. The night’s highlights included a hilarious turn from actress and comedian Lauren Weedman (a.k.a. Horny Patty from Hung), an essay from sex industry worker-cum-writer Antonia Crane, and a short story from Larry Fondation, which is excerpted below.
Wanda owns a dog but she never takes it for a walk. It shits inside. Sometimes she cleans it up, sometimes she doesn’t. Pieces of dried-up dog shit dot the floor of her apartment. But it’s not just the dog shit. Her whole place is a mess: piles of dirty dishes, empty beer cans and wine bottles, unwashed clothes strewn about.
She doesn’t shower very often, either. Every couple of weeks. She smells, but not much given how infrequently she bathes. She’s popular at all the clubs. Men love her. She always has a boyfriend.
Her romances all seem to last about a year. They end with the boy screaming, “You’re gross!”
I can never figure that out. She’s the same the whole time. It’s like, after a year they realize just how unclean she really is. Wanda doesn’t seem to care. A week or two later, she’s got another guy.
Her circle of friends is once removed from mine, but we hang out at the same places. I first meet her at the Short Stop on Sunset. The bartenders there are good, but there are too few of them, so you have to wait forever for a beer. Wanda is standing next to me. I can smell her a little, but I like it. She smells like sex and sweat.
We order the same drink—Irish and soda—and we laugh about it.
“You buying?” she asks. She is teasing but I can’t tell at first.
Her hair is greasy but she has a sly smile, sexy for sure. She tells me she already has a boyfriend, but we exchange numbers at the end of the night anyway.
The first time I go to her place, I can’t believe it. It looks like the set of a movie about degradation and squalor. I come in anyway. She hands me a cold beer.
Evidence of her boyfriend abounds — large-size Chucks and men’s underwear on the floor.
“My boyfriend’s out of town,” she says.
We flirt but do nothing. We talk a lot about music and bands and drink a lot of beer. At about 3, I head home.
I lose my job at Sea Level Records because they close the store. I start hanging around with Wanda most afternoons, but she has to be home every day by 3 because she gives her neighbor a blow job when he comes home from school.
The kid is a little Latino guy in the eighth grade.
“You want to watch?” she asks me.
“No,” I say, but I do not leave.
“My boyfriend won’t watch either,” she says.
She takes the kid in the bedroom. Ten minutes later, they are done and the kid goes home. She looks at me.
“What?” she says.
I don’t say anything.
It’s usually easy for us to talk, but now I am kind of quiet.
“It helps with his confidence,” she says. “He used to flunk every subject. Now he’s getting straight A’s.”
Sure enough she pulls out a couple of copies of his report cards — a steady rise in his performance, I admit.
“Don’t be judgmental,” she says. “He’s a boy, not a girl.”
Two days later I watch.
Sergio is glad to have me play the voyeur. He is proud and happy and puffing up his tiny chest. He smiles widely when Wanda swallows.
I want to tell him that Wanda and I have never touched each other, but it is not appropriate.
When they are done, Sergio asks for a beer.
“You’re too young to drink,” Wanda says and sends him on his way.
“When he hits the ninth grade, goes to high school, I gotta cut him off,” she says. “He needs a girlfriend.”
“You’re right about that,” I say.
“You hungry?” she asks.
She microwaves some taquitos. While we are eating, her dog takes a dump on the floor. I offer to take the dog for a walk.
“A little late,” she laughs, pointing at the pile of shit.
She goes to the fridge and grabs two cans of Pabst.
“Besides, you’ll spoil him,” she says.
I begin to drop by unannounced. Today she is reading. She reads a lot, in fact.
“You like Kant?” she asks me.
“The categorical imperative?”
“I prefer ‘a.’ ”
“ ‘A’?”
“Yeah, the indefinite article …”
“Okay.”
“I love the German Idealists.”
She is reading a Penguin paperback anthology with that title. She puts her book down and smiles at me.
“Especially Hegel.”
Her phone rings. She has a steel-blue iPhone. She keeps the volume up. I can always hear both sides of her conversations. Now a man shouts from the other end. Clearly it is her boyfriend. He is still out of town. I am not sure where he is. She has not told me. But he is very angry and loud. He yells for about ten minutes straight. She says nothing.
I pick up her book and, without losing her page, begin to read the introduction. It sounds interesting. When her boyfriend finishes his tirade, she turns off her phone. She looks at me. I can’t tell if she is sad.
“I guess I’m single again,” she says.
We kiss for the first time.
Wanda is usually fully clothed when she services Sergio. But today, is wearing her bathrobe with nothing on underneath. Her breasts poke through the folds of the robe. I have only watched their escapades twice. Today she pleads with me to be with them. She does him right by the front door of her apartment. She works extra quickly. He is staring down at her tits. He comes extra quickly. He waits for her to swallow but this time she does not. She hurries him out the door while he is still zipping up his pants.
“Tomorrow?” he asks.
This is different, and young Sergio is confused.
“Yes,” she mumbles with her mouth full.
She shuts and locks the door behind him. As soon as he is gone she flings her robe to the floor. She is naked and sweaty.
“Kiss me,” she says.
I do. We tongue and kiss with all the extra wetness and I am hard as mahogany. We finish kissing.
“Lick me clean and fuck me!”
I unbutton my shirt and drop to my knees. I fumble with my pants as I work my tongue up her thighs. She spreads her legs as she stands, shuffling her feet farther apart on the unwashed hardwood floor. Her pubic hair clumps and sticks together. My tongue parts her labia.
I am Wanda’s boyfriend now.
Larry Fondation is the author of two novels and two collections of short stories, all set in Los Angeles. His two most-recent books are collaborations with London-based artist Kate Ruth. Fondation has won a Christopher Isherwood Fellowship in Fiction Writing. Martyrs and Holymen is due to be published in 2012. For more info visit larryfondation.com/.
Original story art crafted by Alex Bacon and Anne McCaddon.
Dirty Girl, as excerpted from Slake Issue No. 4: Dirt, is reprinted with the kind permission of Larry Fondation and Slake Media LLC. Slake can be purchased at many independent LA bookstores including Skylight, Vroman’s, Stories, Last Bookstore, and Chevalier’s, and at Barnes & Nobles nationwide. It is also available via Amazon on a single purchase or subscriber basis. For more on Slake visit their website, Facebook, and Twitter.
