Writers Wanted!

MINIONS!

Your favourite magazine is expanding by leaps and bounds and The Headquarters officially was more amazing music to review than we can reasonably keep up with SO consider this your call to arms (or in fact, pens) -- if any of you, anywhere in the world, regardless of age or experience want to get involved with The Antagonist as writers (or in any other capacity), email me at primaryantagonist@gmail.com.

Given how long it takes to actually put the magazine out, we're going to start calling it *quarterly* and put all of our time-sensitive reviews and things on the website, which, believe it or not, is actually getting a glasses and ponytail makeover as we speak. So be patient, and while you're waiting, write me something!

It's not only music writers we're looking for -- if you want to get involved, we can always use more features, literature, and the random stuff that makes the zine great. Cheerleaders are always welcome, too. So send me stuff, tell your friends to send me stuff, and have fun with it, because that's the whole point.



In other news, Babe #1 and multi-talented genius Kitty Moran is making excellent progress with her horror movie, Boobs in Blood! She has a fast-paced, genre-defying script with a compelling ensemble of characters and a lesbian protagonist who may or may not get the girl (if they can survive the night)! Everyone involved with the movie is Welsh-born or affiliated, and it is crowd-funded by horror fans ready for something new. If you want to be a part of it, you can donate any amount of money here or email me and I'll put you in touch with Kitty for other ways you can get involved.

Babes with Brains Calendar for Women's Aid

Have just updated the website with a pre-order link and a preview of our Babes with Brains Calendar for Women's aid. We have Women's Aid's official blessing and thank you, so we're good to go!

Our models have been chosen (the seven published cover girls and the next five) and we're trying to arrange another few photoshoots to get some new pictures for the occasion.

I'm going to re-post the info I posted to the website here, because it's important, and I'm just going to tell you the same thing, so:

Villains, Minions, Virgins of the Undead! The Antagonist is thrilled silly to present our 2011 Babes With Brains Calendar!

It's twelve months of full-colour, spiral-bound glory featuring twelve (and just maybe a top secret lucky #13) beautiful women chosen for their considerable intelligence and kindness of disposition!

All proceeds will be donated to Women's Aid to help them in their quest to end domestic violence.


Babes with Brains

Babes with Brains: a tongue-in-cheek title for an overdue concept. For those of you just joining us, the models featured on the covers and throughout the issues of The Antagonist are the Babes, women of all ages and walks of life chosen for their intelligence over their dress size, lovingly photographed in places and situations that are personal as they are playful. This project is attempting to show, one issue at a time, that all women are beautiful and that there is nothing sexier than a woman who can crush you with her mind (as if anyone needed convincing).

We've had the honour of photographing some incredible women over the past year and half, and now we're bringing them all together in a series of new pictures for a cause: to raise money for Women's Aid.

Domestic Violence is a serious problem that affects women, children, and men all over the world. One in four women in the UK alone will experience domestic violence in their lifetime. Women's Aid is a charity that strives to put an end to the violence, raising awareness and protecting the affected, saving countless lives in the process.

It's an important cause, and that's why we're donating all of the proceeds of the calendar to help them in their mission.

Some of the models you know, and some of them will be new to you. We have stunning previously unpublished photos of Kitty Moran, Elizabeth T, Jen Sheehan, Lisa Ray, Emily V, and Ophelia from Issues 1 - 6, as well as some new faces including the lovely Liz Wride, Kylie R of Issue 7, and a special guest appearance from our personal rock star, Englane Read (see above).

The calendars are full-colour, spiral bound, designed from scratch by the Editor and include noteable dates (Pagan, Christian, and Antagonistic!) all year round. They are available by pre-order only, and you must place your order by midnight GMT on the 5th of December. They will be shipped to you anywhere in the world from the Headquarters, hot off the presses, in time for Christmas (or Yule). You can get them on the website or from our Squid Shop.

For more on Women's Aid, click here.

We'd like to remember those affected by domestic violence in the calendar. If you have anyone you'd like mentioned, please contact us.

London Zine Symposium 2010

We're back from the London Zine Symposium and we're spending the day recovering at the Headquarters with Violent Matt. We took the 6:00 yesterday morning after a full night of stapling and 2 hours of sleep and just about made it to the Rag Factory in time to set up at 11. Look at all the stuff!



Lots of lovely people turned up in support -- Punk John, Violent Matt, Jayne H, Kitty Moran, and a slightly confused young man who half-remembers friending us on MySpace. Hi, random dude!



We sold loads of magazines -- we're out of Issue 5 now, but we still have a few copies of 1 - 4 and plenty of t-shirts and badges. I was even interviewed for a documentary about the symposium, and Violent Matt filmed loads of the day -- will post the video when he's finished editing it.



All in all it was a good adventure, but we were happy to get home, 24 hours after waking up. I slept so hard I could have been on another planet. Anyway, we're home now, reading the zines we swapped for and watching bizarre TV. Thank God tomorrow's a Bank Holiday!

Donate to Kitty and Save a Cat!

You knew she was hot, but soon she'll be literally aflame! Big-hearted Babe #1 Kitty Moran is participating in a firewalk for Cats Protection and you can sponsor her through justgiving.com. Donate to Kitty and save a cat!



In other news, the new T-Shirts are here and they're fabulous! There are still a few left, so if you want one, you can order one through the website. They're £10, which is more than we were hoping, but still pretty good given the fact that each one has an awesome SQUID in a TOP HAT on it! Big thanks for Neil Austin for the amazing artwork!

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.

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...

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.

Submissions, ahoy!

Issue 2 is coming along brilliantly. A strange thing happened this morning: I checked my email, and there were about 10 submissions in my inbox. Fab! I have a stack of articles to edit now, and will hopefully have Issue 2 ready for print by early next week. That would be fab! Now we just have to get the money to print the second one.

Now, the magazine should be self-sustaining, but isn't yet because it's difficult to coordinate distributors, track down subscribers, and get all the month's cash back in one place before the next issue needs to be printed. Not great! So this month we're going to print fewer issues right away, and try to sell more colour PDFs. Unless, of course, a miracle happens and the bank finally calls me back. Irritating.

Nevertheless, the magazine is looking great. I have an epic interview with The Death of Chapman Baxter as well as a Q & A with Liam Shaolin Wolf + pictures, a column from Chris Samia, an article and a poem by Gemma June Howell, and part 2 of Amphetamine Logic! Also expecting a piece on Black Eyes & Neckties from Graham Isaac and a recap of the London Comic-Con from Kitty Moran and Jen Sheehan! You can also count on regular features like Punk John's politics column, the Teen Movie Experiment, and Totally American Reviews. Excitement!

This month Gemma's covering a poetry and photography exhibition held by Ceri Thomas and Deepa Praveen that took place in Swansea on International Women's Day. Here's a preview of Deepa's gorgeous photos:

Beer in a wine glass.

The sunset from a moving bus. Awesome.

Will be using a couple of other brilliant photos for the b & w printed copies as the loss of colour in these two would be a tragedy, but will still post our set on the website as an extra feature. Good stuff!

Disappointing Lack of Spindles

Have office almost properly set up now. Huzzah! Am surrounded by post-its of things to do, red pens, and extension cords. Weirdly enjoying myself. It's nice to have a proper Headquarters. Still, I figured there would be more gig posters on the walls. Will have to dig them out of the moving-related wreckage later.

Loving life in Grangetown. It's really friendly around here, and the house is awesome. Went to a wedding yesterday and wound up finding a medieval fire escape/modern secret passage. I went upstairs in the castle (where the bathrooms are), and this fire door was magically open. I looked around the corner to see a long, empty corridor full of arrow loops. Was immediately torn between wanting to explore it and thinking "Hey man, I SAW Sleeping Beauty. I'm not going down there!!" Ended up kicking off high heels and running up and down it once I was convinced no one would shut the door on me. It went from one end of the castle to the other -- not only could I see the whole wedding from a window, but I could see into other halls from other windows, and out over the moat from arrow loops and other (now barred) windows. There was even a spiral staircase that lad to other parts of the castle, but taking into consideration it was about 11 pm and the rest of the castle was pitch black, I decided thought I would venture no further. Besides, I've already seen those parts. It was the passage that was exciting!

Here's a picture of the wedding from the passage:



It looks like a ghost, but it's probably just Disco.

Have spent the morning(ish) working on Death of Chapman Baxter interview. They came up to Cardiff last week for an interview in person which was entertaining as much as it was educational. Wound up being a personal shopper for Shaolin Wolf -- he was looking for a pair of white-rimmed Blues Brother sunglasses and we found him some at Rebel Rebel. From there we took a detour to Spillers, where Shaolin Wolf and Honky McCracker browsed albums while I sorted the "sell my magazine" paper work and chatted to a lovely girl there about the recent NOFX show. Spillers, by the way, now stocks The Antagonist, so if you're in Cardiff, you should go and get your copy there.

Here's a picture from my Cardiff adventures with the DOCB:



Have many exciting submissions to go through tonight. Have just recieved the second installment of Amphetamine Logic and I can't wait to read it. Was hoping to bring out hte next issue in about two weeks, but have hit yet another snag with funding. Although the bank people are very nice, they are also apparently very busy, as no one has gotten back to me in more than a week. Will have to call them again later.

Kitty Moran and Jen Sheehan have just gotten back from Comic Con, and it looks like they had a great time! Jen's actually moving to Cardiff in October now, and I'm really excited! She should be here for the next DEAD OF NIGHT, too, so we'll have to set up a photo shoot for her cover soon...!

Speaking of which, the photo shoot with Elizabeth went very well. We have an exciting assortment of saucy pictures to choose from. Here's a preview:

Finally! The First Issue!

Climbing the walls in The Headquarters waiting for the Magazine to be delivered. Craziness!!! Woke up at 7 in a panic, afraid I'd missed them. Sleeping in a room that gets sunlight does weird things to a person.

Have phoned the printing company to pay them (sorted!), and asked to make sure they're dropping it off today like they said they would. They're going to check and then call me back. This worries me! I have copies to post to people today and I'm anxious to get some more distributors on board!

In other news, have connected the website to Paypal so people can order copies online. I haven't announced its existence properly yet, but we already have a few orders! Hurrah!

Am looking into opening a business account, but it's up in the air who it's going to be with. Lloyd's called back and the swearing is fine! Hooray! The banker I've been talking to isn't there today, and Abbey hasn't called me back yet, but I'm hoping to get it sorted tomorrow so we have a short at making it to Comic Con in two weeks.

Emailed Comic Con earlier about setting up a booth and having Kitty Moran there to autograph pictures of herself. Looking forward to hearing back.

It's been a whole two minutes and the printers haven't called back yet. I'm so wound up it's crazy. I've been working towards this moment for two months: I want to get going!

Have another photoshoot scheduled for the weekend. This should be fun. This one's going to be Elizabeth, Kitty's friend, in an undisclosed location, wearing god-knows-what. I'm excited!

As for Kitty, she's gotten so much positive feedback from her pictures that she's looking into becoming a professional alternative model. Fantastic! I can't see that not working out for her -- she's smart, driven, and looks amazing in bondage tape. What more do you need?

We went to the market on the river yesterday with Punk John. I'd heard rumours of the greatness of the curry breakfast, but never in my wildest dreams did I imagine it would work. The Punk was understandably pleased. I wound up with a strawberry crepe. I can't believe that there are crepes available on a weekly basis. I'm hooked.

We met by the "penis bean". As cool as I think all-weather artwork in cities is, I can't help but wonder who thought this was a good idea. I know I'm not the only person who thinks this looks rude:



Off to Swansea tomorrow to see everyone/drop off some magazines. Should also be interviewing Liam Shaolin Wolf from The Death of Chapman Baxter tomorrow. Awesome. They loved my album review (I loved their album!) and I'm glad that for once, something positive I wrote wasn't taken badly. Anyway, I'm excited, because they're really great guys, and the interview will fit nicely into the August issue. Here's a picture from their recent gig at Jubbly's:



Just heard back from the printers, and they're bringing the magazines over at 4 or 4:30. Fab! He said it turned out great, but there are a few things I can do to make it better for next time, but I'm going to try not to worry about that. I know a couple of the pictures didn't turn out all that great (due to lack of high-res), but I still expect it to be awesome.

Off to get envelopes now, then to meet Kitty for coffee. Quest!

Curiously Compelling

All systems go for the Minion Fest on Friday. Am so excited I can hardly contain myself.

The support from our families and close friends is overwhelming, and the website traffic is looking better than ever. Kitty Moran* came to town today with a box of American cake mix and two jars of frosting for the bakesale. She's staying at the headquarters after the Black Stone Cherry gig at Sin City and she had nothing but the best things to say about them & their support, the wonderfully-named Heaven's Basement. I wasn't there, but she's going to write it up for the zine and from what she's told me, it sounds like an amazing show and I can't wait to read the review. They're touring the UK for the time being, and I'm hoping to score some more interviews for the July/August issue. Kitty likes the idea, but all she really wants are the BSC pants they had at the merch stand. This desire led to an odd brainstorming session -- she had the idea for a series of photos of pants. Not on people, just in weird places. Mailboxes and teapots and such. I've got the teapot, and I find the image of a pair of pants thrown over my tea service curiously compelling. ;)

I can't believe how bright it is. It's 6:11 AM and the sun is in full force over the Headquarters. I'm incredibly awake. Don't think for a second I just woke up -- you know me better than that -- I just haven't been to sleep yet. Who needs sleep when you have inspiration, eh? I'm not entirely sure what's wrong with me, but I'm extremely motivated. It's Monday morning and I've had the weekend off; I'm ready to get on with this magazine business! I don't know if I'll be able to sleep. The ideas keep coming and when they stop, well, I'm about fifty pages away from finishing Chuck Palahniuk's Invisible Monsters and I have to finish it. I was reading it in the kitchen earlier, waiting for water to boil. It's beyond description. I'm crazy about CP's writing. And by writing I don't mean Brad Pitt in Fight Club. I'm just glad it didn't catch on fire over the hob.

Rented Australia last night. I suppose it was the night before last, now. Imagine a western crashes into a WWII movie, cows and bombers flying everywhere, while retaining that touch of stylistic camp that Baz Luhrmann does so well. That was impressive. The characterisation was not. There is NOTHING wrong with Hugh Jackman - believe me, I just saw Wolverine - but the characters were either a) Very Good, or b) Very Bad, and there was no real development. When the prissy English Lady makes out with the rugged Drover, you could believe it with no stretch of the imagination. Voila: two beautiful people kissing sloooowly. Great. Then there's David Wenham, who I love, as the "bad guy". That wasn't so great. I just didn't believe it. His performance was melodramatic and campy (I credit Luhrmann for this); when he threatened people, I giggled. I guess I was just remembering him and Jackman in Van Helsing... maybe he was, too.

Right! The temptation fo the final 50 pages of CP calls! Plus, The Punk has been sleeping for six hours already. He's worn out from an epic stag overnight that involved something called "gorge walking". ??? On his way home this morning - or was it yesterday morning? - he was almost trampled by the thousand women in pink running at him in Bute Park. Granted, he is stupidly sexy, but on this occasion it was for the Race for Life and he stumbled into it with a hangover. Surreal.