by Aaron Colter

The first time I saw Che Smith was in the basement of the Purdue Student Union in West Lafayette, Indiana. The Malcontents, a local ska band, were playing a free show in the student center on what was hopefully a weekend night, given the amount of substances I consumed. That evening, while The Malcontents were jamming out a reggae-vibe number called “We Make Profits,” and I was three-quarters into a bottle of Captain Morgan, someone started free-styling over the song – Rhymefest.

Despite starting the night in the basement of a Purdue building and waking up some sixty miles away at Butler University, I remember that song. It was, and remains, one of the single greatest live music moments in my life. But the reason I’m writing about Rhymefest, or rather Che Smith, isn’t because of his music, it’s because Che Smith is running for Alderman of Chicago’s 20th Ward.

Most of the media has defined Che Smith as a childhood friend of Kayne West, a Grammy-winner for “Jesus Walks With Me,” and the winner of a hip-hop battle with Eminem. All of these things are true, but that’s not the entire story.

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by Keith Daniels

The Bible is often presented by believers as a monolithic creation, as if it descended from Heaven whole, perfect, and in King James’ English. The truth, as in so many things, is so much more complicated and interesting. The text of the Hebrew Tanakh which became what Christians dismissively call the “Old Testament” began as an oral tradition that was eventually written down in Hebrew and Aramaic by unknown scribes over hundreds of years in what’s called “abjad” script – a system of writing in which only the consonants are set down and the reader is intended to fill in the vowels. These individual writings were eventually collected into a generally accepted canon by around 400 BCE and finally codified at a later but unknown date, probably by 100 CE.

And that’s just the “Old Testament”.

Similarly, the New Testament is a disparate collection of texts from numerous and mostly unknown authors – despite traditional ascriptions – writing from between around 50 to 200 CE. None of the books of the New Testament were written during the lifetime of a historical Jesus. And according to the Catholic Encyclopedia, the popular conception of one singular ancient council of the Church that decided what books were in and what were out is inaccurate:

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by A.J. Focht

Filmed on a budget of just $4 million dollars, Red State shows a side of Kevin Smith that the world has never seen before. Known for his raunchy nerd comedies, the pseudo-horror Red State defiantly stands out from his other works.

Red State has been the fuel of many an internet fire since its announcement in back in 2006. To start things off, the film’s budget did not include advertising money. As an attempt to avoid the “studio math,” the Harvey Boys studio intends to advertise the movie with viral word of mouth. Then in January, at the Sundance Film Festival, Smith announced his plans to self-distribute the film as the first SModcast Picture, launching things with a road tour that started on March, 5.

On Tuesday, March 22, Red State made its stop in Denver, CO; where I had a chance to catch the movie and a Q&A after with Smith.

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by Brandon Perkins

In the previous installments of our futuristic fiction series, Please Use Rear Exit, Mikhail, who recently x-ed his GF (Katya), ventures out for his first major post-break up night on the tiles with the boys. Meanwhile, Katya is similarly “enjoying” a night out with the girls. However, though the no-longer happy couple are experiencing separate but parallel nights out, they exist in the same universe, so there’s a chance their worlds will collide at some point. Unfortunately for Mikhail, the collision comes just as he strikes up a promising conversation at the bar with an intriguing female called Bridget.

Katya peaked around Jayson and smiled bashfully before striking a weird pose in some joke of a gesture. Whether it was intuition or the knowledge that he had ignored all those calls after breaking her heart or that Katya was just that transparent, Mikhail didn’t know, but he certainly knew that his ex was fucking furious. Her surprise and subsequent movements were aggressive, even as anyone else would probably perceive them as playful…Katya was livid.

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by Erin Broadley

Ghost towns have a bad reputation: Shop doors creak, saloons swirl with phantoms of unloved prostitutes, rotting jail cells are haunted by remorseless outlaws, and the dusty streets are patrolled by spirits of hardened deputies.

For some, ghost towns are merely creepy roadside attractions; for others they are American landmarks brimming with history’s shadows and latent inspiration. The abandoned mining settlement of Jerome, Arizona is one of the oldest and largest American ghost towns. Until recently, its roads lay ruined and its doors were boarded up. It quietly waited for some headstrong thrill-seeker to dust it off and polish its potential. Now a vibrant artist community, Jerome is the place that Maynard James Keenan calls home.

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by Alana Joy

Every week we ask you guys to show us your ink in celebration of Tattoo Tuesday: we choose one favorite submission each from Twitter and Tumblr and they win a free 3 month membership to SuicideGirls.com.

Check out this weeks winners!

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Epiic Suicide in Homework

• INTO: Looking at arts and films…I’m easily captivated through my eyes. Also very intrigued by good rhythm and sexy beats, music moves me. I love nerds, girl on girl action, tattoos, piercings, sarcasm, comedians, and living to the fullest!
• NOT INTO: Rude and disrespectful people.
• MAKES ME HAPPY: New clothes, bows, shinny stuff, weed, corny jokes, movies, pets, smell of cinnamon, alone time, laughing, great quotes, interesting people, sex, love, friendship.
• MAKES ME SAD: Holding back, shame, guilt, pain, sun in my eyes, jerks, smell of horses, taste of cinnamon, rude and disrespectful people.
• HOBBIES: Piercing, fashion design, dancing, singing in the car, cut/style hair, cooking, riding horses, travel.
• 5 THINGS I CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT: Computer, internet, eyeliner, pushup bra, and my camera.
• VICES: I always losing everything, I bite my lip, and I can be shy, sarcastic and have a sharp tongue.
• I SPEND MOST OF MY FREE TIME: Playing World of Warcraft or at the movies.

Get to know Epiic better over at SuicideGirls.com!