VIXXEN - December 2009

contents In every issue

gig report

columns

diaz suicide

December 2009 FEATURES

ali scalliwag

sweet nausea

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The Second Coming ow. I have so much to say in my ed’s letter this month, and I hope I can find the words to articulate myself accordingly. We have received such awesome, unexpected support for VIXXEN upon releasing the debut issue! When we started this, I honestly did not know it will be so well received! Thank you guys so much for the support and kind words!

I think now there is definitely more pressure for the VIXXEN team to produce better and better material with each issue. It is frightening and exciting at the same time, and we have been working around the clock since the beginning of November to assemble an issue that is bigger and better, and we strive to continue doing so with each new issue. Sadly, Cat is no longer working on VIXXEN, and we are sad to see her go, but we continue to admire her work, not only because she is one of my closest friends, but also because we believe she is a really talented girl. On a more positive note, we now have Lisa ‘Lili’ Nerlich as our fashion and beauty editor, and she really knows her stuff!

This month’s cover girl is one Miss Ali Scalliwag.

I have known Ali for ages, and knew I definitely wanted her on cover. Even though our cover girls are flattered, I think I feel more flattered that they would be a part of this! So when Ali agreed, I had already planned in my head what I envisioned with the cover. Syncing my visions (READ: bossiness) with Christelle’s visions (READ: stubbornness) was a bit of a challenge, but, despite always being at each

other’s throats on shoots, it’s all in good nature – that is just how we work – we are comfortable enough with one another to be able to be straight-forward with our opinions of one another’s work.

We are also bringing you event report backs this month, which we hope can give you the low-down on gigs you either attended and were too drunk to remember well, or, couldn’t attend. My personal favourite this month was Balkanology, although I am a little biased, what with being Eastern European and all.

Driving to 44 Stanley, I honestly didn’t know what to expect. WOW. I’m full of just wows this month. I’m in awe. It was SO good, and I have to admit I was a little apprehensive with a Balkan party in South Africa of all places, because it’s an infusion of very different cultures.

In closing, I would like to use the rest of my editor’s space to sadly announce that a close friend passed away mid November. We are all shocked and in mourning, and I would like to dedicate this issue to Kai Harrison. I am not a religious person at all, so I cannot say that I’m sure he is looking down and is proud of me right now, but one thing I do know – he made me believe in my work, and spoke very highly of my designs, and I know for a fact he would have been really proud of me.

So, this one is for you, Kai, rest in peace, where ever you are, you will never been forgotten, things will never be the same without you!

Our newest addition to the team comes in the form of Lisa Nerlich, a hyper little chatterboxwho is studying copywriting. She comes from Switzerland and has parents who rock and are covered in tattoos. She talks more than Tina, which makes her a one-of-a-kind typa girl. She has a bit of a shopping habit, which we found perfect for our fashion and beauty sections!

Not content with just having Miss Roomes as a cover girl, we invited her to join the team. Jen is a graphic designer as well as an avid DIY-er and baking goddess, and she shares recipes and how-to tips in her two new columns, Graveyard Gourmet and Krafty Kitten. She also reported back on a Rockabilly outing at Disneyland in California. AND designed the layouts herself.

This little siren is everywhere - she loves going to gigs and supporting local bands, and counts half the country’s bands as her personal friends. She used to be straight-edge, then she discovered beer. She is witty and smart, and we think she didn’t need beer to make her even better, but support her filthy habits regardless. Miss Cleo wrote the Cellardoor gig review and the Sweet Nausea piece.

Chloe just finished her degree in graphic design, and in addition to that is a great photographer. She likes dying her hair obsessviely, and has recently put pink in, after a 3-month long bet which saw her not allowed to touch her hair colour.

Chloe reviewed Night of a 1000 drawings for us, as well as took photos of the event. Look out for her in future VIXXEN issues.

Mike aka ‘rosy cheeks’ is a freelance cinematographer, who moonlights as a photographer, boasting an impressive portfolio of film photography. He likes to drink lots and listen to psychobilly. And Twin Peaks.

Needless to say, we love him. Mike shot the Balkanology photos for this month’s issue.

By Tina Koulisheva

FRAGMENTED CHILDREN FIND NEW DRUMMER... ... in the form of one Max Roussinov. The 21-yearold very talanted kid has been drumming for the past 5 years, and was even on Band Up on MTV Base.

facing the gallows on tour.

Facing The Gallows will be touring the coast this December, so tell the kids, bring your parents, get your speedos out, it’s party time!

FTG has been gigging tirelessly, proved by 140+ gigs since their inception, around the country and playing many of its major festivals in order to bring their music to as many people as possible.

FTG Believes in bringing the biggest and best show to whom ever they play for. The increasing popularity of the band is pure justification that the band does what they do well. Every show no matter what size sits in the heart of each band member and their true love for playing the music can be seen during each and every show.

FTG’s lines are catchy and aggressive and they are more than amped to start a party where ever they are. Dancing is not an option people, its mandatory! If its chaos and brutality that you want, then you’ll get… if its foot tapping rock solid beats and grooves, you’ll get that too.

THE HOGS ARE BACK IN TOWN

The illustrious ska punk pioneers and two of the longest running bands in the country, Hog Hoggidy Hog and Fuzigish team up with some very special guests for a night of foot stomping, skaking awesomeness not to be missed by anyone who enjoys a good time.

Saturday 12 December: Cool Runnings in Fourways, Joburg with Special guests The Diesel Whores. A mere R50 is all the cash you need to fork out to be a part of this momentous occasion.

d tour girls launch

Expect a night filled with loads of entertainment and your stunning local alternative girls.

- Live Dance Performance by the D-Tour Girls Dbn - Burlesque Performance (dark and bloody) - Bar Crawl - Modeling by the girls applying to join D-Tour and many more...

Gordon Laws will be the MC for the night.

FREE syringe shooters Chaos Clothing (Your alternative cloth store) ENTRY: R30

By Tina Koulisheva

30 Seconds To Mars return with their third studio album ‘This Is War’.

The follow up to 2007’s ‘A Beautiful Lie’ sees Jared Leto and co stretching themselves in brand new directions, pushing the envelope on this one, making this disk a must for all fans, offering their usual that we have come to love, as well ad spreading into unknown territories.

Staff pick!

The beloved gypsy punk accordion-shredding, fiddle-playing members of Gogol Bordello have put together a new compilation album and it’s everything that one could ask for and more. Not only does Live from Axis Mundi feature 14 absolutely electric tracks (six of these recorded at the BBC and the other eight at Irving Plaza in New York), but it also features a previously unreleased song from the 2007’s Super Taranta recording sessions called “Stivali E Colbacco.” Plua an hour and a half of footage from the band’s twonight 2008 concert in New York, expertly recorded which ensures viewing it as good as seeing the band live — if not better. Infecious and perfect and definitely worth it!

Over the past 10 years, through countless booze-fueled shows and enduring releases, The Lawrence Arms have etched their name into the books of punk rock history. The self-described “rambling boys of pleasure” have done everything within their power to embody that description; winning over the hearts of thousands of faithful and adoring fans with their frantic version of ornate, often poetic, Midwestern

Over the years, this band has earned a reputation as one of the hardest touring bands in punk rock.

Now they are back with their first full length studio release in seven years.

Featuring 14 new songs, this album shows the band at their best. Churning out ska and soul, punk and metal, and arrow through the heart pop, these songs are the Bosstones at their best, taking their trademark power chord, driving horns, wicked backbeat sound back to the bar for another round of shots.

The poster boys of the original Huntington Beach punk rock scene in the very early 80s, The Vandals debut release provided the soundtrack for an era of mayhem and mindless rebellion for tens of thousands of bored teenagers from the suburbs to the hood. If you were punk rock in the 80s, this was your music. This disk is a “must re-have” part of any collection that claims to have any punk rock in it and with the same line-up for over 20 years, the Vandals continue to keep this era alive.

power pop. After a brief hiatus, the band recently recorded some brand new material to both commemorate their 10th anniversary and to satisfy the growing hunger of their fans. The result was 5 songs that perfectly epitomize TLA’s sound and once again flash the band’s slightly askew sense of humor with the title Buttsweat and Tears.

By Olivia Mikrut

An academic researcher opens a portal to a parallel universe.

The Mayan civilization of South America has left behind information and artefacts, one of which is a calendar that was drawn up by Mayan scientists hundreds of years ago. This calendar mysteriously ends on 21 December, 2012 on our calendars, marking the end of the world. When a global cataclysm thrusts the world into chaos, Jackson Curtis, a divorced writer and father, uses his knowledge of the prophesies to make sure that the human race is not completely destroyed. A little weak, but worth the watch, if only for John h acting abilities and the special effects.

Emily Jerkins is a family services social worker, who is assigned to a case involving little Lillith Sullivan and who she grows concerned about after meeting her seemingly abusive parents. Her hunch pays off when she gets a distressed phone call from Lillith before she is silenced by her parents, who shove her into a gas oven in attempt to burn her to ashes. Emily arrives just in time to save the little girl and decides to take custody of her until they can find her a proper foster home. However, after a while, Emily starts to notice that the various people that Lillith comes into contact with all seem to die in mysterious and supernatural ways, causing both Emily and her child psychiatrist boyfriend, Douglas to question whether the little girl is the victim in this case at all. Also a little predictable - Rene Zellwegger is not made for horrors, and gives a poor performance.

Staff pick!

In this film, we find ourselves in the suburbs of Bodeen, Texas, where a teenage misfit is forced to take part in beauty pageants by her mother. Bliss is very low on confidence and feels like she has no idea where her life is going. She works at a diner called the Oink Joint, where she is surrounded by rude and disrespectful people. When shopping for shoes one day, she comes across a pamphlet advertising a women’s roller skating derby. She and her best friend, Pash secretly go to the derby event. Bliss wishes to tell the roller skating team, the Hurl Scouts, that they are her new heroes and is suddenly given the idea to try out for the team when Maggie Mayhem tells her to put on some skates and be her own hero. Bliss impresses the coach during trials and makes the team. After realizing that she needs to be ruthless in the derby, she decides that she needs to make some changes and take control in her life. Don’t miss Drew Barrymore’s directorial debut with this girl power flick. starring Ellen Page, who is brilliant as always!

This film follows a couple who is on the verge of getting a divorce due to failed attempts to conceive. They decide to try and save their marriage by booking a vacation to a couples’ therapy retreat called Eden. To save money, Jason and Cynthia ask their friends to join them, and the four couples set out to Eden - one in an attempt to save their marriage, and the other three to have a fun vacation. Once they arrive there, the couples discover that it is compulsory to take part in the couples’ therapy and that they have no choice but to do so. Even the couples who thought that they had the perfect relationship discover that they do have problems that need to be sorted out after all. This movie represents a hilarious outlook on the real-life problems faced by coupes everywhere, everyday. If you want a good comedy, then this movie is for you

By Olivia Mikrut

Inspired by the frightening true-life tale of a family that moved into a converted funeral home and subsequently fell under supernatural attack, this follows the quest of a desperate mother to free her family from the grip of an evil beyond human comprehension. Sara and Peter Campbell have just moved to Connecticut with their young son, Matt, when the young boy experiences a series of disturbing events that lead him to believe a malevolent force is attempting to take control of his family. Terrifying if ‘based on actual events’ type of stuff is your cup of tea.

Staff pick!

A blowout Las Vegas bachelor party turns into a race against time when three hung-over groomsmen awaken after a night of drunken debauchery to find that the groom has gone missing, and they must attempt to get him to the alter before his wedding day. In 48 hours, Doug is scheduled to walk down the aisle, effectively ending his reign as a rowdy bachelor. What follows is a hilarious look at things gone wrong due to too much alcohol and, lets face it, the usual male psyche of not thinking before doing something.

This film begins with an attack by an outrageously advanced Romulan ship captained by the tattooed, snarling Nero. Among the survivors is the infant version of James T. Kirk, who grows up to wreak havoc on the Iowa countryside. When Captain Christopher Pike meets an adult Kirk, he encourages him to join Starfleet, giving him the opportunity to meet Spock, Uhura, and the rest of the characters

Borat trickster Sacha Baron Cohen returns to the big screen to offer yet another stinging dose of sociopolitical satire in this comedy that finds him assuming the persona of gay fashionmonger Bruno, the self-proclaimed “voice of Austrian youth TV.” Originally conceived as part of Baron Cohen’s cult television series Da Ali G Show, the character of Bruno offered a cleverly costumed Baron Cohen the opportunity to highlight the absurdities of the fashion industry by interviewing unsuspecting fashion icons and other haute couture hangers-on. See it if you loved Cohen’s previous works, although it is a movie seasoned with the same crass humor we have come to expect from Sacha.

A time capsule containing a cryptic message about the coming apocalypse sends a concerned father on a race to prevent the horrific events from unfolding as predicted in this sci-fi thriller. You will either love this movie, or hate it, its not everyone’s cup of tea, but worth a watch for any sci-fi enthusiasts.

audiences have loved for decades. Star Trek manages the nearly impossible: it pleases hardcore fans with plenty of references (including an appearance by the original Spock, Leonard Nimoy!), without alienating newcomers with tons of technobabble.

For anyone who felt they had to hide their love for the franchise, this undeniably cool version offers a chance to wear the trekkie label with pride.

By Tina Koulisheva

The latest offering by Brown begins with an ancient ritual, a shadowy enclave, and of course, a secret. Readers know they are in Dan Brown territory when, by the end of the first chapter, a secret within a secret is revealed.

Again, Harvard professor Robert Langdon finds himself in a predicament that requires his vast knowledge of symbology and superior problem-solving skills to save the day. Only this time, the setting is Washington D.C. And, as with other Dan Brown books, the pace is relentless, the revelations many, and there is an endless parade of intriguing factoids that guarantee nail-biting suspense – something Dan Brown has truly mastered.

This book offers a fascinating, insider’s account of how the Sex Pistols shocked and shamed EMI - the UK’s most revered and profitable record company - and ended up 40,000 pounds richer, thanks to manager Malcolm McLaren’s cunning business strategy. Written by Brian Southall, who was the EMI PR executive at the time of the Pistols’ reign, offers details of the Pistols’ notorious EMI shenanigans - from EMI’s signing of the Pistols, through the notorious incident on the Today programme, to the band’s extreme behavior at London’s Heathrow airport that resulted in EMI severing their 90-day-old contract. A must read for any hardcore punk fan.

Staff pick!

Reviewed by Jen Roomes

In this ambitious biography, veteran rock journalist Nick Wall narrates the history of a band that became one of the biggest musical and cultural phenomena of the 1970s. As well as being the most complete account yet of a great British rock band, Wall has delved into the deeper end of the band, to bring a detailed and definitive music biography.

Frank Warren started PostSecret.com as a community art project. Since November 2004 Warren has received more than 150,000 anonymous postcards.

He has compiled the most recent additions to his collection in a brand new book, and although the title suggests that the theme is religion, death and love, there were some postcards sprinkled here and there that don’t completely fit into those categories, which feels like a bonus. This book is awesome for inspiration and will give you goose bumps, as you delve deeper and deeper into strangers’ secrets.

I’ve just recently discovered the artist that I’ve loved for so long.

I’ve seen her work around and own a buckle she designed. I finally found her books! Her name is Angelique Houtlamp. This is her 2nd book, which holds imagery of her paintings, a beautiful mix of classic old school tattoo, nautical and mythical creatures, as well as pretty ladies and just about the best book to have if you plan on getting a lot of awesome tattoos.. Read more about her in the “Spotlight” section.

By Lauren Wheatley

As a huge fan of the game franchise I was itching to get my hands on a copy of Tekken 6. I did. Better yet, I got the limited edition complete with hoodie, full-colour glossy artbook and a poster as well as a game manual so thick it couldn’t fit in the game box.

My experience with Tekken had been disappointing up until now, with the only really good release of the series being Tekken 3. I found 4 and 5 to generally alright, but the slow pace of the games really got to me. Tekken 6 is different: apart from huge line-up of colourful characters to choose from, the game plays very similar to Tekken 3 in terms of speed. You don’t find yourself getting frustrated as the characters plod along and despite the fast-pace of the characters the environments you play in haven’t been skimped on either. Play amongst inquisitive sheep on a hill-side or ankle-deep in water of an illuminated lagoon. The game is quite frankly pretty.

The characters are just as aesthetically pleasing, with beautiful outfits and hard-hitting moves. The game feels meaty – merely throwing a punch feels like you’ve really ploughed into your opponent and the combos are fantastic.

The game is awesome for fans of fighting games but be warned: the colours and flashing lights, coupled with the speed of the game might make you feel like you’re having seizure, but it’s easily remedied by changing your colour settings.

GAMING NEWS The past year has been a fantastic one for gaming, with games such as Tekken 6 as well as Sims 3 being released. The new year kicks off with a bang, with some exciting new titles due for release.

One of the most anticipated of these is the game Bayonetta for Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. From the director of hit games such as Devil May Cry and Viewtiful Joe,

Bayonetta promises to be the action game of 2010. Gameplay is a singleplayer action game, with the titular character, a witch in specs, wielding guns in her hands and the heels of her shoes. The demo was released on PSN and Xbox Live for download on the 3rd of December and reviews have given it record scores of close to 100%.

Other titles to look out for in the next year include the latest in the legendary racing game series, GranTurismo 5, as well as titles such as the epic action game Darksiders and the much-anticipated Fable III.

The Techno Bandwagon I’ m a huge fan of technology. Obsessed actually. If I’m not talking about it, I’m writing about it and when I watch TV, it’s more often than not a techie show on the Discovery Channel.

I finally hopped on the portable office bandwagon and got a laptop after having to reinstall Windows for the 8th time on my regularly-upgraded old faithful desktop PC. When it reached the point where the chassis was held together with duct tape and the monitor took a third of my desk, I thought perhaps maybe it was time my trusty PC retired.

It’s been about a month with my shiny new laptop and it made me question how I actually coped without one before. My laptop is always on hand when inspiration strikes and I can tap out a story or even a couple sentences, or quickly go online when I don’t understand something.

With the dawn of each new leap in technology, we discard the old and wonder how it even made a difference in our lives.

I’ve used a cellphone for the past 9 or 10 years. When I got my first one it was a huge novelty, my friends and I, being primary-school children, thought we looked super cool chatting casually on our cellphones and so we used to pretend our phones had rang, just to have an in-depth conversation, complete with chuckles and hand gestures, with no one. Fast forward a decade and I’m on my cellphone constantly, and not even talking, now it’s sms, email and the web. If my phone actually rings for a real voice conversation I start to feel a prickle of anxiety – I’m not the best speaker around.

In true 21st-century form, my other half and I even met online. And not even on a dating site, but on local anime forums. We spoke online for a couple of weeks and then swopped numbers. Neither of us made any actual phonecalls to each other but rather chatted on mXit for hours each day. This went on for about a month, during which time we grew extremely close.

And we had yet to have a one-on-one, RL conversation. All it took was a semi-blind date for us to decide to give it a go, and we’ve been together for nearly three years now. Had we been able to chat so candidly if it had been in real life and not online? On all

of our dates we sat there shyly pushing food around our plates and making awkward, dorky chit-chat, but online we spoke about everything from religion to our dreams and aspirations, and got to know each other in purely virtual fashion.

Theorists are suggesting that the need for physical human interaction is dying out with the advent of chatrooms and Skype, and that regular online chatroom and IM users are developing separate personalities. Sheldon from the hit sitcom ‘The Big Bang Theory’ claims he has a wide circle of friends, since he has hundreds of friends on My Space (the social networking site that was the fore-runner to sites like Facebook and Bebo) – but he doesn’t mention any real life friends. It’s something the more geeky types joke about but today it’s becoming a reality. We are shy and awkward at clubs and bars, malls and shops. But put us on MSN messenger or a forum of our favourite hobby and next minute we have voices, big opinions and huge personalities.

Drama-queens like to say that it’s a bad thing that this is happening, but I tend to disagree. The human race has to evolve and change, and if we turn into a species that can express themselves and come alive in a way (ie. Online) then isn’t that just another way of improving ourselves? Bloggers are gaining fame and networking is all becoming easier. If you can talk the talk online, your client across the world in Europe needn’t know that you’re socially awkward and have a stutter.

It’s about moving forward and up and adapting to your surroundings. Technology is not a hindrance but rather a means to a faster, more competitive and smaller world. Next stop: the Universe.

By Lisa Nerlich

By Lisa Nerlich

Words by Cleo Black

CELLARDOOR THURSDAY

CCHQ in Primrose is without doubt one of my favourite places ever. Great atmosphere, FANTASTIC décor and sweet jams. But what’s THIS?! Live bands you say?! The City Bowl Mizers (DBN) and Wrestlerish (PTA) were set to tear that bitch UP on Thursday November 5th, and I had no plans to miss it.

I’m a tad embarrassed about this… Thursday the 12th marked my first EVER Wrestlerish gig. Believe it, COS ITS TRUE! I’m even more ashamed of myself after experiencing what has to be some of the undeniably COOLSET music I’ve ever heard from any local band. Period. I wont lie, looking at Werner and Jaques (Vocals and Guitar/ Vocals and Keys), with their (one would be tempted to say matching) plaid shirts and wild-man beards, I was almost expecting Alexisonfire. Not to sound cheesy, but you can tell that music is what drives each guy in the band to do what they do. It’s in their hearts and souls and they mean every word that they sing.

The result is a perfect balance of folk and electronic influences, with Damien Rice-esque vocals and City and Colour-esque lyrics (HIGH praise coming from

me.). Not to be missed, seriyas.

The savages from Durban who were up next, I’m a tad more familiar with. Every Mizers gig I’ve been to kind of sneaks up on you when you aren’t looking and rips your feet out from under you… then stands there laughing while you try to figure out what the hell just happened. You EXPECT mellow music by mellow Durbanites. HAH. You have been mislead! What you get is half an hour(ish) of jazzy indie that takes control of your feet whether you like it or not. Marty (vocals) has possibly the naughtiest and most enthusiastic face I’ve ever seen, and as usual belted out those tunes in the way that only he can manage. Sweat and energy are two things the Mizers always deliver…along with some serious talent and unique way of making music that always leaves you grinning from ear to ear. Sweaty, gross and panting, but grinning.

Good times I say, good times. Check out Wrestlerish and The City Bowl Mizers, and hear some awesome tracks on their facebook or myspace pages

Words by Tina Koulisheva Photos: Christelle Duvenage

SOCIAL MISFITS Friday, 13th November, Back2Basix

pistolwhip 45

the cavalier the ve ndettas

ith a line-up consisting of three awesome bands, covering three different alternative spectrums – psychobilly, glam rock and old skool punk rock, Christelle and I set off to Westdene to attend the SOCIAL MISFITS gig, which was not to be missed in my books.

After a challenging 10 minutes of me trying to parallel park Christelle’s car, we finally went inside, feeling like we set foot into the twilight zone of sorts.

Immediately, we were greeted by the very keen guy behind the SMELLS LIKE PSYCHO merch table, who managed to, through his charming persuasion, get me to buy half of the merch on sale.

Gigs at Back2Basix are always fun, because it is such an intimate venue (READ: small). We arrived just in time for the first band, Pistolwhip 45. With Christine Wilton (AKA Riot Grrl) on stand up bass and hyped up on RED BULL, you know it’s gonna be good.

That instrument is bigger than Christine in heels (and she is not a short girl), and she plays it perfectly, looking like she was born to play stand up bass. Although Jay Wilton’s (also the lead singer of The Cavalier) crazy hair and sexy pouts might distract one from the music a bit, Jade manages to bring the attention back on him, with his front-man charm. All I can say about the drummer is that he looks like a ghoul! Their set was rocking, and Jade’s vocals were powerful,

never missing a beat. Thinking about it in my slightly liquored state while swaying to the music, I realized that Pistolwhip are South Africa’s only psychobilly band. They sound a bit like The Slashdogs, with more psychobilly beats though. Not that I would want to compare them to any other band, but I can definitely see some similarities.

Next up was The Cavalier. I have liked that band of glam boys ever since I first saw them live, and they have been making a name for themselves amongst us alternative folk. Jay plays the ever-enigmatic lead singer, who practically makes love to the microphone, and makes you fixate on him, and him alone, like he is singing to you personally (or maybe it was just all those shots I had?)

The last band on the bill were The Vendettas, who are an old skool favourite. I remember watching ‘em when I was 16 and thinking that Vinnie is my hero.

The Vendettas have come back from the dead, and are now better than ever, rocking out their hits. Everyone in the crowd was going mad, which is to be expected with such a group of talented musicians (not to mention Mr Vinnie’s mad ways on stage).

Words by Tina Koulisheva Photos: Mike Tarica

Alright, now I will admit it – being from the Eastern Bloc myself, and having grown up with my gran living next door to gypsies who own dancing bears (I kid you not), my curiosity immediately piped up when I heard that Balkanology was coming to Jozi. I honestly did not know what to expect, but I knew this – it was either going to be an amazing event, or it was going to be a total disaster. I prayed for the former, although it’s relatively hard to impress me with any shows advertising ‘nothing you have ever experienced before’.

For those of you who haven’t heard of Balkanology – it’s a electro-Balkan-gypsy dance party, started in Cape Town. During the two years of said parties, Balkanology has managed to attract the most eccentric of kinds, who flock to the parties to get dressed up and play gypsy.

Still, I put on my dancing shoes, and pitched up at 44 Stanley armed with a camera and a notepad.

The venue itself mystified me – why at 44 Stanley?

A place where one could barely move at the best of times? A place where people go bargain hunting?

Across the road from AFDA, full of arty farty kids?

Ok, I’ll bite.

I then realized that the venue had somehow been extended to accommodate 2 bars, a pizza oven and

Words by Tina Koulisheva Photos: Michael Tarica

a stage. NOW I was amped. Beer in hand, I made my way to the front, past said arty farty kids (who all made me very jealous with their Eastern European-inspired frocks). At first, I thought the music was someone’s idea of a practical joke, because it did not sound one bit Balkan. THEN all of a sudden, the magic began. DJ Toby2shoes started spinning an infusion of Balkan gypsy music and modern dance ums ums, and the crowd went mad! Everyone was dancing in their own Balkan way! I have no idea where the locals learnt those dances, but one guy in particular impressed the living daylight out of me! He was ‘OPA!—ing and doing funny squats and just jamming and freaking out! One of the waiters even said ‘This is so different,

people are going mad, I have never been exposed to any type of Eastern European stuff like this before.’

What REALLY impressed me, however was that people of all culture and races were dancing along, and looking like they were genuinely having fun – Indians, Blacks, Coloureds – you name it, Balkanology had it!

There were also some hot belly dancers, doing things with their bodies that I didn’t even know were possible! And goats! And donkeys (I kid you not)! This was a totally out-there event, and I must applaud the organizers for SUCH a great success!!

Words & Photography by Chloe Swingewood

Thursday night, driving through Jozi’s buzzing CBD filled with confusing one ways, buses at The Concourse, Park Station, coming and going where Night of a 1000 Drawings is held every year. This event is one of spectacular moralistic value. It is a one night exhibition for Paballo Ya Batho (an inner city homeless care organization) and Princess Alice Adoption Home, where A5 drawings are donated by everybody and anybody and sold to the public that attends for R100 each. On entrance to this fantastic venue you walk down a long staircase and over look a spectacular scene of people inspecting doodles and drawings hanging from pegs and washing line like displays. This overwhelming site of a 1000 A5 drawings catches your heart! Scanning through the artworks, people taking their choice of doodle and popping it into an envelope for

keeps with smiles of heart found joy on their faces.

The Rambling Bones kicked off the after party on the right note and then Tidal Waves and The Death Valley Blues Band lit up the stage in the main hall with funky tunes that anybody can jam to. DJs such as Ms Buttons, Murderface and Lone Rangers electrified it up in one of the rooms off the main hall.

The Doodle Battle featuring Legion vs Team Uncool vs Joh Del vs Johnny Neon vs Infiltrate (Jason Bronkhorst) vs Maja vs Steven Tu vs Bison was an awesome sight to see. Battling it out for the best inkage on a crisp new page.

Overall the night was definitely fun filled with friendly vibes, cool jams and a heavy smell of garlic from the food room. People smiling and coming together for a cause which makes a difference.

The best part I felt was the mixture of colour of everyones different styles of dress code and expressions of acceptance and exhilaration.

Words by Tina Koulisheva Photography by Christelle Duvenage

It’s easy to spot Diaz Suicide (Real name Amanda) - she is always the life of the party, plus she has an infectious laugh that assures you wont lose her in a crowd.

But Diaz is so much more than just a pretty face – born and bred in South Africa, this Jewish girl has always had a problem with authority, moving schools regularly, and dropping out at 16 in order to pursue her dream of being a hairdresser. After working in a salon for eight years, she then began freelancing as a hair and make up artist, which scored her work on shoots for magazines, commercials, music videos, fashion shows and various other projects. She then joined a family business (she won’t say what said family business entailed, but it is run by Jews, that’s all we know).

Becoming a Suicide Girl is long process for most, but Diaz wasn’t phased. Coming from the fashion industry, she was sick of the unrealistic ideal that is portrayed by today’s models, and found Suicide Girls to be something she identifies with, admiring the girls and what they stand for. ‘I immediately knew I had to apply,” she says. Does she fit what we stand for or WHAT? The one thing that sealed my respect for her was when I read an interview with her in a magazine, where she was asked what goes through her head as she is posing for Suicide Girls photos. The interviewer probably imagined she would say something along the lines of ‘I think of tattooed, naked girls’; instead he got “Ummm.. mostly trying to hide the cellulite in my ass, and hoping that my tummy doesn’t stick out and that my bits are in the right place.”

In October this year, Diaz made a lot of personal changes in her life, prompting her to go to Israel on vacation. ‘quote’ She has never been one to do things by halves, so she came back to South Africa, quit her job, sold her car, and bought herself a one-way ticket to Israel.

What the future holds for her, she doesn’t know, but she is finally free to go pursue her dreams, and, knowing her, she will succeed. http://suicidegirls.com/girls/Diaz/

Words by Jen Roomes

angelique Houtkamp was looking inside a museums art book section when I came across a tattoo style art book, browsed through it, and saw a write up on this Dutch tattoo artists work, Angelique Houtkamp. It reminded me of her, I’ve seen her art around at nookart.com and loved it ever since. I was about to buy the book, when I thought I’d rather do a bit more research and see if I could find her books, which I did. I ordered it from www.lastgasp.com and when it finally arrived I realized how much I do love her work. She has two out now, Tattoo Darling and Tattoo Mystique.

Angelique is a native of Amsterdam, the Netherlands who only started drawing and painting when she was thirty, but had it down since her first painting.

Her work is deceptively simple, but not lacking class and style, and can also be humorous.

She got to know an American girl that had opened a piercing studio in Amsterdam, who offered her a job.

She worked there piercing for 2 years, then took a second step, and started crafting jewelry, but this didn’t last too long as she felt her art was being limited.

Apparently she had a tattoo artist friend that owed her money, so she joked and told him that if he could persuade his boss to give her an apprenticeship, he wouldn’t have to pay her back, and he did!

After paying her dues with hard work of scrubbing equipment and tedious tribal’s, she started colouring inside the lines inked by experienced staff, and doing simple designs. As her confidence grew she put her flash up on the studio wall, and soon enough that’s what all the clients seemed to ask for.

When she had the time, she made prints of her work and sold them at tattoo conventions. One day in 2000, she head about a pin-iup show, the night before it happened, and decided to go by and show them her paintings. They loved it and made her part of the show.

She moved to one of the oldest tattoo studios in Europe, about a year later and worked with artists from USA, Italy and France.

Most of her painting were with acrylics, but with advice from some other tattoo artists, she started working more with watercolors, which was a key move with developing her old school style.

Over the next few years Angelique evolved her art-

work in hew spare time, but kept her fulltime tattoo job. She currently tattoos twice a week at Rob Admiraal Tattoo Studio and devotes most of her time to her artwork. As she devotes most of her week to her art, she has spent a lot of time researching the roots of old school tattoos.

“Tattoo artists in the 1940s and 50s took inspiration from contemporary images such as magazine illustrations, photos of Hollywood stars and so on. So I started searching for images that provided ideas for artists over 70 years ago. Now I spend a lot of time in markets and antique shops looking for stuff.”

Angelique’s artwork does well to both male and female clients because of the nostalgic mood it evokes “I love the romantic side of the 1920s or 30s, there was so much to discover; people were amazed by stories of foreign lands. Now everyone knows everything, and if they don’t they just go on Google. The mystery of life is gone. People might’ve looked at my painting of a women with octopus legs in the 1800s and wondered if it was real – they’d never believe it now. The world is smaller now, so I’d love to live in a time when it felt bigger. But then again, I couldn’t live without my computer!”

Her books, Tattoo Darling & Tattoo Mystique are full of beautiful glossy pictures of her artwork, if you don’t just love the art, you’ll be lining them up for your next tattoos. Or, even better, you might want to start planning a trip to Amsterdam to have her perform her magic on you!

Words by Christelle Duvenage

My awe for Rise Against is not so much due to their musical brilliance, their emotion-filled punchyou-in-the-face-then-help-you-back-up-again lyrics or the ability of their music to carry me to far away places where peace and equality aren’t just idealistic notions we strive to achieve. No. It is more than that.

Mostly born from an admiration for the way they “practice what they preach” without being biased, hateful or forceful, without losing their humanity or humility, without wavering or diluting exactly what they want to say, Rise Against (to anyone who knows me) is one of my favourite bands. Using their music as a conduit for change and awareness, Rise Against has, for the last ten years, fought the moral battles so very few of us have the bravery or backbone to take on as our own.

Rise Against (Transistor Revolt at that stage) formed in 1999 and self-produced their first EP, Transistor Revolt, in 2000. The band changed its name to Rise Against in 2001 and released their first album The Unravelling on Fat Wreck Chords that same year. Revolutions Per Minute followed in 2003 and in 2004 they released The Siren Song Of The Counter Cult on their new label, Geffen Records.

This album was well received but criticised for being more melodic than their previous albums. Thereafter the back-to-their-punk-roots and somewhat dark album, The Sufferer & The Witness was released in 2006 and their fifth and latest album, Appeal To Reason, followed in 2008.Appeal To Reason is one of those albums where you cannot listen to it once or twice and judge it accordingly. In my personal opinion, the heart of this album lies in the details of the lyrics such as: “what we are is the sum of a

thousand lies, what we know is almost nothing at all”, “we toss and turn but don’t sleep, each breath we take makes us thieves” “this is not a test, oh no, this is cardiac arrest of a world to proud to admit our mistakes”, “this is a chance to set things straight, to bend or break the rules back into place”, “breathe on the ashes that remain, so that these coals may become fire to guide our way” and “we’ll never fall if we stand for something”. This album is creative and inventive with a great sound and a significant message. True to Rise Against form they never get preachy and turn toward self-criticism with the track “Entertainment” and its lyrics: “all we are is entertainment”. This self-criticism speaks of their modesty even though they have grown greatly in popularity and has done so much to inform and educate people on political and environmental issues. “It’s still about reaching people, putting what we’re giving into these people, making them think and challenge the ways of thought, creating conversation and dialogue and putting new ideas forth for people to consider”.

They are at the vanguard of everything politically, socially an environmentally inclined. When asked about their political inclination during an interview with Ryan Cooper in 2004, Tim McIlrath said: “Do I give a shit about what happens in the world I have to live in? Fuck yeah, I do! Don’t you? Does that mean I’m political? Does that make us “extremely political”?

The only reason our band is viewed as being “extremely political” is because of the lack of bands in the punk/hardcore scene today that are saying anything important”. They don’t quite agree with the political tag they have received and feel that they are doing exactly the same, and to no greater degree, as the punk bands that came before them. Punk rock and hardcore has been intricately connected with political issues since their early days. Tim says: “Punk exists to be a sanctuary for those of us who don’t relate to the rest of society. Today’s political culture is a huge part of that society and therefore punk has a responsibility to keep the doors open to this sanctuary of free thought, so kids will have somewhere to go to be a part of this community”.

Change and awareness are important to them.

Mirrored in the lyrics they write and the messages they advocate, all the members of the band has chosen a vegan lifestyle and embrace liberal philosophies. It wasn’t a decision they made as a band, but as individuals before they ever were part of the band. They are active supporters of PETA and their music video “Ready to Fall” is but one approbation to this. In addition, all the members, except drummer Brandon Barnes, are straight edge. They also support liberal-minded political causes and endorse a line of Van shoes that are completely vegan friendly. Appeal to Reason was also released with

the entire package made of recycled materials and vegetable inks, completely environmentally friendly.

With their current lineup consisting out of Tim McIlrath (vocals, guitar), Joe Principe (bass guitar), Brandon Barnes (drums), and Zach Blair (guitar), after finishing their tour of Australia in February 2010, they intent on starting work on a new album. Currently they also have a new single out exclusively on iTunes, Grammatizator, with lyrics inspired by a Roald Dahl short story. For more information on the band’s “must reads” go to the official Rise Against website.

Even though they feel very strong about the issues they deal with, they never force it down the throat of the listener. Instead, they inform the crowd and then leave it up to the individual to process the information and make up their own mind about it all. They put their hearts into every song they have written and played every show like it was their last. Their lyrics, their obligation to inform and environmentally friendly packaging are but some ways in which Rise Against is demonstrating through example that they are more than just another band on stage with “something to say” but here to be the change they want to see in the world.

Words & photography

by Christelle Duvenage

I was very relaxed, enjoying my B-Tech year of going to classes once or twice a week, and just lounging around in general. On this particular day I was watching television, channel hopping, when a video on MK caught my attention. At this particular point in time my general feeling was that most of the videos on MK tended to be, let’s say, of poor quality (for the lack of a better term and the sake of keeping my language polite). I especially noted that in very little of the videos attention was given to lighting, a fundamental element I considered crucial. This video attracted my attention because of the manner in which the light was used, and I was all ears. “What a brilliant performance video”, I thought, “and the song is not bad either, I should keep an eye on this band”.

The first Afrikaans band of note, other than Fokof, that has won my attention, Straatligkinders, a name derived from the band’s personal experience of the phenomenon when streetlights turn on or off as you pass, is a four piece band from the native student town Potchefstroom. The band originated with no intention on becoming well-known musical celebrities, when Bennie and Hein decided it was time to start a project in Afrikaans, with Ruan, Hein’s brother on drums, and Bouwer as vocalist. Three years later they

now play what they refer to and we all have come to know as “Afrikaner-core”, “Potch-core” or “deathpop”. Their shows are filled with liveliness and dynamism with Hein’s feet in the air more than they are on stage, Bouwer balancing gut wrenching screams with dynamic old school 70’s dance moves and the entire band playing the drums while Ruan kills the symbol at the front of the stage. Despite the fact that they are an Afrikaans band, they have a large following of English speaking people, illustrating the ability of music to overcome barriers of all kinds.

The band’s sound falls outside the constraints of a genre, ranging from high energy, and pulsating songs with hints of punk rock diluted by a little screamo, to placid and somewhat tranquil anthems mixed with the subtleties we’ve come to recognize as rock. They have a great ability to push the audience’s expectations of what the band sounds like. Being the lyricist, Bouwer clearly is influenced by the idea of hope, embedding positive messages into every song with great attention.

To him it is about honest lyrics, and it is evident in the topics he deals with when writing.

Their second album, Sweef soos ‘n Vuishou, released in 2008, carries the moral theme of standing up for what you believe is right, of tolerance and of

fighting for yourself, with lyrics such as “sweef soos ‘n vuishou, veg sonder ophou, vir did wat goed en reg is, sonder dat daar bloed moet vloei” (glide like a punch, fight without stopping, for that which is good, without spilling any blood), “staan op vir wie jy is… veg vir jou uniekheid” (stand up for who you are, fight for your uniqueness), “oneenheid is die grootste fout” (division is the biggest mistake) and “stadig maar seker verstaan ek vergifnis” (slowly but surely I am understanding forgiveness).

Straatligkinders’ songs have a Christian undercurrent; however they dislike being labeled a “Christian band”. To them, a relationship with God is a life style, not a music style; therefore they don’t support the idea of creating a brand of music that only Christians can enjoy. If they were to be categorized as a “Christian band” it would (perhaps not intentionally) exclude people who weren’t Christian. They make no religious distinctions between the life experiences and emotional situations different people find themselves in.

“Die snymerke skree ‘sien my raak’,

dis nie jou skuld nie,

dis nie nou tyd om

op te gee en te laat gaan,

aan al jou drome en jou lewe.”

“Their shows are filled with liveliness and

dynamism with Hein’s feet in the air more than they are on stage, Bouwer balancing gut wrenching screams with dynamic old school 70’s dance moves and the entire band playing the drums while Ruan kills the symbol at the front of the stage”

Interpreted, these lyrics from Die Vrae Op Jou Arms translate to: the cutting marks scream NOTICE ME, it is not your fault, this is not the time for giving up and letting go, of all your dreams, or of your life. Dealing with a very sensitive topic, this song is a tribute to To Write Love On Her Arms, a non-profit interest group committed to spreading the word of hope; encouraging, informing, inspiring and investing directly into treatment and recovery, they are devoted to finding help for people battling depression, addiction, self-injury and suicide. They embrace the view that we were created to love and be loved, living our lives in affiliation with others and that each individual’s life is of significance, and the song is a testament to this.

Coinciding with the notion of love prevailing and the

lyrics of the song Neem My Weg, Bouwer and a friend, Tanya Gräbe, started a non-profit organisation in 2008, named Liefde Wen (love wins), not being able to find a plausible explanation for the existence of destitution in this world. This organisation is focussed on helping and assisting disadvantaged people in the area with not only physical difficulties, but also emotional support. Liefde Wen has no affiliation with a specific religion or cultural group, making no distinctions between the basic needs of people with different skin colours, political views, or religious believes. It is a simple notion - love will win - yet something we are yet to fully comprehend.

“We are only asked to love, to offer hope to the many hopeless. We don’t get to choose all the endings, but we are asked to play the rescuers. We won’t solve all mysteries and our hearts will certainly break in such a vulnerable life, but it is the best way. We were made to be lovers bold in broken places, pouring ourselves out again and again until we’re called home.” (Quote from the TWLOHA story) Currently, the band is working on a new album that will be released at the end of March 2010. They have also revealed more of the playful side to the band with a cover of the Kurt Darren song, Kaptein Span Die Seile. Kurt Darren has never been this ap-

pealing. The video to this song is to be seen on MK very soon. Throughout December they will be touring the coast, with highlights being the Nokia Tour and the MK Avontoer. For specific locations and dates, check out their Myspace page where you can additionally listen to their Kurt cover: www.myspace.com/straatligkinders.

Judging from the remarkable reaction to their music and ever growing fan base, it is evident that Straatligkinders is a band that easily relates to and effortlessly translates into something that the individual in the crowd can connect and associate with. And this will allow them to go from strength to strength.

Words by Christelle Duvenage

To Write Love On Her Arms, a non-profit interest group, is committed to spreading the word of hope; encouraging, informing, inspiring and investing directly into treatment and recovery, devoted to finding help for people battling depression, addiction, self-injury and suicide. They embrace the view that we were created to love and be loved, living our lives in affiliation with others. They believe that each person’s story is important and that every life is of significance.

In 2006 To Write Love On Her Arms was an effort (and the title) to tell a story, in the hopes of helping a friend who needed treatment. They started selling T-shirts to raise the funds needed for the treatment and through their Myspace page they quickly realized that the story they were telling represented people everywhere, and that the problem was not isolated, that these were concerns of humankind, nuisances of pain that affected millions of people around the world. Since then they’ve had the opportunity to bring messages of hope and help to concerts, universities, festivals and churches all over. Depression is very treatable, and they wish to express this to everyone.

TWLOHA explains their vision: “The vision is that community and hope and help would replace secrets and silence. The vision is people putting down guns and blades and bottles.

The vision is that we can reduce the suicide rate in America and around the world. The vision is that we would learn what it means to love our friends, and that we would love ourselves enough to get the help we need. The vision is better endings. The

vision is the restoration of broken families and broken relationships. The vision is people finding life, finding freedom, finding love. The vision is graduation, a Super Bowl, a wedding, a child, a sunrise. The vision is people becoming incredible parents, people breaking cycles, making change. The vision is the possibility that your best days are ahead. The vision is the possibility that we’re more loved than we’ll ever know. The vision is hope, hope is real. You are not alone, and this is not the end of your story”.

Two out of three people who struggle with depression never seek help. Untreated depression is the leading cause of suicide and suicide is the third leading cause of death. TWLOHA carries the message that rescue is achievable and that change is possible and they are “committed to communicating hope to others who know the daily struggle of living in a broken world”.

Every year, TWLOHA encourages people to write “love” on their arms in support of the movement, to spread awareness. This year International To Write Love On Her Arms day was on 13 November. To read the full short story of To Write Love On Her Arms, please visit their website www.twloha.com, and to be updated on when International To Write Love On Her Arms day is happening, join their MySpace or Facebook pages.

ALI SCALLIWAG Words & photography by Christelle Duvenage

With two sets of twin siblings and a brother, this red haired, pale skinned Italian got her first tattoo down her back at the age of eighteen, a tribute to her love for reading and love for all things Shakespeare. On her right arm she carries a song one of her close friends wrote for her and on her left, a character from her favourite comic, Johnny the homicidal maniac. On her feet there are two skulls with the words “broken homes” and “broken bones” signifying her love for Rancid. Around her hip she carries the nicknames “Pretty Chuckleberry Chelseabun” as a mark of respect to the people who aren’t family but whom she will treasure forever. On her chest she wears a ship with the Modest Mouse album title We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank.

This piece is in honour of her family’s history, filled with pirates, diamond dramas and her mom’s obsession with drawing the most beautiful butterflies and swallows just like her GG’s antique hair pin.

Moving from Port Elizabeth to Johannesburg after her father decided to immigrate to the UK, Ali Tambellini was quite the handful for her single mother of four. Her mother worked long hours as a computer lecturer and her older twin sisters looked after her and her brother most of the time. Music and dancing played a significant role in her life during this time. She grew up listening to Gracie Fields, Elvis, Johnny Cash and everything 80’s. They did not watch a lot of television and danced to cheesy 80’s pop songs everyday after her mother arrived home from work. She was a ballet dancer for thirteen years and it consumed most of her life during that time.

Ali states that she was the typical nerdy kid in school, with her red hair, freckled face, and pale white skin. Therefore she was somewhat anti-social and spent a lot of her time reading. To this day she still loves reading, and has a pile of Penguin classics, stacked almost as high as she is tall. She claims that she is yet to find a modern writer other than Stephen King that can actually write. She kept herself busy with after school activities such as dancing, swimming and playing polo. Towards the end of her high school career she decided to experiment with her look and dyed her hair black and invested in a hair straightener. She tinted her lashes and eyebrows and suddenly people started taking notice of her. She was no longer the invisible nerdy kid devoted to after school activities. The change had a positive influence on her life in the sense that it made her more confident, but at the same time her new found popularity made her forget about all the important things in her life. She quit swimming and stopped doing most of

the things she loved to do because her new found friends and their opinions became more important.

“I ditched the few friends I actually had to be surrounded by these superficial assholes”.

She soon realised that there was more to life than those people’s opinions and the selfish habits she had picked up and finally reached a point where the distanced herself from them and decided that being herself was the best thing she could do for herself.

After school she briefly worked as a receptionist in a hair salon to help her figure out whether or not hairdressing was the profession for her, but decided against it. Instead she went to work for her mother as an assistant. It was a testing time for both of them since they are both very alike and strong minded and bumped heads plenty a times. After this “gap” year she decided to study Graphic Design but hated it. She was quite depressed and to top it all off she learnt that she had epilepsy. Throughout her life she had been quite sickly, with a poor immune system she suffered from hay fever all the way through to bronchitis, and took forever to heal. She also has polysythemia, and to learn that she had epilepsy was the icing on the cake.

During this rough year, she quickly realised the meaning of friendship and who her true friends were, “and three of them had my back no matter what; Chuck, Richard and Chels”. After finding medication that worked for her and feeling a little happier about the situation, she decided to leave university to work. “My three friends still had my back and I loved them dearly for dealing with me and all my crap”.

After about a year she fell in love and soon after moved to Pretoria to live with him. The f-hole tattoos on each of her ankles are in memory of her love. Above the one is the words “psycho for your love” with a little heart. Things weren’t easy for her in Pretoria since she was covered in tattoos and couldn’t speak a word of Afrikaans. She also became really homesick since all her family lived in Johannesburg and she hardly ever got to see them. As all good things have to come to an end, after two years they broke up and she moved back to Johannesburg to live with her mother and to work at her company as project manager.

“I’ve only just turned 21 and this New Year is going to be awesome for me because I’m going to be looking after myself for a change”

Previously she worked for her mother as an assistant, but Ali’s work was of such good quality that she was promoted to project manager. The company is one hundred percent female owned and aims to train and place people with disabilities in the open labour market, either on Learnerships or in full time positions. Her sister (who also works for the company) has her own company that trains learners before they go into Learnerships. They focus on IT and administrative positions since it is easier to place people there. Because South-Africa was far behind on the front of disability advantages for so long, many people with disabilities have little to no qualifications more than a matric certificate. Learnerships therefore are great opportunities for them to achieve workplace experience, a salary and a qualification all in one go.

After they have completed the Learnership they can either be places in a permanent position where they completed their Learnership, or the company finds them a permanent position somewhere else. Ali has been focussed on finding high calibre learners, by initiating drives at universities all over the country, and they’ve had a wonderful response. The company

helps these learners reach their full potential as well as helping other companies in meeting their equity quotas. Working for this company has grown into a passion for Ali and she enjoys every moment of it.

While working for the company, she has studied basic photography during night school and is also currently studying make-up artistry. She aims to one day open her own studio; doing make-up, photography, and all the things she loves.

“Right now my goals are just to be happy and keep myself in check. Work hard to get what I want, and never make the same mistakes again. I’m better than all those people who brought me down”. Her mantra is something her mom has told her “and my mom is my hero”: “you are free to do whatever you want in life, but you are never free of the consequences”. Even though her mother jokes about having her as a daughter as a result of being a naughty kid herself, Ali knows she carries her mom’s approval and hopes to continue to make her proud, “I’ve only just turned 21 and this New Year is going to be awesome for me because I’m going to be looking after myself for a change”.

Random Ali Facts * She has 20mm tunnels that she started stretching at the age of 16, she would get bored and pierce her face and the stretching was something different, she however lost her patience and scalpeled them * She has a slight Betty Page pin-up girl obsession and therefore has a naked girl tattooed on her thigh with stars and roses * This was the most painful thing she has ever experienced in her life * She doesn’t sleep much during the night and live off power play to keep her awake during the day * She spends a lot of time on the internet Google searching everything, random things like who invented mayo, because she gets curious about the world’s little wonders

* She eats a bottle of sweet chilli sauce a week * She’s been vegetarian since she was 11 years old, of which she spend 7 years as a vegan, however her immune system crashed and the doctor told her that she had to eat more protein * Now she has a cheese obsession *She used to drink four litres of coke a day but n ow she drinks coke zero because all the sugar was killing her blood * She has been smoking lucky strike filters for the last 8 years * She thinks she drinks too much beer and that it is making her look pregnant * Therefore she thinks she needs to start exercising…or drinking whiskey

To be quite honest I’ve never really been keen to go to Disneyland, I mean, give me a “Zombieland” and I’ll be super amped any day. Disney, well never really caught my attention until Andy came across a website advertising Rock Around the Park Rockabilly Day. That intrigued me, then our friend from work Ryan, totally sold us with his evil salesman tactics.

Sat morning came and we woke up bright and early, just to end up getting there around 10am, as it’s about 1 ½ hours away. When we arrived we parked in the Pumbaa parking area and headed for Disney. We didn’t have to wait too long to buy out tickets (hefty $72 each). We walked in the front gates, and there it the shape of Mickeys face, really cool looking buildings with loads of novelty shops inside them, including a cool candy, coffee and coca cola shop etc. The whole place was decorated for Christmas, which looked really pretty.

Huge Xmas trees and décor everywhere in the streets and on the buildings.

First up we walked to Space Mountain, and had to wait about 30 minutes to go on the ride.. but Oh my did that blow my expectations away. They are old rollercoaster’s from the 50’s, but done up a bit new school. Soo much fun.

My favourite ride of the day was The Haunted Mansion. The whole place was done by Nightmare Before Christmas style, which of course I love. The décor outside was just amazing, I couldn’t stop taking photos of everything on the outside. When of the line, you enter a round room, everything goes dark and all these creepy things start happening, like portraits changing, and light up, and a huge Jacks face lights up on the roof and he does his evil laugh..

Then after that, you walk into the ride section, and climb onto a loveseat. It takes you on a chill but awesome ride, with the most amazing props, mechanical moving objects, special effects with clever narration and music deftly incorporate these changes into the existing story. From Jack to all the characters in the movie. I can’t really explain how awesome this was! Along with black light that

makes everything glow with fake snow and the best props you have ever seen.

Then you come up to the balcony overlooking the Grand Ballroom, greatly decorated for Christmas, when you see ghosts dancing and sitting around the banquet table eating and drinking. I’m not too sure how they screen these guys into the room, but the special effects really look amazing. As if they are really there! There’s so much happening on this ride, I can’t begin to describe awesome it is - you simply have to see and hear it for yourself.

Enough of that ride, there were so many more, we didn’t even get to do half of what we would have loved to. There was a Pirates of the Caribbean ride, where you sit in a boat and it takes you through these caves with al these sets and characters from the movie, with singing and moving (quite life like) characters. Towards the end Captain Jack Sparrow sings you a song, while sitting drunk on a chair surrounded with treasure.

After all this was the Rockabilly day at Disneyland, so at 2pm everyone had to meet infront of Sleeping Beauty’s castle, for a group photo. There must have been a good couple hundred people that rocked up. Really cool. It was fun to walk in the park and see a lot of rockabilly cats walking around and doing the rides.

At around 5pm we went to the Golden Horseshoe in Frontierland, a cool old style saloon/ theatre venue. Where a hillbilly act/band called Billy Hill and the Hillbillies played. It was quite a laugh, the band was pretty cool, it was more an act than an actual live show.

After that we went into Mickeys house, which kind of happened by accident, but alas. We walked through,

and at the end ended up being in a room with Mickey, so we of course had to have our pictures taken.

Another room that was really well done was the Enchanted dio-Animatronic show ever built, debuting in 1961. Nearly 50 years later, it remains the best, a under-rated attraction that plays to the strengths of the animatronic medium. First of you sit outside this the surrounded area decorated tiki style, as well as a tiki bar serving pineapple drinks and ice-creams.

Eventually when they are ready for you, you all walk into the room, and grab your seats. They are laid out all along the sides of the room. We sat down and the host came towards us, and told us that some birds had been eating soft peaches, and gave us a serviette each to put on our heads, of course the joke was on our when he was narrating and told everyone in the room about the birds and their peaches, so we had to put them on our head for a little laugh, was pretty classic.

The Tiki Room shows happen all and totems animating the ceiling and the walls with a fountain in the middle of the room. After the narrator has introduced the show, it starts. Parrots start signing, and birds all around the room start moving and singing a tiki song, and as it progresses the fountain turns on, and this huge perch comes out of the ceiling with lady parrots on it (lipstick and all mind come down, and they sing and move their little faces.

Then the tiki gods start signing, playing the drums, the totems sing and move their eyes and mouths. Its done so well and realistically.

At one point the whole room goes dark and like its raining. This is a mad, magical and happy little room you need to experience!

Sleeping Beauty’s Castle looks immaculate in the evening, with lights all over it, simply stunning. It’s basically a walk through, where story, showcasing dazzling three-dimensional winding hallways and relive the timeless tale.

We also went on the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage, it’s not for the claustrophobic!

You climb down stairs into a small subma-

rine (holds 40 people) and sit really close together, in front of a circular window. It doesn’t completely submerge, but of course it’s under enough to give you the feeling of being underwater. You venture on an aquatic quest, and as well as Nemo and his crew.

They create it so well that it looks like you’re watching the characters swim right in front of you, between all the reef and ruins, its amazing. You also hear the music and them talking to each other too, which gives you a cute little underwater journey.

Towards the end of the night saw some really aweat New Years, these were way pretty and even more 3d, if I can explain it that way. We got some coffee and walked around the Christmas light streets, and checked out the museum. It had some really cool artwork, as well as some work original painting from Shag, which was cool to see.

I can’t put down everything we experienced, but overall I really enjoyed the day. There is so much to see and do, and even if you just had to do the same rides over and over again, it would still be a new experience. We missed out on so much, and we were there from around 10am-12am. There are loads of people, at one stage the lines aren’t ridiculously long and you don’t ever have to wait to go to the toilet. It’s basically kids having fun, and adults being kids. How could you go wrong!

So we’re all the working class and mostly dead broke.. so here are some krafty ideas for gifts this season, that won’t burn a hole in your pocket. It will still be an awesome gift as i t’ll h ave some l ove put i nto it. I t’s the thought t hat counts, isn’t it?

1. For the baking ladies out there.. Bake and decorate some seasonal cookies. Just w rap t hem up i n colourful cellophane a nd store for buttons/ribbon) or wrap them up in a nightmare before Christmas looking gift box, and lay them on top of some crepe paper. D elicious a nd c heap! Who doesn’t l ike receiving tasty treats?

2. For your “festive” friends. Buy a shot glass that best suits your friend, along with some tot sized bottles of booze to create your own favourite shooters. Print or write out the recipe on some colourful paper and you friend will be able to have yourself a “merry” little x-mas..

3. Make a recipe book with your collection of favourite recipes. Make a cool cover with some old retro pics, print it up or hand write it out, with a few blank pages for your friends to add their own recipes at the back. There are even a few websites where you can easily create your own recipe books, and have them printed up. Check them out at www.createmycookbook.com, w ww.tastebook.com, w ww.bookemon. com a nd w ww.blurb.com. This m ight t ake some t ime, s o prepare a good few months before you need it.

4. Buy a cheap photo album, and cover it with an awesome fur leopard material, add a bow or some personal detail and decoration, add a few photos of your friends and yourself to start it off, and give it as a gift. Many people don’t print out photos anymore, but I think it’s awesome to have them ready to look through, maybe a nice coffee table addition.

5. On the cheap.. this one could take some hunting.. go to some of your favorite stores, (maybe even online stores) and see if they give out samples. Make a hamper with the collection, and give your friends a mini pamper set.

Check out some websites like totallyfreestuff.com, there are a bunch of sites and forums out there dedicated to

Gift wrap, boxes and bags, can sometimes cost more than you budgeted to spend on the actual gift. Gather old newspaper, magazines and scrap paper from around your home or workplace.

For a really cute idea, just use some newspaper, and wrap with a brightly contrasting ribbon. Be careful not to choose headlines that may be inappropriate. For example, it would be a bad idea to gift wrap with the headlines, “More Teenagers Getting STDs”. It might seem obvious, but it’s quite easy to quickly grab a section of the paper and pay little attention to what your gift wrap says! Mix match your papers.. a bright page on one side with a plainer black and white print could look quite rad. Everyone is used to conventional wrapping paper; a recipient will be happy to get something a little different, and a bonus would be, its environment friendly!

Tip: If you think your gift might get ruined if the newsprint were to get Greeting cards are also a waste of money. Recycle last years cards. Just stick some handmade, or colourful paper over the right hand side where the notes are written, and write on top of it, it’ll still look good as new! You can even make some glue drops and throw glitter over it for some extra pizzazz!! it out, stick some plain paper on the back of it, and you have an awesome looking gift!!

Vanilla Cupcake Ingredients: 125g Butter, softened and chopped (leave it out the night before) 1 tsp vanilla essence 2/3 cups caster sugar 3 eggs ¼ cup milk Preheat the over to 180 degrees c, and line your cupcake pan with liners.

Throw all the above ingredients into a large mixing bowl, and beat on low speed until all combined.

Using two teaspoons divide the mixture into your mini cupcake wrappers, half full or less rise too high. Cook for 15-17 minutes. (They will be golden brown, or prick them with a toothpick, and if it pulls out clean they are good to go.)

Take them out of the oven and throw them out onto a cooling rack. This recipe makes about 56 eyeballs!! While they cool let’s do the icing...

Butter Cream frosting ingredients: 1/3 cup butter (left out the night before) ¼ tsp salt 1 tsp vanilla essence 3 cups sifted icing sugar 3-4 tablespoons milk Cream the butter, salt and vanilla, beating until as light in colour as possible. Add sugar gradually, beating after each addition. Add 3 Tbs milk, and beat until smooth. Beat in more milk until a spreading consistency is reached. If you let the icing mixture stand a while it tends to go a little hard, so just add more milk and beat until you have the right consistency again. Now, for the fun part... the decorating.

You’ll need: Red Icing Gel (you should be able to get these neat things at art shops or baking supply stores) Green round candies (I used gummy Lifesavers – be creative there’s a bunch to choose from) Small black candies (I used mini M&M’s, but you can use a black jellybean) Ice the cooled cupcakes, and add the round gummy candies right away (as the icing hardens). Then add a drop of icing inside the hole of the eye, to stick on the black candy. If you use a jellybean, just push it in there. Add veiny squiggles with the gel icing.. And there you have it gruesomely tasty, 56 eyed monster!

Words & photography

by Christelle Duvenage

Pirate Punx

“A Pirate Punk is rad (one much into his style), slightly hardcore, and usually listens to punk oriented music.

One being a Pirate Punk, will use terms such as “argh”, “ahoy”, “matey”, “bilge rat”, “booty”, “avast”, “pieces of eight” etc.” No, it is not a new genre that you have to buy into or a new fashion scene you have to “fit” into, but the PIRATE PUNX! ARGH! Pirate Punx is a local band from the Vaal, one of the VERY few punk bands from this area. Pirate Punx was originally intended to be a clothing company that would distribute clothing difficult to find in stores. This however didn’t work out, and since the name already had a reputation locally, the members decided to keep it for the band.

The band formed in 2007 when Rudi and Casper, who had been close friends since high school, started getting together on Friday afternoons just to jam and have fun. Shortly afterwards, Casper’s older brother DJ joined in on the sessions playing a drum set that had seen better days. Equipment didn’t bother them though since they were in it for the fun. Soon they started working on their own material and playing shows.

As is the aim of most of the punk bands I listen to, these three guys are focussed on having a fun time while creating the music they love. They draw from past expe-

riences as inspiration for their lyrics and music in a nostalgic manner, covering a broad range of topics. Their lyrics are positive and the vocals fast and progressive. Combined with powerful guitars and energetic drums it is the perfect amalgamation for a jolly good time matee.

They recently released their debut EP entitled Stereo Is Not Our Type. The name is referring to them not buying into stereotypes, and them not necessarily fitting into the “punk” stereotype. They are just a bunch of regular guys who enjoy expressing themselves through punk music. They recorded their EP at Lightstain studios in Potchefstroom with Martin Jansen van Vuuren from Stealingthird Productions as producer. They did the tracking in only 7 hours and had a blast. People can expect a very in-yourface vibe from the EP with fast and catchy melodies.

Not one of the songs sound the same since they try to keep it different and fresh to continue captivating the audience.

If you would like to listen to some of the tracks, visit their MySpace at www.myspace.com/thepiratepunxsa.

The Roaring 20s

Words by Olivia Mikrut

In this edition we focus our attention on the fashion of the 1920’s - and you’d be surprised to see just how similar it is to the fashion we have today.

The 1920’s were the years of fashion revolution and the birth of style. It was the decade in which fashion entered the modern era. Women stopped wearing constricting fashions and started wearing more comfortable clothes. Unlike in the Victorian era, regular women could choose beauty, individuality and f unctionality and express t hemselves in c reative new w ays. T he 1920’s g ave birth to an entirely new woman, one who smoked, drank, danced, and e ven voted! She cut her hair, wore make-up, and w ent t o parties. She w ore short skirts, had bobbed hair and listened to jazz music.

She w as not a fraid t o show a little skin, she However, e ven though t he F lapper and t he “Roaring Twenties” w ere the highlights of t he 1920’s, they were only truly acknowledged a fter 1925. Before then, people were still a little sceptical about the lengths of their skirts. The length of the skirts became shorter and shorter as from 1913, where they began to show a little ankle. By 1918 the skirts’ hemlines were just below the calf and by 1919 they were at the calf. Between 1920 tuations of about an inch or two according to the garment style. It was only in 1925 that skirts rose about 45-50cm from the ground and b y 1926,

skirts were at their shortest in the 1920’s and showed the knee until 1928. From then on, the whole leg and the knee cap were revealed: this was the height of “Flapper” fashion. The phase wore off and by the 1930’s the hemline was back to several inches below the knee.

The underwear of the 1920’s also differed entirely to that of the Victorian era. The bra’s were mostly home-made, and some of the purchased bra’s were more like camossoles and offered no support. Big busted girls usually bandaged their ten their chests. None of the bra’s gave much shape, but all women wanted was to keep their bust from wobbling. However, by the 1930’s, Triumph (which is still very popular today), Maidenform, Gossard, Warner Brothers, Twilift and Symingtons were all making bra’s that did the job of separating the breasts. At the same time, it was discovered that women had different cup sizes and bra sales doubled with the new designs. Underwear was minimal, sheer and light.

Women wore cami-bockers or cami-knickers, or just knickers with a petticoat. Also, by the 1920’s, stockings with patterns were hot fashions. Flesh or soft pastel colours were very popular and were were not the only things that were popular. The 1920’s introduced many more accessories, such as clothe hats, these hats told everyone that you had short hair. The clothe hat affected body posture as it was pulled over the eyes which meant that women had to walk with their heads at a speFore heads were very unpopular back then. Also, during this era, women wore a lot more make-up

and it was very fashionable to promote make-up rights in public. Instead of going to the ladies room to “powder their nose”, women got their little compacts out and applied their lipstick for everyone around them to see. Another thing that was popular back then, and still seems to be popular today, is the waist coat that has a big buckle or big button. The 1920’s was also the decade where shoes became a huge fashion accessory. With new skirt lengths showing off the shoe, it had to be selected right. Heels were 2 inches high and wasted, but by the 1930’s shoes became heavier and the toes were less pointed and more rounded and looked much like today’s peep-toe style shoes.

Even though the 1920’s was 90 years ago, many of the fashion designers today are inspired by this decade of fashion. Gabrielle Chanel, famously 1913 and by the 1920’s her clothing designs became the epitome of the 20’s style. Chanel was a visionary amongst her peers and other creations of other designers at the time seemed old fashioned compared to hers. She promoted the styles that tones of beige, sand, cream, navy and black in soft jersey fabrics cut in simple shapes that didn’t were clothes that were made for comfort and easy wear, making them revolutionary and quite modern. It was Coco Chanel herself who created the term “little black dress” and even though she died in 1971, her fashion designs live on and Chanel is still one of the most popular brands today, proving that we will always carry a little bit of historical fashion with us no matter where we go.

Sweet

Nausea Words by Cleo Black Photography by Sweet Nausea

People, piercings and PVC...Vixxen gets into Cape Town’s hottest fetish photographer’s headspace.

“Sweet” and “Nausea” aren’t usually two words you’d expect to find in one sentence. Sweet is chocolates, rainbows, bunny rabbits (hmm…coincidental!), and your boyfriend’s mom showing you his baby photos. Nausea is what you feel after 6 too many black labels and too much brandy and coke out of a plastic bottle in the car, waaaaay too much to eat at the all you can eat buffet at Little Nero’s, or when you think you’ve left your house, car, work keys AND cell phone on the bar.

But, opposite as those two words are, they work…in context. Context being Clare Foxcroft Williams; the beautiful eye, and brilliant mind behind Sweet Nausea Photography. With subjects ranging from the onstage…antics (ahem) of bands like Yes Sir! Mister Machine and Die Antwoord, to the beautiful people (pierced, unpierced, and BEING pierced) of Obs and Long Street, diversity is ,in my humble opinion, the key factor in the photos produced by this extremely talented, and rather FOXY (ha. ha.haaaaa) young lass.

So where did it all start for Clare?

“In the later years of primary school, age 10 or 11, I started finding myself hiding behind a camera as a way of being somewhat involved in whatever was happening. I was never a cool kid, my mom taught at my school, which didn’t help…plus I was never very sociable, I preferred doing my own thing, even when I was little.

The camera fetish didn’t stop then, it carried over, getting to a peak at about 13-14, until I started Photography at Frank Joubert Art Centre as a 7th subject, which was where the good stuff started. It was all done manually on black and white film, hand processed and printed, which I loved. My lecturer, Adam Letch, encouraged the darker side in my work and inspired me to go in the general direction I have since high school. I studied there until Matric, and then after my gap year in which my mother passed away, I decided to pursue what I loved first and foremost and decided to start at Ruth Prowse School of Art in Woodstock in 2007, also under Adam Letch, as I knew what a difference it made having a teacher who didn’t understand your work.

I recently graduated from Ruth Prowse having shot my final body of work on Pain Rituals (piercings, suspension, scarification etc).

My branching into fetish work was fairly natural, encouraged in high school by both my visual tastes in film and photography, exposure to the beautiful fetish/nude work of Robert Mapplethorpe in early

high school and my lecturer’s tastes for darker imagery and treatments. I have been lucky over the years in finding friends willing to do my stranger kinds of shoots. My Matric final photography project was on alternative and unusual nudes, which translated into strange kinds of fetish images; including a heart shaped scarification performed by myself on a willing ex’s chest. It’s a strange parallel with the heart scarification in my Pain Ritual series (performed this time far more safely by Lliezel Ellick, not me! I have learned a lot since 2005!).

Since I’m going to be standing half nekkid in front of Clare’s camera in January (I’m sneaky like that), I thought it prudent to find out a tad more about her. I mean HELL; the girl could be a closet axe murderer (or bunny boiler…

Haha) for all I know.

TRUE OR FALSE

All’s fair in love and war.

Haha, that’s a tough one, nothing’s ever really fair in life, you just have to get used to it and get over it. Once you lower your expectation of fairness in life, it becomes far more tolerable.”

You have a complete and unexplainable obsession with bunny rabbits.

TRUE. Since I was a little kid I’ve been obsessed. I have 2 rabbits of my own now, Valium and Noir, they are probably 2 of the best antidepressants you could ask for, and looking at them/ snuggling one will instantly take me out of any foul mood.

“You don’t take a photograph.

You ask, very quietly, if you may borrow it”Anonymous.

I like that. I don’t believe in forcing a shot, or forcing an emotion if it’s not there. I am quite un-intrusive as a photographer; I don’t unnecessarily direct or otherwise bother the subject, especially in any kind of non-studio setting.

I don’t believe it’s my god-given right to shove a camera in someone’s face without them wanting it, I’ve been on the other side and it’s downright annoying. So I try to practice restraint and respect for my subjects and not make them feel uncomfortable, as that never makes for good shots. You can see when someone is relaxed and comfortable or creeped out by the person shooting them. Luckily I am shy as all hell so it’s hard for me to do things like direct people unless I really need to. But again, in a studio setting I am far more comfortable directing as the situation

is agreed upon and closed, as opposed to taking photos of drunk people at shows… I could never work for something like Thunda.com; I think I’d have a panic attack after half an hour on the job!

As I said… not so sociable, this one, especially in crowded clubs… stressful!”

Androgyny is the new femininity/masculinity.

I think androgyny, as well as being comfortable with ones sexuality and confident enough to fuck with gender roles is far more attractive in a person that conforming to gender stereotypes. I find people with that confidence far more visually appealing and interesting to shoot than what the media would deem an “attractive” person, of either sex.

Woolie’s chocolate brownie ice-cream makes it aaaaall better.

True. Chocolate ice cream heals all.

(Except lactose intolerance…aaaah lame) I think it’s a universal female thing… I think all boyfriends/ husbands should have a stash ready for their lady for times of stress…

Shoot from the Hip

Cheesy as this question is, I love it. Describe yourself in 3 words.

Introverted, creative, crazy.

What is your absolute favourite thing in the whole world at this very moment?

Just one? That’s hard. … I’m not much of a material girl. I’ll say my tattoos, or tattoos/ tattooing in general. I never cease to marvel at and dream of beautiful and unusual tattoos. Ugly tattoos upset me and flash tattoos bore me. I would and could never go for something off a wall. I’m very specific and individual about the tattoos I want.

Thankfully I’ve never gotten anything done that I’ve regretted later, or seen on anyone else.

You’re still studying, yeah?

What’s it like having to balance college and Sweet Nausea?

I literally just finished studying, I graduated the other day from my 3 year Photography course at Ruth Prowse. I can’t say it was easy balancing college and personal work, I’ve become used to being really broke, staying up all night retouching or essay-writing in a very dark study until my eyelids twitch and having little to no social life.

Thankfully I’m not particularly sociable, never have been, so shooting is quite enough social interaction for me, if not too much, on occasion. I am quite partial to quiet nights in alone with music and coffee, retouching until the early hours of the morning. I also learned to make any assignment or job somewhat fun for myself, and to find the interesting part of it/angle on anything, as my work always comes out better when I’m excited about what I’m doing/shooting.

Show me the single most awesome photo you’ve ever taken, and tell me why it matters so much to you.

It’s really hard to choose, my Pain Rituals as a body of work is very close to my heart and the body of work I am most proud of. There are 2 pieces in the series that mean the most to me, the one is of the piercer for the series, Lliezel Ellick, suspended on her side holding arum lilies, it is a

beautiful and peaceful shot and the process was also very intimate and special. The other shot that means a hell of a lot to me is a self portrait I did for the series, a tribute piece for my mother who passed away in 2006 after battling cancer. I had my late mother’s name beautifully tattooed on my head to symbolise the loss of hair associated with cancer and chemotherapy, and my wrist pierced with 2 pink needles and a pink ribbon attached to symbolise breast cancer awareness, as my mothers cancer started in the breast. I felt that for someone with work like mine that celebrates the female form, it was an important issue to address, without being preachy or overly sentimental about it. It was a very meaningful process and image to create.

What are the best and most excruciating parts of shooting for you? The people, the piercings, the PVC clothing…

The most excruciating part is the organisation of makeup artists, hairstylists, stylists, and models, and the stress that I’m under for at least 24 hours before I actually start to shoot.

That’s my freak out time, I’m not the nicest the night before a shoot, tearing my room apart for that one pair of suspenders or heels I know will look right in the shot, frantically phoning people to make sure they won’t bail on me the next day… its pretty stressful, as I’ve seen just about everything you can imagine go wrong before and I don’t intend to let shit like that happen on my watch. I even stress while the makeup and hair gets done sometimes. But once I get shooting and have some coffee and food/sweets in me, I’m happy as hell.

The best part, so far, has been my piercing series and the work I’ve done around that theme.

There is just so much more happening in a situation like that than just posing and fake emotion. It is a really beautiful and intimate thing to be included in, and I have been honoured to be included by so many wonderful people in their most private and intense emotional and physical states. Also, I am hugely grateful to have been working with Lliezel Ellick performing the piercing and other mod

work, it has been a wonderful and creative process, as she has been so inspiring, helpful and enthusiastic about the shoots.

I’ve seen (and done) some pretty crazy things photographers go through to get “The Shot”.

What’s the most insane thing you’ve done, or would do to get that illusive little bastard known only as “The Shot”?

I have done many strange things. Recently, I had 13 needles stuck in my forearm, and then had to be dressed from scratch for the shoot, panties and all by my stylist Luisa, which was a rather interesting moment to say the least. In first year I used my own blood as SFX blood on a self portrait shoot, which was weird but kinda interesting. I have lain half-naked in compost heaps, ventured into abandoned houses to shoot (rented lights and all) gory fetish photos, the crew dodging the “toilet” rooms designated by local bergies… Walking through Long Street to an alleyway to shoot with a model with a special effects bullet hole in her chest… That scared the shit out of a lot of people when she was lying down for the shot; we kept having to tell people she wasn’t dead so they’d stop getting in the way of the shot…

Out of all the things, places and people you get to shoot, which are the ones closest to your heart, and why so?

Things: Needles and hooks (of course, if you hadn’t noticed yet) and Latex… I really love good latex, especially when it fits well and is polished to perfection.

Places: That’s a hard one. I’d say one of the prettiest places is The Bijou, in Observatory, anyone who’s been to the infamous Gandalfs should know that beautiful old retro building opposite it… I’ve been in love with that building for years, and finally got to shoot in it a few months back.

People: Lliezel Ellick, because whether she’s piercing someone for a shot or the subject of the shot, her personality keeps everyone calm and happy, even when they’re getting stuck full of needles, and she

has the cutest little grin when she pierces! (I can “The Way Out Is Through” – Nine Inch Nails agree from experience under Liezel’s hands…I got pierced a gazillion times by her over 2 and a all I’ve undergone half years. But I’d say it’s more manic than cute!) I will keep on underneath it all we feel so small the heavens fall but still we crawl all I’ve undergone

What 3 albums have you played till they were battered, bleeding, and begging for death lately?

Nine Inch Nails – Broken Genghis Tron – Cloak of Love The Blood Brothers – Young Machetes

Do you think music, musicians and the music industry have influenced photography, or the other way around?

And in what ways?

I think both. Art and music have always been interrelated, and I find a lot of artists or photographers have music backgrounds of some sort. My parents were musicians, my mother was a classical piano teacher and my father is a self-taught folk/rock muso music producer/sound engineer at SABC. Due to this influence, I grew up playing classical music from age 7-17 so I had music pumped into my blood at a young age and I always have and always will love it, even though my classical skills have long disappeared.

But in a more general sense, yes, creative arts influence other creative arts, the same way as a photographer can be inspired by the work of a painter, a photographer can find inspiration in a piece of music or even a line of song lyrics.

Leave me with the most profound, inspiring and generally cool lyric or quote that you know. (Feel free to be cynical,

sarcastic or otherwise humorous.)

It’s more the title than the lyrics I find so inspiring and striking, but it sums up a lot for me, and is descriptive of my view on life after all the shit I’ve been through. I have included the lyrics; feel free to use/not use them

By Olivia Mikrut

We often come across movies in which we see bad things that happen to good people, but nobody realizes that these things do not only happen in the movies, but in real, everyday life too. Whether we choose to ignore it and turn the other cheek, or stand up and do something about it is a personal choice that each and everyone of us have to make. However, you cannot stand up against something if you do not know about it, and this is where knowledge is power.

What is human trafficking? Human trafficking occurs when people are tricked, lured by false promises, manipulated, or physically forced from their homes or countries to work for either very little or no pay at all.

It can also be seen as trade or commerce in people.

Human trafficking is basically what we call modern slavery today. The victims of human trafficking are used for a number of different things, including prostitution and forced labour. They are slaves.

Although anybody can be a victim of this ruthless crime, women and children are the most common victims. Women who live in very bad conditions are usually targeted by traffickers, especially for the sex

industry. Criminals often promise these women good jobs or opportunities for work and studies and then force them into prostitution. The women are usually escorted to their destinations and employers, but by the time they realize that they have been lied to about the kind of work they have to do and about the pay, it is already too late, and they find themselves in life threatening and abusive situations where trying to escape is extremely difficult and dangerous. In other words: There’s no way out.

The trafficking of children usually involves the exploitation of their parents’ extreme poverty. Parents who are extremely poor will sell their children to pay off debts or to make an income. Some of the parents give their children to the traffickers because they are lied to and told that the children will be sent for training and education for a better life and a brighter future. Thousands of male and even female children have been forced to become child soldiers and thousands more from Asia, Africa and South America are sold into the global sex trade every year. These children are usually kidnapped or orphaned, and some of

them are even sold by their own families.

Human trafficking happens all over the world, and most people don’t seem concerned because they think that it’ll never happen in the place where they are living. With the 2010 FIFA World Cup just around the corner, South Africa is in serious jeopardy. As the World Cup approaches, attention is being increasingly focused on human trafficking, because it is one of the crimes that are sure to accompany the boom in the South African tourism industry. The trafficking of women and children are most probably going to increase to meet the expected demand for sex.

It is said that sex work should be decriminalised for 2010 so that sex workers’ rights can be recognized and protected by law, because about 30% of sex workers who have made statements to SWEAT (Sex Worker Advocacy Taskforce) have been forced to

have sex with police officers. Arguments against the idea as stated by Errol Naidoo (Chairperson of the Family Policy Institute in Cape Town) are that child trafficking, prostitution and the drug industry have exploded in countries such as Australia, Germany and the Netherlands, where the industry was decriminalized over 10 years ago. The police and intelligence service in those countries cannot control it and they are far more sophisticated and advanced than ours, so how can it be expected of us to control it with our corrupt police officers and political instability? This is sure to be a difficult case to crack and it is putting a lot of pressure on our country. So as you see, it is not as distant as we may think.

It is only through the acquisition of the knowledge of this that we can take the first step towards stopping it. Knowledge is power and ignorance is not something we can afford.