What I Do When I’m Not Writing Blog Posts – Favourites

This blog is very fashion orientated and when it’s not, it seems to fall back into that category anyway. But occasionally I do spend time away from it and away from my studies (okay, maybe not that much time). So, if you were interested, here’s a little list/linky list where I ramble about things that I like and you might like to.

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Watch Films

There’s no doubt you might have noticed I spend a lot of time watching films. Back in the day I would post monthly recaps of all the films that I’ve consumed. These days I prefer searching out good old classic. Films are the only category that I have overall favourites: Breakfast at Tiffany’s (because I’m a sucker for romance) and the entire Scream series (mostly the first one because of the inner film criticism that I could talk about for days – that I have spoken about for days). Ghost-face is the love of my life.

This week I’ve also seen How To Train Your Dragon 2 and that new X-Men in theatres. And on my to-watch list are Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and to force Coen to experience to glory that is The Mexican.

Read Books

While I may be a Creative Writing and English Lit student I’ve fallen into a horrid habit of not reading outside of my necessary reading list during the semester. Since I’m technically on my break (still one daunting essay left to finish) I’ve started reading again. I’ve re-read Harry Potter one because it’s the literary equivalent of the love of my life and I’ve just started Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children.

Play Games

I spend all of my time playing Suduku, Spider Solitare and Space Inavders. My whole family, Coen inclusive, are all massive MMORPG players but the closest I’ve ever gotten are the classics. It’s strange when there’s so much pressure to play games in your home, you end up not finding them fun. Plus, they’re great for…

Listening to Podcasts

I never thought I would get into Podcasts. I’m still a newcomer to the realm.  If you have any suggestion I automatically need-to-know-please. My favourites are Welcome to Night Vale and The Drunkenpeasant’s Popdcast (though I can’t stand anything they say about Feminism, that’s just a warning).

Looking up Vegan Recipes

 The kind of recipes I love seem to be far and few between. Vegan? No more than four steps? Limited amount of chopping? Less than three ingredients?  Moderately healthy? If so, we have a winner. Recent trials have been this Paleo Curry Cauliflower (though I use Peanut oil rather than Coconut oil) and general attempts at battling sweet potato.

Reading Poetry

Much faster to read than novels, and considerably cheaper! Coen bought me Cody Weber’s new poetry collection (that comes with a PDF of his ridiculously lovely photography). He’s a YouTuber if you weren’t around the last time I mentioned him, and has some lovely poerty, political and life video’s up on his channel, Saturnine Films here. His work, poetry, music and photographs, are being sold ridiculously cheap. But if you don’t like Travel Poetry – I know of lot of people, myself included, don’t – you won’t like the Postcard From… collection that I bought. Though, I have some favourites:  Darwin and Friends. Most of his work is a dollar.

I was also emailed by that writer I reviewed here to review his book of poetry. I’ve only skimmed over a few. But after this semester of poetry I couldn’t believe his incredible ability at rhyme schemes. They seem perfect for children. Check it out here, it’s only a dollar.

I think I have sufficiently spoken about nonsensical things for long enough. It’s time for you to tell me your favourites. What do you do when you aren’t doing the things that you always, well, do? Did that make sense? You get the picture, I’m sure.

Lessons on Life From Alternative, Ass-kicking Characters

Characters from Cat-Women to Clive go through their own trials and tribulations. Many of these are things that we can learn from and apply to our own lives. Which is why, I’ve chosen a quote from a few of my favourite Goth characters – from fashion to gender stereotyping that have certainly pushed me (even if ever so slightly) in the right direction.

Found on Tumblr – There’s no original source.

Elvira

Recently, Elvira has been one of my favourite characters and for good reason! She is a fierce women, that isn’t ashamed of her body and presents a positive representation that all types of sexuality are good types of sexuality.* Must I say more?

“And if they ever ask about me, tell them I was more than just a great set of boobs. I was also an incredible pair of legs. And tell them… tell them that I never turned down a friend. I… never turned down a stranger for that matter.”

She teaches us to be proud of our bodies, you don’t have to take harassment from anyone for anything (and if people don’t listen, keep talking until someone does), and whatever you look like or dress like it’s how you act that matters.

Gif found on Tumblr – Original source is located in the top-left corner.

Amy Blue

From the “road murder sex comedy” Doom Generation, Amy is an independent (more like demanding) and frighteningly controlling woman that isn’t afraid to put out her cigarette on society built gender roles.

“That guy has the intelligence of a stool sample”

She teaches us that there’s a disturbingly witty comeback for everything. Though you may want to use such remarks a bit (scratch that, a lot) more sparingly than she does.

Found on Tumblr

Gypsy 

This cut-throat, luscious lady doesn’t take crap from anyone. From the “bear gut, pig fuckers” to the “catty little cunts” she always has a retort that gets things riled up. Usually, fashion wise it’s Clive that gets all of the attention for his Victorian and bondage inspired outfits. But Gypsy has an amazing style of her own that empowers her to stand up for herself and in what she believes.

“Listen here granny, big is beautiful haven’t you heard. And I don’t give a flying fuck or a rolling rim-job what you or anyone else thinks of me. You’re dismissed.”

Okay, so I’m not too fond of the language, but then again I love YouTube ranters, so I’m all for getting your point across by making people enraged. But this comment has so many things going for it. You don’t have to take shit from anyone. Big is beautiful! All shapes and sizes are gorgeous and the sooner that’s accepted the sooner we’ll be happier as a society. Holding things in is bad. But you also wouldn’t want to risk your safety so, make thoughtful decisions. That doesn’t mean, however, that you need to give that comment any room in your thoughts – because they are just a silly, silly person that is trying to feel better about them-self (it’s repeated so many times but it’s oh-so-true).

Heart-felt conclusion here!

Dressing in a boisterous or simply different way isn’t always top-hats and bloomers for the people wearing the clothes. It can be difficult, alienating and even frightening. But there will always be a reason that we keep going back, what’s yours?

*To read more about the non-existence of sluts read this article here by GirlOnTheNet or watch this video by Laci Green.

Goths – The BBC Spine-Chillers Episode

Spine-Chillers was a short horror/comedy television program that aired on the BBC with a particular episode entitled Goths. Grishnack of Mall, a self-proclaimed vampire and Tim,“more of an industrialist, really” are looking for somewhere to live when they find what looks to be the perfect apartment with what they think is a hardcore Goth. The episode is a comedic parody of alternative culture with some drama and horror thrown about. It’s so over the top that you have to laugh at it and at the same at yourself. The entire episode can be watched freely here or start below.

Have any of you seen this before? What did you think?

Alternative Characters For All Ages: Cartoon Edition

It’s no doubt that spooky television characters have been pushing children into alternative culture for a long time. I, myself, would watch such characters all day wanting to be more like them. In today’s society alternative culture’s slowly becoming much more accepted and certainly more accessible to find online or in everyday television shows. Here’s a little list of a few alternative cartoon characters that any age group can enjoy.

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The Grimm Adventures of Billy and Mandy
This is the tale of two children, Billy and Mandy, and their adventures with their good friend the Grimm Reaper. The episodes are a combination of comedy and horror and while there are over six seasons the episodes are easy to watch out of order. The series holds a lot of smart plot lines and intelligent humour among that meant for children. For great video reviews check out Colour Me Goth, I love watching them – they’re very well put together.

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Lenore: The Cute Little Dead Girl
This cartoon spin off of Roman Dirges comic by the same name follows Lenore (Edgar Allen Poe’s Lenore) in her life after coming back from the grave. There’s something just not right about this little girl that sees nothing wrong with killing all of the pet shops hamsters or throwing knives at the people that lust for her attention. This series is chilling enough for adults – plus the all episodes combine to about movie length. You can watch them all here since they aren’t on the official website anymore or click here to watch my most favoured episode for a preview (it’s only three minutes).

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Growing up Creepie
You can check out my very, very old review where I talk about “Goth’s in the mainstream“- but beware of terrible spelling. This series is a combination of cartoon, teen drama and documentary on bugs and creatures. While the main character, Creepie, stumbles through the events of high school and attempts to fit in all while growing up with a family of assorted bugs. It’s definitely more suited towards a younger audience but the information about creatures would be interesting to any age.

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Daria 
You guys must know how much I love Daria by now. For the record I freakin’ adore it. This series is an adult animated program following the sarcastic, witty and darky humoured main character Daria and her also sarcastic and artistic best-friend Jane Lane. We follow them from the Morgendorffer’s move to the dismal town of Lawndale through in their high school trials and tribulation up until their graduation. This isn’t a series (I hope) that will be forgotten very soon.

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 Ruby Gloom
 It certainly makes me laugh that Wikipedia states “Ruby Gloom was originally aimed towards a gothic crowd but was later adapted for kids.” The main character, Ruby is a 10 year old girl who can find happiness in anything. The series follows her and sometimes her friends around the mansion they live in solving their daily problems. This isn’t a series I have particular history watching but it has never failed to entertain the young me.

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Beetlejuice
 It’s ridiculous that I was just about to finish this when I remembered good old Beetlejuice! Loosely inspired by the eighties film directed by Tim Burton and a film that every Goth should know! Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to see many episodes of the original series since they’re so hard to find online. The plot is certainly separate from the film, following young Goth, Lydia and her friend, Beetlejuice wandering the underworlds filled with monsters, ghosts, zombies and ghouls. You can watch the first episode here on Youtube officially.

Did you watch dark cartoons growing up? What other cartoon do you think I should have included?

Eight Alternative Films With Alternative Characters

In the past I’ve wasted so much time searching for Goth characters in movies and I’ve told you about my favourite alternative characters [here]. While I still swear by those characters, please check them out they’re awesome, there are certainly a lot more. Just a Google search will place a bunch of ‘Goth Films’ in your hand but a lot of the time people don’t know what they’re talking about. I’m going to do mini reviews below to tell you my scope of these ‘Goth worthy’ films. Mini reviews tend to, but may not, contain general comments about particular film techniques, plot points and warnings of inappropriateness and are non-spoiling.

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Pretty In Pink

I love this film a lot more than I like Sixteen Candles – a film set in the same time period with a lot of the same attributes. It stars one of the ‘rejected kids’, a girl by the name of Andie that dresses in self-made and second-hand clothes consisting mostly of Pink. I adore the fashion in this film which inspires me so much. It may not be black but it’s still wonderful. If Pink isn’t your thing you might like the styles of some of the co-starring characters – a male, Duckie, that dresses in an amazing street style and a Punky older friend. The film itself is a typical teen-romance and is almost always cited in awesome romances from the eighties. It’s no wonder it’s still so popular.

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This Must Be The Place

I adore this film. Even though the ending is a terrible re-hash of most films with staring alternative people the main character moving on with his life, magically becoming a happy person and thus throwing away his alternative clothing. Am I the only one that this annoys the hell out of?

Stereotypes aside, after watching the trailer on Youtube [here] – I have no idea how I found it – I couldn’t wait for it’s release last year. The main character is obviously a take on The Cure’s lead singer, Robert Smith. But that isn’t the only Goth in this film with his younger friend, a young Goth girl and fan of his bands music. The story however is a bit more of an acquired taste but with the broad theme of self-acceptance I think the plot of searching to kill a Nazi from Auschwitz is a lot more available to audiences.

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SLC Punk

Let’s face it. I go through phases in which I study different subcultures obsessively. Goths, Skinheads but Punk is one that has really stuck. SLC Punk was a film that I watched when first entranced in the Punk web. And it was everything a good film should be. Absolutely heart-breaking again and again but with a foreseeable conclusion that still has an impact. The film is filled with a documentary-like narration which I love that explains the main characters life-style and about the ‘scene’ – which you shouldn’t take as fact. The ending takes the ‘phase’ trend of alternative characters into a different light that didn’t seem as silly to me – but you’ll have to watch it to find out.

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Blair Witch 2: Book of Shadows

Okay, this film is a rather terrible attempt at a follow up to the first film. But there’s something about the atmosphere that always keeps me coming back. I just love the teenage spirited horror film. On the plus side, it’s great for those that hated the first film merely because of the camera technique.

The Goth in this film is a stereotype but it ring rather true with some of the lines, like “People think that because I wear black I’m some kind of sick killer”. Otherwise, from the beginning we see her lying across a grave in a cemetery, wearing a trench-coat, blue highlights in her hair while smoking. I can’t be the only one that thinks she sounds reminiscent of My Immortal? Anyway, don’t get your hopes up for anything spectacular since she’s only the Goth trope in a horror film.

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Doom Generation

This film is certainly R-rated for a reason and I’d suggest those that don’t hold an affinity to gore, sex, violence and language to NOT watch this film. I think Even a glance at the trailer here can give a fragment of this films inappropriateness. I’m usually a fan of such points in films myself but certainly watch at your own discretion!

To actually describe the film, it’s certainly a psychological thriller and definitely a horror. I would love to know what anyone who has seen this thinks of the ending because it is rather sickening. If you enjoyed this I suggest watching the other two in this Trilogy: Totally F***ed Up or Nowhere.

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Ginger Snaps 

When talking about Ginger Snaps and alternative characters I’m only referring to the first film. The first was focusing on the rejected and rebellious teens with a fascination for death and a little bit of a Werewolf problem. The second film they have rather left their ‘alternative’ rebellion and the third, while a good film has almost nothing to do with the first two. If you’re touchy about talk and imagery of menstrual cycles you my want to steer clear of this film.

The characters in question are Ginger and Bridgette that are obviously going through a phase but give lots of great examples on thrifted, alternative fashion – especially as dystopian fashion has recently become so popular. I wish I could steal some of their outfits because they layer like pros.

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Gypsy 83

I never watch films more than a few times, but I couldn’t help but watch this film constantly and for a while everyday. I think it’s because of my penchant for alternative characters. I end up analyzing their outfits and hair-styles and using them as inspiration for my own. It’s also a bonus that the sound track is in constant rotation in my media player. My personal favourites are Nothing-Special by Mechanical Cabaret and Doing The Unstuck by The Cure.

There’s just something fun about watching characters that encompass everything so stereotypically Goth – from their singing and dancing to The Cure or Clive’s school paper on “The Unlikely God-mother Of Goth”. In between all of this there are plot lines which drag it into the reach of those that may not be as enthusiastic about looking at people dress up. Which leads me to mention that there is coarse language and sex scenes (though they aren’t too graphic).

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My First Mister

This is your typical teen film with a bit of a twist. The twist being the trope angsty teen in this film wears lots of purple and black, with a face full of piercings and died black hair. The film loosely addressed the social problems of the alternative teen and an older man that become friends. The film can be quite funny at times and is definitely suitable for a teen or younger audience. It’s quite moralistic in that regard. Overall, I did enjoy this film. It has some humour, suspense and dramatic parts which keep you on edge while you get to know the characters.

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Daria

I love Daria. And there is no doubt in my mind that Daria is an alternative character – along with Jane. When I first watched the entire television series it was from pilot to ending film. There are two films Is It Fall Yet? and Is It Collage Yet? which fit in perfectly. Unlike some sitcoms you shouldn’t be deceived by the appearance of a lack of overall plot because by the end all the episodes play together brilliantly. This is a series I enjoyed so much that I cried throughout it. It’s filled with cliche’s and silly family messages but overall I think it was a really impacting show.

What do you think of my first section of Alternative Characters? Have you seen any of these and what did you think of them? Don’t forget to tell me yours bellow!

YouTube Poetry

Warning: These poem’s hold strong undertones that may affect younger readers or readers with triggering problems. Themes that may be triggering such as suicide, sexual assault and violence.

I like to listen to people on YouTube rage on about recent politics. The angrier the more interested I seem to get. As long as they make sense and hold some form of intellect behind themselves. I also listen to a lot of vocal poetry on YouTube. Let’s just say I spend quite some time on it. Below are some video’s of some of the poem’s that I enjoy.

Saturnine Films (Cody Weber)  – I Don’t

Sylvia Plath – Lady Lazarus (I studied her this year)

Yes I am a Slut – Clementine Morrigan

Just a few. I don’t want to overload it.
– Sary Walrus