Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, so in the spirit of the season here’s what the FashionistaLab is giving thanks for:

My latest SF discovery that I can’t wait to return to:

Wasteland – a delightful mélange of old and new, high and low, modern and classic. Browsing the Haight this past Sunday, I wandered into Wasteland a confused shopper. I didn’t quite know what to expect, but based on the name I anticipated a hodge-podge of clothes from the Haight hippies of the past. Upon crossing the threshold I was presented with a cavernous room, but I soon discovered held racks upon racks of cool clothing. Whether second-hand or brand new I liked what I saw. And that’s the magic of wasteland. I saw new selections from Ark & Co, Beulah, and Funktional (among others), vintage clothing, and second-hand designer selections. The prices were so good I didn’t even think about a sale rack.

The end of season 6 of Project Runway and the coming of season 7:

Blogs agree – this season was exceptionally weak. Nobody was surprised when Irina won, but in a past season she might not have made it to the top three, and there’s no doubt that neither Carol Hannah nor Althea would not have made it. Thankfully Nina and Michael are confirmed to be present at judging for every episode of season 7, and the show is back in New York. Let’s hope the producers get it together and produce a strong season! Until then, I leave you with some of my favorite reviews of the season finale, and season re-caps:

The Pop Academic: Irina “Super Bitch” Shabayeva Wins Project Runway – So What?
Fashionista: 10 Questions for Project Runway
Fug Girls: Thoughts on the Project Runway Finale
The Cut: Obvious Winner Creates No Drama, Results in No Fun
Bluefly: Project Runway Rundown: We Have a Winner
Racked NY: Project Runway Top Ten: And the Winner Is…
Stylist: ‘Project Runway’ Winner Irina Shabayeva Tells StyleList, ‘I’m not really that mean’

Tech-Saavy Friends:

Lucky for me I have a friend in Berkeley who knows html, and has some extra time on her hands. Once we can synchronize our schedules she’ll show me a thing or two and this blog will get a facelift! Or at least a nip here and a tuck there. Stay tuned

Welcome to Pandora, a world full of bandits, skags, vehicles, giant monsters, and plenty of loot.  You will learn very quickly during your time in Pandora that there is much to gather and it is actually what you will spend most of your time doing while you are here.  Whether you run across a stash of money or a chest full of guns, at no time will you ever be short of things to sell at your local vendor.  With millions of weapons to choose from and stat modifications coming at you from your left and right, you will have plenty to brag about with your friends, and brag you will!  At any point during your journey you can choose to invite a few friends in and start blasting away at an encampment of enemies, or trade with each other in order to get that perfect weapon that you just haven’t run across yet.  Borderlands is an RPG/Shooter, or a “Shooter-Looter” as some call it.  It also offers hours of gameplay, and you can easily catch yourself scavenging the wasteland for weapons and shields instead of getting your missions finished.

Borderlands is a shooter, but it is also an RPG.  Through the game you will be faced with many adversaries that you can kill for experience and many missions that will also give you experience in turn for their completion.  As you gain experience, you gain levels and in turn you gain skill points that you can use to add special abilities to your character.  These are known as RPG elements, and this is what Borderlands brings to the table.  Unlike Fallout 3, when you shoot at an enemy with any of your guns, as long as you are aiming directly at them, then you will not miss no matter what level you are.  The shooter elements are still present in the game and they are based on your skill as a shooter.

The key point of this game is its multiplayer experience.  The game seems to have been specifically designed for a four-player adventure, but it doesn’t discourage you from playing by yourself.  As you play with more people, your enemies get stronger and in turn you can be sure to get better loot which you can take back to your own single player game.  Many of the skills that you will use from leveling up your character are party skills that can be used to aid the members of your team.  Some skills allow you to heal your teammates by shooting them, or regenerate ammo by standing next to a soldier’s turret.  Needless to say this game is very multiplayer friendly.

The game concept is great, but it is lacking in an in-depth story line.  For most people that is alright, and I didn’t mind it that much myself, but others may be a little disappointed.  The main storyline consists of gathering up pieces of a key to unlock a rumored vault, but that’s about the extent of it.  While there are plenty of missions that help add to the storyline, they can get quite repetitive and usually consist of killing a certain number of enemies, finding pieces to a weapon, and collecting other various items.  These quests are usually placed in areas where a high volume of enemies are in order to give you additional chances to loot and gain experience.  One of my favorite parts of the entire game is the boss battles that are scattered throughout the game.  At many times throughout the mainline story you will have to face “end-of-level” bosses and mini-bosses that provide quite difficult challenges.  It is not uncommon to find yourself dying and respawning during the middle of a boss battle.  Let’s also not forget to mention the insane amount of money you will have to pay out every time you die.  While it’s not very hard to gain money, you really don’t use it for much else than paying a fee to be revived and you can even get caught in a cycle of that.

The game is great and definitely one of the best this year.  There are negatives to the game, but they are few and far between and aren’t worth causing you to overlook this game.  The art style and direction is very fun and playful, and the game style fits that of a hardcore gamer.  Gearbox has also done a great job of blending a shooter and an RPG together to make a game that can find its place in the heart of both types of gamers.  The leveling system runs smooth and you don’t have to spend hours “grinding” to gain a higher level as you do in a lot of RPGs.  The replayability is high, and you will find yourself wanting to start a second playthrough with your character.  Pick up this game if you get the chance, and enjoy your time in Pandora.

The Cortras brothers accidentally kill the nephew of the crime lord Judah Bathierre. They flee the city of Gomorrah in fear of their lives. The brothers believe they’ll slip Bathierre’s reach if they get into the walled city called Capital. As the Cortras brothers cross the desert they encounter a man wandering the waste alone. The brothers believe him to be the heathen terrorist, Ilu Drystani, and hope to collect the reward for the man’s arrest. The stranger joins the Cortras brothers. He doesn’t tell them about the voice that’s been following him.

Visit the Pazuzu Trilogy web page here.

Purchase Pazuzu Trilogy books here.

Por: William J. Ramírez (skycrawler1138)

Estimados lectores, antes que disfruten de estas palabras quiero dejar claro un par de mis colegas de PSNPR y yo fuimos víctimas de una intervención por nuestros seres queridos. ¿Por qué? Simplemente por que caímos en la adicción de un juego que salió de la nada llamado BORDERLANDS. Por días llevamos jugando día y noche, pero no termina ahí. Cuando no jugamos nos pasamos pensando en jugar y mientras dormimos soñamos en jugar este juego. Ha llegado al punto de imaginar ver criaturas del juego en la vida real.

Para aquellos que no sepan, Borderlands es un (single player/co-op) híbrido RPG/Shooter (o RPS) desarrollado por Gearbox Software (desarrolladores de Brothers in Arms). El juego se basa en 4 caza fortuna que andan en la búsqueda de una legendaria bóveda llena de inimaginables tesoros en un planeta desértico llamado Pandora. Guiados por una misteriosa mujer, nuestros adventureros Lilith (Siren), Mordecai (Hunter), Brick (Berserker) y Roland (Soldier) ofrecen sus destrezas para combatir contra bandidos, flora y fauna que habitan en este planeta durante una extensa aventura de 50+ hrs.

A simple vista Borderlands parece un shooter común y corriente, pero es más profundo que eso. El elemento de RPG entra mediante el desarrollo de las destrezas (skills) de cada personaje en un elaborado sistema donde puedes modificar tus atributos ofensivos o defensivos. Este sistema realmente brilla cuando juegas Co-Op con 1 a 3 personas, ya que estas destrezas benefician (de una manera o otra) a todos en el equipo y aseguran la victoria. La estructura del juego está basada en misiones que recibes de ciertos individuos (misiones primarias) o “Boards” (misiones secundarias) dispersados en un mundo abierto de cada región, el cual ayudan a encontrar claves sobre la legendaria bóveda. La parte de shooter es bien representada a gran escala. ¿A qué me refiero? Bueno, el juego juega como un buen shooter (ej. Killzone), pero a diferencia de otros shooters este  ofrece 87 bazillones (¿?) de armas. No lo estoy inventado, lo dice en la caja. Aunque suena un poco exagerado el juego brinda una inmensa cantidad de armas de diferentes clases y atributos suficientes para tumbar el cielo. Es aquí donde comienza la adicción. Cada vez que encuentras un arma rara, está se convierte en un objeto de conversación y todo el mundo  se obsesiona con encontrar nuevas armas para lucir.

A continuación nuestros editores comparten sus experiencias y nos dicen por qué estan obsesionados con este juego:

William J. Ramírez (skycrawler1138)

Sinceramente Borderlands salió para mi de la nada, cuando escuché que era un RPS (Role Playing/Shooter) que se podía jugar Co-Op encendió en mi un spark de curiosidad ya que aprecio ambos género y más si es Co-Op. En el momento que empecé, nada más con el “intro” supe que lo iba a disfrutar. El arte de este juego lo hace resaltar sobre los demás juegos de este año y demuestra altos valores de producción ya que parece que estoy jugando un comic sin ser muy obvio con el sobre uso de “Cel Shading”. Como personaje escogí a Roland (Soldier) ya que me siento cómodo con su especialidad en armas (Assault Rifles y Shotguns), además de la habilidad de lanzar un Turret que provee protección y un poquito de más firepower en el campo de batalla. Lo más que me gusta de esté juego (además del loot) es la habilidad de modificar tu personaje a tu estilo de juego. La forma en la cual estoy jugando es proveyendo apoyo a mi equipo como médico el cual consta en usar mis propias armas para regenerar la salud de mis colegas (así es, le disparo a los demás jugadores y le sube la vida). Otra elemento que me gusta (como mencioné antes) es la ridícula cantidad de loot (armas), no hay nada mejor que la euforia de encontrar un cofre en el medio de la nada con un arma rara (lo cual es raro…lol). Apesar de un par de problemas estructurales (historia pobre, intercambio de armas, menú), el jugar Co-Op con mis amigos (de principio a fin/”drop-in drop-out”) y la obsesión de encontrar mejores armas son suficientes para yo disfrutar este juego al máximo. Honestamente les digo que no dejen este juego pasar, se los recomiendo.

Johnny E. Cortés (sephiroth2006)

Personalmente no soy amante de los juegos FPS. Mi interés en el juego surge por la parte de RPG y el modo cooperativo. Las gráficas del juego resalta el mundo de una manera espectacular. El diseño de los personajes me encantó y el personaje que estoy usando Lilith (Siren) aparenta ser débil, pero en el fondo hay que decirle usted y tenga (Como decimos por acá -.ed). Cuando se juega en modo cooperativo es importante que tus compañeros se complementen para poder disfrutar de las experiencia que el juego proporciona. Aunque el juego tiene problemas, como William comenta, también encuentro que puede volverse repetitivo. Creo que el juego es una de las sorpresas de este año, aunque no para el juego del año, les puedo decir que recomiendo este juego.

Michael Negrón (Mngavis)

Que les puedo decir: “Hola, mi nombre es Mngavis y soy un adicto en recuperación de Borderlands. Al presente soy un Berserker Level 21 y me encuentro perdido en los valles rocosos de Pandora.” Cuando salió la noticia de que Gearbox se mantuvo firme en lanzar Borderlands en octubre de este año, esto captó mi atención. Aun así el juego logró pasar por debajo de mi radar y el de muchos otros. Para mi ha sido la sensación de la temporada y me recuerda cuando no paraba de jugar el modo Coop de Resistance 2. Entiendo que la capacidad de poder jugar la campaña con tus amigos en cualquier momento es el fuerte del juego y lo que me mantiene volviendo por más. Estoy impresionado con el estilo gráfico,  el cual se compara con el de Prince of Persia, porque nunca pensé que pudiera ser utilizado para un FPS. Estuve un poco reaseo a usar la clase de Berserker porque pensé que iba a ser aburrido golpear a los mandidos, pero es todo lo contrario. El juego constantemente te lleva a obtener armas y habilidades nuevas y a enfrentarte a enemigos más peligrosos. En conclusión, Borderlands es mezcla de género que funciona de maravilla y es una compra que recomiendo a ojo cerrado a cualquier  miembro de nuestra comunidad.

Alberto E. Ramírez (sincalizacion)

Que bueno el saber que después de tanto tiempo en el autobús te digan “Bueno aquí te quedas, bienvenido a los Bad Lands de Pandora” y tu primer encuentro es con un Robot del tamaño de un zafacón que empieza a decirte “ hey por aquí por aquí, sígueme por aquí”, esa es la bienvenida que recibes al empezar el fabuloso first person shooter + RPG, BORDERLANDS. En esta pequeña historia yo he decidido tomar el rol del personaje Mordecai – el Cazador, lo cual sus especialidades son con los Snipers y los Revólveres, sus destrezas son muchas veces para apoyar a sus compañeros como el ayudarlos a subir sus “Expirence Points” un 3% mas de lo normal y claro con su ataque secundario adquiere la ayuda de su águila “Blood Wing”, el cual puede tomar poderes de elementos y poder dar ataques muchos mas fuertes y con efectos secundarios dependiendo el elemento. Una de las cosas que mas me gusta de este juego es como puedes unirte con tus amigos online (no importa el nivel) en cualquier momento y sin alterar la historia, entrar y salir cuando gustes sin afectar en nada el juego. Otra de las grandes cosas del juego es como dependiendo de la cantidad de gente jugando es como la dificultad del juego disminuye o aumenta. Hasta ahora lo único que no me ha gustado sobre este juego es como ciertas habilidades que están cuando juegas solo no se encuentran cuando juegas con tus amigos online, por ejemplo mi personaje Mordecai tiene una habilidad que al estar herido se puede regenerar con el tiempo pero al jugar online con tus amigos esta habilidad es descartada. En conclusión Borderlands es un excelente juego y bien adictivo, lo que lo hace mejor es el tremendo co-op. Bueno, ahora si me lo permiten tengo un autobús que tomar para los Bad Lands a ver si consigo el tesoro escondido de Pandora.

Lourdes Maldonado (lulusoy)

Lo compré por culpa de Billy. Ciertamente no hubiese salido a comprarlo si Billy no le hubiese dado tanta promoción. El juego tiene 4  personajes que puedes escoger y yo obviamente escogí a Lilith porque era la fémina del grupo. El juego me gusta bastante, pero todavía no puedo decir que me encanta. La razón principal para esto es que  me pierdo con mucha facilidad. Esto no es nuevo para mí en los juegos, así que no es culpa de Borderlands. Mi sentido de orientación no es el mejor, aunque nunca me perdí con Uncharted 2. Me gusta su sencillez dentro de su complicación. ¿Cómo es esto? Bueno que las tareas que hay que hacer, hasta ahora, no son extensas ni imposibles. Apenas soy nivel 11 ahora y no se si luego se pone peor esta situación. ¿Qué no me gusta? La variedad de armas, válgame. En verdad hubiese preferido que las armas fueran mas limitadas y que se hicieran mas fuertes según tu nivel va aumentando y claro está, que no se acabaran las balas. Me pasa esto mucho cuando estoy juagando sola. ¿Lo que más me gusta? Definitivo la parte co-op, el poder jugar con mis amigos en mi propio juego es una experiencia brutal. Esto a su vez ayudó a que fueran mis amigos los que me dieran el tutorial del juego. Sin esa ayuda extra estaría bastante frustada, estimo yo.

TRAILER

Pages from my journals May-July 2009 and August-September 2009.  San Francisco with my parents, Auntie Julie, and Myly.  My parents had a wedding to go to, and Myly had never been to SF.  We stayed with my Kuya Erick and his wonderful wife, Lillie.

July 31 -- Rough morning, long drive up

God's vagina, moo-cows, bowling!

Working on my journals, breakfast, family time

I love my family.

My favorite picture of Oso (taken by Kuya a couple of years ago), scraps from fliers and junk from the Haight District and Japantown

August 1 -- Day on the town -- shopping at Haight & Ashbury, Japantown...

After shopping, we went to Japantown and took crazy Japo pics at Pika Pika, then we ate at Yo-Sho-Ku-Ya

And then we went to one of the last standing Tiki bars in the entire Universe, the Tonga Room!!!

WEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!

August 2 -- The best tranny show ever! @ AsiaSF

August 3 -- Day of Departure

As I’ve been curious about my writing’s readability, I’ve run some strictly layman readability tests.  The results of the tests indicate I’m hitting my targets.  Below are averaged scores from my trilogy and two other books.

Flesch - reading ease formula, 60 – 70 is acceptable
Range: 69.03 – 76, Average: 72.42    Score: Fairly Easy

Flesh-Kincaid - grade-level indicator
Range: 5.29 – 6.65, Average: 5.912    Score: Sixth Grade

FOG - complexity, lower number is better, 6 – 7 is ideal
Range: 6.7 – 8.7, Average: 7.46        Score: Fairly Easy

SMOG - grade-level indicator
Range: 6.09 – 7.89, Average: 7.46    Score: Eighth Grade

ARI - per word understandability, also grade-level indicator
Range: 4.41 – 5.56, Average: 5.03    score: Sixth Grade

Summary:

Based on the findings and the my familiarity with the contents of my books, I’d recommend the minimum age of the reader to be thirteen years old.

Other than the age restriction the books are rated to be just a little more difficult to understand than writing by Mark Twain.

Visit the Pazuzu Trilogy web page here.

Purchase Pazuzu Trilogy books here.

So it’s been a couple weeks since I last gave the good folks of the Grand Canyon a shout. This lousy printer blew up on me. No, literally. Damned Techs. Ha ha. Yeah. Funny. Someone snuck in and planted a charge in this sucker, intending to give me a kaboom that even my great granddaddy would’ve felt. Fortunately for me, I had a buddy of mine run the last printing for me. We expect him to be back on his feet in a couple days.

At least he won’t have to blow his nose any more. “Handsome” Harry can just wear a mask, and no one’s going to care anyway.  To be perfectly honest, he wasn’t too good looking even before the explosion (sorry Harry, but you know it’s the truth!!), and he says he’s been enjoying the attention he’s been getting from a certain cute nurse, so perhaps this happened for the best.

On the down side, my wonderful printer is no more.  It’s gone to the great printing press in the sky, and the vast supply of ink cartridges I have are now for naught.  Anyone need a large number of HP 732 and 733 dye packs?   Cheap!

Thank God for my Traveler friends.  Ol’ Mercury Jones came through for me this time.  I stopped by The Shop, and through his vast network of contacts, I soon had a nice shiny new  (okay, okay, not so shiny or new, but hey, it works!) printer sitting on my new-to-me desk, in my new office.  I’m not saying where they got it, either, but at least the price was right!   So rock on, and yay for free enterprise.  And with that, here’s the latest news!

The Singing Zombie

I know, I know.  It’s a little far-fetched.   But this actually happened.  All of us have seen them.  The rotting shamblers, staggering along, taking bites out of themselves occasionally.  Let’s face it.  When it comes to designing minions, TETRAX is a gimp.  I mean, sure, they don’t care if you run over them while doing 30 kph in a dune buggy, they’ll just groan, get up, and keep staggering, but c’mon!  Zombies aren’t so great at world domination.  Mostly they shamble around quietly moaning like a bunch of Enforcers a few hours after getting their Friday pay.  They don’t dance.  They aren’t great conversationalists.  And they certainly don’t sing…

… or do they?

Wednesday’s usual Embry Dish party for Post Apoc Radio was a blast as always, but the night started with a LOT of technical difficulties.  Initially, we all thought it was just equipment issues, but as it turns out, it was more of an ‘interface’ problem.  A rambunctious CHOTA (who shall go unnamed) was feeling a bit frisky before the show started (… no it wasn’t me, damn it!), and our beloved DJ Apseth (being the lusty lass that she is!) was enjoying his attention, when her companion chose to bite her collar, damaging it.   The short went unnoticed until thirty minutes later or so, when the show was supposed to start.  Over two hours passed before the source of the trouble was discovered, and a suitable replacement was found for her Lifenet collar.  However, during this time, she was attempting to broadcast through the damaged interface, and something extraordinary happened.

While folks were milling around, waiting for the tunes to start, a lone zombie walked up to the dish, and began singing!  According to some eyewitnesses, the song this soulful wretch decided to sing was an ancient tune by a group called the Cranberries.

As I wasn’t there and didn’t get to see the show myself this Wednesday, I’ll have to take their word for it.  It’s possible that there’s an inside joke here somewhere, and I wouldn’t put it past the likes of people like Witchblade and Johnny Dollar to put one over on ol’ Grimbrand.  Still, I was assured by a tech that it’s possible for Apseth’s damaged dinglehopper to have been broadcasting on a frequency that the TETRAX nanites could potentially be sensitive to.  We’ve all seen how well the scarecrows work, and we know those Infected are sensitive to collar emissions, so maybe there’s something to this wild and improbable tale.  Whatever the case, something spooked our partygoers – they wound up heading to Oilville for the rest of the evening.  I guess their decomposing vocalist was just too much to deal with.

I still wouldn’t expect to find a rotter near you spouting Sinatra anytime soon.  Though they can do a very passable Keith Richards impression, they aren’t much good for anything but target practice, IMHO, and if you decide to play with the poor bastards, just keep in mind (pun intended) – a raging case of Brain Rot is a real drag.  Best to let ‘em have it with a good dose of lead from a distance, if you’ve got the choice.

Well, that’s enough for today.  The new printer’s not as fast as our old one, and we’ve got to make deadlines.  Oh well.  Keep your peepers peeled for another edition soon, if the Techs and Enforcers don’t get me first!  (HA!)

-Tribesman Grimbrand

Daha önce fallout 3 hakkında yazmıştım. Birkaç hafta önce oyunu bitirebildim. Diyebileceğim tek şeyi bu görüntü özetliyor:

Dlc’leri indirmeye hiç gerek yok. Fallout oyunu değil; vasat bir post-apocalyptic fps/tps oyunu olmuş.

War, war has changed.

tan hanbeonirado tolabwajweo idaero neol ponael su eopseo
keu modeunge ohaeyeottdaneun geol neodo alkeoya

ch’am useupge teullindaneun maldo, teo ihae hal su eoptdan p’yojeongdo
ta kwaench’anha keureoni nae son nohjiman malajweo

neol ponael sudo neol tteonal sudo nan eoptdaneun keoseul chal aljanha…

keoch’ilge toraseon neoui nunpich”
kkamanhke t’abeorin naui simjang
mich’indeut sorich’ineun nal peoriryeogo
haji malajweo chepal….
idaero toraseo kal sun eopseo
ireohke cheortae ponael sun eopseo
chugeul teut maedarinneun nal tteonaryeogo
nameun nae mameun WASTELAND

i modeunge chalmotdwaettdeon keoya, amureohji anheun teusi keureohke
ch’agapke toraseoneun neol teo pul su eopseo ch’ameul su eopseo

Jich’yeogadeun na tto mich’yeogadeun kkeut’kkaji neoreul put’chapgo isseo…

keoch’ilge toraseon neoui nunpich”
kkamanhke t’abeorin naui simjang
mich’indeut sorich’ineun nal peoriryeogo
haji malajweo chepal….
idaero toraseo kal sun eopseo
ireohke cheortae ponael sun eopseo
chugeul teut maedarinneun nal tteonaryeogo
nameun nae mameun WASTELAND

tteonaneun neoui maeumeun ije FROZEN HEART
jjit”kyeojin naui kaseumeun ijen BROKEN HEART
yeongweonhi pul su eoptke dwae beorin keot kat’a
Where is she? Where is she now…?
chidokhan nae maeumeun eojjeol suga eopseo
neo eopsi sala isseodo chogeungeo kat’eunde
ajikdo maeil bam neol put’chapneun kkumeul kkweo
Where do you go? Where do you go…

keoch’ilge toraseon neoui nunpich”
kkamanhke t’abeorin naui simjang
mich’indeut sorich’ineun nal peoriryeogo
haji malajweo chepal….
idaero toraseo kal sun eopseo
romani zation by genesis at soompi
ireohke cheortae ponael sun eopseo
chugeul teut maedarinneun nal tteonaryeogo…

nae mameun WASTELAND
kyeolguk nae mameun WASTELAND
kyeolguk nae mameun WASTELAND….

nae mameun… wasteland…

Where is she go…

Years ago, when the Mad Max films peaked in popularity in the mid-eighties, there was a huge spike in games based on the same look and premise. From classics like Wasteland to less popular titles like Road War 2000 and Auto Duel, everyone wanted a piece of the action.

Now, they’re back, why? Was it just 2K Games’ announcement of Fallout 3 that spawned the development of games like Stalker and Borderlands? Did Cormac McCarthy’s The Road make the genre mainstream again? Either way I’m not complaining.

In an age where action games tend to revolve around either “realistic” modern military combat or melodramatic space marines on steroids, the once cliched genre feels surprisingly fresh.

Scooby-Doo reimagined with Velma as the only human survivor after the (zombie) apocalypse.

[via]

Skilled photographer, videographer, performer and friend, Peter Diablow is an important part of Domina Productions and if you’ve seen the photography for our first 5 digital releases, you’ll understand why. I’ve asked Peter some questions, and he’s answered them, so here they are:

Ayden: How did you first get into photographing in the fetish scene?

Peter Diablow: When I started as a digital photographer about 7 years ago, I was in college in America and I mainly shot gothic girls. Through the goth scene in Boston (US) and the Manray club, I was introduced to fetish as they had fetish nights every once in awhile. Whilst in Boston in 2003, I got a chance to shoot Dita von Teese, but it wasn’t until I moved to New York in 2005 that I really started to shoot fetish girls and attend fetish parties. I was a house photographer there at the infamous Pandora’s Box, the biggest dungeon in NYC for about a year. When I returned to Amsterdam in 2007, after 5 years in the US, my reputation had preceded me and I was able to infiltrate the Dutch scene.

What impression did you get of the burlesque/fetish icon, Dita von Teese?

We just hit off. She’s a wonderfull person to work with, very professional and I don’t think she can ever look bad in pictures.

You are a resident at most of the fetish parties in Amsterdam, which do you favor and why?

Every party has it’s charm. Right now, it’s Boudoir Bizarre. They have the best audience in my opinion, as well as top acts which also take part in the annual B.I.T.C.H. festival. I also like the CLINIC party since they put the most effort into making their parties perfect for both the performers and the crowd…a great party to get properly introduced to the fetish crowd.

As a Domina Productions photographer you are helping to educate the electronic scene with the fetish aesthetic…do you think it is a worthwhile effort?

The aesthetic is the most important thing. The fetish scene is usually limited to commerical and hard house for half of its crowd and industrial goth music for the other. I don’t see why someone who likes other types of electronic music can’t enjoy their music at a fetish party. The stereotype sound currently associated with fetish parties results in people becoming submissive to the trend.  If they won’t go fetish, we can bring fetish to them.

For other photographers out there that want to be part of the Domina Productions crew, what advice do you have regarding taking fetish photography?

I think everyone should just let their own vision reign. In the fetish world, being unique really counts… but tits/ass shots work well too as long as it has class and style.

Which photographers do you respect the most and why?

I prefer film and music directors such as Dario Argento, Shinya Tsukamoto and Floria Sigismondi (who is also a photographer). Film lighting is so much more vivid then photography lighting. There are of course some photographers that I admire. Natasha Epperson and Blueblood.net inspired me towards digital photography as well as the early work of Dutch photographer Erwin Olaf which I find to be truely amazing.

You’ve put together the now infamous Blood Squad. Who are its members and what are some of the highlights of your performances so far?

The Bloodsquad was put together by Dutch fetish model Amarantha La Blanche and myself in 2007. Along with my girlfriend Mari Kitten and Manyu, we crashed parties and painted them red with fake blood. We loved being the crazy bloodspitting weirdo’s. We referred to ourselves as being “snood”, which became the squad’s motto “Snood to the Dood”, roughly translated: “Vile ’till the death”. In late 2008, we decided to put our talent to good use. The girls are great dancers and have a sick fetish for blood and gore so we combined the elements of horror and fetish and began doing our own shows. Since then we have performed at the top fetish parties in Holland (along with our special guest member Miss Suzn), as well as collaborative performances with international industrial bands and walkaround acts for commercial companies such as CCP/White Wolf Computer Games. You can check out our website at www.official-bloodsquad.com

What are your near future upcoming events/plans/projects?

I have a lot up my sleave. I’m constantly creating photographs (of horrific & fetish nature), setting up exhibits for 2010 and performing as an actor on stage with the bloodsquad. I also shoot videos for projection at big fetish/kinky parties such as Wasteland and Crazyland. I’d like to do more film work  and make some short films, as well as movies for internet TV. I’m currently sponsored by a fetish party in Germany called Odi Et Amo, and I also produce music under my alias Joran van der Snood.

Final note for readers?

Ignorance and arrogance kill more cats than curiosity ever will.

Model credits in corresponding order: Xarah Von Den Vielenregen, MoniQue, Déna Massque, Mari Kitten & Miss Mirjana, Dita Von Teese.

To see more of Peter Diablow’s work you can visit his site at: www.darkmindedangels.com

]]> http://postapocolyptiatheblog.wordpress.com/2009/10/24/first-aid/ Sat, 24 Oct 2009 19:24:41 +0000 dexjackson http://postapocolyptiatheblog.wordpress.com/2009/10/24/first-aid/

It occured to awhile back — and I really should have written this down earlier — but one of the most important things that should be on your list to learn — or at least, have an understanding off — is the abillity to be able to use First Aid when the situation arises. Why should it? Well, read on…

First Aid, for anyone who is not aware of it, is a set of common-sense practices and applied basic medical knowledge, that can be used to treat and possibly improve the situation of someone who is in need of medical help during or in case of arrival of a doctor to treat and take care of the person in need. However, just to be clear, First Aid is “common-sense practices and applied basic medical knowledge”; in other words, it’s not a proper solution or most effective way of treating and help heal someone that requires significant medical attention.

Image taken from http://www.cityu.edu.hk/

First Aid is an interesting little thing to know about and to be able to do, as it can be used in wide variety of situations where sophisticated and complex medical equipment is not available. Historically, it was used by various sorts of people — usually soldiers — to aid in improving the condition of a injured person or at least try to prevent their condition from worsining. Interestingly, the concept and overall application of First Aid was first started by the Knights Hospitalliers (who are they?) for mid-battle operations and immediately aftwerwards for any in need of attention. Since then, up to the modern day, it has developed into full-blown profession and even multi-tiered qualification that people can do and gain.

First Aid is extremely useful, as it can help to ease pain and even save lives- which it has been responsible for countless times. It’s not extremely hard or difficult to learn and includes many of the everyday things that your Mum or Dad — or whoever else — did to try and lessen the pain and/or prevent infection of those scrapes and cuts and burns you might have gotten as you grew up. You’ve probably seen at your workplace or school or college — or whatever else — something called a First Aid Kit. All that these kits contain are various items that can be used in several given situations that require minor medical help, such as bandages and dressing, antispetic or alchohol-based rubbing solutions, wipes and other useful items.

A comercially available First-Aid kit. Image taken from http://www.peninsularedcross.org/

You can learn First-Aid from a book, pamphlet, a professional trainer or even family and friends, as well as on the go. All it takes is common sense and a little know-how for slightly more serious injuries. You cna use pre-made items for the aid, or even improvised materials. With this in mind, however, it is important to remember that you will not become a doctor overnight just by learning how to apply to a bandage or wipe clean a cut. First Aid is used almost exclusviely for injuries and not wounds and more-than-mild illnesses, which means that when a serious case of medical help and care is needed, First Aid can only help so far.

To put this into perspective: let’s say that while you were chopping up ingredients for a salad or whatnot and managed to accidentally cut yourself with the knife, you would use probably rinse the cut under some cold water and then apply a plaster or bandage on it, right? Well, that’s First Aid right therem. If you were to be doing something a bit more dangerous, such as window cleaning for instance, then if you were to fall and fracture or break something, then you would need the help of a doctor to help treat it and advise you on what to do to help it heal.

Some examples of First Aid training. Image taken from http://kyspeaks.com/

Now, to put this in the Wasteland perspective: about 7/10, you’ll be needing to apply or recieve First Aid due to recieving some sort of injury out there, probably from catching your skin on something sharp or burning yourself when trying to cook with some improvised utentsils. In a more serious case, where someone might have gotten into a fight or possibly even grazed by a bullet or something similar to that, you’ll probably need to do a bit more to help em’ out such as checking out the damage, cleaning the injuries and affected areas, stich up the cuts and such and most likely apply dressing as well. And when it’s you who’s gotten themselves in a state, be thankful for the First Aider’s help, as the nearest doctor will realistically be a good way away from you or might not even exist!

So yeah, First Aid is important in any situation — pretty much all — where there is a risk of some sort of injury occuring from the activites or work being done in that same situation. It’s well worth learning, so, if you can, try and get some know-how on it or even get yourself qualified so that at least you know that you have a firm understanding of it and are able to competently and confidently apply it when the need arises.

A couple of useful links:

10 Years
Låt: Wasteland

Betyg: AAAA
YES! Där satt den! Veckans kanske månadens mysikfynd.
Hade inte en aning om detta band men de faller mig i smaken. Härligt…
“Wasteland” var låten jag fastnade för men kolla upp låtarna “Beautiful” och “Through the Iris”.

—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—

WEBB:  http://www.10yearsmusic.com/
MYSPACE: http://www.myspace.com/10years

—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—

Needs must when the devil visits your door.

A sample pic from the computer

I’ve been pretty busy the past couple of weeks. Of course, you wouldn’t think so if you just looked at me, sitting in my room watching movies. (sometimes with popcorn, sometimes sans popcorn) But I have been busy, mostly watching and reading up on movies. I figure, if I’m going to run 7th Planet Picture Show right, I should really know my stuff when it comes to weird, psychotronic films. Therefore, I’ve been stuffing as many into my mediaholes as I possibly can.

Here are the movies I’ve recently watched for the first time, complete with brief synopses. (mostly devoid of spoilers. mostly. Title links go to imdb.)

Laser Mission (1989) Brandon Lee is a mercenary/spy for the US Government, trying to get a scientist away from the Soviets who could make a superweapon. There are no lasers in the movie but I assume the title comes from the fact that there’s a DANGER of lasers, should the scientist be put into a lab with the LUDICROUSLY BIG DIAMOND that’s also in the movie. Editors were clearly on drugs. Either that or someone accidentally thought the storyboard was acid blotter and ate it. Public domain, baby!

Star Slammer A. K. A. Prison Ship (1987) – Sandy Brooke plays Taura, a miner who gets picked up by a corrupt galactic government official and thrown on a sleazy women’s prison ship. Lots of wacky/sexy? things happen on the ship. It’s kind of a comedy.

Act of Piracy (1990) – Some pirates, who are pretty douchey, and clearly criminally insane decide to fuck with Gary Busey, a bad idea in any decade. Then they get what’s coming to them, when he gets time after reuniting emotionally with his estranged ex-wife, that is.

Alice’s Restaurant (1969)A little, douchey hippie folk-singer (whom I know is the genuine article, but can’t help equating with arrogant kids at my high school in suburban Illinois in the mid-90’s.) named Arlo Guthrie gets to star in this movie adaptation of his goofy song, which is about half as long as the movie anyway. He almost fucks a 14 year-old. And he does fuck Alice, and some cute asian chick. Alice also nails a bunch of dudes and gets beaten by her husband and some guy is a junkie and dies, but it all makes about as much sense in the movie as it does when I explain it here.

2019 – After the Fall Of New York (1983) – Pretty much the Italian Escape From New York, hence 5x the goofy. But the main plot centers not around retrieving the President but the last fertile female in existence. Maybe the people who made Children of Men watched this and then cried and then made something better.

Cyborg (1989)- A craptastic gem brought to you by the movie crap kings Golan Globus. Van Damme is in the post-apocalyptic future. He’s not a cyborg. But there is a cyborg. And she sorta shows up here and there and he has to help her get to Atlanta. (Atlanta!?) And he beats up a lot of people. The sets and costumes in this were recycled from Masters of the Universe, after Mattel’s licensing prices were found to be too high for a sequel to a film that barely broke even.

Cyborg 2 (1993) Has absolutely nothing to do with the first Cyborg movie. Stars Angelina Jolie. She is a cyborg. And she also beats people up. and she also gets naked and it’s… well it’s fucking hot. All in all, this movie is separated from Cyborg 2 even more in that it’s actually not too bad of a flick. Jack Palance has a very kick-ass part in this and it’s too bad no award ceremony would touch a movie with this premise with a ten-foot pole, cause he delivers an outstanding performance. And did I mention Angelina Jolie sex scene? Naked? Yes?

Double Trouble (1992)- A silly but fun buddy comedy in which twin actors David and Peter Paul play cop and criminal twin brothers and join up to fight jewel thieves.

Think Big (1989) – A silly but fun buddy comedy in which twin actors David And Peter Paul play trucker twin brothers and try to help a young girl, fleeing an evil corporation that’s exploiting children in their school/think tank.(I had seen this one previously but added it to this list because I recently watched it again and was surprised to find it’s really not that bad of at all. I rather like it.)

Garbage Pail Kids, The Movie (1987) - I could see an atheist using this movie in an argument against a religious person as proof there is no god. Or at least that he hates us.

Journey to the 7th Planet (1962) – A bunch of astronauts fly to Uranus and kill the monster that lives there. I found this movie while looking to see if anyone was already using the 7th Planet Picture Show title. To my pleasant surprise, it’s just the sort of film that works for the 7th Planet Picture Show. Look for it in an upcoming web show and probably at the live 7th Planet some time, too.

Lady Frankenstein (1971) – When her father dies, Dr. Frankenstein’s daughter continues his research and, you guessed it, makes monsters. This one is pretty dry but there are some genuinely funny cheeseball moments.

The Giant Claw (1957) – The monster in this movie has got to be the stupidest one I’ve ever seen. Plus there’s a silly French Canadian guy. Those wacky foreigners!

The Little Shop of Horrors (1960) – The original Roger Corman flick that later gave rise to Oz’s musical starring Rick Moranis. You can see why they made the musical. This movie is downright wacky. In fact, the performances in this original almost seem more  rambunctiously over-the-top and ridiculous than the later film that made fun of them.

Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women (1968) Once upon a time some Russians made a movie called Planeta Bur. Then a capitalist American swine redubbed and edited the footage, added a few things and called it, Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet. Then some other hack came along and took that movie, re-edited it again, added a bunch of footage of chicks on the beach with shells covering their no-no parts and, well, that was this movie.

Warrior of the Lost World (1983) – A very skillful movie in that it rips off Mad Max and Escape From New York at the same time, leaving room to cram in hackery stolen from other successful films. Great stuff.

Zontar the Thing From Venus (1966) – Some nerd keeps playing his mmorpg and his wife gets mad at him. Except his mmorpg is an alien from Venus called Zontar who’s coming to enslave humanity. Of course, no one believes Kevin until Zontar arrives and mind control MADNESS ensues!

The Galaxy Invader (1985) – There are so many bad and awesome things I could say about this hackjob “alien vs. redneck” sci-fi film. It’s one of the gold mines that makes these movies so worth combing through.

Cherry 2000 (1987) – In the future, a white man in the future gets determined when his robot housewife slave burns out and he can’t find parts to replace her. He decides to go out into the lawless wasteland to find a duplicate for this rare machine and his guide is none-other than Melanie Griffith. Then it gets wacky.

Hardware (1990) – Moses (Dylan McDermott) finds a robot head and leaves it at his girlfriend’s apartment, her future apartment, in the slums. But she’s got really good locks. Then the robot head comes to life and rebuilds itself and tries to kill her and everyone else. A lot of black guys die.

Omega Doom (1996) – Rutger Hauer is once again a robot. But this time it’s in a movie that’s like a bad sci-fi RPG, and you don’t get to play, you just get to watch someone else play, and he’s an idiot.

Solarbabies (1986) Imagine if the Goonies was about a roller-hockey team but in the post-apocalyptic wasteland, and you’ve got Rollerbabies. Actually not bad at all. This one slipped by me as a child, which is too bad. I would have loved it then, too.

Cherez ternii k zvyozdam a.k.a To The Stars by the Hard Ways (1981) A sci-fi film from Soviet Russia in which a genetically-engineered superclone is found aboard a destroyed space-station with no memory of her purpose or prior life. Not at first, at least. Very cool!

Death Race 2000 (1975) In an oppressive future, David Carradine plays the leader in a violent sport which is used to control the populace.

Rollerball (1975) – In an oppressive future, James Caan plays the leader in a violent sport which is used to control the populace.

I’m a real glutton for punishment.

01. WASTELAND
02. Love Like This (네게로)
03. 하루만
04. Obsess (중독…)
05. 완 . 두 . 콩 .

Download

Credits: Jenpoo & the original uploader.

I’m so sorry >___<

I thought I’d already post it but seems like I forgot >___<

Here you are ! :

1. Wasteland

I love this song ~♥ Especially the intro. Feels like being in another world (>.<)~

2. Love Like this MV

Sweet song

3.Only One day

Somehow it was really hard to find this song on youtube. There are only live performances of them with this song ….

4. Obsess

I’m obsess with you ~♫  xD

5. Green peas

This song is so  relaxing

From monday to sunday night ~~♪♫

SS5501’s comeback with the mini Album “Rebirth” , which was actually planned to be released in August 2009.

Tomorrow night they’ll be peforming Love Like This at Music Core.

But first : Here is a preview

01. WASTELAND
02. Love Like This (Full Audio)
03. One Day (하루만)
04. Obsess
05. peas (완두콩)

So check it out As soon as I find the full songs I’ll post them for you

Cherry ♥