The Beholder’s Mutiny Reports

Photos will be sent to Michael Morbius 2000, Richmond Goth, Mutiny, and the Gothic BC Photo Gallery.

Monday 15 September 2003

This was the first Mutiny in its new, third location, the Purple Onion. It was scheduled for 9:00 p.m., in the lounge, while the Union (Britpop) happened in the main room. It got off to a late start.

A bouncer-like guy was working as the cashier. He checked our bags. I had a third of a bottle of Sprite in my bag left over from earlier in the day. I reassured him that I wasn’t try to sneak it in to avoid spending money at the bar, but as it turned out, his main concern was just that it wasn’t spiked.

At the bar, I bought a Coke with grenadine and a slice of lemon. The price was $2.50. I tipped 50 cents. At this point I had enough change to tip the cashier/bouncer. In return he stamped my hand.

The red curtains at the window overlooking Water Street seemed vaguely vampire-like to me. I told Ryan I could imagine a group of vampires pulling the drapes open slightly, noticing the villagers getting suspicious, and packing their things. Ryan added, “…and there’d be one guy who’d be already packed but ‘just had a few things to take care of first.’ ”

11:00 p.m.: The volume of the music reaches a “Wilfred” level. I put napkins in my ears. My Cokes start to taste a little watery.

Pixel arrives and asks about my comics; whether they’re on-line. I tell him about deviantart.com. Amanda

Wednesday 9 July 2003

This was the first Mutiny in its new location (Suite 801) on its new night. When Joe, Ryan, Fruvous, and I drove past, Wilfred, Bruce, Niall, and English! were standing on the corner (Howe & Georgia). We pulled over to say hi and they told us they’d go open the place up. The bar has a cool secret-passageway-like entrance: a single door set perpendicular to the street in an alcove a few feet back from the outside wall, followed by a spiral staircase leading underground to the bar. The interior is nice too: reddish lighting, cylindrical metal tables, and cement floor. There are two rooms. The main room had the DJ booth, the bar, that staircase, and a mirror disco ball which reflected the red light in a pleasant moving star-field pattern. The second room had interesting large cylindrical paper lights. The bathrooms were in hallways under the adjacent hotel.

I got thirsty, but I waited as long as I could to give them time to set up. Then I went to buy a drink. English of course already knew that it was Coke with grenadine and said that the price here is $2.50, fifty cents less than Milk. He also introduced me to Sam, one of the owners, and said I was one of the regulars. Sam seemed pleased and shook my hand.

Nicole was there. I waved but she didn’t acknowledge. I wasn’t surprised, she’s been not acknowledging me since way back at Retroactive at the Element. Wilfred came into the second room to adjust the volume on the speaker there, and asked if it was OK. We told him it was a little loud, so he turned it down. Later we moved into the main room, realizing that, ironically, being directly across from the DJ booth was quieter than being hidden away in the second room, in the path of a big speaker.

I went to the top of the stairs to pay my cover charge ($3) and talked to Bruce, who was working the door then. He said he was very happy with the new place. Wilfred had done a good job of finding it quickly after the new owners of Milk told us they were cancelling Mutiny there. Bruce was also happy that English was staying on. Since he was at Emofag at Ginger 62 last Sunday, I asked him how that place’s architecture compared to this place, and he said that it was nice, but had a mellow Ikea scheme that made it hard not to lie back and chill out, rather than get pumped up.

While I was talking to Bruce, Atratus and Valerian entered. Atratus said hi to me. I said hi back to him and also made a special point of saying hi to Valerian and addressing her by name, because in previous encounters I’d been concentrating too hard on Atratus and had neglected to acknowledge her. For example, at the last Halloween Sanctuary I was too focussed on reacting to his Reptoid costume and forgot to talk to her or tell her how nice her Lily Munster costume was, even though she did say hi to me that time. Ironically, this time, she didn’t say hi, but I guess that’s OK—I owed her one! When he and Valerian got to the bottom of the stairs, Atratus turned around and took a photo of me and Bruce, then smiled and gave us a thumbs-up.

When I went to get my second drink Sam was at the bar. Then I took a photo of Atratus and Valerian; Valerian said “I’m blind!”

Paul showed up. Alex and Amanda arrived, and Alex was dressed uncharacteristically-goth in a black dress shirt and black pants. They’d just been to see Miss Saigon. I took a photo of them, and a guy who looked like a cross between Raeven from Kentucky Teenage Vampires and Jonathan Gries from Fright Night 2 eyed me suspiciously while I was choosing where to stand.

Vlad and Veronica showed up, followed by Leslie and Sergio, and finally Madeleine. Sergio came over and talked and was introduced to Fruvous. He didn’t have his contact lenses so he couldn’t see who else was there and asked if Nancy was there. She hadn’t arrived yet, but then later, she and Todd did arrive, so I notified Sergio. I took a photo of Nancy. I wanted a photo of her and Todd, but Todd was moving around too much. Joe took a photo of me, Nancy, and Ryan. Then, before we could include Nancy in the written conversation we’d been having, we had to leave.

As we left English shook my hand and thanked us for coming, saying “Every Wednesday!” That was a good vibe.

Photo log: (1) club entrance; (2) club interior; (3) me; (4) Joe; (5) Bruce and Wilfred setting up the DJ booth; (6) English at the bar; (7) Ryan in front of a red paper light column; (8) disco ball; (9) Atratus and Valerian; (10) Alex and Amanda; (11) Niall, Michelle, and Paul at the door; (12) Nancy looking plaintive; (13) me, Nancy, and Ryan, by Joe.

Monday 23 June 2003

Arrived early and as has been the case recently the door to Milk was locked. Went to Honey. We saw English and he allowed us to go through the secret hallways connecting Honey and Milk. We helped set up a bit. Ryan began talking to a new girl there and after giving him some space for a while I went over and joined them. Ryan said he hadn’t got her name yet so I neatly segued into introductions; when she said that she DJed at the former Twilight Zone on Sunday nights, I said, “You may see us there, then—this is Ryan, I’m Mike.” She then said her name was Michelle. She knows the other Michelle (von Matzke). I think Ryan mentioned my LiveJournal and Michelle (the new Michelle) seemed pleased to hear that I had one, so we exchanged e-mail address and I wrote down my LJ ID. When we started to leave, English flagged us down and informed us that next week would be the last Mutiny at Milk! The bar has new owners who are turning it into a women-only lesbian bar. Mutiny is moving to the former Element Sound Lounge, now called Suite 801. Check the Mutiny YAHOO! Group for more details.

Monday 12 May 2003

English has “Mondrian hair”: he’s cut his hair very short and dyed it in a Mondrian-like pattern. Cool! We help English put up Mutiny posters. English gives me a free Coke! Thanks English. We all play pool: me vs. Joe, Joe vs. Ryan, and me vs. Ryan. The DJs tonight are Strangler (Wilfred) and Epine (Michelle). I’ve brought eight candles from the dollar store. The movie Akira is playing on the TVs. It reminds me of why I used to like anime.

I recently tried to cut my own hair but failed and had to shave my head. Alex (a shaved-head guy himself) likes it. He also says that women like guys with shaved heads. Of course, that’s Alex’s experience. My mileage may vary! Michelle plays Iron Maiden (“Run for the Hills”). Alex says it’s the firs ttime he’s ever heard Iron Maiden played at a club.

12:25 a.m.: it always comes back to EBM. Alex wants to know more about my hair. I tell him how it happened. He tells me the story of the first time he shaved his head. He was in the desert for four days without water. He got fed up with his long hair and shaved it off.

Monday 21 April 2003

We arrive super-early. On the way in I’m amused by an emphatic sign on the window of the laundromat: “!!! NO !!! public telephone/washroom.” When I get in, I see that this week, English has maraschino cherries! We’re early enough to order food, but we’ve already eaten something, so we split an order three ways of “lotus-eater potstickers” and “cracktown fries.”

I tell Sarah that Ryan may be gone for a while due to an excess of work, and Sarah says that she’s moving back to Indiana in early May!!! She’s brought us going-away presents from Bellingham—Star Wars books from the early eighties about computers. I make a card for Sarah—“Indiana Stierch”—signed by me, Joe, and Ryan, but Sarah doesn’t seem to understand it.

I play a game of pool. Todd, Nancy, and Michael Eastman arrive. Todd has a new haircut.

Monday 14 April 2003

Joe, Ryan, and I pick up Shannon on the way to Mutiny. This is Shannon’s first Mutiny. When we arrive I pick up the request clipboard and write down lots of requests, hoping that Sarah and Wilfred will have some of the songs. I have two new mini-comics out and I give Shannon a copy of each of all of my comics so far. I also give Nancy her contributor’s copy of This Is What Happens When You Don’t Eat Your Vegetables #6, containing her submission, “Land of the Free?”

Avi, Todd, Mike Eastman, Patty, Daniel, the guy that looks like the aliens from Battlefield Earth, Paul, Bruce, Madeleine, and Shroud (the bouncer from Sanctuary) are here. Both Shannon and Joe are drawing for my comics! I’ve brought two big white candles I bought at the dollar store a few days ago—one vanilla and one coconut. English provides holders for them. Todd is being extra-nice tonight.

I apologize to Nancy for having to cancel on going to her party on Saturday. She says “You can make it up to me by buying me a drink.” Worried that what she wants to drink might be an alcoholic drink that costs about $5 rather than the $3 I spend on each Coke, I ask her what she drinks. “Paralyzers.” “How much are they?” “Five something.” I tell her I can’t afford that, so she says I can give her some money towards a paralyzer, and she can spend the money that that saves her on groceries. I give her $2, which I can afford, and she says “Thank you” and offers her hand for me to kiss (something Ryan has always been able to look cool doing, but which I normally avoid). Then she takes my hand and kisses it softly, like a cat nuzzle. Aw. :)

She asks for a piece of paper. Ryan explains to Shannon our in-joke about “Go” by Tones on Tail being “the Cthulhu song” (“Ia ia ia ia ia ia ia-ia-ia”). Sarah looks at my requests and says “We don’t have half the s--- you request!” I say that the plan was just to take a shot and see if she did have any of it. She says “There will be some Berlin—I promise.” Joe is drawing Arex, the Edoan from the Star Trek animated series (we’d been talking about him earlier). Ryan and Nancy dance. Shannon makes some requests.

I add red Sharpie ink to the napkin fragments in my ears to simulate bleeding, but Sarah isn’t fooled. Joe points out that Michelle has arrived, so I go to give her the new mini-comics. When I get back, Nancy points out that she also likes photography and wants to take a photo with my camera. I, Joe, Todd, and Ryan sit on the stage and Nancy photographs us. I go to the bar to get another drink and Sergio sees me and says that he saw my self-portait in my icon in a comment I’d left on Nancy’s livejournal.

Nancy asks if we’re going to Blenz afterwards. I say to ask Ryan, thinking that he has to get up early for work the next day. Nancy asks Ryan, and I ask her what he said, and she says that he said he’d think about. “Sounds promising,” she says. As it later turns out, he didn’t have to work the next day.

While getting up from the table someone knocks over a paralyzer, spilling it on Shroud and some on Joe’s bag. I give Shroud some napkins I have handy. Later, as I exit the bathroom, I pass Bruce, who sees the blood-red napkins I forgot that I still had in my ears and thinks that I’m bleeding!

Ryan dances on stage during the last song. The house lits dim, creating a romantic effect. The candles’ flames twitch in time with the bass percussion shockwaves created by “Wall of Sound.”

Monday 7 April 2003

Before Mutiny I went to Bernie’s and got a bacon dog. When I got to Mutiny I found that English had run out of candles. I went to 7-Eleven to buy some but all they had were small birthday candles. I returned to Mutiny and asked English when his birthday was. He told me (it was nowhere near tonight) and I said “Happy birthday” and gave him the candles. I found a dollar on the floor!

I gave Sarah the new issues of my zines and she seemed to like them. I pointed out that the movie Vampirella was going to be on Space tonight but Sarah and Wilfred had three movies planned already and they weren’t sure if the bar got Space anyway. I did lots of drawing tonight including three panels for Drawings of the Vancouver Goth Scene #4. I also got Joe to draw.

I played pool. Also in attendance: Vlad and Veronica, Leslie, Alex and Amanda, Avi, Bruce and Madeleine. I made ear plugs out of napkins when it got loud.

Monday 31 March 2003

When I arrived Wilfred was working at the door. He pointed out the new set-up for the DJ booth: in the space at the ceiling in the southwest corner of the room instead of on the stage. I distributed the new issue of Drawings of the Vancouver Goth Scene.

The pool table is back! It’s tilted, however, so the balls tend to collect on the south side of the table. I played Ryan; then it was the turn of Avery, a guy in his mid-to-late twenties with dark hair, a chin-only goatee, and black plastic pants. He played Joe.

Sarah announced that it was Michelle’s birthday. “What’s On Your Mind” by Information Society—one of my requests from last week—was played. I brought the copy of Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 I’d taped off of Space recently; I noticed there was nothing in particular playing on the TVs, so I offered the tape to Wilfred, but it turned out that the VCRs were not set up this week.

Sarah had one brief set at the beginning of the night; the rest of the night Wilfred played. Sarah’s car was broken into while she was at Sanctuary last night and all her CDs were stolen. Only her vinyl remained, which is why her set-list contained different music than usual this week, like “Rock With You” by Michael Jackson. I’d also brought three CDs this week with my requests, and I gave them to Wilfred.

Nancy asked if I had any new photos; I said no, but gave her the issues of the zines she didn’t have yet. She asked how my cat was and offered to bring photos of her cats next week. I said I’d like to meet her cats sometime and should come over, which I hadn’t done since the housewarming party. She said it was a good idea. Her cats are happy, and like to have their tummies rubbed, except for the oldest, who’s grumpy.

I gave Sarah one of my plastic vampire bats and explained the meaning. She seemed cheered up by it.

I told Nancy that Joe was the guest artist for three of my recent zines. She asked if I’d be having different guest artists on a regular basis. I said I’d like to. I asked if she drew, and she said she could try. I gave her four mini-comic-sized blank pages. Mike Eastman read through my mini-comics during this part of the evening. Nancy gave me a small image of George W. Bush as Hitler with the caption “Land of the Free?” to include in the next mini-comic.

I decided that Wilfred’s style of music is “Wilfabilly.”

Nancy was happy to report that she was getting buzzed, but not too much to enjoy it. She blew in my ear, which I hope was intended as a compliment.

Joe and I did lots of drawing over the course of the evening. My theory that I spend less money on cola when I’m drawing was supported: my second Coke took all night to drink. I had to finish it as the DJs were packing up.

Nobody had to get up early the next day so we proceeded to Blenz. Nancy needed to be reminded that she was hot; she doesn’t hear it enough lately.

Other people in attendance this week: Alf, Miki, Avi, Todd, Nancy, Alex, Amanda, Pixel, Michelle, Bruce, Vlad and Veronica, and Mike Eastman.

Monday 24 March 2003

Still no pool table—Alex annoyed—while I was writing requests on the request sheet, he told me to write, “Pool table!” I showed Alex and Amanda the photo I recently found of the first time I went to the Element. They liked it (“old school”). Amanda said “That was the night we took Kat home.”

I showed Nancy the new photos and the new issue of Who Copies the Watchmen? with her in one panel. She asked “Is that supposed to be me?” but must have liked it since she then asked if she could keep that copy.

I took a photo of the dartboard near the coat check, which is temporarily replacing the pool table. Wilfred helped light the photo by pointing the projector light towards the dartboard.

The movie on the monitors was Natural Born Killers. Joe wondered if Oliver Stone had had a bad formative childhood experience with someone (maybe his father) with the wolf-like appearance shared by all three antagonists in the movie (Robert Downey Jr., Tom Sizemore, and Tommy Lee Jones).

I gave Sarah one of my extra “punk collage” notebooks I’d bought at the dollar store in my neighbourhood, since she’d said she liked them when I showed them to her several weeks ago. She liked the one I gave her and wrote the address for FRED in it.

I had an idea for a mini-comic with one panel from each person I know, including people from around the world whom I only know on-line.

Mike Young has a new Autobot symbol patch and is wondering where to put it. An uncharacteristically upbeat Morrissey song caused Joe to sing (in an excellent Morrissey impression, including Moz’s typical melodic range of a third) “I don’t feel like slitting my wrists today.” Ryan and I want to do a Morrissey cover of the Fine Young Cannibals. Note to self: try to do keyboard arrangement of it.

Someone (possibly Joe) said “By the power of Catskull!”

Other people in attendance tonight: Mike Eastman, Mike Young, Alf (and his girlfriend), Miki, Avi, Michelle, Leslie, Vlad and Veronica, Paul (South Africa).

Monday 17 March 2003

Joe, Ryan, and I arrived super-early to keep Sarah company while she set up. Our early arrival meant that I was more than early enough to get a bacon dog. As usual it was great—but I suddenly realized that they cost about $2.50. That’s kind of a lot for one hot dog. I may have to stop buying them on nights when I have to budget.

We met Caroline, an Australian tourist, at the bar. She was lonely so we talked to her for a while. She dropped her ring on the floor, but Joe found it.

Since I’d mentioned to Sarah that I liked “Glass Dance” by the Faint, she put that CD on. I also realized that this would be a good time to flip through her CDs and see what I wanted to request, since during the actual show, the CDs are in use by the DJs. I did so. Sarah was very helpful while I browsed; if I suddenly remembered that I liked a song by a particular artist, but couldn’t remember the title, she asked, “How does it go?”

Eventually I moved from the bar to my usual booth. I took an extra candle so I’d have enough light to write and draw. English removed one of the candles, saying that a candelabra would be there soon and it would provide enough light. Wilfred and Joe hung the candelabra on the wall, but—although it looked great—it didn’t seem to provide any light for my writing and drawing, as far as I could tell, anyway. I found a new second candle.

The photo I took last week of the new pirate flag at the DJ table didn’t turn out—my hand somehow got in the way of the lens—so I told Wilfred I’d be taking another one while he DJed. He said he didn’t mind. Sarah said that Wilfred had actually made that flag himself! Someone had also offered to give Mutiny another pirate flag but it never materialized.

The pool table was broken and the top was covered by a big piece of wood. I wondered what Alex would say when he found out.

Ryan said that he didn’t really want to see Dreamcatcher but apparently the Matrix cartoon Final Flight of the Osiris would be played at screenings of Dreamcatcher. I wouldn’t mind seeing Dreamcatcher, although I have a feeling I’ll still prefer John Carpenter’s The Thing (1982; starring Kurt Russell when he was in his prime).

I noted that the producers of the Matrix cartoon were calling it “anime” and that this might be incorrect since I had yet to see or hear any indication that it was Japanese animation in the manga art style. Ryan countered—inappropriately, I thought—that it would be considered anime in Japan, where the word “anime” refers to any animation. This led to an examination of the word “otaku.” I never understood the difficulty people have had in translating it, since their multi-word explanations can, IMO, be fit into the English word “fanboy.” However, according to Ryan, “otaku” has much more negative connotations, at least in Japan. In North America, anime fanboys casually call themselves otaku, but, says, Ryan, if they were to do so in Japan, they would be despised, since the word “otaku” there implies not only an obsession with anime, but a seriously dangerous and undesirable person. I saw his point, but added that, when the word “fanboy” first appeared, it had the same meaning—not just any male fan of a genre, but someone who would, for example, follow a comics professional into a bathroom and watch them urinate. Ryan conceded that words had become devalued, but said that he had stopped caring about the correct use of language after seeing his younger brother’s ICQ messages.

Joe brought a new book he’d heard about from Ryan, Star Trek Star Charts. The book is brand-new and accounts for information revealed in the newest Star Trek TV series, Enterprise. Joe and Ryan used it to sort out some of their theories on the layout of the Star Trek universe—theories that they began discussing way back when we started going to Retroactive at the Element.

Alex was indeed horrified to discover the lack of pool. “No pool!” he roared. He was wearing a new shirt (in the sense that I’d never seen it before) that said “psycho” in lower-case Helvetica with the right halves of the letters missing. He said he’d bought it while shopping for a shirt for someone else and that it was the least silly shirt in the store. Also, he prefers to think of himself as a sociopath rather than a psycho.

A smooth, jazzy song that reminded me of the Cardigans’ album First Band on the Moon was “Paper Cuts” by Broadcast, according to Sarah.

Amanda had a new bra.

Nancy liked the latest photos. Avi noticed the photos and checked to make sure that he wasn’t in any of them.

I decided I needed to know what to properly call Mike “Seredin,” so I asked Nancy, and she said she thought his last name was Eastman.

Jason brought art supplies and did paintings. Pleased to find another artist working at Mutiny, I took a photo of him painting. At first he looked annoyed, but he later said that nothing annoys him.

Nancy brought her camera, a digital camera, and took photos of Mike Eastman, Ryan, Joe, and possibly me, since I think I was in the background of two of the photos.

Michelle showed up, and had a new hair colour: red. Ryan wanted a photo, but Michelle didn’t want her photo taken. Michelle looked slightly pregnant, but I suspect that was just the bagginess of her dress.

Last night at Sanctuary, Paul (from South Africa) said he was saving his green shirt (and green underpants) for tonight (St. Patrick’s Day). He did wear his green shirt, but said that the green underpants were not available after all. His girlfriend’s name is Lori, which I needed to know since she was in one of the drawings appearing in the next Drawings of the Vancouver Goth Scene mini-comic. I mentioned that my first photo of him hadn’t wasn’t flattering and he quipped that he didn’t photograph well for the same reason that he had no reflection in mirrors.

There was a girl at Mutiny wearing a t-shirt that said “Wendy?” I wondered what that meant.

I said hi to Michelle as she was walking by, and she asked if I’d been drawing all evening. I said that I had, and gave her a copy of Drawings of the Vancouver Goth Scene #1. She read it at the bar and then said that she liked it, that it was beautiful, and she’d like a copy of the next issue, too. That was a good vibe!

Monday 10 March 2003

Joe, Ryan, and I arrived late, about 10:30 p.m. The street was occupied by several movie trailers. I asked the policewoman standing nearby what was being filmed, and she said it was untitled, but that it was some sort of made-for-TV movie.

I went in and Wilfred was at the door. Mike “Seredin” and Nancy were there, along with Alex, Amanda, and Pixel (Alex and Amanda’s friend whom I’d met at Alex and Amanda’s going-away dinner for their friend Princess held at Ichibankan), Avi, and Paul (South Africa). There was a different bartender this week (not the usual bartender, English).

I noticed that Sarah looked different and said so. She said she had a new hairstyle and was glad someone had noticed. “You rule!” Thanks! I took a photo of the new look.

Nancy asked if the photos were done yet. I said that I was still using up the roll and took another one of her and Mike “Seredin.” As an experiment I lent Mike my sunglasses so he wouldn’t be blinded by the flash. Nancy also brought her own camera because she wanted a photo of her new hat.

I played pool.

I gave Sarah a copy of Drawings of the Vancouver Goth Scene #1. She liked the mini-comic! I took a photo of her holding it open to the page with the drawing of her.

Todd arrived.

“Dancing with Myself” is becoming Wilfred’s “Don’t You Want Me,” in the sense that the latter is the song I most associate with Kim’s set-list at Retroactive; the former seems to be a Wilfred standby.

It got really hot in the bar.

“Bird-mohawk woman” and her boyfriend arrived, as did Jack, Bruce, and Madeleine.

Sarah said she might be free to hang out on Thursday. I gave her the extra copy of Comatose Rose I found lying on the couch just before I left Sanctuary. She told us about Mortiis, this issue’s cover story—apparently he had his face permanently surgically altered. (I previously thought it was just make-up so that he could be unrecognizable in public as himself.) Sarah said that he had two “normal” teenage daughters.

We looked at the TV, which was showing Tales from the Dark Side. Sarah wondered if the woman preparing to cook the two children was Debbie Harry. Then in a subequent segment we spotted David Johanssen of the New York Dolls, AKA Buster Poindexter. Sarah approves of the new buttons I bought at Bang On. She even remembers Jem and the Transformers. She said I need a Misfits button to go with the Jem button. This reminded me that the girl at Bang On had said that they don’t have the rights to these images; Sarah said “No, it’s totally punk.”

Nancy looked bored and lonely so I decided to go talk to her. Ryan came with me. Nancy said she was mad that people were laughing at the old woman who had wandered in and was now dancing. Nancy said she knows what it’s like to go to a club and not fit in and be laughed at; that’s what happened to her at the Roxy. Ryan said that that’s why he liked Jeff’s suggestion of an organized Goth invasion of the Roxy some night.

Nancy asked about Shannon, whom she misses. Ryan and I explained that Shannon had left the scene. Nancy reassured us that Shannon would be back someday.

Some over-confident guy in a sweater violated Nancy’s personal space by grabbing her hand and not letting go while he hit on her.

Alex had to leave early; he has an exam tomorrow.

I heard a song with a great funky synth bass-line and asked Wilfred (DJing) what it was. He said “New York, New York” by Nina Hagen.

Joe arrived! I took a photo of Joe, lending him the sunglasses, and then one of Ryan, again with sunglasses.

At 12:06 a.m. I realized that I only had $3.50 left, so I could either get one more Coke, or corn dogs on the way home.

“NWO” by Ministry was played, and Ryan said that he was surprised to find it on the Cool World soundtrack. Ryan, Joe, and I talked about how that was one of the early Brad Pitt movies before he got famous and insufferable, but then I remembered that after his glamourous roles in Legends of the Fall and Interview with the Vampire he forced himself to return to character acting with 12 Monkeys. “Good movie,” said Nancy.

Trying to think of a comic strip to draw, I asked Ryan what a Goth infomercial would be like. Ryan suggested computers. Joe said fetish-wear cleaner.

I have a note here in my notebook that says “Sausages…Kim McCann.” I don’t know what I meant by that.

Dean—the Freemason who was at the last Gothic Cheers—is here!

Monday 3 March 2003

Joe, Ryan, and I arrived about 10:15 p.m. I saw Nancy, Todd, and Jason (seated) and Alex, Amanda, Avi, and Paul (playing pool) were already there. Sarah's car apparently broke down and so she couldn't make it. Wilfred and Nicole were DJing. Escape from New York was playing on the TVs. Bruce was working the door. When I went to buy a Coke, English (the bartender) half-seriously asked if I was going to play with his candles again. I assured him I wasn’t and he seemed happy. Later on the guy I think of as “the Goth Ray Seredin” was there along with Mike Young and the guy I think of as “the guy who looks like Jaden from Kentucky Teenage Vampires.” The girl with the bird-like mohawk was also there with her boyfriend.

Nancy asked if the photos from last week were developed. I said no; I’m still using that roll. To use it up faster I took a photo of Nancy, Todd, and Jason.

I gave copies of my latest mini-comic/zine Drawings of the Vancouver Goth Scene #1 to Alex and Amanda, Nancy, and Paul. Alex and Amanda felt that Amanda's boobs weren't drawn big enough. I used a Sharpie to add more boob. It still wasn’t big enough so Alex motioned for the Sharpie and added even more boob. Avi was passing by and noted that Amanda’s boobs should be bigger. Nancy said she’d read the zine in the bathroom.

Paul asked if I put the photos I took on any web-site. I mentioned the sites listed above.

Alex, Amanda, and Ryan went to visit Kat at a comedy show at the Astoria.

Nancy liked the zine and donated 25¢. I said she didn’t have to do that but she insisted, saying that she liked to support independent artists. Yay, Nancy! She added, “You’ll have to draw Todd. He’s making fun of me.” I’ll have to get a photo reference for him first. I guess that’ll be on this roll.

Paul wanted to know why he appeared to be wearing white clothes in the drawing of him (with Sarah). I explained that he was actually wearing gray clothes and that I didn’t want to colour over the clothing folds I’d drawn. I need to buy a big gray pen—Ryan’s clothes are also white in the drawing of him (with Alex and Amanda).

I saw “Ozzy” sitting at the bar. I’ve been calling him “Ozzy” because he looks like Ozzy Osbourne and because that’s his name in the Gothic BC Photo Gallery, but I thought now might be a good time to find out if he likes to be called something other than “Ozzy.” I wouldn’t want to address him as “Ozzy” only to discover that he found it disrespectful. So I asked. He does go by “Ozzy.” He asked if me if he looked as much like Ozzy Osbourne without his sunglasses; I said he didn’t. He seemed mildly disappointed.

Eventually it was my turn to play pool. It looked like Ozzy might also have been waiting for a turn but he said he wasn’t, and that he’d been trained to play pool by a professional, although he preferred snooker. First I played against Joe. I moved the cue out of Madeleine’s way and she smiled and said “thank you.” Paul was sitting at the bar and when I held my cue at a different angle to avoid hitting him, he said “You can ask me to move. When I’m playing pool, I know I need my ‘personal space.’ ” Later I asked him to move. “What?!” he snapped; then he laughed and moved.

Next a new guy named Sam played against Joe. Sam lived in Richmond briefly, at the north end of the city near the military academy and the big field of thorns. He said he loves Richmond, which is nice to hear.

Alex, Amanda, and Ryan returned, and Ryan reported that he had “brokered a peace.” Congratulations! (Who were we fighting this time?)

The song after the “I see a red door and I want to paint it black” song (or “the Tour of Duty song,” as I think of it) was that really memorable song they always play at Sanctuary, with the harsh synthesizer that goes down a perfect fifth, then up a perfect fourth.

Sam was horrified to learn that the bar closes at 1:00 a.m.

I realized that Mike Young looks like the Japanese robot Otomo from Robocop 3. I mentioned it to Nancy and she said she hasn’t seen Robocop 3. I said, “I guess you don’t like science fiction?” and she said that she does like some, and that she likes They Live. Cool! I love They Live!

After Mutiny a group of us went to the 24-hour Blenz on Granville and Davie. I don’t like coffee, so I got a Jones soda and a slice of lemon poppy seed loaf (with icing). At first the guy behind the counter was nice to me, but when I had to return the soda because I’d asked for vanilla and he’d given me cream soda, he seemed angry. Joe and Ryan also got Jones sodas; theirs were the blue bubble-gum flavour (both).

I introduced myself to “the Goth Ray Seredin” and found out that his name is also Mike! Todd sauntered over and said “So, you’re Jonesing for soda!” and pointed out to us that there are secret fortune-cookie-like messages in the bottlecaps of Jones. He sounded very surprised that we didn’t know that already. I did, on the other hand, know that they accepted submissions for photos to go on the label.

There was some milling about as we decided which sector of Blenz to Goth-colonize. We eventually took the south corner. Nancy, Todd, and Jason entered wearing Burger King crowns. When the sofa was upended and rotated to face the group, Jason said, “Sofa? Dibs.”

I learned that “Jaden” is actually named Sergio and his girlfriend is Leslie. We talked about the unacceptable inflation of cereal prices. Leslie was very happy to hear about the one kilogram bags of generic frosted flakes that I used to eat when I was poor(er). (You don’t need milk; you just eat them dry out of the bag like chips, and you drink tap water from a glass when you get thirsty.) We all agreed that Lucky Charms were hard to eat without overeating because you try to strategically steer the spoon to get the most marshmallows in each mouthful, and end up getting to the bottom of the bowl with only cereal pieces left, and have to pour more of the box into the bowl to get more marshmallows. We also agree that the milk tastes awesome when it soaks up the sugar from the marshmallows and turns purple. Sergio doesn’t like crunchy cereal; he likes to let it get slightly soft before he eats it. I like it just after it’s been completely submerged in milk, but hasn’t yet lost its crunchiness. Leslie was also glad to hear about FRED, since it was in her neighbourhood.

Jason and Mike Young began talking about who the people present looked like, at first limiting it to Star Trek. They said that Leslie looked like Nurse Chapel (or, I suggested, Number One, since in that episode Majel Barrett’s character has black hair). Sergio looks like a young O’Brien, though with dark, straight, obviously. Mike Young told Mike “Seredin” he looked like Jabba the Hutt. Ouch. That’s when I told Mike Young that he looked like Otomo. Mike Young was surprisingly very pleased—he grinned and gave me a thumbs-up. (I often wondered if he was going for a robotic effect when I noticed the way that he slowly walks around Sanctuary, wearing his sunglasses in the dark and looking slowly from side to side like a Terminator. His reaction to my Otomo comment supports this.) Joe was said to look like a young James Doohan, while Ryan was a young William Shatner. I thought that Todd looked like Isaac Mizrahi. Jason said that I look like Michael Dorn without make-up. A confusing assessment, considering that Michael Dorn is middle-aged and black, but also flattering, since Dorn is athletic and handsome. So, thanks…I think. There’s nothing wrong with going into the girls’ bathroom; I would have donated my kidney whether you needed it or not.

By this point Jason and Mike Young were openly declaring themselves superior geeks and talking Star Wars with Ryan. Mike “Seredin” moved away from them, asking Lesie, Sergio, and I if we were talking about anything other than Star Wars before joining us. I subsequently moved over to Nancy when she asked if she could see the developed photos I had with me. It turns out she knows Raven, the girl I met at the Reel Horror new location opening party. I asked her what her totem animal was, and she said that a friend had told her that it was the deer and the cougar. I wondered if Nancy and Todd might have been the Goth couple I saw at a drag queen competition at the Royal five or six years ago, but Nancy said she wasn’t with Todd at that time.

Nancy wanted to know what we thought about her eyebrows, and I let her know that a few weeks ago, I thought she was mad at me, but it was just the extra-pointy eyebrows she had drawn on that made her look angry. She said, “But I like having pointy eyebrows.” It made me realize that I have naturally pointy eyebrows, which I hadn’t thought about in many years.

On the subject of mistaken-as-angry looks, I held up my hands to make a frame to see if Jason, Mike Young, and Todd would all fit in a photo, and I saw Jason glaring back at me. As it turned out, he wasn’t really glaring at me, but the framing gesture reminded him of a guy at Sanctuary who comes from Seattle, has blond hair in a mullet, wears long jackets, and makes that framing gesture at Jason all the time. Jason said that normally he’s very hard to anger, but he finds that guy’s framing gesture really offensive. I guess it’s like the head-crusher from Kids in the Hall. He’s not really doing anything that has any physical effect, but it’s still rude.

One of the highlights of the Blenz trip was when some yuppies walked past and stared at us through the window. “We’re getting looks!” I pointed out to Ryan and he said “We’ve arrived!” It felt like a Goth rite du passage, although, of course, as one of the more conventionally-dressed people there, I can’t take any credit.

Monday 24 February 2003

People there: Alex, Alf, Amanda, Avi, Daniel, English (the bartender), Jason, Jeff, Kim, Mike (Young), Nancy, Sarah (DJing), Todd, Wilfred (DJing), the guy who looks like a Goth version of Ray Seredin, the woman with the bird-like mohawk, the guy who looks like Jaden from Kentucky Teenage Vampires.

For the first time in many weeks I bought a hot at dog at Bernie’s at Tinseltown. At first I wasn’t sure if I was at the right place; the cashier didn’t seem to understand the concept of “a BC dog,” though that’s what it’s called on their menu. This time I remembered to ask for it without sauce, and enjoyed it very much.

Took photos of/with Nancy.

Kim arrived wearing a fishnet shirt over a rubber diving vest (with round metal “slave” zipper handle), black plastic skirt decorated with watches on chains, black fur coat (with skull buttons) and top hat. It was as if a character from Dickens had discovered fetish wear.

I asked Sarah if she liked the videotape I made her a long time ago, since I hadn’t seen it played. She said she did like it, but Wilfred had suggested that they not show music videos at Mutiny.

Remembering that she’d talked about gaming on her livejournal, I asked Sarah for advice on the Vampire: The Masquerade campaign I’m trying to start (with Paul and myself as players and Ryan as storyteller). I remembered her journal correctly: Sarah said she used to work in a gaming store, and was enthusiastic about the idea of a new V:TM LARP. She pointed out one or two other people right there at Mutiny who had done it, including Jason and Todd. She says she wouldn’t want to be storyteller on this chronicle, at least not without major support from assistant storytellers (logistics; playing NPCs). She had an interesting vision for the things we could do, like renting out clubs, restaurants, and parks, and getting DJs. Sarah says that she’s not as familiar with Werewolf as she is with Vampire, and wouldn’t want to storytell a Werewolf campaign, and that Changeling seems to attract bubbly people. Jason said that he knows the guy who wrote the Vancouver sourcebook for V:TM. Sarah said that the Montreal sourcebook is like Sin City.

Sarah said that Alf is her attorney.

I got in trouble with English for putting little pieces of napkin in the candle flame. He walked up to Ryan and me and said “What are you doing?” Ryan said “Nothing,” which was true of Ryan, but not me. English said, “It doesn’t look like nothing.” I said, “I’m putting little pieces of napkin into the candle, is that…” and he interrupted and said “That’s a big problem,” nodding vigorously. Before I could apologize he took our candle and walked away. Over the course of the night I bought two more Cokes and tipped generously and eventually he seemed to have forgiven me, judging from his “Thank you!” when I tipped double on my last Coke. Sarah said that he was probably tired and stressed out from running the bar.

I talked to Alex while he and Amanda and Avi played pool. Alex’s t-shirt said “Know Fear,” which coincidentally was on a bumper sticker I’d seen the day before. The rest of the bumper sticker said “Climb Trad.” This was not connected to Alex’s shirt. Alex said he got the shirt when a company that hired him to write software gave him a budget to get shirts printed. It seemes to have tied in with hang-gliding somehow.

Alex and I also talked about the article about nerds and bullies that I’d received from someone and reprinted in my livejournal. The article claimed that nerds don’t get attacked for being smart in elementary school; not until junior high school. I disagreed. Alex’s experiences agreed with the article: he said that he went to a Catholic elementary school and was respected for being smart; when he went to a public junior high school he got attacked. He says he responded by lifting weights four hours a day and taking karate and boxing, and that even though the bullies countered that by attacking him eight-on-one, the bullies knew that the first four of them to come at him would get damaged and they left him alone after they learned that the hard way.

I played pool with Ryan. I’d been away from the booth I was originally sitting in for so long that English asked if he could move my coat and bag to the coat check area to free up the booth.

Amanda and Nancy paid for the photos I sold them last week.

Before we left, Ryan took a photo of Kim’s outfit, and I took a photo of Sarah’s cute scarf (black with white skulls on it), which she modestly downplayed, saying she bought it at Hot Topic for $5. Soon there were many people admiring the scarf and she had to add that this was the last one!

Monday 17 February 2003

I showed up, paid the cover, tipped Wilfred (working the door), bought a Coke, tipped the bartender, forgot the Coke, and went back for it. Said hi to Alex and Amanda and gave Amanda my business card so she could e-mail me regarding future events. Said hi to Sarah. Took photo of Wilfred. Took photo of Sarah DJing. Took new photo of Paul (the Paul from South Africa) since the last one didn’t turn out well. Avi did not want to be photographed.

Sarah introduced me to Daniel. I showed Sarah and Daniel the new roll of film I’d just had developed. I discovered the name of the guy with Nancy in the photo on that roll of film is Jason.

Decided while in bathroom to try out free bottle of Axe I got with my purchase (the soundtrack to Escape from New York) last Saturday at Virgin Megastore. It had no effect on women that night but it did give me a headache and nausea. Don’t spray it on yourself as copiously as the guy getting changed in the elevator in the commercial, people.

I danced to Duran Duran’s “Girls on Film.” I chair-danced to Gary Numan’s “Cars,” thinking to myself, “Here in my chair/I feel safest of all.” The song after “Cars” (“Tear It Apart”?) had bass synthesizer that reminded me of the soundtrack to the eighties Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon. The song with the words that repeat four times has a good percussion/synth opening.

Monday 30 December 2002

We arrived very early—about 8:30 p.m.—but Sarah and Wilfred had already started. There was a new Mutiny poster. I played pool with Joe, then doubles against Bruce and his friend. I’d bought a hot dog at Bernie’s at Tinseltown on the way over, but forgot to ask for it without sauce, and so couldn’t eat it.

Monday 18 November 2002

This was the first Mutiny ever. Ryan and I took the bus in and declared ourselves and all who would later be recorded in Goth history as having been to this event “Mutineers.” I ate two BC dogs from Bernie’s at Tinseltown. Mutiny was moved from the Lotus dungeon to the Milk bar. Michelle was putting out a chalkboard when we arrived. Wilfred and Sarah were inside.

I loaned my pen to Sarah so she could write her set list. Sarah and Wilfred played “How Soon Is Now“ by the Smiths. I learned that the price of Coke at this bar is $3. I made a card for Sarah and Wilfred in honour of their debut night and Ryan and Michelle and I signed it.