Cake for Help?

Incredibly, Issue 2 still isn't done.

This is down to one key factor: a bunch of articles have gone missing.

Don't panic about the articles -- I very much doubt anybody's poached them or anything, but they seem to have been swallowed by my email box and/or download folder. I will find them, I just haven't yet. Still looking.

This issue is still going to be a free online download to encourage you to pass it along to your friends digitally. This is for a number of reasons: it's really late and that's just silly, I love you all really, and I can't pay the printers for the hard copies until somebody starts funding us.

But I'm not advertising.

This sudden crazy busy business is making me think it would be a good idea to recruit some fellow Villains to help me put the magazine together so it can be a more regular thing without me foregoing sleep altogether. It obviously doesn't pay, and apart from the mission statement that I wrote when I was sugar high one night, it's driven by my view of the world and is subject to my Rules of Publishing.

These Rules of Publishing include but are not limited to:

1. Don't treat people like idiots.
2. Don't advertise unless you believe in what you're pandering and the content can make up for it. (We just don't)
3. Publish stuff that you'd like to read.

The content is arbitrary and heavily dependent on submissions. That's not a weakness, that's just the way I roll. I guess I'm looking for help with copy editing, content, reviews, funding, and promotion. I still intend to do everything else.

So if you or anyone you know wants to write for The Antagonist or help in any other way, you will be rewarded for your assistance with:

1. My undying gratitude
2. The magazine you know and love published more regularly
3. Something undeniably cool to put on your CV (and a wicked reference from Yours Truly)
4. Awesome assignments (i.e. interview this band, photocopy this person's ass, make fun of this movie, etc, etc)
5. All the cake you can eat.

So if you want to help out or write for the magazine, please email me; I won't bite you unless you're lucky.

Magazine Gaining Momentum with Models and Mayhem

Had another photoshoot yesterday, this one with Lisa Ray. This was by far the most epic of the photoshoots so far, with three locations and costume/makeup changes, but we had a great time and got some fantastic shots. Here's another one:


Have the next several covers sorted now, with Elizabeth for this issue, Jen S for the nest, Lisa for November/December, and after that, Jen J, Emily V., Sharlene E., and all the way from Boston, Miss Mischief.

Miss Mischief found us through punkrockers.com and has sent us loads of fantastic pictures we can use in the magazine. Excellent. With interests that include writing and Chuck Palahniuk, it looks like she'll fit in with the magazine nicely. Here's a preview:


Have spent the day so far looking up prices for getting calendars printed. We'd love to get a set done for 2010, and I hope we can get the funds together to do it! There are so many things we want to do, but I guess they all take time. There's the calendar, and t-shirts, and hopefully eventually, a full colour magazine. Watch this space!

In other news, we're going to see Sonic Boom 6 at TJs in Newport next month. Their very kind press people got back to us and we're good to go! Then the week after that, it's Green Day in Birmingham. Can't wait!

The Acid Flashback Set

Today's photoshoot was great, if weird. Jen and I went down to Bute Park (which was packed at 1 pm on a Saturday), found a dark corner and got up to no good. Was convinced we'd get some cat-calls like last time with Kitty Moran, but if the kids saw us, they were too freaked out to say anything. Just in case, I told her tell any rude passers-by that she was Death. Maybe I've been reading too much Sandman lately (if indeed there is such a thing), but the whole scene was positively Burtonesque. The light kept shifting, so the butterflies - yes, butterflies - and falling leaves took on a melancholic dimension in the relative gloom. Jen looked fantastic -- she had her black hooded corset and this black and white striped bustle skirt that did crazy things to my vision, leading me to call these "The Acid Flashback Set".

It was all a little surreal, and I kept saying so. I might have been talking to myself. These things happen. Jen climbed a tree and I handed her a tea cup and we got this:



Out of 244 photos, I don't think there was a bad shot. Had a great time, Jen's happy with the photos, and all of her friends are loving them on the 'book. I'm glad! We got October's cover sorted as well as a few fake adverts and I didn't even use the spare batteries. Excellent. Everyone's in favour of the calendar idea and picking their months, but I could still do with finding a couple more models. Any volunteers?

Afterwards we went to Nero's for chai and Rebel Rebel for henna, meeting up with LJ and Erin for a tour of Cardiff's many Starbucks, took the scenic route home, where we found the found The Punk celebrating The Mighty Arsenal's victory. Jen, Erin, and LJ headed back to Swansea, needing some recovery after Girl Party Mark II, McTizzle's Magic Birthday Edition, which included four previous cover models, a balloon fight, and a roasting of P.S. I Love You. Yeah, I was surprised, too. This yielded to us three Truths:

1. "Gerard Butler is useless to us in the dark."
2. Hilary Swank turned what could have been a genuine tear-jerker into a harmless waste of time in which we feel no sympathy for the protagonist, and
3. Jeffrey Dean Morgan can make ANY mess worth watching at least once.

The best part of that movie was watching The Punk's face contort as he struggled to hold back every sarky comment he thought of, and recieving high-5s when I said what he was thinking before he did.

Well, that and Kitty's amazing brownies. Yes, that's right. Not only is she gorgeous, intelligent, and hell-bent on global domination, but she can bake, too. At some point -- and I don't remember exactly when; there was a lot of sugar involved -- we decided that I can best be described as "a Stepford Wife is somebody ripped out the hard disk and replaced it with a Ramones CD". I'm happy with that. Road to Ruin's probably my favourite, but I bet it's Rocket to Russia.

As long as I'm doing this stream-of-consciousness thing, I might as well mention that I think I heard a busker playing "Famous Blue Raincoat" today. It could have been wishful thinking, but buskers have been getting better around here lately -- last week it was Pink Floyd and Buddy Holly, but hearing Leonard Cohen played (well) in the street could be the greatest thing EVER.

May have imagined it, though. Jen didn't hear it.

Here's another photo from today for you. Enjoy.

Graphic Novels and Super Models

Had an interesting experience earlier this week. I'm going to have to paraphrase a bit, but I was told by an editor that I should freelance my way into a little pile of cash and just publish The Antagonist for the rest of my life, because it's awesome. Also that I belong in the '70s. You don't have to tell me. I know.

It was good to hear that from a completely impartial stranger. Have spent the last couple of days thinking about where I want to take the magazine from here, and I'm beginning to formulate a plan. Well, less of a plan than a list of things I think would be cool. For example, I'm about to begin work on my first graphic novel and I'm looking for artists to work with me. I can draw, but I don't think I can create images dark enough for this particular piece. Anybody out there want to give it a go?

As I've mentioned before, I'm getting a lot more interest from potential models than anybody else. This is a wonderful thing! I'm loving the photoshoots (looks like I have another one scheduled for this weekend, and the next five covers are booked), and I'm happy to keep the Babes With Brains series going as long as there are models up for it. This is fun! It's looking like the magazine is going to be heading in a more visual direction, and I find that terribly exciting. But don't worry -- more pictures doesn't mean we'll be scaling back on the text anytime soon. We'll just make it bigger.

This weekend's photoshoot will be with our lovely make up columnist Jen Sheehan. Here's a preview:



We're also going to be looking into making an Antagonist calendar for 2010. Any thoughts?

Am also thrilled to announce that we've got another online column in blog form from Courtney in Chicago. A former model of ours and constant friend, she's also a fantastic writer. I especially loved her detailed description of getting her nipple pierced this week.
Check out The Court Rose: Adventures of a Curious Mind.

Photo shoot = Success!

Bryony, originally uploaded by tigerlily watson.

Met Kitty Moran today for an epic six hour photo shoot, and I can't believe how good the pictures in Bute Park turned out. This one is probably our favourite -- you can tell I'm a fan of the PRB! I'm thrilled that it looks so much like a painting; it'll be a good predecessor for our future IN the river shot. Excellent.

Am also coordinating other models for future issues & photo shoots. Good stuff! I can't get over how much easier it's been finding models than, well, anything else. But it's great! As much fun as I've had being on the cover, it's nice that I don't have to be. I don't want to be like Oprah being on the cover of "O" every month.

Kitty Moran is a fantastic fun to work ywith. She can pull off a lot of different looks and she can wear anything! She also risked falling into the Taff today to get these amazing river shots. I usually use black & white photos with solid coloured background for the magazine for obvious reasons, but I'm such a fan of these pictures, I think I'll use them anyway. The colour will look really great on the PDF.

Here's another because you've been good.

Speaking of PDFs, had a late "rush" of online orders yesterday, if you can call it that. A few people ordered colour PDFs all at the same time! Bonus! I love it when that happens, because you get the best pictures that way, even if you don't get to appreciate the double-page spreads, and because I can send them off immediately instead of having to venture to the post office whenever they're open. It's good for the readers, too -- it's instant gratification! No wait!

Interestingly, the next issue is going to have to be in PDF form because we haven't been able to get the funding together to print another run. We'll print a few for us and for Spillers, but we'll really have to press the PDFs for this one. The good news I guess is that they can be relatively cheap and as long as we make back enough money to run the website, we're good!

Stay tuned...

Flickr Fun

Castle @ Dusk, originally uploaded by Brainless Angel.

Now have a profile on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tigerlilywatson/

Have been spending some time browsing photos, and particularly like this one. It's called "Castle @ Dusk" and it's by my friend Rob, or "Brainless Angel" on Flickr. He has some really fantastic stuff -- have a look!

Looking forward to the photoshoot tomorrow. Watched Desperate Romantics for inspiration (or maybe just bonking), and am about to have a look at Victorian hair styles in the Interwebs. Fun!

Secret Cheerleaders

Following the advice of a friend, I've spent the day creating a profile on Flickr so people can find my photography. It's a lot of fun, but I'm finding it difficult to cope with to 100mb limit -- I have so many pictures! Have spent the last several hours going through them all and picking out my favourites. I'd like to specialise in pin ups, but I have a lot more landscape photography than anything else. That's okay -- I probably enjoy it more than anything else, so maybe I should specialise in that... or bands. Yeah, bands.

Here's a link to my Flickr page:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tigerlilywatson/

NOFX's El Hefe at the recent gig in Cardiff.

This all started when Kitty Moran asked for some help putting together a modelling profile. We've got some great ideas, and we might actually chuck her into a river. For creative purposes, naturally.

The magazine is still coming along, and I'm actually still waiting on a couple of last-minute submissions. I hope it comes together. The last one definitely had more of a plan to it, but at least I'm getting more help with this one.

Went to Swansea over the weekend for DEAD OF NIGHT and it was great to be back. Weirdly, Swansea doesn't feel all that familiar anymore, and once again I feel homeless. I miss the goths terribly, though. Adam said he'll try to come visit the Headquarters soon, and I hope he does, although August is looking pretty poverty-ridden for everybody. I'll be glad to see the start of the school year.

Jen, our make up artist, looking gorgeous as ever on our way to DEAD OF NIGHT.

While in Swansea I picked up the latest issue of Feedback, and they gave me a really fantastic send off. Really touching. Thanks, guys.

In other news, the our audience is growing through the efforts of the bunch of people I will group together in the "Secret Cheerleader" category. Excellent. Phase 1: Complete.