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reddragdivaA quiet day hanging out with ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif){kind=small}
ickle_yuki. hirez
decided to brave London for the first time in two years (he has a doctor's
note excusing
him from London) so ickle_yuki and I went into Camden to
meet up with him, girfan and three other people who apparently
have LiveJournals and whose LJ usernames will be in the comments to
this entry, won't they, John. One had invited a sociology student called
Maryanne who was doing something on Goth. Just the subject to ask a table
of twenty-year goths for opinions on. (If you ask two goths to define goth,
you'll get four answers. Twenty-year goths do ten answers each without
drawing breath.) We confused her utterly with the truth; she would have
been much less confused if we'd just played Bait The Sociologist and lied
outrageously. (An endlessly amusing game I predict you'll see much more of
in the near future, as young sociologists really start to notice our
potential as term papers in black.) I referred her to Hodkinson,
with the caveat that I thought it was a pretty good book if you translate
it back from academic into English, but that I knew many goths who cursed
its name. She said she really likes goths and finds them interesting and
likes their clothes ... I predict we'll see her down the Dev every night within
six months.
hirez and girfan had come for the Icon Of Coil
("I took too many drugs/I took too many drugs/I took too many drugs/And
wrote a crap but catchy chorus") and Assemblage 23 ("I ripped off
VNV/And then my dog died/Oh woe") show at the Underworld. We hung around in
the queue in the pissing rain for a short while saying 'hi' to people, then
came to our senses and nicked off to the Dev for a quiet Sunday evening
drink. The Dev was, of course, packed with showgoers skipping the Swarf
support. (But hi to duranorak, sheridanwilde, Flavio, cyberpunkgrrl, untermensch and gothicbarbiecat.) Left for Euston station and the Coopers pub
therein. Do not go to this pub. It has real beer, but it also has football
yobs (a pile of whom were being loud and racist to bait the almost entirely black
barstaff and bouncers, who showed remarkable forbearance but did stop
serving them) and Britney on the jukebox. And they won't serve
anything in glass, in case of trouble. The Dev may have been packed
and smoky, but I just don't get the same urge to kill the entire clientele.
One little fitba' skinhead tried to start a fight with me on the way out.
Is real ale in plastic pint glasses a victory for beer? A point to ponder.
![[HiRez out front of Underworld]](http://velvet.net/~fun/lj/20030119-hirez-london.jpg)
Fortean phenomenon: John Hawkes-Reed in L*nd*n, out front of Underworld. No smoke! No mirrors!
(I am so loving this camera thing. By the way, the above is the first output of the camera to achieve public unlimited release. Aren't you lucky!)
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(no subject)
Date: 2003-01-19 05:12 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-01-19 06:02 pm (UTC)The next wave is the screenwriters. We have our first on Mancgoff doing "research".
The trouble tends to be that any media coverage given to goths is usually derisory and often descends into petty mockery. My view is the least media coverage the better.
And that Coopers afaik does usually serve in glass. I suspect the plastic is probably a precaution on match days. But quite frankly after being served an outragiously expensive pint of putrid beer I doubt I shall grace its confines again in a hurry.
(no subject)
Date: 2003-01-19 07:16 pm (UTC)The planned alt.gothic FAQ revision doesn't seem to have come to fruition, but I did suggest a sentence along the lines of "if you're not actually Dick Hebidge, Paul Hodkinson or a reasonable facsimile, please just don't bother."
There needs to be a web resource on how to lie outrageously but plausibly to annoying sociologists, then bust them after publication. Hmm.
(no subject)
Date: 2003-01-19 09:48 pm (UTC)Oh, absolutely. Sometimes the truth may not be anywhere near as exciting as the preconception, leaving the result somewhat devoid of sensational revelation, and how everybody loves a revelation.
"The gothic subculture is a remarkabley well adjusted, eclectic, and intelligent grouping of people of all ages, races and backgrounds".
Doesn't quite have the same ring as "The gothic subculture is an extreme fringe of society who worhsip the devil and indulge in sado masochistic sex".
While the first statement may have considerably more "truth" in it it will be the second that draws the most interest, even if it may only apply to the tiniest fraction of the scene.
As someone once said, "Never let the truth get in the way of a good story".
(no subject)
Date: 2003-01-19 11:50 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-01-20 12:37 am (UTC)Admittedly, I haven't read my copy of Hodkinson yet so cannot comment personally, but I wasn't aware of anyone cursing its name. The worst I've heard is people having difficulty with the academic language.
Then again, I don't get out much.
(no subject)
Date: 2003-01-20 12:52 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-01-20 03:23 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-01-20 04:01 am (UTC)Ah - Last of the Uncle Nem gigs? While I was only in London at the weekends?
(no subject)
Date: 2003-01-20 04:06 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-01-20 04:17 am (UTC)... Some rain, not much breathing in required to fit in leather jeans. Sturdy climbing boots "Should a mountain spring up on the dancefloor" ... Situation normal, then.
From the left, they were: Andi (ex) Tory, creator of UPG and ex-maintainer of the FAQ; Mel (babychaos on LJ); 'Disco' Dave Bradshaw - Burning Man evangelist and semi-retired DJ of repute.
(no subject)
Date: 2003-01-20 05:43 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-01-20 05:55 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-01-20 05:57 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-01-20 06:20 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-01-20 06:20 am (UTC)Lord alone knows how I got there and back...
(no subject)
Date: 2003-01-20 07:41 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-01-20 10:25 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-01-20 02:28 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-01-21 04:29 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-01-21 11:01 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-01-21 03:07 pm (UTC)