by Secretary

This last weekend Europe united for the Eurovision Song Contest, an annual event which a whole continent loves to hate, yet, like a car crash, is compelled to watch. For anyone who hasn’t had their lives touched by the force of nature that is Eurovision, allow me to explain. Founded in 1956, it was supposed to bring post-war Europe together in the spirit of friendly competition, but has since become a leviathan of campery, one-upmanship, tactical/political/block voting, ludicrous gimmicks, and people taking themselves far, far too seriously. It’s a yearly televisual event which serves as an excuse for the whole of Europe to sit down in front of the TV for one colossal drinking game (see rules), and is probably the best indicator of contemporary European politics we have.

Forty-three countries entered this year, and were whittled down to 25 finalists during two semi-final rounds ahead of Saturday night’s main competition. The winners were selected using a combination of televotes and jury votes. Ostentatiously, people were voting for the best song in Europe, but the entrants tend to be remembered for the spectacle rather than for their musical chops. From Britain’s Buck’s Fizz, who memorably ripped the skirts off their female members in 1981, to 2006 when Finnish rock band Lordi managed to temporarily unite the whole of Europe behind latex monster costumes, it’s the visuals that make Eurovision. I had planned to write this as the show was broadcast, but the mandatory Eurovision drinking game was particularly brutal this year, and all I’d managed to type by the next morning was “bbbbbbbbRRRRRRRRRRRRRR,” which I’m sure made a lot of sense at the time.

Anyway, now my hangover has finally subsided, I give you the Dedicated Follower of Fashion’s guide to the critical style moments of Eurovision 2011.

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by A.J. Focht

On May 13, the longest running superhero based television series, Smallville, came to a close. The final episode brought back many of the past characters, including Michael Rosenbaum as Lex Luthor. Avoiding other major spoilers, we’ll just say there is both flight and tights action involved.

That wasn’t the only action stirring in the world of superheroes this past week though. Rob Williams, author of the new Ghost Rider series, announced that the next Ghost Rider will be a female. Johnny Blaze, the current Ghost Rider, will be offered a chance to pass his curse on to someone else, and while Blaze will no longer be the Rider, he’ll remain a part of the series.

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by Erin Broadley

Back in 1984 Slayer and other metal mainstays Venom and Exodus hit the road on what was dubbed the Combat Tour. According to band legend, one drunken night on the tour bus, Slayer frontman Tom Araya – just a tempestuous twentysomething – stumbled down the hallway looking for a place to take a leak. Venom vocalist Cronos joked that the bathroom was right there, in his mouth. Araya proceeded to whip it out and piss all over Cronos’ hair. Sure, Cronos left Araya with a shiner but it’s all part of what makes Slayer, well, fucking Slayer.

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by Bob Suicide

Hi, my name is Bob Suicide and I’m a shy gamer.

Generally, there isn’t a lot of stigma being a shy, quiet geek. After all, as a group, us nerds aren’t known for being boisterous. We play our games, download/stream our shows, and read our comics all from the safety of our solitary couches. However, with the recent surge in mainstream desire for geek culture, we’ve been thrust off of our couches and into the social scene.

You know you’re a hardcore gamer when you can watch someone else play a game with the same satisfaction you would received if you played it yourself. I’ve “played” many a game sitting next to the controller as the go-to strat guide girl or the rapt spectator rooting my friends on. Generally, my shy nature doesn’t preclude me from enjoying the ridiculous level of gaming that I expect from my daily life. But sometimes you just have to be the one pressing the buttons to get the full joy from the experience; sometimes, you can feel a little left out sitting on the sidelines…and it’s then that I lament my epic shyness.

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by Riley St. Clair

There are about a million reasons I should not like Mickey Avalon. He is perpetually shirtless, he wears more eyeliner than I do, and he has a single called ““My Dick.”” Oh yeah, and he used to have sex with dudes for money. In spite of the undeniable sleaze-factor, I can’t get his songs out of my head and, well, I rather like him. The embodiment of a rags-to-riches hip-hop fairytale, Avalon has managed to garner the attention of the music press, a bunch of young fans looking to get down and of course, a crapload of teenage girls. In between sound checks and after-parties, I got him on the phone shortly before his Lollapalooza gig.

Read our exclusive interview with Mickey Avalon on SuicideGirls.com.

by Blogbot

Agonizing Love is a beautifully put together compendium of strips culled from the lost genre of romance comics. According to the volume’s curator and author, Michael Barson, an avid fan of retro-pop culture and a collector of all manner of flotsam and jetsam from days past, the first examples of the form were published in 1947. At the genre’s height, there were close to 150 different romance comics in print, with titles such as Lovelorn, Romantic Marriage, Lovers’ Lane, Bride’s Secrets, Boy Meets Girl, Heart Throbs, and Love Confessions. However, as the romance of the 1950s gave way to the pervasive climate of free love in the ’60s and ’70s, their popularity waned. The end of an era came with the final 126th edition of Young Love in 1977.

Last week we posted a typical strip from Young Love, entitled “How To Increase Your Dateability,” which offered female readers – who were ever fearful of being left on the shelf – tips on how to up their popularity quotient in order to increase their chances of finding a mate. This week, we have a simple 12 question personality test from issue #2 of Boy Meets Girl (originally published in April 1950), which will tell you if you’re likely to be a bride or – horror of horrors – an old maid.

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by Jay Hathaway

MC Frontalot first coined the phrase “nerdcore hip-hop” in the late ‘’90s to describe tracks laid down over homemade beats, featuring lyrics about everything from Star Wars to Nigerian e-mail scams. This year, he’s been on tour with a full band in support of his second full-length album, Secrets from the Future. While on the road, he was the subject of a documentary film, also entitled Nerdcore Rising.

SG had the chance to talk with MC Frontalot about the life of a professional rapper and the growing buzz around nerdcore hip-hop.

Read our exclusive interview with MC Frontalot on SuicideGirls.com.