Green Day at the Birmingham NEC

Just got back from the Green Day show in Birmingham and I'm covered in bruises.

It was an amazing show, and it was nice to see one that I didn't have to write about, although I find I do that anyway (Exhibit A). It's a way of life at this point. I left my camera at the hotel cause I didn't want anything to happen to it and immediately felt weird and anxious without it. It was just as well, really -- we were too far away to get good pictures and I probably would have killed the poor thing at some point -- I managed to fall over a row of seats at the LG Arena stone cold sober. Impressive, right?

Everything that needs to be said about Green Day's live performances has already been said. Listening to the giddy teenage girls sitting behind me on the bus for the three hours it took to get to Birmingham left me with the impression that I knew what I was getting myself into, but I didn't expect my reaction. As I said, I couldn't really see anything at the show, but I still felt for a second like I was ten again, strapped into a pair of black and pink rollerblades with a Blizzard in one hand and a discman in the other; Dookie was the first CD I admit to owning. I knew all the words (much to my mother's chagrin after hearing Longview), and I still do.

So does everyone else, it so happens. The audience participation level rivalled mass viewings of Rocky Horror Picture Show and the set was longer. Everybody was singing, and what struck me about that was how clear it was for 16,000 people. When Billie Joe's voice dropped out leaving the entire audience singing Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) it was incredibly moving. I bet the Church wishes it could rally a congregation together like that -- not only in size, but in time, harmony, and accuracy. The passion was palpable. Somehow this band has managed to draw together masses and masses of people through music and a message -- it's Punk values on a worldwide scale and it's inspiring.

On a side note, I don't think I'll ever forget the weirdness of feeling like the only American in Birmingham during American Idiot. Being surrounded by that many bouncing Europeans shouting about just a few of the failings of my home country, well... that was awkward. Don't get me wrong, I was shouting, too, but I wasn't in a hurry to announce "hey, this song's about me!", either. Still, it was cool to be at the back watching all this from a different perspective. When American Idiot came out, I was still in Minnesota. It really has a different resonance when it feels like it's aimed more at you...

Newport and Schmap!

Here's a photo of Laila K from SB6. Not the best of the night, but definitely my favourite.

Have had a crazy few days. The Sonic Boom Six show was a lot of fun and I'm loving TJ's. Actually really liked Newport, which I know people from Newport will find hard to believe. Looking for excuses to go back. Here's another picture:

In other news, one of my history tourism photos has been selected to be included in the Flickr Schmap Cardiff Guide! Click here to see it.

Documentary Evidence of Terrifying Minions

Have spent all of my time off work with honest-to-goodness SWINE FLU to catch up on the magazine and I'm proud to say that Issue 2 is looking great!

In this issue we've got coverage of Comic Con, Fish and Chips Worth Travelling For, and the unholy alliance between MTV and the Army! The music section has reviews of Sonic Boom 6 (as of Thursday!), Pig With the Face of a Boy, and Clear Air Turbulence, an interview with Razorblade Romance, and the long-awaited Songs About Smack playlist. There's also a back-to-school literature section with Amphetamine Logic Part II and the best in local poetry! Needless to say, we've also got lots more hot girls with big brains and enormous black boots. And this issue is absolutely free! So check back here for a link to your free issue, check the website, check the Facebook fan page, the Facebook group, the Twitter page, and check your email because this issue is going to be coming at you from every which way and you're not going to want to miss it!

In celebration of the near completion of the second issue in this, the biggest and most ambitious incarnation of The Antagonist to date, I'd like to invite you, your friends, and your minions to contribute. There's really nothing to be afraid of -- if we like your stuff, we'll print it, and if we don't, well, I'll dispose of it as I see fit.

Now I understand some of you didn't believe me when I said that I ripped rejected articles into tiny pieces to make papier mache boats and, I admit, that is a bit far-fetched (papier mache boats would eventually melt and sink), but I do have a special Minion who disposes of them for me.

You want proof?



Now, I know that's a scary prospect, but you really shouldn't let it put you off. Go ahead! Send any features, articles, reviews, interviews, photographs, comics, love letters, hate mail, pants, etc. to primaryantagonist@gmail.com.

Real Women (and Men) vs. Intolerance and TV

Here's some recent silliness. Experimented with the timer on my camera and some Christmas lights the other night and wound up with some pretty fun shots. This one's my favourite.

It looks like I'm going to be appearing in Square Magazine this month as a poet -- I know, right? -- and I've been invited to be a feature at the magazine's launch/reading next month. Exciting stuff! Have been feeling appropriately creative lately, although not in a particularly useful way. Planning to hit the canvas sale at the Pen & Paper on pay day & busting out the acrylics this weekend. I'm having trouble communicating thought in a coherent way, so it looks like I'll be giving the non-fiction a rest and resorting to beat poetry and finger painting.

Hey, it's always worked before.

In other news, have gathered quotes for calendar, and although we could get a few printed reasonably cheaply, it would probably lose us money unless each and every one of them sold for more than £5, which I'm not willing to count on. So unless plans change within the next week, Babes With Brains will be published as a series on the website.

Keep you posted.

So I just saw on BBC News they interviewed some guy from InStyle about this German women's fashion magazine that's banned super-skinny supermodels, and he said something as to the effect of, "When women read fashion magazines they don't want to see real women, they want to see beautiful women." Excuse me? Did he say that real women aren't beautiful? And why does he care? It's not like he's seen one in recent memory. The reaction from the female anchor was priceless. I think she was going to rip him a new one before the male anchor laughed nervously and moved the conversation along, the interviewee laughing bashfully like he'd gotten away with something.

Interestingly enough, surveys have shown that average men prefer healthy women sizes 8 - 16(+) over their rail-thin counterparts. I'm not bashing skinny women here, I'm just pointing out that when women strive to be super thin, it's not for men. It's never for men; men don't like it, and any man worth his salt would prefer a healthy woman to a skeleton.

Really.

This whole "fattist" thing the western world seems to have launched upon itself makes me upset. At first it really pissed me off, and now it just makes me despair at the state of things. I hate the implication that what you look like is anybody's business but your own. I also find the "no fat chicks" mantra pretty rich coming from the kind of men brash enough to repeat it. Where are the "no redneck assholes" bumper stickers?

I just don't know where people get off interfering with other people's lives. It's not only "fat" people (and who says what's "fat" anyway? It's down to perception. ) -- it's the disabled, the desperate, the downtrodden, the mildly unattractive and the somewhat untalented. You only have to flip through the TV guide for a veritable parade of glorified freakshows. Fat Teens in Love makes me particularly angry. Of course there's also I Hate My Bald Head, Hairy Women, 3 Fat Brides, 1 Thin Dress, Octomom, More to Love, Freaky Eaters, and makeover programmes like The Swan, and it extends to watching people humiliate themselves on shows like American Idol, X-Factor, and now, Grease: The School Musical. This morbid fascination is a disease. These shows are patronising, insulting, transparent, and disposable; they do not provide entertainment and they are not human interest -- there's nothing human about them.

This weird hatred isn't limited to TV. I was walking to work today through the St David's shopping centre in Cardiff. I was walking behind this guy in a leather jacket and skinny jeans with a scarf in his gorgeous long black hair. Do I have your attention? Anyway, this random big guy (wearing rainbow from head to toe, no less) sees the guy in leather and starts barking insults at him until he ducked into a store to get away from him. What? What made that guy think he had the right to comment on this guy's appearance? Why do people think it's any of their goddamned business? How fucked up would you have to be to aggressively attack another person without provocation on the basis of something so superficial? There is clearly something wrong.

I'm not blaming the Media, Hollywood, or the Fashion Industry -- Media reflects the world, Hollywood polishes it, and the fashion industry gives it something to blow its money on -- but it's something much bigger and darker than that: it's self-hatred, jealousy, insecurity, intolerance, and all of the worst things from the darkest corners of human failure.

Thing is, it's not natural and it's not inevitable. I don't feel the need to humiliate people, and I'm sure you don't, either. If I saw somebody committing a heinous fashion crime, yeah, I'd notice, but I wouldn't dream of criticising them because a) it's cruel, b) it's subjective, and c) I don't care. Who does?

So what I'm trying to do with The Antagonist and the Babes with Brains is to provide an alternative entertainment source, to reassure you that not everybody on Earth is baying at quasi-celebrities, to embrace your inner freak, and to share our soap box with you when you feel like screaming at people.

Oh, and we also want to redefine the popular perception of beauty by taking pictures of people we think are really, really, terribly hot, regardless of size, age, gender, etc, etc, because it is not a style or a predetermined set of proportions that makes you a hottie.

It's your brain.

Flickr Update!

Jen's Fairytale 2, originally uploaded by tigerlily watson.

More recent modelling shots now on Flickr and Facebook! Hoping to make it to Swansea within the next two weeks to photograph a few more lovely models & have another couple in the works for next month. Have so many wonderful photos that I am currently concocting ingenious plan to showcase my gorgeous, brainy models for the advancement of global aesthetics. More later!

Superabundance of Babes with Brains

Had another fantastic photoshoot yesterday with Jen S. We went to Bute Park again because they turned out so nicely last time, and the lighting was lovely and there were leaves everywhere. I really enjoyed myself. Jen was wearing her purple corset for Damsel in this Dress and we wanted to take some photos to show it off, although these will also be used in the magazine.

Hoping to schedule a day in Swansea soon for an epic 3-girl photoshoot at Jen J's new place. Apparently there's a white chaise lounge, and I cannot WAIT!

Have also interviewed Razorblade Romance this week and very much looking forward to seeing Sonic Boom 6 in a couple of weeks. Going to let The Punk write the review for that one, but I'll take photos & post them ASAP. As for Green Day at the end of the month, well, that's not really for the magazine... that's just for me. ;)

Speaking of which, saw the music video for East Jesus Nowhere earlier. It's nothing like the others -- all live stuff spliced together -- but I like the song a bit more every time I hear it. I just like knowing it was inspired by something in Wisconsin. I never thought that happened! Anyway, after that there were a few other particularly weak music videos by especially forgettable landfill indie bands, including Weightless by All Time Low. Not only did the video come across as overly (and unjustifiably) critical but the music, although not actually offensive, was underwhelming at best. As for the band name, well, the jokes write themselves.

The Punk thinks we ought to record some of his songs. I'm obviously drumming and I asked if I can be the kind that plays half naked before/during/after getting pissed and starting fights. He's okay with that. I'm looking forward to it.

I hope we do actually record some of his stuff because it's just getting better. Everything he's written lately has been incredible and I wish I knew how he did it. I haven't been able to write anything I've liked since I finished my novel. I wrote five pages about feminism yesterday but I haven't been able to look at it to edit it yet. We'll see how it goes...