Fun for the whole family!

Each year in the Queen Victoria Gardens, somewhere between the roar of StKilda road and the quiet buzzing of all the demon insects that are starting to hatch in their quest for blood, for one day each year there is a place where we can lay down our rugs and kick those teddybears out of their supposedly hallowed ground!

That’s right, teddies, time for our picnic. The one you never invited our Carl Cthulhu’s or Chuckies or Living Dead Dolls to because you’re discriminatory bastards!

My insane ranting aside, it should be a fun day for everyone provided the weather holds out.

You’ll want to bring:

• Picnic blanket, or ludicrously long trenchcoat
• Snacks & drinks – possibly enough to share because that’s how you make friends
• Plates, cutlery & cups
• Camera
• Sunscreen
• Stereosystem of some kind

Now it should be pointed out that this isn’t an all-in-gothfest, but a classier affair! People should dress to impress in Victorian inspired finery. Yknow, Elegant Lolita, Steam Punk/Neo-Victorian, Rococo, Baroque, etc.

For more information, or to be part of the social media side of things, check out the event listing on Facebook.

Spread the hate

I was recently put on to this cartoon by a good comedian friend of mine, Michael Connell. Considering he’s a clean comedian, I’m not sure how it fits into his media diet. I have a mental image of him secretly delighting in all the crass humour, innuendo, and straight up fuckeduptitude that this show puts forth.

Think of a world where demons, vampires, wizards, monsters and robots have lived in society all along. It’s kind of like Terry Pratchett‘s Discworld in the modern era. Imagine what New York City would be like if that had been the way of society all along. There! You have Comedy Central’s new animated series: Ugly Americans.

The series focuses on Mark Lilly, a human social worker at the Department of Integration. He’s charged with getting various immigrants and non-humans to become naturalised in the way of American life. Unfortunately, his girlfriend is also a demon and happens to be in charge of HR, whilst their branch manager is yet another demon who consistently is looking for ways to get rid of Lilly. Combined with a resentful, alcoholic wizard as a partner, and a zombie that’s going through brain withdrawals as a house mate, it’s a fun little romp.

So far the show has two seasons and with the exception of the first episode, it doesn’t particularly matter if you watch them in or out of sequence. They’re almost entirely episodic, similar to The Simpsons, which in some ways is a pity as there’s clearly scope for a long running series. The animation style is somewhat similar to Daria, and the humour is fairly reminiscent as well… if Daria perhaps lived in Bon Temps.

Here’s a clip!