January 2012
3 posts
6 tags
"Of course you want to do right by other people,...
(Photo by Stephen Yang)
<a href=”http://candyhearts.bandcamp.com/album/everythings-amazing-nobodys-happy” _mce_href=”http://candyhearts.bandcamp.com/album/everythings-amazing-nobodys-happy”>Everything’s Amazing...
7 tags
DC Entertainment launches 'We Can Be Heroes'...
(Andy’s note: DC Entertainment will match your donation to their nonprofit partners working to alleviate the suffering caused by the famine in the Horn of Africa. If you’ve got a spare couple of quid/dollars/whatever, get on this.)
Countries in the Horn of Africa (Ethiopia, Somalia, and Kenya) are facing the worst drought in 60 years, causing a severe hunger crisis. According to...
7 tags
December 2011
3 posts
If you’d like to work on something for I Live Sweat, you can, and should, get in touch via email. It doesn’t matter if you’ve just got a tiny kernel of an idea, or a Dr. Doom level world domination scheme; Get in touch, and we’ll see what we can do together. Even if you just want to offer your thoughts on something we’ve posted, I’d love to hear from you.
Take care,
Andy
9 tags
"Music and theatre should belong to nobody,...
(Andy’s note: Much of this relates to UK-specific art subsidies, but much of it doesn’t.)
(Start a Revolution by Tim Etchells. Photo by Hannah Nicklin, taken at the Edgelands event, in Edinburgh, in 2011. Details of the work can be found here.)
“Theatre Belongs to Everybody; Ideas Belong to No One.” - Chris Goode
A few months ago I cried at a gig for the first time. It was...
4 tags
November 2011
9 posts
3 tags
Mind Over Matter Zine: [Trigger Warning:... →
mindovermatterzine:
Gary Speed, football manager for Wales and former player for Leeds, Everton, Bolton and Newcastle, was found hanged in his home this morning under no suspicious circumstances. Police believe it to have been suicide:
If you are considering blogging, writing, or reporting on this, please read The Samaritans media guidelines for how to approach the subject appropriately and...
7 tags
"...we have a responsibility to explore new ways...
(Andy’s note: Because of the way the theme is formatted, this is gonna read like crap on the home page. Click here to check it out at a more sensible size. If you’d like to write about someone who inspires you, get in touch.)
Nathan is one half of One Night Stand In North Dakota, my favourite UK band. He’s interested in comics and queer theory, which makes him...
6 tags
"...where you're only allowed to be sexy if you're...
‘Drop a dress size. Boost a cup size.’
This is the text shown on an advert (see above) for Ann Summers new range of ‘sexy control lingerie’, alongside a woman appears to be so pleased with her new shape that she is verging upon climax. Ann Summers actually has a mission statement, surprisingly. It is as follows:
‘TO HELP EVERY WOMAN FEEL MORE SEXY & HAVE MORE...
1 tag
“It’s heartbreaking to acknowledge that we live in a world where a 16-year-old...”
– Janet Mock, in an essay in honor Trans Day of Remembrance.
I detail my first date at age 16 with a guy I really liked. At the end of the date, I revealed, “I’m not like other girls.” I went home heartbroken, but was able to live to write about it - unlike many other girls we honor this week.
(via...
7 tags
"...to just leave everything behind in the pursuit...
ILS: Hi, Kayla. For readers who aren’t familiar with you or your work, could you give us a quick run down of who you are, where you’re from, and what you do.
KH: For those who aren’t familiar- I’m Kayla Marie Hillier and sometimes I make comics.
I grew up in a tiny village in Ontario called Stoney Point, got a degree in Philosophy and Film Studies in the Niagara...
Female Super-Hero Characters and Sex: Creators... →
mckelvie:
A lengthy discussion with me, Kieron Gillen, Erika Moen, Kurt Busiek, Greg Rucka, G. Willow Wilson, Jeff Parker, Jess Fink, Brandon Graham, Sana Amanat, and Rachel Edidin. Worth a read.
Hadn’t seen this until tonight. If I didn’t already know Jamie has a social science background, I think I’d pick it up from his contribution. Very interesting piece.
8 tags
"Pull on your tights..." Andy Waterfield responds...
“The “Occupy” movement, whether displaying itself on Wall Street or in the streets of Oakland (which has, with unspeakable cowardice, embraced it) is anything but an exercise of our blessed First Amendment. “Occupy” is nothing but a pack of louts, thieves, and rapists, an unruly mob, fed by Woodstock-era nostalgia and putrid false righteousness. These clowns can do nothing but harm...
My Sober Year: Day 2: consent, and why it is so... →
mysoberyear:
music: battlefields : entourage of the archaic : entourage of the archaic (2007) we’ve been kissing for weeks. soft, intrepid, nervous lips touching. at first they just grazed, but as time has progressed they’ve come to know one another more intimately. it wasn’t until last night, straddled…
Trigger warning for the obvious subtext: This is bloody magnificent....
7 tags
"But sometimes we need to turn off our computers...
(Andy’s note: This piece was originally posted on Emily’s own site, Bearded Eloise. I asked her if I could repost it here, because I really enjoyed it, and I reckon some of you will too.)
(Photo by Emily Reynolds)
(I originally wrote this for a zine my good friend Aaron is producing about Southampton (my hometown). I’ll be posting details of the zine at a later date so look out for...
October 2011
7 posts
5 tags
[Trigger Warning: Discussion of offensive... →
mindovermatterzine:
Andrew, who runs the wonderful zine ilivesweat (check it out!) gave me a heads up on this interesting and important article about DC Comics’ portrayal of the mentally ill (particularly those with psychotic diagnoses).
The role of the media in encouraging stigmatizing attitudes towards the mentally ill should not be underestimated - especially comics, which have a high...
9 tags
"Everything else stems from that - teaching...
(Andy’s note: This is my friend, John. I used to work with him on the best club nights Leicester has ever seen. He’s good people, so be nice.)
(Photo by John Helps)
I’ve been wanting to write this piece for a very long time, but finding both the time and an appropriate place to put it have always escaped me, so I was delighted when Andy offered me the opportunity to write...
3 tags
I Live Sweat launches Kiva Lending Team
I’m pleased to announce the launch of the I Live Sweat Kiva Lending Team. For those of you who are unaware of Kiva, it’s a micro-lending platform which allows users to team up to lend money to entrepreneurs, in order that they might use that money to advance their businesses, and help lift themselves, and their communities, out of poverty.
Check out the video below to learn more...
2 tags
Someone gave me a job!
(Photo by Ailise Grealis)
Bit of an announcement to make tonight, chums. In the next few days, I’ll be joining the News Editing team over at PunkNews.org. Basically, I’ll be one of the folks responsible for going through submissions, writing copy, and that sort of thing. I’ve just been given the nod to tell people, and I wanted to tell I Live Sweat readers as soon as possible...
8 tags
"What can you contribute? What will you create...
(Andy’s note: I’ve embedded a Bandcamp player below so readers can listen to Latitudes and Longitudes as they read, should they be so inclined. I highly recommend it.)
<a href=”http://signalsmidwest.bandcamp.com/album/latitudes-and-longitudes-2011”...
“Living under Communism in China made me a fervent enthusiast of capitalism. I...”
– Nicholas Kristof, “America’s Primal Scream”
Kristof hits the mark in this column. In light of the mass arrests across the nation, let’s remember how this has grown since its beginning on September 17th. The Occupy movement has gone global in about a month.
September 17th was the beginning. October...
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"I could be fired for writing this." Nowah Jacobs...
(Andy’s note: Seeing as this is a fairly contentious issue, that I feel warrants a good deal of discussion from a range of perspectives, I’m hoping this piece provokes some debate. If you think you could add something with a companion/response piece, do get in touch.)
(Photo via @sassbutt - Used with permission)
I could be fired for writing this.
Today is October 5, 2011, and I had...
September 2011
2 posts
8 tags
"Digital and vinyl serve two different...
The fine gentlemen* at I Live Sweat gave me the opportunity to write an article comparing digital to vinyl, but, to be honest, as I started to think about it, I realized that the only time you see articles comparing these two things is when someone has a passionate opinion about one or the other. And yes, I could do that kind of article, but what good would it do us? Not much. My opinion on...
8 tags
"If you didn’t want to scoop ice cream for a...
(Photo by Roland J. Wall)
It occurred to me this morning that it really wouldn’t have made a rat’s ass of difference if I’d spent the last three years seriously trying to develop marketable skills, and looking for real jobs, instead of listening to music, going to shows, and writing three punk novels. If last night’s Republican presidential candidates debate is any sign (I can’t watch such...
August 2011
3 posts
11 tags
"Zines and the (increasingly understood to be)...
(Andy’s note: This piece is a response to a previous guest post on this topic which you can find here)
(photo by Naomi Nagler)
I have looked at academic papers written by my peers at university and I have been able to point out inconsistencies in their uses of APA, MLA, and Chicago citation styles. I have been encouraged by my professors to submit my own academic works to journals with...
10 tags
"We can do better. We should do better." Costa...
(Andy’s note: If you’d like to write a guest piece on this topic, whatever your view, please get in touch via ilivesweat at gmail dot com.)
Coming from backgrounds in what would be considered “outsider” cultures, like independent music and comic book culture, it’s initially hard to see where serious critical works about either one can be found. Granted, in the past several years...
7 tags
"Sexism is a disgusting undercurrent in our...
(Andy’s note: This piece was originally posted by our friends over at PunkNews.org. David was keen that it be posted here also, and the PunkNews staff were fine with that. I had intended to pop it up months ago, but it got lost in the shuffle. Sorry!)
(TRIGGER WARNING FOR DISCUSSION OF RAPE/SEXUAL ASSAULT)
(Photo by Unknown - let us know if you know!)
Let’s get right into it.
...
July 2011
4 posts
12 tags
"The world's too small. Too connected": The case...
Just recently, a fairly straightforward Superman story, published in Superman #900, kicked up a storm of controversy. In the story, written by David Goyer, Superman stands in solidarity with pro-democracy protesters, in a nation which is clearly an analogue for Mubarek’s Egypt.
Whilst Superman is extremely careful not to interfere physically, this act of solidarity forced him to question...
Watchclonesandfashions:
Inspirational video interview with Pat Gerity of RIDE THE FURY records, NJHC’s premiere DIY label and home to bands such as: Suburban Scum, Black Kites, Big Eyes, Product of Waste, Incendiary, and Night Birds to name a few!
Watch this. I’m not really that into physical format, but everything else Pat says, about doing it for the love, and putting in the hours of hard...
8 tags
“You do not. As with Amazon, Nook, and other e-book companies, you don’t own the...”
– Dark Horse Digital’s response to a question on their FAQ page, that question being: Do I own the digital comic I purchased?
To my mind, this approach is the worst thing about the majority of larger operators in the digital marketplace for books and comics, as it currently stands. It may be...
7 tags
"Critical self-awareness should cause people to...
(Andy’s note: Sociological language applied to punk/hc makes me as happy as a fistful of cherry Pez.)
Allow me a moment to set the scene. A band I’m really into has just played the opening bars of a song. I push through the crowd to get to the front of the room, to sing along, and maybe tap my feet, my preferred way of outwardly indicating that I’m enjoying the song. But when...
June 2011
15 posts
Explanation of the removal of a guest article
(Andy’s note: I removed a guest post from the site this morning, and didn’t have the opportunity to offer an explanation for this, until now.)
The author of a guest post contacted me to express concern about some of the discourse around their article online (much of which they consider to be an unfair misrepresentation of their ideas), and felt that they no longer wanted their name to...
9 tags
"Every bad thing I have is acknowledged as worth...
(Andy’s note: For my money, Joe is spot on when he talks about great crowds as a transgressive, almost religious, collective experience. Been there, so many times.)
(Photo by Marc Gaertner)
I have seen a lot of people recently criticising violent dancing in punk rock, as sexist, as ableist, or as just plain selfish. and most of the time, when people tell me something makes them...
8 tags
"The things that separate us are constructed, they...
Over the years, I think that overt sexism within the punk scene in the UK has undoubtedly lessened. Perhaps I’m comparing punk rock shows to hardcore shows, and letting them off lightly, in terms of violent macho bullshit undermining any audible messages of solidarity and inclusion; but so many punk bands are singing positively and about things that matter, and this feeds into the audience,...
9 tags
"There is no secret identity." - Joe Briggs...
(Andy’s note: So stoked with the standard of this piece. Looking for more contributors to write about comics. If you’re interested, do get in touch.)
There’s a really good article by Charles Baxter in which he coins the term ‘Owl Criticism’, referring to the sort of critics that dislike a book for its content, rather than the way it deals with its content, the sort...
7 tags
"If this show is 'All Ages', where’s my damn...
(Andy’s note: I’m really excited to post this, as I fully intend to live to a ripe old age, without sacrificing the things I love. Thanks again, Kate!)
(Photo by Roland J. Wall)
I have a ticket for the Flatliners/DayTrader/Holy Mess show at The Fire in Philadelphia in two weeks, and my husband is not happy about me going there alone. I was there once before, for the Evil Weevil...
8 tags
"I was just a bit worried my camera would get...
(Andy’s note: Maryam originally posted this piece here. It’s a response to this piece, that I linked back to and commented on last week. If you feel you could add something to the debate, please get in touch at ilivesweat@gmail.com)
(Photo by Maryam Hassan, used by permission from Punktastic.com)
I read a piece recently that described moshing as something that asshole men do. I was...
“Consideration for others is punk fucking rock.”
– Oofstar’s post on moshing is worthy of your attention. She questions whether moshing is sexist, but is damn sure it’s selfish. Anyway, it’s an interesting and thoughful post, and definitely made me think about my dancing at a show last night. I hadn’t thought about how some...
7 tags
Adam Obernauer of Born in a Cent on how men can...
(Photo by Eleni Vradis)
Growing up as a white man in the punk scene, sexism is something that I had initially never thought about. There was nothing more fun to me than hanging out with a bunch of friends, going to a show, seeing a bunch of bands play (generally all men), running around in a mosh pit, and just letting loose. I grew up with my sister as my best friend, a radical feminist,...
9 tags
"...without this community I don’t know what I...
(Andy’s note: This piece is quite short, but it’s also concise. Enjoy!)
(Photo by Matt White)
After a recent experience at a show I was promoting, I was having a discussion with someone about what it’s like to be a female promoter in the DIY punk scene, and it was suggested that I write something about it, so when I saw that Andy had put out a call for contributors, I took the...
7 tags
A response to Patrick Kindlon's (End of a...
A reader recently brought to my attention a piece by Patrick Kindlon over at PunkNews, offering his thoughts on the recent sexism debate that was jump started by Lauren Denitzio’s guest post here, continues in further guest posts on the topic, and has recently been taken up by the good people over at PunkNews. I’m gonna clarify here, in case anyone was wondering, that the editorial...
10 tags
Great Cynics - 'Don't Need Much' album release...
To celebrate the release of Don’t Need Much, the debut full length from Great Cynics (formerly Cynics), I slapped together this little ditty. It’s got three tracks from the new album, and an ambling and moderately drunken interview conducted in a small car in a Lincoln car park.
00:05 Great Cynics - Nightcaps
03:04 Interview: Part the First
16:41 Great Cynics - Not Saying...
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"If someone’s down, help them up." Dianna Settles...
(Photo by Stephen Yang)
“SHOW YOUR TITS! SHOW YOUR TITS!”
This is the refrain I heard at my first ‘punk’ show. I was 13 and it was the first time that my parents agreed to let me go to a show with my best friend Ian and his mom driving us. I heard this whenever a girl would crowd surf or try to dance. I didn’t understand why people would yell this or why the girls who did lift up their shirts...
14 tags
Budweiser Killed the Radio Star: Vance Puchalski...
Ever the astute prognosticators, Time magazine has a history marked by brazen promises. The magazine’s November 8th, 2010 issue featured a cover story titled “Party Crashers”, which accurately predicted Congressional gains by the Republican Party in last year’s midterm elections (Von Drehle). While this promise of G.O.P. victory had but one week to come to fruition once the issue hit...
9 tags
My Continuing Struggle Against Lad Culture: Nathan...
(Andy’s note: This piece was originally posted on Nathan’s blog, Queering Veganism. Nathan kindly gave me permission to repost it in full here on I Live Sweat. You can check out the original post here.)
I realize I’m probably one of many people writing about this, but I just read an article which made my blood boil.
Every year FHM conducts a poll to decide the ‘worlds 100 sexiest...
Can We Save the Superheroes?: an audio report by...
This week, I had the pleasure of making my first contribution to The Pod Delusion, a weekly podcast about, well, interesting things, from a skeptical/rationalist perspective. I chose to discuss the present state of the mainstream comics industry. An edited version of my report can be heard as part of the full episode below.
The full report can be heard here:
Oh, and here’s the...
May 2011
16 posts
10 tags
"...I needed an alternative to mainstream society...
(Photo by robert@hot-shot.at)
It was really great to be asked by Andy to contribute to his series on sexism in punk. When he said he’d been trying to think of someone from a band in the UK punk scene, to write something from a UK point of view, it sounded like he couldn’t think of many people.
This makes me feel sad and reminded me of a question I recently answered for a zine -...
ren spits at magpies: grow a pair - conversation? →
renspitsatmagpies:
hey, sorry i cant use tumblr for shiiiit so i dont know how to reply directly.
i’ll be honest, i hadn’t particularly considered how my design would impact on trans people and for that i’m very sorry and i’ll happily admit to my ignorance in this respect as i only actually know one trans person…
8 tags
"My gender role, as defined by me, is an equal...
Photo by Yvonne Marie Haddock
Let me begin by saying that I have shared some of the experiences already discussed in these segments and have found myself both humiliated and confused by others’ actions. But those experiences are not what I’d really like to focus on with this piece. Instead, I’d rather discuss gender equality behind the scenes of our little world.
Since becoming a part of the...