by Brett Warner

There’s dust moving through the light, I notice three drinks in. It’s Factory Monday at The Necto nightclub in Ann Arbor, Michigan and I’m surrounded by a significant representation of the local gothic community. They’re projecting some anime film against the wall, which doesn’t strike me as being very goth, but that’s been the common theme of the evening: a vodka-fueled internal struggle with the definition of “gothness” and how to embody it. DJ Jinx is shaking the walls with a Combichrist song I’ve learned to recognize, which causes the textured light (equal parts smoke machine mist and various makeup powders) to twitch and sway to the relentless beat. I’ve been to a handful of Factory Mondays, and each time I can’t help but feel like Colin Farrell at the beginning of the Miami Vice movie—i.e. a total narc. Apart from my Elvis Costello glasses, penchant for black hoodies and old Depeche Mode records, there’s little to no social thread connecting me to this scene. But that’s the secret to understanding the gothic community on southeast Michigan: 1.) They don’t care about me, and 2.) Most of them only very casually care about goth stuff.

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On Sunday Nov 14th SG Radio’s special guest will be punk rock Buddhist and Hardcore Zen master Brad Warner. A beloved columnist on SG, Brad contemplates the big questions in life and comes up with some surprising answers.

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by Fred Topel

“I don’t listen to anyone else.”
– Robert Pattinson

Three years ago, anyone who wanted to talk to Robert Pattinson could have probably just phoned up his agent or publicist and gotten a lunch date with the struggling actor. Cedric Diggory from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire didnt exactly have groupies, and that was his only really visible role.

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Paula Suicide in La Azotea

• MAKES ME HAPPY: The big supermarkets, especially the bread section – love the smell mmm!
• MAKES ME SAD: Nothing, everything has a solution. Life is something provisional, so I don’t take it so seriously.
• HOBBIES: Travel travel travel, to be lost and out of space.
• 5 THINGS I CAN”T LIVE WITHOUT: I can’t live without the beat of my heart.
• VICES: Morocco chocolat, music and him…
• I SPEND MOST OF MY FREE TIME: Lost.

Get to know Paula better over at SuicideGirls.com!

By Edward Kelly

Intimate is not usually a word used when describing late night talk shows. Generally, a better track to take is to simply focus on the host’s ability to crack a few jokes, ensure that they’re relatively amiable, and that they interview a hopefully engaging guest. But if it were that easy then everyone would be able to do it.

On Monday night, Conan O’Brien returned to the airwaves on the cable network TBS. His new show, aptly titled Conan, marks what will hopefully be the denouement of The Late Night Debacle. To refresh: O’Brien took over The Tonight Show in June of 2009. After only seven months at the helm, NBC decided that maintaining a cool head in the face of trying times was a really dumb idea. Instead they seemed to think that panicking, airing private grievances in the most public of forums, and spending Brinks truck’s full of cash would be a much better way of doing business. It was like the National Broadcasting Company decided that nothing says “profits” to shareholders like the execs reenacting plots from Degrassi Junior High. You know what came next: O’Brien was ousted and offered his too-late slot back, and Leno was reinstalled in his old post-news position.

Instead of disappearing quietly back to the graveyard shift, O’Brien did what he does best: went right on being Conan O’Brien. He hit the road with his Legally Prohibited From Being Funny On Television Tour and signed up for a Twitter account. Then came the deal with TBS. Now, with the agreed waiting period required by NBC at an end, the new cable show is up and running.

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by Damon Martin

After a stunning debut that drew in over 5 million viewers last week, AMC’s new series The Walking Dead has been picked up for a second season with a 13 episode run already approved by the network. Indeed, the zombie filled show, based on Robert Kirkman’s comics of the same name, has broken cable records for viewership among adults 18-49.

Now that The Walking Dead can be called a legitimate hit, television networks will likely mine the comic book world vein, looking for more material that can be turned into TV gold. Shows like NBC’s Heroes and ABC’s No Ordinary Family have drawn upon the superhero myth, but weren’t actually based on any established work. So as The Walking Dead continues on AMC, let’s take a look at five series comic book series that have the potential to make it big in TV land.

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By Erin Broadley

There are drummers, and then there are street drummers – —the guys who truly aren’t afraid to get down and dirty with their craft. The musicians in Street Drum Corps are both, having played played traditional drums in rock bands for years before lending their sticks to something decidedly more free-form and experimental.

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