Turn Into A Jet (Like A Boss)

(via)

Things have been craze around here y'all. And when I say craze, I mean, eh, mildly worth mentioning, which is craze since it's more than normally happens. Sarah's still here, being awesome, and Olivia moved into a really cute house in LA, which Sarah will go to, one day, probably when I stop making her waffles for breakfast and tortilla strips when she's hungover. So, never. But when Sarah leaves it will officially mean things over here are back to normal, which is kinda sad, because the two of them being here was the most fun I've had in my six months of living in LA. I'm going to miss them. And probably get them a housewarming gift. I have an idea, but MDMA is pretty expensive, so I guess I'll just be making them ordinary brownies. Oh well.

How was everyone's Valentine's day? Sarah and I watched Bridget Jones' Diary and fell asleep on the floor. But the Friday before was fun. Sarah and Olivia and I got drunk and watched Bring It On: All Or Nothing and then I got some cake and then we walked to the liquor store but all I really remember is spilling my drinks a lot and falling and then telling them my plan to get acid with Sarah (the Fonder of the two) and going to Venice and painting with watercolors and then someone said, "Watercolors?!" but I'm not sure if that was a dream or not. Either way, fun.

On the subject of my love life (or lack thereof), I've been attempting to win over the hearts of the scruffy skateboarders on campus, but it's been generally unsucessful. I should perhaps think of better ways to get them to notice me other than staring at them nonstop from across the hall and then greedily eyeing their bags of Taco Bell. But that's just unfair because I don't have the energy to walk to TB. Of course if I had a skateboard I would go there! If I had a skateboard I could make all my transpo dreams come true.

This new Lily Allen album is also completely blowing my mind. Sarah (the Fondest one, again) gave me a copy of it two days ago (she got it on presale because she's so clever) and I've already listened to it four times. I've also put on "The Fear" and cleaned my kitchen while jumping and bouncing around like a crack addict, but be thankful you weren't there to witness that firsthand.

But that's basically it. My life is finally picking up and heading in the direction I envisioned and I'm almost a little proud that it only took 6 months in one of the toughest cities in the US for it to happen. The year is finally starting off for me and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't fucking stoked for it. Things still bum me out, get me down, and defeat me. I still stand in front of my kitchen window smoking a cigarette and crying, and I still look to others for strength sometimes, but I also laugh more and love more and live more and that makes it all worth it. I've taken a lot of risks, made a lot of mistakes, and (hopefully) learned from all of them. I'm going to continue to work hard and play harder and if you wanna employ me, I'm a bomb ass employee. I know a lot about a little, but I like to learn and I have a fabulous work wardrobe. Really. I impress myself sometimes. Did I mention I need a job? Just checking.

E

I Want To Start A Community Thrift Store!

This is pretty fucking cool! Current TV never ceases to amaze me with its awesome programs. The one trend I've been noticing with these kinds of things is that the communities that people are fixing up and developing are usually some of the poorest in the city. I think that's what makes it easier, because these communities tend to be tight knit and open for help and change. That's probably why the Echo Park and Silverlake neighborhoods are more community-oriented. Because believe it or not, those areas (despite the expensive shopping) are lower socioeconomic areas.It seems like it would be a little discouraging to try to do things in more well-off neighborhoods because people have the capabilities and money to help themselves.

But my little thoughts on life aside, this is still pretty awesome and totally supports my wanting to move to Philly completely. I totally wish I could run a community thrift store. Minus the Christiness, the little bearded hipsters are so me!

You must be the change you want to see in the world.
--- Mahatma Gandhi


E

Filth And Wisdom

Dudes, it's pretty debatable as to whether or not Filth and Wisdom or Let The Right One In is the best movie of the year. This one was pretty fucking good. In Filth and Wisdom, we're lead by Andre or "A.K.", played by Eugene Hutz, who's the frontman for Gogol Bordello. He basically turns good people bad, and helps the secretly sinful satiate themselves. It's an amazing movie with awesome music, a seriously inspiring story, rock n' roll badassery, sex slaves, filth, wisdom, Britney Spears, British people, handlebar mustaches, Ukranian, and Bourbon in the bathtub.

You guys, you need to see this movie like you need to be awesome. As in immediately, and with haste. Pretty much, now that I've seen this movie, I'm gonna live my life like I'm the coolest person ever and it's going out of style. Like everyone should.



Deuces,
Erika

God Is Coming To Earth And She Is Hip!

Ohmahgawd, ya'll. I've been searching high and low, for seriously racking my brain for a Halloween costume this year. At first it was Robert Smith from the Cure, then that evolved into an ex member of the Horrors, then Karen O, then Pocahontas, then an ice cream cone, and finally Kirby. Yeah, I wasn't quite sure how to do that one...I just knew a large pink bag was involved. Alright, so I really just wanted to draw red circles on my cheeks. I thought they were cute.

Anyway, so I had nearly given up on having an amaze costume in which to be photographed at the HARD Halloween bash going down next Friday. But then I saw a comment Lolita left on V's blog, giving her a costume idea I have inadvertently stolen and made my own.

Hipster Jesus.

Christ, why did I not think of this? I'm thinking a short linen UO dress with rope belt, sandals, and a crown of flowers and thorns. Maybe some ridic lensless glasses too...just to add to this look. I'm not sure. I'm now suuuper stoked about Halloween. So, um, thanks Sarah! I owe you one!

Or if you make it to LA one day, I owe you a free quesadilla from Machos Tacos, cupcake from Gelson's, and trip to Silverlake to go to Berda Paradise and buy some amazing cheap books.

Grazie, girl.

Deuces,
Erika

I Ain't No Hollaback Boy

Here at the Disco, I would like to think it's my responsibility to bring you lovely ladies and gentlemen nothing but hotness, when and if ever possible. This one is a little old, but even a year after the fact, I can still put this track on in the car and laugh just as hard as I did when I first heard it.

We all know Cobra Starship are demigods. For Chrissake, they have a keytar player! And she's a chick! Plus Gabe Saporta makes wearing tight pants super manly and "Snakes On A Plane (Bring It)" was amazing. It was the sole reason I bought the movie soundtrack...ohai, and the 45 version. Anyway, I heard this song on their Myspace awhile back but I noticed it never really got out. Easily the single which could have launched them into emo/pop/mainstream oblivion and they never did anything with it. So I share this baby with you. Mazel Tov!

This shit is supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!



Deuces,
Erika

Do The DANCE

Remember how I was saying that V and I found a radio station that was playing all 80s all weekend? Well they played a ton of great 80s jams that ranged from the ubiquitous to the rare and awesome sauce. So since it's been a day and these goddamn catchy tunes are still in my head, I'd like to share them with you. Come on girls!

Pebbles "Girlfriend"



Madonna "Lucky Star"

Money Over Bitches

Yeah, I didn't actually take this picture.

So last night saw yet another installment of what I'm now going to call E+V's Big Night Out (EVBNO for all you stock analysts). First we headed over to the Third St Promenade in Santa Monica, where we both picked up the newest issue of MissB, which is amazing if you haven't had the pleasure of getting your ProNail-ed hands on it.

While standing in line for the bathroom at Starbucks, we were then hit on/accosted by some guy with a heavy Spanish accent who complemented me about my shirt and then asked me where the Valley was. It was weird. Word. Then a strange twelve year old came up to me and high fived me.

After that, around midnight/ 1am, we headed over to the Sunset Strip where I was completely determined to have some delicious and cheap pizza. Sadly, determination isn't everything, because I never got it. However, we did find a radio station that played all 80s all weekend, so we got to jam out to 80s synth pop dance tunes the entire night.

It was just as we were getting tired-ish and forlorn (though still energetic from the Annie Lennox and Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam), I spotted The Body Shop.

That's right lads and lasses, V and I spent our night in Hollywood at the strip club. And it was awesome. After I got past the sad fact that I couldn't afford to eat after paying the 10.00 cover and the club didn't serve food, I actually enjoyed myself. V and I are sort of obsessed with this one stripper, who after some research, is apparently named Isis. She was/is amazing. First of all, she's got this Mexican vibe going on so she was wearing this cute-ish belly dancer style outfit and the most fucking ridiculous pair of six-inch stilettos that made her immediately earn my and V's respeto. She glided and danced and did a few acrobatic tricks that were super cool.

But for the most part that club is crapsicles on ice. The music skipped, one of the dancers took off her skirt and started "ahem" touching herself. Oh and then one of the girls started dancing to Pat fucking Benatar. Now I can never listen to "Hit Me With Your Best Shot," for more than obvi reasons. Outside the club we got propositioned with an offer to jump into some dude's party bus, but luckily for me I have the best excuse EVER: "Um, sorry, but I have to get home. I live in the Valley." Works like a charm every fucking time.

Um, and then I got a parking ticket, V and I went to In N Out Burger, my roommate was a rude bitch this morning, and the trains don't run on Saturdays. Salud!

Deuces,
Erika

Lost Nickelodeon Gems

I spent a good bit of my childhood years with my eyes glued to Nickelodeon. I loved books, but my mom dropped me off at my grandmother's house a lot and I didn't have a way to transfer the books to a different location. So I watched TV instead. Or beat up my little cousin. But those are different stories for another day. Funnily enough, Nickelodeon used to be a legitimate entertainment source. Back in the days before Zoey 101, Spongebob Squarepants, or iCarly, Nick was pretty fucking cool. So I decided to put together a list of Nick's coolest (and sadly, forgotten) television shows. Rugrats isn't on this list, although it was the cutest and coolest cartoon and I watched it from its '91 inception to about '02, but it went on to get weighed down by new characters and corrupted by lame movies and spinoff series'. Anyway, this is the list. Feel free to add your own since it's been a minute since these shows have even been on.

1. The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo: This show was the shit. First, there was an Asian family on Nickelodeon and they had more depth than the fam from that Jackie Chan cartoon. Plus Mr. Miyagi was the grandfather and Shelby solved crimes! She was like the Asian Nancy Drew. She was...Shelby Woo!

2. All That: Do I need to explain how this show was cool? It was originally marketed as an "SNL for kids" and everything was super copasetic and hella funny until the cast started changing and Kenan Thompson, Kel Mitchell, Lori Beth Denberg, and Amanda Bynes left and then, um, Nick Cannon joined the show...but I'll always remember the "Cooking with Chocolate," "Ask Ashley," Repairman," and "Vital Information" skits. Did you know the theme song was sung by TLC? Back in the day, I had the soundtrack on cassette. Actually, let me go find that tape...

3. Are You Afraid of the Dark?: My mom actually wouldn't let me watch this show until I was seven because of the Y-7 logo that came up, but I used to sneak episodes in when she wasn't around. It scared the shit out of me, espesh the opening scenes when the Midnight Society would come and set up the story they were about to tell. I had mad nightmares from that shit though.

4. Clarissa Explains It All: One word: rad. Oh wait, three words: rad as fuck. Melissa Joan Hart was amazing as Clarissa and she always wore the coolest clothing (well for the mid 90s anyway) and I used to love when she would stop the scene and draw words and pictures. But I hated that Ferguson!

5. AAAHHH! Real Monsters!: If ever Nick dabbled in the dark and macabre, this show was it. It was about monsters who attended some kind of monster academy, taught by this super spastic, super flamboyant schoolteacher who wore chaps and boots, but as far as I can remember, no shirt. There was a smart girl, a red guy with an oddly high voice, and a short dude that held his eyeballs. It was quirky and creepy and yet still amazingly childlike.

6. Gullah Gullah Island: This show was on really early in the morning, but it was cool because it was fun education. I learned sharing was caring, honesty was the best policy, and how to tiedye a shirt at home. Plus it had a cool theme song and it was set on a fake island! Really, it was set on St Helena Island off the coast of SC.

7. Rocko's Modern Life: The shit. Obvi, the epitome of children's adult programming. It was full of sex jokes that didn't even make a little sense until I was older, but I loved Philbert the turtle and Heiffer the cow. Plus they lived in O-Town. The innuendos were limitless. My mom works at a company like Conglom-O, but Ed Bighead doesn't own it.

8. Taina: This show was on a little later, but I loved it. One of the few shows to feature a Latina lead, it was original and exciting and had attitude. Plus she went to a performing arts school and had wicked cool friends that got her into crazy shit. She paved the way for the craziness that ensues/d in That's So Raven, which sucks/ed btw.

Do you guys know of any I missed? Some up for honorable mention were Animorphs, The Secret World of Alex Mack, Hey Dude!, What Would You Do?, Double Dare, and Hey Arnold! Man, I will always love TV.

Deuces,
Erika

I Feel Mixed.

So, for me, much of last night, and a good portion of this morning was spent with everyone's favorite Savage Sunshine girl, V. It was probably the longest night/morning of my life. Here is what happened over the course of 10 1/2 hrs we were together.

First, we met up on Hollywood and Vine. "Hello!"s ensued. We both admitted to not really have any knowledge of where were or were going, although Sunset Blvd was supposed to be the end result. Everything started off well enough. We walked down Hollywood Blvd past Normandie, past Little Armenia, and through Thai Town. That's when we started getting really hungry. So we kept walking in search of edibles.

We became more and more lost, so we sat down and laid my map of Metropolitan LA on the ground. We tried to pick out our streets respectively, and then just became resigned to sitting on the sidewalk. That's when this guy walked up with his cowdog. We asked him how to get to Sunset and he pointed us in the direction of straight. He was some kind of art teacher at UCLA and then signaled to Barnsdall Park and Vermont St and Prospect Ave, promising fun and good food, and all-ages type events, since he obvi took us to be younger than we are. There were smiles and "thank you"s and the like, then we pressed on.

After walking for some time, we stumbled upon Pinkberry. Sadly lame and internet obsessed, we agreed that we had to go there last, in order to say, "And then we went to Pinkberry." We moved past it, and stumbled onto some al fresco-ish restaurant where we saw the dudes in the Plain White T's eating and such. The lead singer was all smiles. I didn't recognize him at first, but after some verification with V, it was evident we needed to see them again. And then we walked past a drug deal.

V and I got some delicious Mexican food at Machos Tacos (I got a fish taco, shrimp taco, and mini quesadilla for about 7.00) and then we went to the block directly across from the Plain White T's and their dining area. V tried to get a super stealth picture. Then some assholes drove up in a nice car. We heckled them.

The PWT's soon after left and V and I were soon after hot on their trail. Sadly we lost them, and thus walked and walked and walked and...erm, walked. We walked ourselves all the way to the Los Feliz Village. It seemed pretty nifty. We even saw a million adorable clothing shops and a super hawt tranny wear shop with mannequins with penises and even one that was David Bowie themed. Scary thing was, we both agreed that we would each rock some of the looks we saw. Oh yeah, and then we found the American Apparel, which looked so self absorbed it was practically narcissistic. Oh yeah, and then we stumbled upon a black widow spider, which I totally deducted with some general investigating. I don't know about how prevalent they are in your neck of the woods, but it's pretty fucking cool to see one up close and in the...flesh?

After window shopping, we kept walking until we reached Silverlake. We gawked at the skinny jeaned boys and the cute tiny bakeries. And then we went to Tang's Donuts, Sandwiches, and Ice Cream, where there was a heated battle of chess going on between old people. The donuts were only .65 so I got two and V got three. We like donuts over here.

Then we walked past a bridge that looked just like the one from the Sophomore NYC lookbook, and realized that for as long as we walked, we just weren't getting to the super cool/fun part of Sunset Blvd. It was just getting sketchier. We sat on a wall, pulled out the map, and realized we were just walking into oblivion. We cursed the happy man with the cowdog who talked us into walking all that way. We were tired and our feet hurt and we had to walk all the way back to Hollywood and Vine.

About two or so hours later, we found ourselves very close to where we started. On the way, a homeless man stopped us and was ungrateful/irritated that we gave him 1.60 when we didn't really have a lot of money left. Can you imagine?? And then we walked past some weirdness involving a dude and a box of bras...finally we got back to Hollywood and Vine and not only were we drop dead tired, but our feet felt awful. I'd spent a bit of time just going barefoot out of sheer un-comfort from my shoes, but my feet and legs felt like they were going to vomit, if that makes sense.

Back in the tourist trap this is Hollywood Blvd, we walked over some grates that were blowing hot air. I informed V that I felt...mixed. Both happy and unhappy about the feeling of hot air blowing under me. That happened a lot more that night. As we walked to Hollywood and Ivar, we spotted a group of people doing pot on the corner and begged for a contact high. Then we climbed all the way up Ivar and sat in my car for about twenty minutes.

To make this increasingly long story shorter, we got completely lost trying to get to Pomona and about three hours later, around 5 am, V and I finally made it to her school. Then I got lost briefly and made it home around 6:30-ish am, where I was unable to go to sleep for about an hour and a half due to a delicious and nutritious breakfast of Red Bull and a Butterfinger.

Oh, and now it's about 4 pm and I just woke up. La la la, life is sadfunny sometimes. This Butterfinger still tastes good. Pics and slight proofs of evidence are now up on V's blog for your perusal. Oh, except that wonderfully skilled photograph of the Sunset Junction sign. Enjoy!

Deuces,
Erika

The Pilgriming Vine

Uhhh...I'm sure I've mentioned it before, but I'll do it again: I love Basia Bulat. She has to be the prettiest, sweetest Canadian singer this side of Broken Social Scene. After hearing her song, "In The Night" about a year ago, I fell in absolute j'adore with this golden haired songstress. So for my, and your, personal enjoyment and pleasure, here's the debut video for her single, "The Pilgrimming Vine." And then below that are a few downloadables so you can get clicky with it. Oh, and here you can buy her debut album, Oh, My Darling. Happy trails campers!

Basia Bulat: "The Pilgriming Vine"
Basia Bulat: "In the Night"
Basia Bulat: "The Hem of His Garment"

Deuces,
Erika

TGIF!

Ahhh thank God it's FINALLY Fri-motherfucking-day!

Let's recap, shall we?

This week I started classes, bought a bike, bought textbooks, skipped classes, made new friends, skyrocketed my phone bill by talking endlessly to my boyfriend, got my school ID made, unpacked, paid my utilities, and got locked out of my apartment.

You know, fun stuff!

How was everyone else's week?

In celebration of the big F-day, Valentina (of Savage Sunshine notoriety) and I are heading over to W. Hollywood for some good ol' fashioned debauchery. More on that later, naturally. And in other crizazy news, McCain has picked a VP. Drumroll please...I give you Sarah Palin, Governor of Alaska. Yep...a woman. How long can Hillary keep these feelings inside before she just goes postal?

Now I bid you adieu. Divorce Court beckons.

Banzai bitches! And happy birthday Olivia, the red-headiest Missbehave girl ever! Seal hugs! Wow, Sarah Morrison is good with keeping up with birthdays!

Deuces,
Erika

Cooler Than The Other Side Of The Pillow

Oftentimes people tell me I'm cool. Not in the Fonzie way, since I'm not blessed with the ability to make electrical items work by hitting them with my girly fists. But in the interesting, neat way. And yes, even in this day and age, I still say neat. And awesome, in the 80's after school special way. I call dudes dudes and guy things dude things. Like, this is a dude's shirt or a dude's color or a dude's car. And I still call all girls chicks. And chicks I don't "get" are called broads. I don't see what's so cool about me.

I get referred to as cool on this blog sometimes. Like one person that said she wished she was as cool as I was when she was in high school. Well I'm not in high school anymore, but I'm not sure I was too cool then. Or now, for that matter.

And what's stranger is that the majority of people that think I'm cool don't even read this blog. The Disco has been kept abso hidden from my family, friends, and odd acquaintances for reasons that are obvi. They still find what I have to say, what I do, how I think...awesome cool. My roommates told me I was really cool. I told them bashfully, "Oh, I'm really not very interesting, I promise."

Perhaps it is because I play the drums. Maybe because I was in a riot grrrl band named after an obscure Great Gatsby reference. Or since I used to work at a radio station. Perhaps it is because I still wear my caps backwards, do the "Peace Up, A-Town Down" sign to dudes I know. Or because I can handle my alcohol, keep it real before it goes wrong, beat my boyfriend at wrestling, watch every television show and still recall individual details from respective seasons, or because I once sewed my own skirt and then wore it to school. Maybe it's because I still collect vinyl, own Anime movies, maintain the belief that plaid and stripes don't have to match, they just have to "go", can quote lines from Clueless, The Godfather, Breakfast at Tiffany's, and The Way We Were. Or due to the fact that I collect the same kinds of earrings in every color, re-use Tic Tac boxes for pencil lead and chocolate boxes for accessories, collaged my lighter, hang my necklaces on nails in the wall, can make fried apples (decently), have a laugh like a black Fran Drescher, and can totally talk like Lois in Family Guy.

But none of this equals cool to me. It's just me, being normal boring me. Cool to me is like chicks who can just get out there and do shit, awesome shit, without giving a shit. See how many times I said shit? A chick's radness is directly proportional to how many times you can say shit to describe what she does. A badass, cool chick to me, is like Stephanie Luke AKA Rusty Coathanger (she's the one with black sunglass btw), from the awesome sauce ATL band the Coathangers. Or Karen O. Or the Missbehave girls. Or Jemina Pearl from Be Your Own Pet (RIP), or Suzi Quatro. Women that can go down in the history books as being cool as shit.

So I can't be that cool. Plus in the future kids won't read textbooks, so it's pointless.

Deuces,
Erika

Shocking Revelations

Every morning since I moved in, I have been waking up to an empty apartment. My roommates are all gone by the time I open my eyes. I used to think it was because they just had a lot of shit to do early in the day, but now I'm thinking it's because they secretly hate me because I have food in the fridge, a room to myself, and the only TV with cable in my room. Maybe it really is the former, but that wouldn't be as awesome.

I thought this would be like perpetual summer camp. When will we start braiding hair, baking cupcakes, and trading Powerpuff Girls stickers?

Mis ideas son todavia no bueno. Tambien es mi espanol.

Deuces,
Erika

What Is Los Angeles Spanish For Again? The Angles?

I'm here, I'm fierce, and I'm not going anywhere! Well, except downstairs to get some El Pollo Loco. Yum...chicken and lemonade...

So things are pretty cool here. Last night I hung around Hollywood for awhile. I pretty much plan to befriend all Hollywood inhabitants because they have access to the good drugs and a lot of money. That's something I could really get behind.

My apartment isn't anything special...just two bedrooms, a living room. kitchen, balcony (for when midterm exams come and I really need to end it all fast), the usual. Weird that my roommate isn't here yet. Actually, I've been the only person here since 9 am. It's kinda cool/eerie. I still have to buy a TV so I don't become a complete hermit. But yeah, everything's pretty chillza here.

School is a different story. There is a mad frenzy at the bookstore because not only can you register to vote there today, the cast of Greek is filming...and I guess talking to devoted, slobbering girl fans as well. I don't know. I haven't gone. I don't even watch Greek, and if I did, I doubt I'd want to meet the cast. Unless I could run down there and jump in a scene or something...maybe flash some deuces and shout a "holla!" really quick? Or throw on my "I Want To Be Sarah Morrison When I Grow Up Shirt"? Either options.

That's pretty much it, I guess. Hey V, will you go ahead and email me when you read this? Grazie. And pictures will be up soon...when I have time to take a deep breath, and I don't feel so lethargic. Can anyone else believe I just drove four fucking days to be here?! Straight up ridic.

Oh yeah, and the post picture is the note I left for my roomie. I had to go drop my mom off and I wasn't sure whether or not she would be in when I came back, so I courteously left a note. I mean, I'm so sweet, right?

Deuces,
Erika

Girls Aloud!

You wanna know something funny? I almost went to ATL's Girls Rock Camp back in July. But I was afraid I had too much experience on the drums.

When I go to Barnes and Noble, it's usually for just one of two things: to buy a new novel that'll help me forget how much I hate my life, or for a new issue of Missbehave or Preen. (BTW, if you've never read Preen, pick it up! It won't put you to sleep like i-D and the glossies are as cool as Visionaire. Yeah I'm cultured, what of it?)

Anyway, sometimes there are off days and I don't find anything that I'm looking for. But I have to buy something. It takes so much effort for me to walk to BnN that I never allow a trip to be in vain. So I made the mistake of picking up the new ish of Seventeen. First of all, it was hard enough for me to pay for it when Miley Cyrus was cheesing back at me on the cover. Secondly, it hurt me physically to read it.

Having been seventeen not too long ago, I can honestly say these kinds of "issues affecting teens today" were shit I was dealing with back when I was 14. "Perfect party ready makeup"? "Kissing 101"? "How to make him notice you in study hall"? What??? Maybe I would have really pored through these pages when I was in middle school, but they've become drastically irrelevant to today's young women.

Thank god for Missbehave, but I feel like there should be something more. MissB is for street savvy badass women who can hold down a 9 to 5, keep their boyfriend satisfied, cut a bitch at the bar, hit up the online sales at Karmaloop, and still have enough money to pay the rent on the 15th and buy their girls a round of drinks on Friday.

While that is (for the most part) me, there's like a void, a lost niche for a magazine that appeals to the broke-ass, socially awkward, incredibly smart, fashion forward, obsessive, compulsive 18-22 set. I'm thinking of starting a revolution. I'm thinking of starting a 'zine.

Who's with me?

Deuces,
Erika

Whoa, I'm Like...Um...Kinda Cool?

I won't even belabor the fact that I still go on Myspace. You guys know. All of you should be my friends. Jess Fletch and Alex are. V will never be, because she was smart enough to stay away from that virtual black hole before she and her blossoming social life could get sucked into it like Kool-Aid through a makeshift grape flavored Twizzler straw.

But apparently I am making some kind of internet killing. I am now a part of the Hottest and Coolest Ladies of Myspace. Whoa. I am fifth out of 30 ladies. I guess that is kind of cool, but also really intense.

It's hard at the top. The air is thin, so you have to add extra minutes to your recipe's baking time (there's always a lemon bar floating around my place!), and sometimes people who don't even know your last name hate you, so you have to kill them, and it gets kind of lonely so you have to masturbate more often, which requires an inhaler because you cough a lot since the air is thinner.

But then when you look out over the mountain top into the golden horizon, you feel okay, because you made it, albeit scratched up, bloody, bruised, and still trying to stop picking your scabs, in one piece. Which is cool, because a lot of people fall apart way down at the bottom while your sipping your bubbly, eating pigs 'n a blanket, and watching Super Troopers.

Myspace is weird. Word.

Deuces,
Erika

Tilly And The Wall: The Aftermath

I took this picture two days ago, at sunset, while driving. I hear that's like, dangerous, or something. But it came out nice, and that's all I care about.

So as you all know, I went to see Tilly and the Wall tonight. Well, I should probably say last night, since it's technically the next day. And let me just say, being so young and all, I've usually felt like the youngest person at a show since most of the venues I frequent are a safe haven for High Life guzzling, high waisted skirt wearing, 23 and 24 year old hipsters. But for once, I actually felt old. There was just a spread of little hipsters in training, ranging from about 15 to maybe 17 at the oldest, that looked as if they'd raided every thrift store and Baby American Apparel in the area. It was almost sad. But mostly it was entertaining.

Anyway, I took mad amounts of pics and whatnot, so now you can feel like you got to rock out to Tilly with me! Even though you didn't.

First, my bf and I went to Village Pizza for early dinner. This is what it looked like. As usual I refused to talk while there was a camera on me. I always look stupid when that happens.


This is the Village Pizza bike, but they don't deliver with it anymore. They just get edgy hipsters to drive their Honda Accords to houses bearing pizzas.

After that, we headed over to the Variety Playhouse. That's when I ran into two people I went to high school with. Awkward...So after that I ran into the Coathangers before they took the stage. They said "hi" to me and then began speaking to me in warm, friendly tones which immediately made my bf look like a douche because he didn't believe that I knew them. I don't know why those red spots in the eyes are so obvious, but I look really flushed because it was pretty hot in that place.
Then there was a man running around, talking to members of the Coathangers, dancing with himself, funneling drinks, etc. He threw himself into the picture, very yearbook style.

After we shot snaps, the girls went on.

So then we saw the Ruby Suns, but none of the pictures turned out well, so I won't force you to strain your eyes and/or cock your head to the side at odd angles so they look okay. But I did talk to some kids about how sexy the drummer/lead vocalist was. The Ruby Suns had New Zealand accents, so all the girls were pretty much ready for marriage by the time they finished.

Then it was Tilly and the Wall!!! During the set transition, they played Justice and Outkast and yet the only two black people in there (i.e. us) were the ones dancing. People laughed at us though, with sort of envious smiles, like "Lord, why can't I dance that well and without inhibition?" But back to Tilly!!

The girls were so on point with their clothing, ya'll. I think I read somewhere that Peggy Noland and Mooka Kinney outfit them, so it makes sense.

After their set, the crowd continued to cheer and clap and make a ton of noise. See, it's a Variety Playhouse tradition for the band to leave the stage, then the audience keeps clapping and cheering, and the band comes back on to play one more song. Tilly and the Wall were no exception. They all came back out and played "The Freest Man" and then, my personal favorite, "Night Of The Living Dead," which I figured they HAD to play since it has a lot of lyrics about Atlanta. It was rad.

Oh yeah, sorry about how mildly blurry these pictures are. Then again, there's a reason I don't put "professional photographer" on my resume. Oh yeah, and in case anyone was wondering, I was wearing a high-waisted jumper, my homemade Coathangers shirt (yeah I actually made that shirt! And I always get queshes from people asking me where to buy it!), and pink sneakers from Urban Outfitters. I was pretty fucking hipster-ed out, son.

Oh! And that reminds me! I won't be here at The Disco for the weekend since me and my amiga are road-tripping to Tennessee to see one of my old high school friends. So until Sunday night, you guys'll just be hearing from Miss Lolita Hazed, but that's still a treat, right?

Catch ya'll mothasuckas on the motherflipping flip side!

Deuces,
Erika

Straight Representin'

Tonight I'm going to see Tilly and the Wall at the Variety Playhouse. I'm super stoked and you may be super jelz. But as stoked as I am to see Tilly, and the Ruby Suns, I'm even more excited about seeing the Coathangers.

I have seen the Coathangers live going on three times now and it's always eggpants awesome! (The Coathangers and the Black Lips, Snowden, the Selmanaires, Noot D'Noot, and DJ Treasure Fingers are the few acts that make me super proud to rep ATL!!!) They always put on a super fun show. I was at their album release party and awesomeness occurred: they offered me beer, gave me sparklers, and during their set they broke a piñata! Some candy went in the direction of this little toddler and then Julia Kugel, the lead singer, started shouting, "You almost hit a baby!!! You almost hit a baby!!! And there was a mini horse with a horn on his head!! Everyone was calling him a unicorn!!

See, nothing but fun with these guys. I saw them again at Record Store Day (did anyone go out to their city's RSD celebration? I loved mine...I got to see at least 10 bands and eat up hot dogs and pizza for free and then I bought some vinyl for about $4, and then Lillian gave me some MIA bandannas...it was rad!) and they totes did not disappoint. There was silly string and balloons and face masks...one of which they gave me, and then I got Stephanie Luke to sign my drumstick! Ha! Rusty Coathangers <3's me! Anyway, so this made me start thinking...sometimes when you're stuck in a place you're not really inclined to liking, music is like a temporary savior, right? So do you guys have any local bands that you get excited about and see lots and lots of times and sort of know and all that jazz?

And Mz. Sullivan, you can't answer because you've got Million Dollar Mano, Hollywood Holt, Cool Kids, and Kidz In The Hall in your neck of the woods and that's just unfair! Stupid Go-Ill killing the game right now...grumble, grumble, grumble. So talk about your local music scene! And then I will lord over you with my awesome ATL music scene! Yay! Upperhand!

P.S. And just in case you kinda think you might like the Coathangers, there are mp3's, the link to buy their album, and their music video below! Peace up A-Town down!

The Coathangers: "Shake Shake"
The Coathangers: "Don't Touch My Shit"

"Tonya Harding"


The Coathangers - "Tanya Harding" from ataricharm on Vimeo.

Deuces,
Erika

I Spit Hot Fire

He can sit next to me on the bus any day!

Okay, before I even talk about this post, the title of it is from one of my favorite Chapelle's Show episodes. If you can tell me anything about it, like what the short was about or what show it was spoofing, I might just love you. And if I meet you, I'll give you my issue of Missbehave Magazine number five autographed by Miss MIA herself. Just kidding. I totally would never do that. Still, I would think you were cool.

Anyway, onto the point, right? Soooooo....we all love Diplo here at The Disco. (Isn't it awesome how I can refer to this virtual place like it's some kind of real office or something? Someone could come along and assume The Disco had a physical location, with a mailing address and everything, which is stupid, 'cause real G's rock P.O. Boxes, y'know, so they can't be traced.)

Back to Diplo. I luh him. He is a sexy manz. We have all seen him. Most of us have seen him live. Diplo is known for his ability to put fire on any track. He did it with "Rollin" and "Bama Gettin' Money." This man is no joke. Straight up fly-er than a tsetse.

He did it again with Santi. I actually don't know what the original track sounded like because none of my friends will buy me the Santogold album (Oh poo, you guys are low on money? Not when the weed man shows up! Now buy me that record!), but Diplo made it 32749371294 times hotter.

You gotta put this song on and just ride...y'know, like me, only I always ride dirty. Or blast it while you're chilling at home and see how long it takes for one of your roommates to ask what you're playing. Either way, Diplo spits hot fire ya'll.



Santogold: "Starstruck (Diplo Remix)"

Cop Diplo's newest mix, Top Ranking, here mothasuckas!

Deuces,
Erika

Pinup Tattoos

For the longest time, I've been playing with the idea of getting a tattoo. I haven't mostly because I'm too lazy to go to the tat shop and make an appointment, although they do allow walk-ins. Still, I don't have the motivation to go, but I do have the motivation to get a tattoo before I move to LA, because then I'll have to do the research on a good parlor all over again. Like hell could I afford (time and money wise) to schlep to Hollywood and go to LA Ink.

But prior to me turning 18, I was super stoked to get a tattoo, so I did a ton of research on designs and art. I've decided to get a Fafi drawing on my right arm, namely this one:

But that still leaves me with a personal conundrum. All my life (or at least since 9th grade), I've sort of been in love with pin-up art. It's just really cute and really timeless to me. Mostly I just love Gil Elvgren, because his, to me, is the best. After spending hours on the computer trying to find a picture, I found these two:

Only, she's going to be sitting on old records and her hand is going to be on a phonograph. That's one of these, for those who don't know.

Because of the colors she's wearing, I think I would make her a lot tanner, closer to my skin tone, but lighter of course so it would show up really well against my skin.

I just haven't decided where to put it. My back seems like the most obvious option because of the space, but I don't want to get a tattoo and then not be able to see it all the time. I like constant reminders of hard work and having fun. I could put it on my stomach, but that's not gonna stay tight and taut forever and I would prefer my tattoo not gain weight as I did.

So does anyone have any advice for trying to get sort of large tats? Anyone have a large tat? Anyone come across more amazing Gil Elvgren pin-ups?

Deuces,
Erika