Out on the Dark Town

It's time I got out and met some other Goth folk in San Francisco.  I plan to begin hitting clubs.  I'm going to start this Friday at the Cat Club, SOMA (for those not familiar with SF that's South of Market, ).  The night is called Dark Shadows.  It features 2 bars, one in the middle and one in back.    It "Generally has the more swirly stuff playing up front and the stompy in the back" according to Christina L on Yelp.  Maybe I'll meet that special Darkling I've been looking for...

Saturday, in the Park...

My project for the week:  enlist the aid of my roommate, Miriam, to create my own submission to that famous blog, Goths Up Trees.  I'll deck myself out in a black outfit, holie fishnets and granny boots, add my palest of foundations (Kryolan 1W) and go find a tree!  I was going to do this today in Golden Gate Park but then I got the great idea that a cemetary or tomb would make an excellent backdrop.  So it looks like a trip to Colma is in order and I know just the tomb!  Pictures to follow.

For those that think goth culture is morbid and depressing I say this; morbid yes depressing, no.  Depressed people don't spend 2 hours getting dressed each day.

Goth Metal or Symphonic Metal?

Goth Metal or Symphonic Metal.  What's the difference?  Take a goth metal band, add a string section and voila!  There is of course more to it than that but it's interesting that the biggest names in symphonic metal at one time identified as goth metal.

It's hard to tell the difference  Symphonic metal came out of the late 90s when several bands from Scandinavia started applying their classical music training to their dark/goth metal sensibilities.  Most prominent of these is the Finnish band  Nightwish and their former front woman, Tarja Turunen who bears a striking resemblance to Morticia Adams

Within Temptation is one of my favorite bands of all time and their latest album, The Unforgiving, is a masterpiece.  A concept album supported by films and comic books.  It starts with Mother Maiden, a powerful necromancer who  has the ability to raise the spirits and bodies of the dead.  She selects people who died after making a mistake that resulted in the death of another.  These wraiths are given the chance to redeem themselves and gain entrance to heaven by fighting evil in this world.  Nothing dark or goth about this concept.  The fabulous Sharon den Adel says so (I really do think she's fabulous).  Neither are the clothes she designs for herself, like that black crocodile skin 

corset she wears on stage.

Last year Epica guitarist   Mark Jansen said in an interview that Epica was a goth band.  Lead singer and co-founder Simone Simons says no, they are a symphonic metal band.

Joanna Loses Her Crown

I discovered yesterday that I AM NOT the World's Oldest Goth Girl. Suelynn Gustafson of Denver CO has me beat by a couple of decades! Who knew? I'm not going to change the name though. She's 75 and has a gamey ticker, so sooner or later I'll hold the title. "Suelynn Gustafson was doing goth before it was cool. In fact, Suelynn Gustafson was doing goth about five decades before anyone even thought to call it goth, let alone cool, and furthermore, she doesn't mind telling you that she doesn't think much of the teenyboppers doing it today. "I think they're phony," she says," - Westword, April 4, 2012.

Danse Macabre-Tim Burton Style

Danse Macabre - Camille Saint-Saens
I just love French impressionist composers  Classical continues...




<b>Poem by Henri Cazalis, <i>Translation Joel Sattler</i></b>


Ziggy zaggy zig, Mr. Death is dancing 
In a happy jig with a toothy grin 
Hopping on the graves, tapping on the tombs  
In the mid of night to a violin 


The wind blows cold, and the winter’s nigh  
The trees are all groaning under the sky 
The music plays, the skeletons fly 
The ghosts in their coffins are glad they died 


Ziggy zaggy zig, all the bones will shake 
Clicky clicky clack such a horrid sound 
And two corpses kiss with forgotten lips 
Mockery of love - lying on the ground 


Ziggy ziggy Zag, Mr. Death is fiddling 
All the dead will jump to his violin 
Now the shrouds are ripped and the bones are naked 
Imitation of - memory of sin 


The lady she lies with the poor guttersnipes 
She’d never of touched them in her past life 
She gives all her lust, at least then she tries 
If she were still mortal she’d have no pride 


Ziggy zaggy zig, what a bacchanalia 
Look at all the damned, dancing in a ring 
Such an awful sight is beyond all horror 
Terrible the sound if they try to sing! 


But wait! The day’s come round at last 
The cock’s now crowing, the sky is so red 
Oh such awful night, what an awful fright - so 
Be glad that we die - all equally dead!

Out of the Goth Closet

I'm out of the Goth closet or bat cave as it's sometimes called.  From the beginning, How to Tell if You Are a Closet Goth was posted on Amy Asphodel's blog, Stripy Tight and Dark Delights, FKA Ultimate Goth Guide, which it truly is.  Amy has assembled the most comprehensive site available on all things Goth.


I scored a 15 out of 20 but I've been out since January. I was attending a friend's birthday party and went to get some refreshments where I met 2 other women one of whom, like me, was dressed in black. One of them commented on the coffin pendant (with a skeleton inside) I was wearing. Sheepishly, I said that I was "kind of gothy". The woman in black told me there was no such word as "gothy". I said I had goth sensibilities. "No" she replied "you're goth." And I have been ever since.

I got 15 of them but I'm happy to say I'm out of the goth closet! It happened in January. I was attending a friend's birthday party and went to get some refreshments where I met 2 other women one of whom, like me, was dressed in black. One of them commented on the coffin pendant(with a skeleton inside)I was wearing. Sheepishly, I said that I was "kind of gothy". The woman in black told me there was no such word as gothy. I said I had goth sensibilities. "No" she replied "you're goth." And I have been ever since.

One does not live on rock music alone.  The following is a Vasnier poem set to music by Claude Debussey.

Coquetterie Posthume from the Vasnier Songbook by Claude Debussy - Nicole Yazolino, soprano

In English

When I die, one must place
Before nailing down my coffin,
A little rouge on my cheekbone,
A little black line around my eye.

Because I want, in my closed casket,
Like the evening of his confession,
To stay eternally rosy,
With coal black on my blue eyes.

Pose me without the yellow of immortality,
Without a pillow embroidered with tears.
On my lace pillow
Flowing with my tresses.

That pillow, in crazy nights,
Has seen our brows sleeping together
And on the black bulging shroud,
Count our infinite kisses.

Between my pale waxed hands
Reunited in prayer,
Wind the opal rosary,
Blessed by the Roman Pope.

I will unstring it in the bed,
From which nothing again rises.
His mouth will place on my mouth,
Every Pater Noster and Ave Maria.

Corsets and Such

My roommate and dear friend, who shall remain nameless, always thought it precious that I affected a Victorian lady by wearing a corset. I love corsets. You can have the shape of a box car and a corset can make you look good! They're beautiful garment and make you look and feel sexy. Tight lacing or waste training corset can actually change the shape of your body. I've been in one 3 times a week for the past 2 years. I'm on my second won as I it worked so well I needed a smaller one. A couple days ago she wanted to look at corsets, just curious. So I gave her the name of the vendor where I buy them, Orchard Corset . She was curious so I offered to let her borrow one of mine. Yesterday she was getting ready to go out and took me up on the offer. She'd never put one on before and had no idea how to put on so of course I offered to help her. I gave her the helpful hints like "put your damn shoes on first" and "dress from the bottom up. When we got to the corset she cursed the thing for being so difficult and wondered why the lacing isn't in the front where it would be easy to tie. Finally, I got her into it and tight laced it closed. She went off mumbling and put on the rest of her clothes. Then she looked in the full length mirror and said, "Oh my God!" as she admired her new figure "it even lifts my boobs up!".

It's 12:30 AM.  Why the hell am I writing this now???  I feel guilty, in 3 months I've not gone beyond the intro. What is being Goth about for me?  Fashion, music, culture, art and literature.  And fun, everyday is Halloween if you want it to be.  To make this brief I'm linking a video from my absolutely favorite band in the world, Dutch symphonic/goth rockers, Within Temptation.

Ah hell, let's double the fun! This is avery dark yet humorous video. Enjoy!