‘Manda Looks Up,’ Now with More Bacon

Posted on January 11, 2013 by lizo

One of Jeaux’s thumbnails from our forthcoming comic.

At the tail end of 2012, Jeaux and I decided that we would release the comic we have been working on forever online on February 14, 2013. As of today, that means we have a little over a month to get the first chapter finished.

Yesterday, Jeaux came over to my place so that we could have an extensive jam session. I busted out the script, he busted out the thumbnails that he had already sketched and we started working. After hours of reading and re-reading lines and drawing and re-drawing panels, we came up with something we really liked. The photo above is one the thumbnails that Jeaux thought was appropriate to post online.

As far as the comic goes, I’m the writer, Jeaux’s the artist, but there is so much back and forth between the two of us that, sometimes it’s hard to say when one person’s job ends and the other begins. That’s what is making this project really fun.

The character in the above panel is Manda. We’ve worked with her for years in various forms on different projects. She is a completely different character than she was when we first developed her, which was about seven years ago. It’s been fun to watch her evolve, something I imagine will happen a few more times before we get the comic rolling.

We’ll show you a few more updates after next week’s jam session.

You Need a Copy of Hi-Fructose Volume 26

Posted on January 4, 2013 by lizo

I just got my copies of the latest issue of Hi-Fructose. It’s a beautiful issue with work from Beth Covener Stichter on the cover and artists like Sage Vaughn, Mars-1 and more inside. On top of that, I wrote a whopping three articles for this issue. In Volume 26, I talk to Michael Mapes, whose specimen box portraits are intensely fascinating. I also write about the work of German siblings Low Bros and the haunting landscapes of Vasilis Avramidis.

As usual, these stories are only available in the print edition of Hi-Fructose. If you can’t find a copy at your local magazine supplier, you can order one online.

In other news, I recently interviewed Claude VonStroke, who is playing Holy Ship!! this weekend, for Pure Volume. Read it when you have a chance.

And there’s still more news, maybe. I just finished writing a story that will be the first installment of a podcast thing I’m putting together. Should time permit, this will be online within the next week. More details when they’re available.

Hey, New Year, I Broke Out the Glitter Platforms Just for You

Posted on January 1, 2013 by lizo

We’re spending the last few minutes of 2012 inside a club, drinks in hand, horns on standby. I’m wearing glitter and velvet platforms that I bought at H&M the day prior. They are huge shoes. I might be hovering around the six feet mark when I wear them. I’m taller than all the girls around me, some of the guys too, but I don’t feel any of that anxiety that I did back in junior high, back in the days of “How’s the weather up there?” jokes. Instead, I think I’m Wonder Woman. A clumsier, wimpier Wonder Woman, but you get the point.

After midnight, I try doing a Morrissey rockabilly dance as I fire off lyrics from “Sing Your Life.” Dancing in platforms is rough for a girl like me, the kind of girl who can hardly stand still without injuring herself. I get through it, though, because it’s a new year and anything can happen. I might actually wake up one morning and not be a trainwreck in really big shoes. Anything can happen.

All that is to say that I’m excited for 2013. My friend Jeaux Janovsky and I will finally release our comic on February 14 of this year. (We’re keeping the title so secret right now that even we aren’t sure what it is.) There are some other projects on the horizon as well, but I can’t talk about those yet.

I’ve been writing constantly lately, writing about every stupid thing I see as I walk down the street. The fruits of those exercises will be coming up soon– probably tomorrow– and will be available to read here. Bookmark this page or whatever it is people do these days.

Happy New Year. Hope you have an awesome 2013.

Celebrating My Birthday the Siouxsie Way

Posted on December 8, 2012 by lizo

I’m already pulling the Siouxsie vinyl.

I had just turned 15 when I saw Siouxsie and the Banshees. I think I actually used birthday money to buy my ticket. It was at Universal Amphitheater, the place now known as Gibson. I wore a purple dress that I bought at Saturdays. It was corpse purple, I thought, and therefore an appropriate alternative to all-black. My friends and I did our make-up all spooky. To be honest, I looked a little tragic, an ungraceful, awkward gothling. I knew that when I walked into the show and saw all the beautiful people with their perfect MAC faces and thrift store velvet dresses. I had a lot to learn.

That was the only time I saw Siouxsie and the Banshees. They toured again a couple years later, after I had figured out how to dress and dance like a proper goth, but I missed it for some odd reason or other. I saw The Creatures, Siouxsie and Budgie’s side project, several times. In fact, I met them when they played Coven 13. I thought I might faint. I’m kind of a big Siouxsie fan.
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Liz O.’s Birthday DJ Gig Returns on December 14

Posted on December 1, 2012 by lizo

Breaking news!!!!

Okay, it’s not really breaking news. I just wanted to add some urgency to this all-important reminder that yours truly is celebrating a birthday for an undisclosed age very soon.

This year’s Birthday DJ Gig will take place at Underground on December 14. It’s not my actual birthday (that’s December 8, for those keeping track), but it’s the next date I’m scheduled to play at the club. All are welcome to attend, as long as your 21 or older.

In the coming days, I’ll let you know the theme for the night and RSVP details.

Update from the Road: Lake Tahoe

Posted on November 8, 2012 by lizo

Donner Memorial State Park (Photo: Liz O.)

I’m traveling this week. Headed up to Lake Tahoe, a trip that’s unusual given that I’m far from the outdoorsy type.You’ll read more about the trip later, but I will tell you that we went on an excursion to Donner Memorial State Park. That’s the site of the Donner Party incident and it’s about 20 minutes away from Lake Tahoe.

It’s lovely in Tahoe, but I miss Los Angeles. I miss city streets and bright lights on every corner. But, I’ll be back soon with lots of updates from my thrift shopping for music adventure. (Yeah, that’s what I do in the Great Outdoors.) Also, got a post coming up from last weekend’s Saint Etienne show.

In the meantime, check out my post for L.A. Weekly’s arts blog on arcades in L.A. I spent a lot of quarters on this one, so it should be worth your time.

Also, my pal, fashion and travel blogger La Carmina was in L.A. recently and we headed out to Crazy Hook, my favorite spot in Koreatown, for dinner and then hit up a great opening at Pop tART Gallery. You can read all about it on her blog.

What’s New in Liz O.’s World

Posted on October 31, 2012 by lizo

I’ve been writing a lot, just not on my blog. I have a notebook full of pieces of essays that were meant for Beatique, but none are complete. They may stay that way. I don’t know.

A few weeks ago, I made the effort to submit at least one pitch every day. I did that for two weeks straight. Most of those pitches were accepted and, on top of that, a few editors gave me some extra assignments. Now I’m racing to try and finish everything. I’ve talked to Bassnectar, Peter Murphy, Soul Clap, Foreign Beggars and a few more people whose stories are yet to be told.
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Celebrating One Whole Year of Freelancing

Posted on October 5, 2012 by lizo

I don’t remember the date I went solo, but it was around this week last year, so we’ll consider today my first anniversary as a freelancer. This, dear reader, is a big deal.

Freelancing is difficult. It might be more difficult when you make the decision to work on your own in a split second, in the middle of the worst economy our generation has seen, with no planning, and no savings, behind you. At the time, though, it was the best option. I had looked through employment boards and the listings for my field had run dry. The last thing I was going to do was take another job that was beneath my education and experience level. If I was going to have to struggle to make ends meet– and, judging from what I saw, that would have been the case– I might as well do it on my own terms.

I wouldn’t say this year has been a runaway success, but, it’s progress. In the past year, I’ve had the chance to work with people I really like on projects I loved. I got to DJ again, something that I had desperately missed while I was holed up in an office uploading slideshows and writing Facebook status updates. Thanks to everyone (you know who you are) who helped with jobs and moral support. In hindsight, this whole freelance thing is going a lot better than I thought it was. I’m certain, though, that the next 12 months will be far more awesome.

Tonight, I’m going to celebrate this milestone the best way I can. I’ll be spinning my favorite records at Underground, at the Grand Star in Chinatown, sometime between 9 p.m. and 2 a.m. Please feel free to stop by and say hi. If you want to go, you can RSVP either on the Underground website or on the club’s Facebook page. An RSVP gets you and one guest in for free before 10 p.m. or $5 thereafter.

I <3 Synthpop at Club Underground on Friday Night

Posted on October 1, 2012 by lizo

The Normal “Warm Leatherette” 7″. Bought this at Vinyl Fetish back when I first started collecting records.

This Friday, we’ll be dropping everything from The Normal to Hot Chip for our I <3 Synthpop party. Facebook users, you can RSVP here.

My sets are typically pretty synth heavy (after all, I did DJ at a synthpop party called Satellite back in the late 1990s), so I don’t think it will be that different from usual. However, I do plan on bringing some special cuts, like “Warm Leatherette.”

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Beatique

Liz O. writes stories and plays records. She's also really into cartoons and Depeche Mode.

Category Archives: Liz’s News