by Steven-Elliot Altman (SG Member: Steven_Altman) Our Fiction Friday serialized novel, The Killswitch Review, is a futuristic murder mystery with killer sociopolitical commentary (and some of the best sex scenes we’ve ever read!). Written by bestselling sci-fi author Steven-Elliot Altman (with Diane... more

by Steven-Elliot Altman (SG Member: Steven_Altman)

Our Fiction Friday serialized novel, The Killswitch Review, is a futuristic murder mystery with killer sociopolitical commentary (and some of the best sex scenes we’ve ever read!). Written by bestselling sci-fi author Steven-Elliot Altman (with Diane DeKelb-Rittenhouse), it offers a terrifying postmodern vision in the tradition of Blade Runner and Brave New World...

By the year 2156, stem cell therapy has triumphed over aging and disease, extending the human lifespan indefinitely. But only for those who have achieved Conscientious Citizen Status. To combat overpopulation, the U.S. has sealed its borders, instituted compulsory contraception and a strict one child per couple policy for those who are permitted to breed, and made technology-assisted suicide readily available. But in a world where the old can remain vital forever, America’s youth have little hope of prosperity.

Jason Haggerty is an investigator for Black Buttons Inc, the government agency responsible for dispensing personal handheld Kevorkian devices, which afford the only legal form of suicide. An armed “Killswitch” monitors and records a citizen’s final moments — up to the point where they press a button and peacefully die. Post-press review agents — “button collectors” — are dispatched to review and judge these final recordings to rule out foul play.

When three teens stage an illegal public suicide, Haggerty suspects their deaths may have been murders. Now his race is on to uncover proof and prevent a nationwide epidemic of copycat suicides. Trouble is, for the first time in history, an entire generation might just decide they’re better off dead.

(Catch up with the previous installments of Killswitch – see links below – then continue reading after the jump…)



[THE KILLSWITCH REVIEW – CHAPTER NINE, PART TWO]

[GHOSTS IN THE MACHINE]

[Previous Chapter]

They wove between stalks of NewVada skyline toward the rising sun. Haggerty leaned his head back against the panel and closed his eyes. He’d gone a long time without sleep. He popped a celtrex while Elsa threaded them between the monolithic skyscrapers of the Kubrick district past the city demarcation line and over the desert.

“Where is she, Elsa?” he asked.

“The geographical coordinates of her last signature place her approximately twelve minutes out,” Elsa replied. “But scanners indicate there’s nothing there but a power grid.”

Haggerty cracked his knuckles. Twelve minutes was a long time in the air; they might be tracked via satellite or, worse, shot down. Mile after mile of desolation sped by in the viewer and miraculously no weapons lock was detected. Either they were incredibly lucky or somebody was on their side.

“We should be coming up on visual range of the grid now,” Elsa said.

The protruding hypersteel dome of the grid shimmered into existence atop the sand — and nothing else.

“Could she be in there, Elsa?”

“It’s possible,” Elsa replied. “But we’re talking very small maintenance shafts and her signature registered outside the grid.”

She directed Haggerty’s attention to an empty patch of sand and rock and began dropping altitude to circle. The pod pitched forward, throwing him hard against his seatbelt.

“Initiating emergency procedure,” Elsa said calmly, adjusting the aircraft’s trim and retracting the steering mechanism full back, bringing the nose of the pod suddenly skyward.

Haggerty caught his breath as Elsa’s fingers blurred into motion on the thruster controls.

“We impacted with something beneath us and sustained damage,” she said. “I’ll bring us down as slowly as possible. Cross your fingers.”

Haggerty watched the ground rush up to meet them. He was painfully jolted again as the landing gear struck prematurely and Elsa quickly disengaged the thrust.

“We’re down,” she said, “although the altimeter readings state otherwise.”

Haggerty rubbed at the base of his spine. Someone wearing goggles and a loose, enveloping robe — male or female was impossible to tell — appeared out of nowhere and headed across the sand toward them.

Haggerty drew the stunner and popped the hatch, confused as he stepped down; it didn’t feel like sand beneath his shoes. “Hands in the air!” he warned.

The approaching figure complied instantly and cautiously continued in their direction, stopping about two yards from Haggerty and Elsa.

“Pull down your face mask,” Haggerty said. “Slowly.”

The goggles and face mask came away, revealing a man with dark eyes, a reddish beard, and heavily tanned skin. He looked like someone in the prime of a vigorous, active middle age.

“Who are you?” Haggerty demanded.

“I’m Joe Svoboda, Mr. Haggerty. It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m sure Regina will be happy to see you. If you’ll put that stunner away, I’ll bring you to her and answer all of your questions.”

He’s telling the truth, Jason, Elsa linked.

Haggerty pocketed the weapon.

“Thank you, Mr. Haggerty,” Svoboda said. “Come inside and meet your fans.”

Haggerty looked bewildered. “Inside?” he asked, indicating the miles of empty desert around them.

“You crash landed on top of our mess hall. I’m hoping you didn’t cause too much damage to our projection cells.”

“We are standing atop a projected image?” Elsa asked.

“A bit of holographic technology,” Svoboda said proudly. “Hundreds of tiny cameras continuously capture images of the desert and project them across the surface of our little town.”

“Making it virtually invisible,” Elsa said.

“Precisely,” Svoboda responded. “Follow me. Be careful on the glass.”

He led them toward the place where he’d first appeared out of the sand and retracted a small hatch, abruptly ending the illusion. Before them was an old-style electrolift. Dozens of people shouted up at them excitedly from below.

“They’re cheering for you, Mr. Haggerty,” Svoboda explained, stepping onto the lift and activating a control. “We’ve all been following your investigation and we’re very impressed.”

Haggerty looked up at the underside of the massive screen of projection cells as they descended. “I’ll be damned,” he muttered.

Svoboda smiled.

The hidden town was comprised of several dozen double-decker cabins, a few buildings that appeared to be made of desert rock, a huge water tower, and at least fifty antiquated mobile homes. When they reached the ground, a young man attired similarly to Svoboda stepped over to him.

“Ricardo, please get up there with some men and tarp their vehicle before it gets noticed,” Svoboda said.

“Sure thing, Joe. Nice going, Haggerty!”

Haggerty was bemused. A Code Six fugitive, they treated him like a conquering hero. People rushed up to him yelling his name, reaching out and touching and demanding that he shake their hands, which he did to the best of his ability. Too many names and remarks for him to make sense of anything being said.

He was startled to realize that most of them had never been to a plastiche parlor. Many appeared too young for the standard geno-immunization treatments Conscientious Citizens underwent at age thirty. All were dressed in loose robes. The majority of them were women.

Svoboda held up his arms. “Everyone, please,” he said in the voice of someone used to making himself heard above large, noisy crowds. “Mr. Haggerty has had a long night and we have a lot to discuss. I’m sure he’ll make time for you later. Everyone get back to work.”

The crowd dispersed with shouts and waves and grumbles.

Svoboda, Haggerty, and Elsa passed a lean-to where two women with prominent bellies smiled and waved excitedly at him. Haggerty waved back good-naturedly. “How many people live here?” he asked Svoboda.

“A little over three hundred at present.”

“I notice your population is predominantly female.”

“The organization’s pretty equally divided,” Svoboda said. “But you’re right, the majority who live here are women.”

“Pregnant women,” Haggerty said as another strolled by, one hand on her protruding stomach and the other leading a small child.

Svoboda grinned. “Yes, Mr. Haggerty, we’re gender offenders. I don’t hold with the government interfering in an issue as personal as choosing to bear a child. These are all applicationless, unapproved pregnancies, and mostly unregistered children you’re seeing.”

Fertility was illegal but unregistered birth was punishable by exile. “I’m not a policeman,” Haggerty said. “Although I admit that yesterday I’d have reported you and had you arrested.”

“Yesterday you were an obedient cog in a dreadful machine, Mr. Haggerty. As we all were once. Today that system will be taken to task.”

They were passing through a makeshift square where a few dozen women and toddlers milled around a viewscreen powered by exposed electrical groundwire. Haggerty looked at the screen and saw himself looking at the screen with Svoboda beside him. He turned to Elsa, who was drawing the same conclusion.

“You cracked Elsa?” he said.

Svoboda nodded. “She’s an amazing piece of work.”

“You did this utilizing PE technology?” Elsa asked. She stared at her transmission; the monitor displayed a video feedback loop repeating to infinity.

“I do hope you’ll forgive me. And I see Regina’s shared more than I anticipated with you. I cracked you while you were in hibernation mode two nights ago. Had you begin transmitting to us on secured channels over Indra and blocked your awareness that I’d done so. Not bad for tek running on rusty wire, huh? I’ll assume that’s how you found us, a reverse trace?”

Haggerty was astounded. If his personal information were that vulnerable, all stored information was vulnerable. And his assistant had been used as a surveillance cam.

“Make it stop, Svoboda,” Haggerty demanded angrily.

“As you wish, Mr. Haggerty.” Svoboda went to the door of a stone building. “Please join me. My receiver is just inside.”

Haggerty stepped into the dwelling ahead of Svoboda.

“Jason!” Regina cried and rushed to him. Instinctively his arms reached to hold her.

“I’m so glad you’re alive,” she said. She laughed through her tears. “Although I wish you’d found a better disguise.” Her hand rested lightly on his plastiched cheek.

“Regina,” he said, staring down at her tearstained face. It felt so good to hold her again. She looked the same as when he’d seen her last — the same clothes, including his shirt. But so much had happened to him since then. “I’m so sorry about your brother.”

She placed a finger gently against his lips. Haggerty pulled her close.

“Your friend Traci is —”

“We know,” Svoboda said. “You’ve been blamed. We know you’re innocent. We know everything you’ve learned, from watching your investigation through Elsa. And I have information you don’t have that you’ll find useful. That’s why you’re here. Let’s go into my sitting room, shall we?”

* * *

Excerpt from The Killswitch Review, published by Yard Dog Press. Copyright 2011 Steven-Elliot Altman.

Steven-Elliot Altman is a bestselling author, screenwriter, and videogame developer. He won multiple awards for his online role playing game, 9Dragons. His novels include Captain America is Dead, Zen in the Art of Slaying Vampires, Batman: Fear Itself, Batman: Infinite Mirror, The Killswitch Review, The Irregulars, and Deprivers. His writing has been compared to that of Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Michael Crichton and Philip K. Dick, and he has collaborated with world class writers such as Neil Gaiman, Michael Reaves, Harry Turtledove and Dr. Janet Asimov. He’s also the editor of the critically acclaimed anthology The Touch, and a contributor to Shadows Over Baker Street, a Hugo Award winning anthology of Sherlock Holmes meets H.P. Lovecraft stories.

Steven also bares ink on his body, and is bi, as in bi-coastal, between NYC and LA. He’s currently hard at work writing and directing his latest videogame Cursed Love, an online free to play gothic horror RPG from Dark Hermit Studios, set in Victorian London. Think Sherlock Holmes, Jack The Ripper and Dorian Gray mercilessly exploit the cast of Twilight. Friend Cursed Love (Official Closed Beta) on facebook and you can have fun playing out this tawdry, tragic romance with Steven while the game is being beta tested!

Diane DeKelb-Rittehouse spent several years in Manhattan as an actress before marrying her college sweetheart and returning to the Philadelphia area where she had been born. Diane first worked with Steven-Elliot Altman when they created the acclaimed, Publisher’s Weekly Starred-Review anthology The Touch: Epidemic of the Millennium, in which her story “Gifted” appeared. Diane has published a number of critically acclaimed short stories, most notably in the science fiction, murder, and horror genres. Her young adult fantasy novel, Fareie Rings: The Book of Forests, is now available in stores or online.

Interested in buying a printed copy of The Killswitch Review? Well, Steve’s publisher Yard Dog Press was kind enough to put up a special page where SuicideGirls can get a special discount and watch a sexy trailer. Just follow this link to KillswitchReview.com and click on the SG logo.

* * *

Related Posts:
Fiction Friday: The Killswitch Review – Chapter One
Fiction Friday: The Killswitch Review – Chapter One, Part Two
Fiction Friday: The Killswitch Review – Chapter One, Part Three
Fiction Friday: The Killswitch Review – Chapter One, Part Four
Fiction Friday: The Killswitch Review – Chapter Two, Part One
Fiction Friday: The Killswitch Review – Chapter Two, Part Two
Fiction Friday: The Killswitch Review – Chapter Two, Part Three
Fiction Friday: The Killswitch Review – Chapter Three, Part One
Fiction Friday: The Killswitch Review – Chapter Three, Part Two
Fiction Friday: The Killswitch Review – Chapter Three, Part Three
Fiction Friday: The Killswitch Review – Chapter Four, Part One
Fiction Friday: The Killswitch Review – Chapter Four, Part Two
Fiction Friday: The Killswitch Review – Chapter Four, Part Three
Fiction Friday: The Killswitch Review – Chapter Five, Part One
Fiction Friday: The Killswitch Review – Chapter Five, Part Two
Fiction Friday: The Killswitch Review – Chapter Five, Part Three
Fiction Friday: The Killswitch Review – Chapter Six, Part One
Fiction Friday: The Killswitch Review – Chapter Six, Part Two
Fiction Friday: The Killswitch Review – Chapter Six, Part Three
Fiction Friday: The Killswitch Review – Chapter Seven, Part One
Fiction Friday: The Killswitch Review – Chapter Seven, Part Two
Fiction Friday: The Killswitch Review – Chapter Seven, Part Three
Fiction Friday: The Killswitch Review – Chapter Seven, Part Four
Fiction Friday: The Killswitch Review – Chapter Seven, Part Five
Fiction Friday: The Killswitch Review – Chapter Eight, Part One
Fiction Friday: The Killswitch Review – Chapter Eight, Part Two
Fiction Friday: The Killswitch Review – Chapter Eight, Part Three
Fiction Friday: The Killswitch Review – Chapter Nine, Part One

Kevin Smith is used to working a crowd. His forte career-wise is really as a public speaker at his live Q&A shows. His movies made him a name and he still makes them. Well, at least he’s making one more. But his bread and butter has been live shows. He can take a question and spin it into a 20 minute... more

Kevin Smith is used to working a crowd. His forte career-wise is really as a public speaker at his live Q&A shows. His movies made him a name and he still makes them. Well, at least he’s making one more. But his bread and butter has been live shows. He can take a question and spin it into a 20 minute anecdote and keep the crowd laughing along the way.

The Television Critics Association could have been a tough room for Smith. An organization of veteran critics from the print days of newspapers, they gather twice a year to work, not to humor performers. So when Smith had a new AMC television series to present to the TCA, he took the mic and answered questions. He joked about how he’s enjoying talking to the TV press, because they don’t hate him yet like the film press do.

It has been a tumultuous year for Smith in the film world. He premiered Red State at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2011, and then auctioned the film off to himself to take the film on the road and self-distribute. After saying on Twitter that he would not do press or screen the film for press, many of Smith’s loyal followers began lashing out, even more so after the “auction.” Yet Smith has been on the road with Red State, giving Q&As at sold out shows and the film is now available on VOD, Netflix and DVD/Blu-ray.

Comic Book Men is a reality series set in Smith’s New Jersey comic book store, Jay and Silent Bob’s Secret Stash. The dialogue between the staffers behind the counter may feel very similar to Smith’s movie Clerks, but he’s not writing any of it. It’s all real. After his TCA session, I found Smith in the hall of the Langham Hotel in Pasadena and I asked him for a follow-up interview. We ended up doing a full interview, ironic for someone who threatened to stop doing press. Our talk veered away from the TV show as a follow-up on his new distribution venture lead to spiritual life lessons, which only underscores the point that a conversation with Smith can really be about anything and go anywhere. It all ties into the voice that is making his final film, Hit Somebody, and launched the new TV venture Comic Book Men.

SG: You joked about how the movie press hates you, and the ones that do are harping on this idea that you said you weren’t going to do press anymore. You have NOT stopped doing press, because here we are.

KS: I know, I know. I remember I talked about in advance of Sundance last year, I said, “I don’t even think I’m going to do press for Red State.” And I didn’t at the end of the day. I wound up doing a Rolling Stone interview but we never city by city did anything.

SG: But in the entire year since, you have still talked to press.

KS: But all I do is talk to the press, man. Just not about that anymore. I guess I was done talking about the movies.

SG: And they harped on the word auction, like “You said you were going to have an auction and there was no auction.”

KS: They were so angry about something that didn’t involve them. That’s what I thought was weird. It’s like if I did have an auction, were you going to bet? Were you going to buy the movie? No, so what are you upset about? But whatever. They had their moment and then I had the rest of the year

SG: There were a lot of haters and naysayers after you announced your self-distribution roadshow plan. Has the last year been a success after all?

KS: Yeah. Look, it was for me. Financially it was a success, spiritually it was a success. The last two years I was all about going after fears, eradicating all my fears and shit. Critics were a big fear and I certainly eradicated that fear. So it’s all about conquering the shit that would hold me back. Now this year lately it’s been a little bit different, not about conquering fears as much as let’s just see where this goes. Let’s see how far one can travel with this. Let’s just see if this develops because things have happened really organically lately. Just making decisions not based on what’s good for the career or what’s good for this but just is this fun? Do I like this?

SG: It’s a spiritual perspective. Once you start thinking on the right path, more stuff comes to you.

KS: It is and it’s crazy. I hate saying that because I like to think I’m a practical no nonsense guy but it’s fuckin' true, man. The moment you start honoring yourself... The thing that frustrates me is I knew that. I knew all these things. This job, film particularly, is like well, I’ve never done it. I’ve been around Jason Mewes for long enough. It’s like heroine. Once you get it into your system, you can’t easily stop. Think about the lifestyle that working in film has afforded me for nearly 20 fuckin’ years.

I came from a lower, lower, lower middle class government cheese eating family. I have a house in the Hollywood Hills, bigger house than fuckin’ anyone in my family’s ever had combined, put all their houses together. They don’t give you that money unless you give ‘em something back and you get used to that relationship, man, real quick. For a while I got to do my thing within their thing, using the framework and what not and telling the stories I wanted to tell. Yeah, people take Jersey Girl to task and what not but I still maintain yes, it’s very predictable, you’ve seen that movie before but this is my version of it. For a while that’s what I tried to do, career manage. Try to make View Askew movies out of the movies that were getting made. What was going to get greenlit and can I bring my sensibility to it so I can comfortably balance art and commerce?

SG: Even Cop Out?

KS: Well, Cop Out was more important. Cop Out was about I want to work with Bruce Willis and what an important life lesson. But the great Cop Out story is as much as the whole time I was like oh my God, that’s literally getting two days into a movie and finding out not this isn’t going to be easy, but this is going to be hell, this dude doesn’t want to be here. When I sat down with one of the investors for Red State, we were talking, I was like, “Did you read the script yet?” He goes, “No. I don’t have to read your script.” Really, why? “Because I saw a movie with Bruce Willis in it, had your name on it as a director so I know you know what you’re doing.” He wrote me a two and a half million dollar check. So I was like that’s why I did Cop Out I guess, to eventually get Red State made. But this is the year about being not lazy. Oddly enough podcasts were a big influence because in podcasting I got to exercise the chatty muscle. So when it came to the movie, suddenly I was like I’m all chatted out so let’s work with pictures. It also helped with editing. It was insane. For a year of cutting podcasts, I’m used to standing on stage for years now talking, I know how to self edit. When I started sitting down with people that don’t ever talk, sometimes they’re brilliant and sometimes they say boring sh*t. So I’d go in and start cutting out all the boring sh*t and it’s all based on listening.

You’re just going, “Okay, that don’t sound right, I’ll pull that.” You look for smooth edits and make it seamless to the conversation, still all make sense, it doesn’t feel like you pulled anything out. That’s just editorial. By the time I sat down to cut Red State picture cut, I’d been ninja training for a year on just audio. So man, I hit the deck. It was magic, dude. It was crazy. It was like that line in The Hunt for Red October. “You give me a stopwatch and a map and I can fly a plane with no windows through the Andes.” Same kind of thing. You just get into a zone and you’re like, “Oh, this makes sense. “And when you’re the director it’s even easier to be the editor because you’re cutting the movie even before you shoot it. Then you’re cutting the movie in your head while you shoot it so that when you hit the deck, the actual cutting you’re doing, you’ve already kind of made an EDL list in your head, an Edit Decision List. So by the time you hit the deck, it’s just hands operating, executing what you know, what you see in your head. So that’s why we were able, Red State we started shooting so late, we weren’t even supposed to go to Sundance. We were going to go to Cannes. So we were like, “We start shooting in September, there’s no way we’re going to be ready for f***in’ January.” But I was cutting while we were shooting and the editorial process went like this [SNAPS] because I was only shooting what I needed really. I didn’t overshoot. Michael Parks did that f***in’ long monologue one time, the first take. That was it. It was spellbinding and I was like, “That’s great. Michael, do you want to go again?” He goes, “Why?” I was like, “You’re absolutely right. Let’s move on.”

SG: I thought Red State still came from the same voice that wrote Dogma.

KS: I agree with you there. I’d say it’s kind of like the dark twin of Dogma, dark cousin. Honestly I think Red State came from the same voice that wrote Clerks. To me, those movies are a good double bill because one shows pure passion of a dude with no means, the other shows pure passion of a dude with limited means and both are kind of made in the same spirit and sensibility. Like I don’t give a fuck. I just need to do this.

SG: Are all your investors even for Red State?

KS: Yeah, they’re even. We took care of those motherfuckers, and I don’t mean motherfuckers like they’re bad guys, I say that with affection. They were wonderful in letting us go out and tour, but we got them paid back, the moment we struck our deal with Lionsgate for DVD and VOD and Netflix, boom, they were in the clear.

SG: So far you’re still the only one going out on the road like that, but wouldn’t it be great if movies became events again instead of just one weekend and out?

KS: That was the nice thing about Red State was we took what would’ve just been a screening and turned it into an event. Every screening was like a film festival screening. You don’t normally get that with flicks. You watch the flick and then you go write about it online and stuff. You don’t interact with the filmmaker, you don’t hear about why, you don’t spend more time talking after the movie than watching the movie. As long as you can make it worth it for those folks to leave the house, it’s harder to fucking convince people to leave the house. Especially when they’re like, “If I wait fucking a month I can just watch it on Blu-ray.” Or shit, dude, let’s be honest, “If I wait 10 minutes I’ll bomb it off usenet.” So getting them to come out, you’ve got to give them something they’re not going to get anyplace else. If they just want to watch the movie, they can watch that on their TV. But if you give ‘em a little something extra, like hey, I’m going to be there after the movie and we’re going to fucking record it so you can be part of that and hear it later on for posterity, suddenly there’s more of a reason to leave the house. Still, you’re not going to necessarily get everybody, but the people that are on the fence will be like, “All right, that’s worth getting a babysitter for.” I’ve got to consider that because a lot of my fanbase has kids at this point. They grew up watching our stuff and now they’ve got families of their own. It’s not as easy for them to get out. So if you’re going to ask them to leave, be there. That’s our new philosophy. That’s why if you look at that Silent Bob Speaks blog that I put up right before the end of the year, it just lists every appearance we did, all the road stuff, every tour date we had. We spent a lotta time on the fuckin’ road because the philosophy now is “go to them.”

Anybody can make a movie, dude, and put it on fuckin’ 2000 screens. Anybody, because I’ve done it. I’m the bottom of the barrel so if I can do it, anybody can do it. Not anybody can get 2600 people to show up to Carnegie Hall and sell the place out. That’s magic. And you’re more in touch with the audience. It’s one thing you make a movie and they screen it. If you’re not in the room, you’re not part of that experience. It’s another thing when you make a flick and then fuckin’ afterwards you’re communing with the same audience that shelled out good money to see it which means something. Especially with us, because it wasn’t like hey, pay 10 bucks to see a movie. They were paying the same price they pay to see me stand there and do Q&A or do Jay and Silent Bob Get Old. That’s the crazy thing. Some people were like, “$50 to watch a movie, you’re out of your mind.” People were paying $65 to watch me and Mewes sit there and talk to one another without a movie. That’s why I didn’t understand the people that attacked it. I was just like how could you feel it would’ve failed based on the fact that I’m on the road all the time anyway. It was a hedged bet at best in terms of me going, “I’m going to take the movie out on tour, why would I do it unless I could f***in’ hedge it.” I knew I’m going out on tour in the f***in’ winter anyway. I know people are going to show up like they did the previous season. If I go with the movie and then just donate all the money to the f***in’ movie, ta da. But boy oh boy, some people got out of their sorts about it.

Comic Book Men premieres February 12 at 10 p.m. on AMC.

(image) by Nahp Suicide (image) [The Face of SG's Twitter, Glitch, as shot by Lavonne in Fixation] Lavonne is from Alberta, Canada. She is a Suicide Girl, a Staff Photographer and a really good artist, and has been modeling and shooting sets since 2005. How did you first get involved with SuicideGirls? more

by Nahp Suicide


[The Face of SG's Twitter, Glitch, as shot by Lavonne in Fixation]

Lavonne is from Alberta, Canada. She is a Suicide Girl, a Staff Photographer and a really good artist, and has been modeling and shooting sets since 2005.

How did you first get involved with SuicideGirls?

I applied and sent in my first self-shot sets in 2004. I hadn't done anything like it before and thought it would be fun. Then other girls started asking me to photograph them too.

What's your background photography-wise?

I've been shooting for fun since high school and have taken a few courses for darkroom developing, but am mostly self taught.




[Lavonne in Tropical]

What was the first photo you had published?

My Tropical set, which I shot with a crappy point and shoot camera and lit with a reading lamp. I think my work has come a long way.



How would you describe your style?

Emotional and real (ideally).



What gear do you use?

For the last 4-5 years, a Canon 5D, mostly with a 50mm f1.4 lens. Rin's Voyeur set was my only set with a different lens: a 100mm for a more distant feel.





[Rin in Voyeur]

How important is Photoshop in your final images?

I like to use it to remove major distractions and to create dream-like coloring, but I try to keep images natural looking.



What gives you ideas and inspires you to create such amazing sets?

I get most of my inspiration from the model and location I'm working with. I prefer shoots to be organic, and keep my own ego out of the way. Photography can often overtake a subject's true beauty.




[Rin and Malloreigh in Bubble Kiss]

What is your favorite image?

There are many that come to mind, but this photo of Rin and Malloreigh [NSFW] is high on the list.

Tell us why it's your fave and how you achieved it?

I love it mostly because of the good memories of that day. We created a super pink and girly scene, put on a bubble machine, then jumped around and had pillow fights! It wasn't really about techniques or skill, I just captured a really lovely afternoon as best as I could. It was magical and real, and for me that is what life is about.



Is there anybody or anything you would love to photograph that you haven't? (And tell us why)

There are lots of people and places I'd like to photograph! Models that are passionate and genuine. Places that are inspiring and remote. I want to experience as much of this world as I can.




[Starla in Sparkling Clean]

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What is rocking your world at the precise moment you read this? Don't lie to look cool cuz that would be mean. I'm listening to can't hold focus by operation make-out

Since this thread keeps getting burried in the girls board, I'll start a new one here. I really find something simillar between their smiles: (image) Twwly and (image) Taye more

Since this thread keeps getting burried in the girls board, I'll start a new one here.

I really find something simillar between their smiles:


Twwly

and


Taye

Some SuicideGirls have been modeling for the site for 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, or even 10 years. We thought it would be fun to show you a look back and some of the SuicideGirls throughout the years. This week we bring you our modle coordinator Rambo! Rambo has been a SuicideGirl since 2006. She has probably... more

Some SuicideGirls have been modeling for the site for 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, or even 10 years. We thought it would be fun to show you a look back and some of the SuicideGirls throughout the years.

This week we bring you our modle coordinator Rambo!

Rambo has been a SuicideGirl since 2006. She has probably shot with the most staff photographers of any of the SuicideGirls. She has 22 photo sets and has gained quite a lot of tattoos since then. Enjoy this look back at the beautiful Rambo...

From her first photo set In Transit form 2006:





From 2007 A Little Birdie shot by Sean:





From 2008 Space Age shot by Zoetica:






From 2009 Emergency Exit shot by Alissa:











From 2009 Multi set with Radeo California Vacation shot by Sean:










From 2010 Sunrise Glow shot by Brooklyn:






From 2010 Petitie Plume shot by Sawa:






From 2010 Dancing shot by Cherry and Missy:





From 2010 Hellotitties multi with Dot shot by Zoetica:






From 2011 Chalk Talk shot by DarrylDarko:









From 2012 Finalmente shot by Pulse:







Hope you enjoyed the beautiful look back at classic SuicideGirl Rambo! Be sure to keep an eye out for a new set coming soon to member review!

Become a member TODAY for only $4 a month (if you sign up for a year) to see all 22 nude pin-up photo sets of Rambo - http://suicidegirls.com/join/

Eric Schaeffer has a history with Suicide Girls. We interviewed him for his book, I Can’t Believe I’m Still Single, in 2007 and then featured him as a “sexpert” for a few weeks on the radio show. The author, TV producer, actor and filmmaker just released a new movie, After Fall, Winter so we got... more

Eric Schaeffer has a history with Suicide Girls. We interviewed him for his book, I Can’t Believe I’m Still Single, in 2007 and then featured him as a “sexpert” for a few weeks on the radio show. The author, TV producer, actor and filmmaker just released a new movie, After Fall, Winter so we got to reconnect.
Winter is the second in Schaeffer’s anticipated quartet, where every 15 years he will tell another story in Michael (Schaeffer)’s life. In Winter, Michael moves to France where he meets Sophie (Lizzie Brochere), who he doesn’t know is a professional dominatrix. Their manipulative relationship shifts as Michael explores masochism separately from Sophie.
A lot has happened for Schaeffer in the last five years. His dating blog tied to the release of his book became scandalous as women publicly challenged his blog. He’s also produced two more TV series and has another on the way. I’m sorry this interview becomes two guys complaining about dating. We felt each other’s pain, but came to a happy, hopeful place.
In fact, just before my phone call with Schaeffer, he’d reconnected with Betsy Fine, a girl he loved in 7th grade. She found him on Facebook and it turns out she’s a life coach, he’s researching a new show, Eric Schaeffer: Life Coach, so he spoke to her for research. She told him everything he imagines is true. So after Winter, there’s hope for Spring connections.

SG: Are the Suicide Girls your type of girl?

ES: Oh, completely. Yeah, completely. I don’t have any tattoos or piercings, except of course my left ear piercing from before anyone was born that I let close up 25 years ago. But they’re totally my style of girl.

SG: Your movie pointed out to me Americans don’t say hello first, do they?

ES: They may or they may not. L.A. actually is more than New York I’ve noticed a cordial place. Like when you’re in the supermarket, I find that people there will tend to look at you in the eye and say, “Hello” and “Goodbye” and more engage you in a little chat, more than in New York. But no, it seems to be a culture where what’s interesting is that it’s not considered rude here not to say hello and goodbye. It’s not that you’re being rude if you get in a cab and say “45th and 3rd” without saying, “Hello sir, how are you? 45th and 3rd.” It’s not that you’re being rude, it’s just our custom. So it’s interesting I think in France they consider it rude. My theory for the big misunderstanding of why everyone thinks the French people are assholes and why they all think Americans are rude. It’s simply just a cultural difference. We go in there and we start talking. They crinkle their face and look at us like they’re rude. We look at them and go, “What the fuck is their problem? I’m just asking for bread.” And everyone thinks the other one’s an asshole.

SG: There’s an American philosophy that you have to have an excuse to talk to someone, more than just saying hello. But the point of any conversation should be “Hello, I want to talk to you.”

ES: It’s funny, I’ll never forget. About 15-20 years ago I heard Dr. Ruth on the radio and she was saying, she confirmed my theory. She said, “The best way for a boy to meet a girl is just say, ‘Hi, my name is so and so. How are you?’” I’ve always thought that I’m this man on earth and you’re this girl on earth. Why is it not okay for me to just go in a nice pleasant cordial way, “Hi, you seem interesting. My name’s Eric, what’s yours?” It was so stupid but you’re allowed to do that. Then the person can go, “Fuck off” or turn on their iPod again. So you’re totally right. That’s the simplest and most appropriate way to engage someone in conversation.

SG: Most people appreciate it and want to converse. The ones who turn you down rudely are indicating they’re not someone we want to talk to anyway.

ES: Yeah, right, it’s a good barometer either way.

SG: Do you worry that casting yourself in a romance with a beautiful French woman could be seen as autobiographical, for better or worse, or even be seen as self-indulgent?

ES: No, that ship sailed a long time ago. I just find it comical for two reasons. One, every man that’s ever written a screenplay about he and a woman has envisioned that woman being beautiful. So I didn’t make up the idea of writing movies where I play the protagonist and my love interest is a beautiful women. Most writers don’t play themselves so they don’t get attacked for being “self-indulgent” or making movies so they can have pretty girls on the screen with them. Or, if they’re really beautiful guys, not just average looking guys like me, then they get away with it two. Two, that is always a comical accusation if it’s levied towards me because it presupposes that I in my regular life don’t date beautiful women. As if I’d have to go through the tremendous effort and war that it is to make an independent film and risk 100s of 1000s of my own dollars and other people’s hard earned money simply so that I could somehow act across from a pretty girl for two and a half weeks. So no, the answer is I don’t worry about that. If it makes sense for the story that the girl be easy on the eyes then that’s who I cast.

SG: How about as far as their conversations and the dialogue. Is it autobiographical?

ES: Oh yeah, 90% of what I write is stuff that’s either come out of my mouth with a woman that I’m courting or involved with and she to me, or that I would imagine saying. Good and bad. So in the movie when she emasculates me in the way that she knows will crush me in that sexual discussion scene…

SG: The blow job talk?

ES: Exactly, she would blow me if I was 10 lbs. thinner. That was said to me by a woman once. So it cuts both ways. I’m completely willing to put in dialogue that I think is charming and I’m also willing to put in dialogue where characters that I play get hurt by mean spirited barbs from other characters.

SG: The funny thing about that is I wish I had your body. I watch what I eat and work out a lot but I can’t even get within 10 lbs. of my goal weight.

ES: Neither can I. I will say that being in France somehow makes you thin. I don't know how that’s even possible but it does because I’m doing the exact same thing to the T, eating the same thing and working out the same in New York as I did in Paris and I put on 10 lbs. instantly when I got back. I’m having an extremely hard time taking it off.

SG: Did you explore the dominatrix world as research for this film, or just on your own?

ES: I definitely dabbled in BDSM in my personal life, probably for the last 10 years. Again, nothing close to a lifestyle and I don’t fetisihize anything. It’s all in the realm of some sort of midlevel exploration that I think a lot of people do. Once again, I’m just somebody who is public about it. So I had dabbled in it a little bit over the years and always thought it would be a very interesting subject matter for a film because there are very few films that have BDSM in a plot that are not over the top, comical or pornographic, to say that that’s a storyline and a theme that doesn’t have a lot of intellectual complex realistic human elements to the story. So I thought it would be interesting to have a film that has psychologically more than even physically the dynamics of a BDSM relationship.

SG: I know it’s a common fetish. I just don’t get it. I don’t feel a need to pay a woman to be mean to me. I think I already get that for free.

ES: [Laughs] Yeah, one of my classic lines to some of the pro doms I’ve seen in my life, invariably after whatever scene is played out that you discussed in advance of whatever kind of role play or scene you’re going to do in that hour, inevitably there’s a human and non role playing just normal side that comes out after it’s over. There’s just some chatting and you usually like each other and you’ve just shared this very intimate experience. Once in a while I’ve had a woman, a pro dom, in that time of being “normal” say something mean to me. Like if I maybe ask her out and she says, “Oh no, I don't think that would work out.” And I say, “Listen, don’t be mean. I mean, I want you to be mean to me but don’t be mean to me.” You know what I mean? It’s like good pain if you’ve ever played sports. There’s good pain and bad pain, or like when you’re getting a massage. That’s the bad pain. The good pain is if I tell you to twist my arm, then that’s good pain. But if I ask you out and you say, “No, I would never go out with someone like you,” That’s the bad pain. At that point just

lie. Lie and say you have a boyfriend.

SG: Is the aggressive sex scene in the doorway part of the dominatrix theme?

ES: I wanted to have that sort of rough sex scene in the movie for a couple reasons. One to show that in his personal life he was actually capable, if not primarily dominant. In his professional dominatrix world that he was a submissive, but that in his personal sexual life he was more classically dominant like most men are. So it was important for me for his character and their relationship for him to be dominant in that way.

SG: But you do go down on her which is something you don’t see in Hollywood sex scenes.

ES: Except, actually funny, in The American, he actually goes down on a hooker, which talk about what you don’t do on top of what you don’t do. It’s actually a very sexy scene but you’re right. It is very rare but you’re right, that could be seen in certain circles as somehow emasculating.

SG: Oh, I didn’t mean that going down on someone is emasculating. I understand it’s not in most movies because of an MPAA thing but it’s actually the nice and loving part of sex that actually happens between real couples.

ES: Yes, that’s true. What I’m saying is unfortunately in certain circles still that can be seen by certain men as being emasculating. I mean, it’s a very small group I’m sure.

SG: Let’s tell them they’re wrong.

ES: [Laughs] Yes, of course. But I always like to include that as much as I can. I like to include in my films a sexuality that is exactly as you just described. One that we all know is common, lovely and important part of sexuality but that doesn’t get talked about or shown nearly enough. So whether that’s a man going down on a woman, whether that’s an intimacy discussed in a conversation about what people like and don’t like in their sex, I think that’s something that is important to me to put in my films. Also I think that scene makes sense storywise, that they’ve had such a tempestuous and sexually building emotional relationship to that point that it just explodes in a sexual way at that moment.

SG: Is “Where’s the cheese” the ultimate post coital line?

ES: [Laughs] I think it’s a pretty good one. I know after I quit smoking, food was probably the first thing I want to go to after the post coital cuddle. Generally it’s chocolate but in lieu of chocolate it would be cheese.

SG: Is Summer going to end happily?

ES: Well, I don't know yet. Spring comes first so in 15 years we’ll see what happens in Spring.

SG: But you’re moving into the happier seasons metaphorically. You’d hope the stories can get happier.

ES: Yes, of course I do. And Spring could be a prequel. Spring could be metaphoric for the springtime of his life. Maybe I won’t be in it and it’ll be about his character when he was in high school. I’ve played with that idea and then Summer, I don't know. In 30 years, God willing I’m able to make films and the gods allow. I would certainly like to not have the quartet be of tragic endings.

SG: What happens if in 2026 you get writers block?

ES: Well, I might not ever want to make another movie again starting tomorrow. So far in the last 20 years I’ve still been highly motivated and it’s been a fun endeavor. If I don’t, I guess I’ll just have to say the plan was to have four, but alas there’s only going to be two.

SG: Are you finished blogging your dating experiences?

ES: I blogged very specifically around the launch of my book because I wanted to have writing happening out in the world to set up my book and help people know about the book. So it was a very specific reason to blog then. I have been writing on a Tumblr blog for the last few months, which is Mrericschaeffer at Tumblr and that bounces out to Twitter and Facebook, because I again wanted to at least in a small way get some thoughts out there around this time. I am actually on the FilmBuff website going to start blogging about some of my favorite sex scenes in other films that have emotional impact and my experience in the world of love and dating as evidenced by certain scenes in my films. So over the next couple weeks and months I’m going to be blogging more with a specific design in mind.

SG: Online dating has gotten more sophisticated over the years. Do you still use it?

ES: I don’t. I think like most people I’ve had a love hate relationship with them. I also have a very specific theory, which is that quite honestly there are a higher level of, for lack of a better word, normal guys on there than women. I just think that smart, attractive, interesting women really don’t need to be on an internet dating site. I think that the way the world is constructed they are deluged with suitors in the real world. And while many of those suitors I’m sure are not interesting to those women, there’s got to be a high enough percentage of them that are when they’re approached in elevators, at the gym, at work, at Church, on the streets, at stoplights in their car in L.A. that they have enough on their plates to date. Whereas men, as we know, you can be relatively good looking and interesting and nice guy.

SG: Even successful.

ES: Even, successful even, and girls don’t come up and ask you out. So it makes sense for us to need to be on places that can widen the pool, widen our chances. So my experience has been that a lot of women that seem interesting on those dating websites, there’s some glitch. They’re lying, they already have boyfriends. I know for a fact, I met so many girls that I know have boyfriends and just keep their profiles up because they “want to just know that other guys think they’re cute.”

SG: I really like the questions eHarmony asks. It seems to get people talking and revealing really positive things. That said, though I've enjoyed looking through the profiles, I have not bothered to meet a single person in a year.

ES: Have you gotten any matches other than teachers?

SG: Yes. I would actually like a teacher or nurse’s personality.

ES: Again, nothing against teachers. Teachers are great people but it’s funny. I would just keep getting these sweater vest almost like Pat from SNL, 45-year-old teachers from the suburbs.

SG: I wonder if I did something wrong because last year the matches were more relevant. Now it’s like whoever they’ve got.

ES: That’s exactly right. You’re so right. There were a couple winners right in the beginning that make you think, “Oh my God.” I had the same experience. Then suddenly literally, nothing against any types of people, but specific types of

people that I said no to I would just get them.

SG: Did you ever try Jdate?

ES: I’m not Jewish but I did, and I didn’t lie. Because all my Jewish friends were like, “No, you don’t have to be Jewish.” I wrote in the book, I got set upon by 55-year-old cougar chicks from Long Island. It was insane and fantastic but didn’t pan out.

SG: JDate was the worst site I ever experienced.

ES: The hard thing about it is it’s very addictive and it’s very exciting because you have literally all these women that, and this is the problem, that you think are “like-minded” in that they’re not posturing. They’re there for one reason, to fall in love with you and for you to fall in love with them. You think everyone’s being honest and you have this dossier, you have this recipe book of exactly how you guys can work together but I just found that there was just a lot of bullshit. That they were just lying. There was a lot of lying or drug addicts and drunks.

SG: Fortunately I only had funny bad dates, no one dangerously addicted.

ES: I’m telling you, I met some crazy, crazy girls in there and that’s what I thought was so funny when people say whatever they want to say about me. It’s funny, a girl I met online when there was a lot of gossip stuff being written about me, of course they never tell the whole story. They only tell their side of it. So I’ve been off it for a couple years. I think that I’m done with that. It was an interesting foray but I think I’m going to leave it up to the fates.

SG: You’re referring to when people criticized you for saying you wouldn’t date an addict, or a woman too old to have kids. Don’t a lot of women insist on a certain height and that’s okay? What if I said I’m only going to date women with big breasts? That wouldn’t be okay but if you like a certain height so you can wear heals and he’s still taller, that’s not superficial?

ES: Listen, I’m 5’8.” I’m the average height of the American male. I’m not short, I’m not tall, I’m the average height. I can’t tell you, you know because you brought it up, I totally agree with you. That’s why I get so annoyed because we all just have preferences. Hey, some girls just want to date tall guys, God bless you. I don’t like to hear it and my line to them is always, “So if God comes down and says to you I have given you your soul mate. His name is Eric. You will live in happy joyous peace the rest of your lives.” What are you going to say, “Sorry God, he’s an inch and a half too short?” So like you don’t really want love. If you’re willing to not go out with me because you only go 5’10” so I’m too inches below that. That’s what I mean when people get so upset that I have such strict standards. They’re just preferences. They’re not absolutes. My absolutes are not to go out with someone who can’t have babies and who’s an active drug addict or a fucking alcoholic. That’s pretty much it. My preferences are what I like but does that mean I’ll give? Of course I’d give. An inch or two here or a pound or two there, who gives a fuck?

SG: It’s funny some superficial things are accepted and some are not.

ES: Yes, well, basically we know the answer to that. Women’s superficiality is accepted and a man’s superficiality makes him misogynistic. A woman’s superficiality makes you a woman.

SG: I should add, women have a lot more to deal with. I mean, this is Suicide Girls here. But we should end on something positive.

ES: No, I agree. I’m all about positivity.

SG: We should conclude that we believe romance will happen in the real world.

ES: It will, yes, I feel very strongly that that will happen for you.

SG: How is your dating life now?

ES: Well, listen. I feel very lucky that I seem to attract really, really high quality wonderful women into my life. So I definitely don’t have any dearth of women that I date that are really great women, but I haven’t had that just proper chemistry with so that they become a girlfriend in many years. So my dating life is great in that I meet a lot of women and they’re terrific women, but it’s not good in that I haven’t met one yet that I can commit with.

After Fall, Winter is playing in select cities now.

by Laurelin (image) People always think that as a bartender I must be always surrounded by men. Flirting with the bartender is just what people do, it’s true. I’m going to be honest though -- besides the occasional coworker, in my years behind the bar I have never once met and wound up hooking up... more

by Laurelin



People always think that as a bartender I must be always surrounded by men. Flirting with the bartender is just what people do, it’s true. I’m going to be honest though -- besides the occasional coworker, in my years behind the bar I have never once met and wound up hooking up with or dating a guy I’ve met while working. I am friendly, but I am not one of those girls who bats her eyelashes for tips. I would rather impress you with my knowledge of beer selection than with my boobs (although I do have a pretty perky rack).

That being said, let’s move on to something a little on the girly side: hair. I have spent the majority of my life as a faux ginger. My hair is naturally mousy brown, and in high school (without my parents permission of course) I started dying it auburn. With the exception of a few years of rebellion with crazy haircuts and experimenting with pinks, blues, and purples, I have always had long, red hair. I woke up one morning about a month ago with a new idea in my head. Blonde. I wonder…Not an hour later I found myself in a salon chair covered in foils, and an hour after that, I was a different person. I looked in the mirror and couldn’t believe it. Could I touch it? Is this me?

I didn’t think anyone would care, but as the days went by I started to notice a serious difference in the way men talked to me. People held doors, bought me drinks, smiled more. Is this for real? Maybe it was in the way I held myself; I had just received two promotions at both my jobs and I admit to having a bit more pep in my step as of late. Either way, people always say blondes have more fun, and I’m starting to think they weren’t kidding. My bar shifts end in multiple phone numbers written on napkins and bar receipts. Guys hang around a little past closing and ask what I’m doing after work, I need to shove them out the door and try not to laugh. People whistle in the streets and I’m wondering, was I invisible as a red head? Seriously?

The other night at a charity event I met this guy who on paper, seemed perfect. We chatted, I wasn’t exactly interested but I wasn’t not interested. He wound up having too much to drink and in ordering us a round of beers he made a snide comment, purposely insulting the bartender. I was horrified, but I thanked him for the chat and went to find my friends. I could feel his eyes on me for the rest of the night, and I wished I had anywhere else to be.

One week later, I’d just started a shift at work. Before I can even take off my coat, I look up and there he is, the guy from the charity event. My cheeks burn and I open my mouth to speak but nothing comes out.

“Do you remember me?” he asks.

“Yes…” I say.

“I can’t stop thinking about you,” he says. “I can’t believe I didn’t get your number. Please, go out with me.” I look around, wondering if anyone else is hearing this. The coat I have taken only halfway off suddenly feels like a million pounds of wool, and I start sweating.

“Um, I’m flattered, but I’m kind of seeing someone…” I manage to stammer.

“I don’t care,” he says. “One coffee date.” Whelp, that’s it for me. The scent of desperation on anyone makes bile rise in my throat but at the same time I feel so bad for this guy that I can barely stand it.

“You should go,” I say. He doesn’t go, he stares at me, and as the other bartender walks up I hold my hand up in a half wave, and he finally gets it. He leaves, and I start my shift shaking.

Fucking blonde hair, seriously. I’m in trouble.



***

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(image) by Nahp Suicide (image) [The Face of SG's Twitter, Glitch, as shot by Lavonne in Fixation] Lavonne is from Alberta, Canada. She is a Suicide Girl, a Staff Photographer and a really good artist, and has been modeling and shooting sets since 2005. How did you first get involved with SuicideGirls? more

by Nahp Suicide


[The Face of SG's Twitter, Glitch, as shot by Lavonne in Fixation]

Lavonne is from Alberta, Canada. She is a Suicide Girl, a Staff Photographer and a really good artist, and has been modeling and shooting sets since 2005.

How did you first get involved with SuicideGirls?

I applied and sent in my first self-shot sets in 2004. I hadn't done anything like it before and thought it would be fun. Then other girls started asking me to photograph them too.

What's your background photography-wise?

I've been shooting for fun since high school and have taken a few courses for darkroom developing, but am mostly self taught.




[Lavonne in Tropical]

What was the first photo you had published?

My Tropical set, which I shot with a crappy point and shoot camera and lit with a reading lamp. I think my work has come a long way.



How would you describe your style?

Emotional and real (ideally).



What gear do you use?

For the last 4-5 years, a Canon 5D, mostly with a 50mm f1.4 lens. Rin's Voyeur set was my only set with a different lens: a 100mm for a more distant feel.





[Rin in Voyeur]

How important is Photoshop in your final images?

I like to use it to remove major distractions and to create dream-like coloring, but I try to keep images natural looking.



What gives you ideas and inspires you to create such amazing sets?

I get most of my inspiration from the model and location I'm working with. I prefer shoots to be organic, and keep my own ego out of the way. Photography can often overtake a subject's true beauty.




[Rin and Malloreigh in Bubble Kiss]

What is your favorite image?

There are many that come to mind, but this photo of Rin and Malloreigh [NSFW] is high on the list.

Tell us why it's your fave and how you achieved it?

I love it mostly because of the good memories of that day. We created a super pink and girly scene, put on a bubble machine, then jumped around and had pillow fights! It wasn't really about techniques or skill, I just captured a really lovely afternoon as best as I could. It was magical and real, and for me that is what life is about.



Is there anybody or anything you would love to photograph that you haven't? (And tell us why)

There are lots of people and places I'd like to photograph! Models that are passionate and genuine. Places that are inspiring and remote. I want to experience as much of this world as I can.




[Starla in Sparkling Clean]

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“Presently analysing events of tonight at #OccupyLSX. Who needs sleep!” It’s 3:26 AM GMT on Tuesday, February 28, 2012, and John Cooper, Occupy London’s chief legal advisor is awake, on Twitter, and on the case following the movement’s eviction from their marquee St Paul’s Cathedral base. more

“Presently analysing events of tonight at #OccupyLSX. Who needs sleep!” It’s 3:26 AM GMT on Tuesday, February 28, 2012, and John Cooper, Occupy London’s chief legal advisor is awake, on Twitter, and on the case following the movement’s eviction from their marquee St Paul’s Cathedral base.

The eminent barrister and Queen's Counsel has worked tirelessly to keep the protesters in situ since the occupation began on Saturday, October 15, 2011. The battle the occupiers faced was made all the more complicated by the provenance of the site they were camping on, which straddles land owned both by the Church of England and by the City of London Corporation (a unique and ancient semi-private municipal authority which governs London’s square mile financial district).

When the first tent was pitched, even the most optimistic of Occupiers couldn’t have predicted the encampment would remain in tact over four months later, so Occupy London’s ultimate eviction from St. Paul’s can hardly be considered a defeat. An early attempt to remove protesters was thwarted when the Cathedral’s then Canon Chancellor, Giles Fraser, recognized the occupiers’ right to protest peacefully and asked the police to leave. Fraser’s actions would ultimately lead to his resignation following some rather public infighting between Church officials with conflicting affiliations and agendas.

With the Church distracted by its own internal disharmony and facing a public relations nightmare if it litigated against members of the very congregation it was supposed to serve, the powers that be at St. Paul’s – at least publicly – stepped aside and let the City of London Corporation spearhead eviction efforts through the courts. Following a hearing before Christmas, the High Court ruled in favor of the City on January 18, 2012. The occupation was granted a stay of execution pending a possible appeal, however, on February 22, three Court of Appeal judges declined to give Occupy London protesters permission to do so, setting the stage for this week’s eviction.

SuicideGirls caught up with John Cooper by phone shortly before the final ruling came down. Having butted heads with the UK establishment throughout his career (notably frustrating the ruling class’s thirst for blood sport thanks to a fox hunting prohibition act he penned), Cooper says his raison d'être is representing individuals and groups of individuals against the power of the state. A series of cases brought against the Ministry of Defense on behalf of the families of soldiers who had died in the theater of war due to unconscionably inadequate equipment earned him the honor of being short-listed as Human Rights Barrister of the Year in 2009. More recently, Cooper again gained notoriety in the halls of power when he represented those seeking to open an inquiry into the mysterious death of David Kelly, a Ministry of Defense weapons inspector who had embarrassed his employers by pointing out inconsistencies in their report on Iraq’s WMDs (or lack thereof).

Here Cooper gives an account of Occupy London’s David vs. Goliath fight, and outlines the numerous victories they have chalked up in the face of defeat. He also pragmatically comments on the changes he’d like to see in the law to fortify the battered and beleaguered rights to assembly and free speech.

Nicole Powers: How did you get involved with Occupy London?

John Cooper: It was on the 15th of October when I learned that the area outside of St Paul’s was being occupied. I got an email from an old pupil from my chambers. He said, “We’ve just occupied the land outside of St Paul’s and need your urgent legal advice.” My initial thought was this is a joke, it’s a wind up. I thought it was a rather strange message. But then he emailed me again minutes later…Then I started checking all the social networks, Twitter and so forth, and realized what was actually occurring, so I immediately got back to him.

NP: That was “”Scrapper Duncan.”

JC: Yes. I got to back to him and said, “How can I help?” I started emailing urgent advice to them immediately as the event was unraveling fast. Then, when things calmed down after a few days or so, I started giving them some more structured advice. I have to say, I’ve had conferences in strange places in my legal practice, but I’ve never ever had a conference in a tent outside St. Paul’s before…The first aspect of legal advice I was giving them was how to deal with the suggestion by the Cathedral that there were health and safety problems and that Occupy were causing them. It became very clear to me right from the beginning that there were no health and safety issues.

NP: Right, this is one of these universal issues. I’ve been to the occupations in London, Los Angeles, and New York, and health, safety, and public hygiene concerns have been one of the first fallback positions in terms of anti-Occupy posturing.

JC: It’s a knee jerk response…The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, which is the act that governs all of this, is being used and abused. It’s a decent good act. It’s there fundamentally to protect people in the workplace nine times out of ten, as is most health and safety legislation. But it’s been hijacked by a lot of people who simply want to use it, as in fact the Human Rights Act is sometimes hijacked by people and misrepresented. What happened is, the Cathedral just said health and safety, and environmental concerns are being affected. Now, I used to do some prosecution with Health and Safety Executive, so I know quite a bit about health and safety, and I realized very early on that there were no health and safety breaches.

NP: Right. OccupyLSX has been very responsible with regards to that kind of thing. For example, I know they had a Michelin star chef on site in the camp kitchen at one point.

JC: Not only that, but they have trained health and safety officers – friendly, sympathetic, but nonetheless professional – that gave them a clean bill of health. Also, they have people skilled in fire safety that gave them a clean bill of health. What I advised my clients to do was write a letter to the Cathedral…I actually dictated the letter saying, if you say health and safety, tell us what the health and safety issues are and we will of course address them. Plus, we have to tell you now that we say there are no health and safety issues. That letter was never answered, and the health and safety thing went very quiet indeed after that. That was the first victory for Occupy effectively. In the whole catalogue of legal battles we’ve been fighting, that was their very first victory. It was an important victory because it showed them they could win legally and they could win on the law. It gave them confidence to take both the [City of London] Corporation and the Church [of England] on, and the confidence that they could use the law, and that the law could assist them as well as assisting the establishment.

NP: That’s similar to what happened in LA. The first issue was health and safety. But then OccupyLA actually got their kitchen approved. Some sympathetic people from the Health Department pushed the approval through at lightening speed.

JC: It’s a similar sort of trajectory in that case. And it was very important. To use a sporting analogy, it was like scoring a goal in the first 10 minutes. It calmed the nerves, it gave confidence, and it set the team for the long haul.

One of the interesting things about this whole thing was the very quirk of fate that Occupy ended up on Church land. Not only were they taking on the City and the Corporation, they were also taking on the Church. This was an utter quirk of fate. What they planned to do was occupy Paternoster Square, the area immediately around the London Stock Exchange. For a lot of the time, my clients were known as OccupyLSX, London Stock Exchange, so many people who came late to the issue thought it rather bizarre that they were occupying outside St. Paul’s. What had happened was Paternoster Square had taken out an injunction to prevent Occupy in advance from taking control of Paternoster Square, and the police and indeed private security companies forced my clients out of Paternoster Square, effectively kettling them in St. Paul’s. So it was a result of the police, my clients would say, that they ended up outside St. Paul’s. Obviously God was guiding their hand, I’d say with my tongue in cheek.

NP: And Occupy being at St. Paul’s forced a wider ecumenical debate about the function of the church and religion in general in society.

JC: That was the twist of fate which really excited public opinion around about November. We moved from October to November and public opinion was really excited –– and properly so –– as to the interface of church and state. This is where the Church got itself, as our clients would say, in a terrible mess. Because a lot of people involved with the Church, particularly the Chapter and Dean’s office of St. Paul’s, are very closely linked to the City and there was a lot of City people on its committees, and it found itself in a very insidious position. Because those people from the City that had influence with St. Paul’s were arguing for immediate legal eviction and a strong arm tactic, whereas others in the Church would say “no this isn’t appropriate” and could actually see the analogies between the work at the Church and what Occupy was trying to achieve. The irony upon irony was that St. Paul was in fact a tent maker. All these ironies were piling up, irony upon irony, which caused, effectively, a mini civil war within the Church.

There were some resignations from the Church. There were then some difficult positions that the Church took. As time went on the Church was giving the indication that it was not going to take part in the City’s eviction process and would stand back and pursue a different sort of tactic. But fast-forwarding to the court hearing which took place between the 19th and the 23rd of December…the Church, having said that they would not get involved with the eviction process, then presented evidence and assisted with witnesses to assist the Corporation’s action against us. And indeed, they presented one witness, a guy called Nicholas Cottan, a representative of the Church, who gave damning evidence against Occupy alleging defecation, alleging graffiti, alleging virtually desecration.

NP: Which is nonsense. I’ve been there, I’ve seen the site.

JC: Which was evidence that the judge accepted. I said to him, in terms in the hearing, “Are you giving evidence with the Church’s blessing?” He said, “Yes.” That was on the record in the case...My clients were really confused and upset that the Church, having said that they wouldn’t get involved and indeed who were giving the public impression that they were tacitely at the very least supporting Occupy, they presented a witness that gave absolutely damning evidence –– and colorful evidence –– which helped the City win their case…So, shall we say, in my client’s eyes the Church didn’t come out of it very well at all.

NP: Not at all, and all along the Church had been flip-flopping. Because they originally invited Occupy in, so the occupiers weren’t technically trespassing. Then, with an eye on their bank balance since they charge admission to the Cathedral, the Church claimed Occupy was adversely affecting tourism, when actually the opposite was true because the site became a tourist attraction.

JC: There were other examples too. For instance [they claimed] schools were being turned away from trips to St. Paul’s. But we presented contrary evidence. Some schools, the more enlightened schools, were actually bringing their kids to see Occupy.

NP: That’s exactly what happened in LA. There would be whole classes of kids that were taken down to visit the camp to learn about democracy in action…

JC: It was the Church, effectively, who had great influence in Occupy loosing this case. They were saying, for instance, that the Cathedral had to be closed down because of fire concerns, and yet we established during the evidence that it was especially opened for a wedding. There were contradictions, my clients would say, through and through the evidence. There was evidence for instance from City operatives who scrutinized and watched Occupy, as my clients would say, to such an extent that every little nuance, all the way to a paper being dropped on the floor, was recorded and logged. And, of course, every nuance, every potential transgression, brought to the attention of the judge as well.

NP: Was that level of scrutiny through infiltration?

JC: No, no, no. It wasn’t infiltration. It was simply a large number of City officers were effectively tasked to watch every single move of Occupy…So there was absolutely intense scrutiny of Occupy. One of the things the witnesses also said in the case, one of them, Chief Inspector Zuber, he confirmed that in many respects the behavior of occupiers was exemplary, and there was never any proof, whatsoever, that any of the criminal transgressions asserted by the Corporation were as a result of the misbehavior of Occupy, rather than infiltrators.

NP: Right. That raises two points with regards to the occupations in America. In a lot of the city centers where there were occupations, crime actually went down [by 19% in Oakland]. The other thing is there’s been problems with agent provocateurs that are not connected with the Occupy movement causing trouble to give it a bad name.

JC: That’s been the concern of my clients…What my clients have done when that’s happened is report them to the police. Indeed, it has to be said that the relationship between the occupiers and the bobbies on the beat, up until now, has been extremely cordial and respectful. It is also right to say during the whole court proceedings, despite my client’s very firm and sincere beliefs, they were extremely respectful of the court process.

NP: In Los Angeles, we had that very cordial relationship with the police and also City Hall, until it got to the point of the eviction and, to be honest, that was one of the most shocking things I’ve ever seen…

JC: We have issued already to every single member of Occupy outside St. Paul’s a legal fact sheet explaining to them their rights, when and if the police go in. They’re all fully legaled up to know exactly what they can do and what they can’t do, and what the consequences are if they do things.

NP: In America, when police action is occurring, the role of legal observers has been huge.

JC: Well, indeed, we have the legal observers there as well. We’ve got their emergency numbers. I’ll be one of those on an emergency number ready to advise at short notice.

NP: We have the National Lawyer’s Guild. They’ve been the guardian angels of the Occupy movement here.

JC: It’s not so structured here. Effectively, it’s a couple of firms of solicitors, which I’ve been heading up. I’ve effectively been coordinating most of the legal defense this end, so it’s not so much a legal organization with a name.

NP: Maybe it needs to be.

JC: Lessons to learned. One of the things I’ve suggested to Occupy, if ever the dust settles, is I’d like to be put in touch with my international legal colleagues so that we can exchange views and experiences…If you can provide my details to my counterparts in the States, I’d like to start a dialogue.

NP: Absolutely. I think, because of what happened with the civil rights movement, America has more of a structured backbone to protest. It has been lying dormant for a long time, but it’s been there. What’s been incredible, as somewhat of an outside observer being English, is to watch this sleeping infrastructure from the ‘60s leap into action. So with Occupy in America, a lot of the occupiers needs had already been foreseen because people were aware of the structure of protest. For example, right from day one in Los Angeles, I was there at the beginning of it, we had representatives from the National Lawyers Guild who gave a long talk on exactly what to do if we got arrested and what our rights were.

JC: That’s interesting. I think the experience here has been different. Although there were a number of satellite groups giving advice, it wasn’t necessarily structured to this sort of protest. Here, I didn’t get the impression that it was a sleeping giant emerging from a cave. Here it was a state of almost blinking into the light. People just did not know how to react to it. Politicians didn’t know how to react to it. The country didn’t know how to react to it. In fact, some of the politicians who one would’ve expected a little more of a lead from, no one was prepared to take the lead. Even someone like Ken Livingstone, a candidate for the Mayor of London at the moment, was not necessarily supporting Occupy.

NP: That’s what’s been amazing to me; The Democrats, who are the left leaning party that traditionally supports working class movements like this, haven’t supported Occupy. And I’ve noticed that in England, where you’d think Labor would have a natural simpatico, that the political support’s not there.

JC: Quite frankly, the political class, what we call the chattering classes, have been frightened to stand up and support Occupy because the perception in the early days was it would be considered to be a bunch of trendy lefties who were out of the mainstream. The problem is that it’s been proven in the opinion of many that what Occupy has done is actually raised central themes which are at the heart of many people’s lives, people that aren’t necessarily traditional protestors. Suddenly the politicians in this country, the so-called thinkers and thought trenders, are now having to pick up the ball and run with it very late indeed. So the spine you mention, that sleeping dragon of the ‘60s in the States, it’s been a different experience here. It’s been one of, to begin with I would suspect fear and resentment, and not knowing how to react, and then the slow realization, even from those in the City, that what Occupy was doing was both respectful, mature, and probing.

NP: You’ve been very successful at giving Occupy London a stay of execution.

JC: Yes indeed. The battleground now really, as far as the law is concerned, is narrowing very tightly indeed. Obviously, as a lawyer, my role also is to advise my clients what their reasonable prospects of success are as far as the law is concerned…What we’re arguing is the growing and interesting area of law in this country called proportionality. In short, the argument was this: that we have our Article 10 and Article 11 rights, Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Assembly, but as a matter of law, those rights can be interfered with if it’s proportionate. For instance, if the Article 10 and 11 rights of a set of people to be observed are so interfering with the rights of other people, then the Article 10 and 11 Rights can’t be interfered with, but they can only be interfered with as a matter of law in exceptional circumstances.

The crux of our appeal was that the judge just before Christmas simply rubber-stamped the Corporation’s demands to clear the site. And we say that that was not necessary, the judge went too far, steps could’ve been taken to ameliorate the problems that the Corporation raised without a complete and utter clear out. So the axis of the legal argument has been: did the judge go over the top? The argument about whether the judge should’ve removed them in the first place, well that’s a political argument now, because technically, in accordance with the Highways Act of 1980, I’ve got to tell you however disappointing this is, as a matter of law, he was entitled to remove them. As a matter of morals, that’s an entirely different matter.

So, the legal battle before the highest court in the land as far as appeals are concerned, before the Master of the Rolls, Lord Neuberger – very respected judge – was on proportionality. I have to say there were some moments in the appeal hearing last week, which were very memorable indeed. When the judge was being handed copies of the Daily Mail and the Occupied Times he actually said, casually, “Oh, I’d prefer to read the Occupied Times than the Daily Mail,” which was a very nice moment. It caused a lot of tweeting. That went down very well. Indeed, these respected judges once again recognized, as the judge did just before Christmas, that whatever your views are on the Occupy issue, that the Occupy protestors are responsible and indeed people worthy of admiration.

That was important to us…One of the things I wanted to achieve in these court hearings, being realistic as far as the law was concerned, I had a dual objective on behalf of my clients, and that was to enable them to come out of the court hearing with their respect and integrity intact. What these court hearings have done was to allow my clients to impress upon the country through the reporting of the case, the judges and all those that were there to hear and listen, that in actual fact those on the right of politics who had tried to portray them as irresponsible, lefty hippies, will now have to eat their words. What’s happened in these cases, regardless of the judgment, is that the integrity, the maturity, and the far sightedness, and the fact that the occupiers are holding genuine, proper beliefs, have been vindicated in the court and that is an important step forward. I don’t think again, when or if the next occupation occurs, when or if anywhere else, that Occupy in the UK will start at the same base level as Occupy London Stock Exchange did. Because what the court case means is that never again will people be able to rationally degrade the Occupy movement as they did at the start of Occupy London Stock Exchange. We’ve proven on behalf of our clients the integrity of the Occupy movement. If you said to me, what’s the most important achievement of the court cases, what do I consider my proudest moment as far as my clients are concerned, is helping them to establish beyond any doubt whatsoever their integrity.

NP: In America, most of the major occupations have been evicted at this point, so a lot of naysayers are saying Occupy is a flash in the pan, it’s over, it’s done with. I don’t think they’re understanding that, A, action has died down as a function of the seasonal shift. I think that things are going to very much change in the spring, and in the run up to the November election. And B, that Occupy has already changed the fundamental thought process and political conversation in the US.

JC: That is so important, and that’s just what I was saying about what we’ve achieved in the courts. And, indeed, from what I gather –– although I emphasize I’m not part of the political organization of Occupy, I purely give legal advice –– there are lots of projects being established for the future. So it seems to me that while Occupy UK had a slow start, it’s alive and kicking here…There are other Occupy sites being created in London as well. One of the more imaginative sites that our clients have done is they’ve taken over an Old Street magistrate’s court and they’re holding mock trials of the financial institutions there.

NP: In Oakland, they were actually trying to follow the Bank of Ideas model and take over a building. Oakland officials were so afraid of that happening, that there was one of the biggest police actions that we’ve seen. They kettled everyone and ended up arresting 400 people. The level of mass arrests I saw via livestream was incredible in the extreme.

JC: Isn’t it ironic, you watched footage of the Arab Spring etc., and in the West, we condemn what’s going on. We also look at the way, for instance, people in the West are treated when all they are trying to do is demonstrate against their inequalities – it’s interesting.

NP: That’s the irony, and in America, which is supposedly the land of the free, it’s bringing up issues of free speech and the right to assembly, and whether we actually really have them anymore.

JC: Oh, indeed…Our case, for instance, it’s been accepted is potentially pushing the boundaries of public protest law into the 21st century. That’s an expression that’s been used.

NP: Moving forward, how would you like to see the law defined or changed to accommodate the needs of the establishment and the people that would like to challenge it?

JC: The law is always going to be the battlefield between different and competing needs. Where I would like the law to develop is around our Article 10 (Freedom of Expression) and Article 11 (Freedom of Assembly) rights, and the more flexible interpretations by the domestic courts as to how Article 10 and 11 rights can be maintained by the public. That it not simply be that because a corporation or a government makes an application that automatically the people who are exercising their Article 10 and Article 11 rights are removed forthwith. What we’re trying to do in the Occupy legal cases, is try and develop the law where there’s far more flexibility. So that Article 10 and 11 rights can be exercised, and with indeed those people that might feel that their property is being transgressed or their rights are also being transgressed, there can be proper compromise. At the moment, it’s simply a matter that if the people who have property contend that their lifestyles are being affected, then the Article 10 and 11 rights of protest, of freedom of speech and assembly, are somewhat draconian-ly, we can argue, wiped away.

NP: So, at the moment, by default, corporations can wipe away the people’s right to protest?

JC: Can wipe away the whole right…So, as a lawyer…my ambitions are to extend and protect the Article 10 and 11 rights and extend the threshold that exists before they’re interfered with…

NP: As far as this specific case is concerned, what you’ve been able to do is buy time for Occupy to anticipate the inevitable, develop the satellite occupations, and morph into a movement beyond physical encampments.

JC: You’re absolutely right. The fact that they’ve been able to stay there until nearly March, that was above and beyond their expectations. And it’s given confidence, as you say, to satellite groups. It’s also, quite frankly, been a shot across the brows of those that would remove Occupy from other sites. Because they will know if Occupy’s legal machine trundles into town next time, it’s not going to be easy.

NP: That’s the amusing situation that's playing out at Occupy Finsbury Square, because Islington Council know they can’t afford to take you on.

JC: Well, exactly. You know, I’ve been referred to as various things. Sometimes they’re complimentary, sometimes they’re not complimentary. But even my opponents actually are being very complimentary about me appearing on the horizon like some sort of benevolent Darth Vader. I take it as a compliment.



John Cooper practices out of chambers at 25 Bedford Row in London and is a visiting Professor of Law at Cardiff University. For more information visit John-Cooper.info and follow @John_Cooper_QC.

If you would be interested in participating in, or assisting in the formation of, an International Occupy Lawyers Guild please email nicole@suicidegirls.com and your details will be forwarded on.

“This is only the beginning” - click here to view the official post-eviction statement from Occupy London.

(image) by Ryker Suicide (image) Ryker: Taqueria Style Chicken Tacos with Fire Roasted Salsa (image) Ingredients: For The Tacos 1-1.5 lbs chicken breast 1 can of diced tomatoes/peppers 2 packages of taco seasoning 1-2 cups of flour (for dredging) Ground cumin 1 can of diced green chili peppers 1... more

by Ryker Suicide



Ryker: Taqueria Style Chicken Tacos with Fire Roasted Salsa

Ingredients: For The Tacos

• 1-1.5 lbs chicken breast


• 1 can of diced tomatoes/peppers


• 2 packages of taco seasoning


• 1-2 cups of flour (for dredging)


• Ground cumin


• 1 can of diced green chili peppers


• 1 can of chicken broth


• 1 package of corn tortillas


• Fresh cilantro


• Cheese (such as queso fresco or 4 blend Mexican cheese)


• Shredded cabbage slaw


• 1 can of pinto beans


• olive oil

Directions:

1. Coat pan in olive oil and heat to medium high. Pat chicken dry, and cut each breast into two pieces (smaller pieces cook faster). Mix flour and one packet of taco seasoning. Dredge chicken in flour mixture and brown on both sides. While browning, sprinkle chicken with a bit of ground cumin. After chicken is browned, remove from pan and set aside.

2. In same pan, add 1 can of chicken broth and taco seasoning. Also add chili peppers and tomatoes. Mix together well, scraping up any little brown bits at the bottom of the pan. Return chicken to pan and allow to simmer for 45 minutes covered. (Now is a good time to start on the salsa, recipe follows below). Turn chicken after 45 minutes and allow to simmer for another 20-30 minutes until chicken is fork tender.

3. Once chicken is cooked, remove from pan and turn off heat. Allow chicken to cool a bit and then pull apart. Return pulled chicken to pan and allow to simmer on low for another 30-60 minutes uncovered, letting the liquid reduce a bit.

4. Once chicken is super juicy and tender, you are ready to assemble. Take two corn tortillas (feel free to heat in microwave ahead of time, it makes them more pliable) and add layers of cheese, cabbage, beans, chicken, salsa, and cilantro.

Eat and enjoy!!



Ingredients: For The Salsa

• 2 large tomatoes


• 1 poblano pepper


• 1 large jalapeño or two small ones


• 1-3 habanero (depending on your level of heat. 1 being mild, 3 being hot)


• 1 head of garlic


• 1 onion


• Olive oil


• Sea Salt


• 1 small can of jalapeño verde sauce

Directions: Fire Roasted Salsa:

1. Preheat oven to 375. Quarter tomatoes, seed and cores in tact. Slice peppers by the halves. Quarter onions. Coat everything heavily in olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Put in roasting pan, skin sides up.

2. For the garlic, slice top end off so the cloves are exposed. Pour with olive oil and wrap garlic in tin foil. Also insert in roasting pan. Roast veggies for 1-2 hours until charred and super soft.

3. In a food processor, blend roasted veggies, a handful of fresh cilantro, verde sauce, and salt (as needed).

Viola! You have fire-roasted salsa

Mmmmm....soo good!

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(image) by A.J. Focht The New York Toy Fair 2012 is wrapping up today, but this year’s collection makes me envy the kids who will be getting these toys for Christmas next year. Nerdy toys galore were shown off, including but not limited to: Ghost Busters statues, Portal 2 toys (including portal gun),... more

by A.J. Focht

The New York Toy Fair 2012 is wrapping up today, but this year’s collection makes me envy the kids who will be getting these toys for Christmas next year. Nerdy toys galore were shown off, including but not limited to: Ghost Busters statues, Portal 2 toys (including portal gun), The Dark Knight Rises action figures, Marvel and DC superhero collectibles, and so much more. The Toy Fair ends on a high note, hosting the largest toy bank of the year.



While we’re talking about toys, Marvel Heroic Roleplaying releases February 28. This new Marvel game means that role-players everywhere can stop converting to D20 Modern or other systems just to play a Marvel themed campaign. The game promises to be better than the previous half-assed Marvel RPGs that have been released. It uses the Cortex Plus rules set made famous in the Leverage and Smallville RPGs. The basic game releases at the end of the month, but several expansions such as Civil War are planned as early as March 2012.



We’ve heard many rumors of a Smallville continuation. Everything from another season of the television show to a novel has been alleged. Last Thursday, DC comics gave us the official scoop, announcing the official Smallville Season 11 comic series. The comics pick up where the show left off, and we can expect to see several of our favorites return including Green Arrow and Chloe Sullivan-Queen.



Marvel has given us a teaser of the first showdown from Avengers VS X-Men. The second comic’s cover features Gambit going head-to-head with Captain America and Spider-Man fighting Colossus. It looks like Marvel is determined to give us showdowns never seen before.



All of the comic news from the big boys is great, but it pales in comparison to the awesomeness announced by IDW comics. In possibly the most epic crossover ever, Dr. Who and Star Trek: The Next Generation will come together in a new comic. The Dr. and his gang will join the crew of the Enterprise for what’s bound to be a great adventure. We should know more when it is officially announced this week at the Gallifrey One convention in the UK.



Do you want to see a comic documentary with a focus on the rise of women in comics? If so, a Kickstarter account has been opened to fund such a film. The documentary, Wonder Woman! The Untold Story of American Superheroines is seeking the funding to debut at South by Southwest this March. If you are sick of all the male-centric comic documentaries focusing on Superman and Captain America, this is your chance to help get this movie off the ground.



Moving out of comics and into the movie world, the first preview for the Tim Burton produced Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter has arrived. The movie drops into theaters on June 22.

There is a new live action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in the works, and it looks like they’ve found a director – Jonathan Liebesman, who helmed Battle: Los Angeles and the upcoming Wrath of the Titans.

We’ve known about the inevitable Transformers 4, but I don’t think anyone was expecting Michael Bay would use it to reboot the series. It’s official now since the producers are tossing around the word reboot, but I don’t know if they’re using it correctly. Producer Lorenzo di Bonavantura tried to correlate Transformers 4 to Amazing Spider-Man, but really only ended up saying they weren’t doing a full reboot. I’m not sure what their definition of the term is – it could be anything. A new storyline? A new cast? New Transformers? It’s all up in the air, but the fourth movie is aiming to release June 29, 2014.

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance releases in a few days, and now co-director Brain Taylor is onto his next project. He just happens to be writing and directing a live action movie based on the totally rockin' Playstation demolition derby Twisted Metal game. That’s right Sweet Tooth and other favorites such as Doll Face will be appearing on the silver screen.

by SG's Team Agony feat. Dalila Let us answer life's questions - because great advice is even better when it comes from SuicideGirls. (image) [Dalila in Psycho Holidays] Q. I am in a relationship with a woman whom I love dearly and generally we are very happy. My only complaint is that she... more

by SG's Team Agony feat. Dalila

Let us answer life's questions - because great advice is even better when it comes from SuicideGirls.


[Dalila in Psycho Holidays]

Q. I am in a relationship with a woman whom I love dearly and generally we are very happy. My only complaint is that she has a secret social life. For instance, she doesn't work on Tuesday, but she will be gone all day and come home after I get home. If I ask what she’s doing, she says I am out of line, even if I am just trying to make conversation. She has a group of friends that she does happy hour with and I am not allowed to meet them and I know nothing about them – not even their names. Asking about them has caused a couple of fights so I have let it go. I am also not allowed to know where they meet for happy hour.

Normally I just get a text after work that says, "Going out be home late." She has other friends that I am allowed to join for happy hour. I know these friends well and get invited, or rather told I am going to those happy hours. In contrast, when I go out I always invite her and she almost always comes with me. If she doesn't, I am okay with that, and she always asks me about who I was with, if we had a good time, what we talked about, and so on.

These are the same questions that make her very upset when I have asked them. I am not concerned that she might be cheating on me. I trust her. What really bothers me is that she feels like she needs to keep secrets from me. I really do not have any secrets and, except when she asks about my time in Iraq, I will tell her anything. I think people that keep secrets have something to hide. What do you think?

A: I don’t think that a person who keeps secrets necessarily has something to hide. People can decide to tell or not to tell, and sometimes they choose not to because they simply prefer to keep stuff to themselves. And there’s no clear evidence of seediness here.

Just think: what happened last time you had a relationship and you and your significant other had common friends? Usually, when couples split, friends are split too. There are the ones who stay with the girl, others who stick with the boy: but the original gang is often, sadly, no more. Your girlfriend might have experienced this kind of thing before, and, as a result, prefers to keep her closest slice of friends strictly to herself. Then again, she lets you join her and other mates, so perhaps she just wants to be herself with one particular set of friends. Maybe she wants to vent a bit in a safe space, with friends she really trusts. I’m sure there are things you’d prefer not to tell your parents, or you workmates, or your mates, even your girlfriend. Think about those. You wouldn’t go for sex advice to your grandma, would you?

It’s also true that sharing every single moment of the day brings most relationships to an end, so you should cherish the fact that your girlfriend is not the super sticky type. It’s actually a healthy sign that she has her own friends and interests; you’ve gotten yourself a woman, congrats! And a little mystery can be a good thing. Not sharing every little, tiny, weenie thingy is the best way to keep your companion awake and interested. Don’t sweat, it’s a good sign!

Cheers,

Dalila

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"The eyes have one language everywhere..." Who do you think has the most beautiful eyes here...? OOO!!! OOO!!! Me first...! Ok...I vote for...um...Thora, very soulful. And I have three runners up: Stina Neko Nixon Sorry, I'm an eye-guy. Eyes are the portals to the soul...Look deep... more

"The eyes have one language everywhere..."

Who do you think has the most beautiful eyes here...?

OOO!!! OOO!!! Me first...!

Ok...I vote for...um...Thora, very soulful. And I have three runners up:
Stina
Neko
Nixon

Sorry, I'm an eye-guy. Eyes are the portals to the soul...Look deep into mine>>>