The End of History. At 55% alcohol, this brewdog beer is currently the world's strongest

Shane Blay of the band Oh, Sleeper wrote an interesting piece over on Metal Injection about Why Mid-Level Artists Cannot Make Money. He calculates each band member makes around $13 a day on tour, which, while it’s a profit, I guess, it’s not going to pay your mortgage. This was very eye-opening for me, to see touring from the eye of a musician.

However, SOME musicians are still making money touring. AC/DC’s Black Ice tour was the second-highest grossing tour in history, after the Rolling Stone’s 2005-7 “A Bigger Bang” tour.

3D Iron Maiden cover on this month’s Metal Hammer. I won’t be buying it, cuz I can’t see 3D, but I’m sure it’s rather tempting.

Miley Cyrus’ Iron Maiden Tee. Elise is right – this is the sort of thing that makes people mad for no reason. It makes my husband really mad – which I think is kind of adorable. I think it’s because, to metalheads, music means the absolute world. To some people, Iron Maiden isn’t just a band or a t-shirt company, they’re a powerful force in their lives. And they don’t want “trendies” getting their hands on that shit and making it “hip”. Now, I agree with Elise on this one – who are we to say that Miley Cyrus can’t wear a Maiden shirt? For all we know, she could be a total Maiden fan. But, I get why it makes people angry.

Also, I was in Supre looking for socks the other day and saw a horrible “metal” shirt which was essentially a Pantera album cover with “Panther” or something like that written across the top in the Iron Maiden font. Terrible. I wish I’d taken a picture.

If you’re like me, and you need money to fix your Mac because you accidentally inserted an SD card into the CD Drive … (no one? Just me, than. SIGH), You might like to know how to find unclaimed money.

Edward Gorey, the Trouble with Tribbles

Kevin McLeod should visit these folks: Life in a Missile Silo Home.

10 Common Spelling Mistakes That Haunt Bloggers. I am so guilty of “who’s/whose”, and a few others on occasion. Don’t sweat it too much. Mistakes happen.

I also really liked this article in the Harvard Business Review: Stop Apologizing for Your Online Life.

Vampire Scout Merit Badges. So cute.

This week on the blog I am tacking a controversial topic … no, not the oil spill, or the economic downturn or the merits of chasing tornadoes with video cameras … I want to spend some time discussing “White Metal” or metal music by Christian bands. Are you guys keen? First article will be up tomorrow.

Up the Irons!

Since I haven't done anything interesting so far this week, here's a picture of a pyramid.

I found this awesome website engine thingy “I write like …“. You copy in a section of your writing, and it uses some fancy computer magic to tell you who you’re writing style is like. According to my novel, I am like H. G. Wells, but my blog is more like Cory Doctorow. I can live with that. What would the bastard love child of H. G. Wells and Cory Doctorow read like? Apparently, my writing … Let me know who you are like!

I am a hopeless graphic artist, mainly cuz the computer won’t tell me what color I’ve chosen, so I will always draw by hand. So I really loved looking at these hand-drawn websites.

Only in NZ, dudes. Police were called to a Hamilton theatre after an irate metalhead with a walking stick (seriously? How old ARE we?) threatened ushers after the cancellation of the BIG FOUR screening. Apparently, the cancellation was caused by the cinema having problems “downloading” the film. (What? Was the illegal torrent not fast enough?) I also love how the cinema was charging $33 to see the show, over TWICE the price of a normal cinema ticket in NZ. In Auckland, a mere two hours from Hamilton, we were paying $18. Not cool, Hamilton, not cool. Still, don’t beat people with walking sticks, kids.

Infectious Diseases as Art. Beautiful. See, there’s something magical anywhere you look.

Black and WTF blog.

A “vintage” metallica tee with lace flared pants. Um … yeah. Reign in Blonde give bad groupie fashion the once over.

Alice in Wonderland Wedding. Also, Geeky Wedding Cakes.

Vinnie Paul will be auctioning off old toilets from his LA home. Um … that’s nice? Of all the metal paraphernalia to buy, why not just get a picture disc?

Miskatonic Archive – new favorite blog.

Where to Go and How to Get There.

This 1925 illustration of future New York is seriously cool. I kinda wish our cities did look like that.

Right, that’s it, I’m afraid. I am having one of those busy days, and I still have to get my work done and this week’s content written. Anything else cool going on in the world I don’t know about?

Yours, and yours and yours and yours

Enter the Goatlady comments upon the Wednesday morning merchandise rush – that is, the mosh pit one has to conquer in order to get one’s first choice of Wacken t-shirt in the correct size. I know this process well, having waiting in the epic Wacken t-shirt line myself. Photographic proof:

Wacken Merch Queue

The only way to jump the queue

Via Coilhouse, Katarzyna Konieczka, an avant-garde fashion designer from Poland, has designed a series based on the life and condition of Joseph Merrick, otherwise known as the Elephant Man. Yeah, you’re gonna want to look at these.

The plight of the Maelstrom of Cybele, about a pagan temple being refused the exemption on their property despite their status as a religious building. As well as being a pagan group, they also count among their number many transgender and lesbian women. Everytime I think “hey, it’s great we live in a time when people of different religions and opinions and thoughts and ideas can get along so well together” I read something that suggests actually, no, they can’t.

My favorite stylish metalhead Queen Michelle has designed a chunky crucifix necklace in conjunction with NZ jewelry company Meadowlark. She describes her reason for choosing the cross as relating to the death of her mother, who had surrounded herself with “objects of hope” during her illness. Can be worn up either way, as Michelle so angelically points out  - they’re only selling a limited amount if you’re keen. Auctually, while you’re at it, check out the  Meadowlark Online Store – there are some AMAZING pieces. I can’t believe these guys come from lil’ old NZ.

Another online shop you should bookmark for richer days – The Black Broom - purveuyers of gothic bar sets, and some terribly inappropriate toothpick holders …

Edward Gorey, antique style wedding. Also, Mad Hatter Bride.

Music painter Kilford will be working his magic at the UK Sorisphere festival, where he will turn the performances of Iron Maiden and Iggy and the Stooges into artwork.

Will Humanity Annihilate Itself? – a page from the 1939 San Antonio Light.

From the Positivity Blog, what Confucius Can Teach You About Living A Happier Life. Watch out for an upcoming Steff Metal article inspired by this post.

Yours from beside the smoldering fire with a bag of pineapple lumps and an indignant kitty cat.

First, some news for my New Zealand readers. Metallica’s Sept 22nd show in Canturbury is now going to be an “old school Metallica” show. Said the band:

“Our production team scoped it out over the last couple of weeks and no matter how hard we tried to re-configure it, the bottom line is the CBS Canterbury Arena is just not equipped to handle the in the round ‘Death Magnetic’ show that we’ve been carting around the world on this tour. That’s not going to stop us, but we wanted to let you know that we will not be able to bring the full set-up that you may have seen in photos on the [band's official] site or will see if you happen to hit another show in New Zealand or Australia. It’s gonna be us and YOU old-school ‘club style’ in a

Sounds fun, you lucky Cantabrians!

Also, playing next Thursday 15th at 8pm in cinema’s across the country. I won’t be going, because I’ll see it on DVD. I can’t sit still for three hours. But you should go.

Megadick: to the Max. Islander’s scathing review of Dave Mustaine’s thoughts about the Big Four show.

My favorite metal photographer METALOGRAPHER is back, and I couldn’t be happier to see some of her amazing work: bones I, Guns N Pups, Ostara and Ambiguous Title

In possibly the funniest metal-related blog post of the year, the metalsucks team encourage their readers to create “Positive Mental Attitude Band Names”. With my personal favorites being Nicemystium, Cattle Appreciation, Bunnies in the Throne Room, 3 Inches of Love, Heaven Shall Get Air Conditioning, Sunn:)))), Heakyeah!, Pillow Thrower, Keep Caressin’, Job Promotion for A Cowboy and Them Law-Abiding Vultures, you’d better believe it brings the giggles.

Star-Wars Inspired Corsets.

A beautiful Twilight-inspired wedding. Not a fan of the emo vampires, but this is really pretty.

Also, a cool handfasting, murder mystery wedding.

Yeah, still laughing over Sun :))))

Lady in Cat Mask Holding Up NYC Beauty Salons. No shit.

Amy Casey Artwork

Amy Casey: Painter of Precarious Worlds.

Coilhouse 5 is out. I’ve ordered mine. Have YOU?

Reign in Blonde discuss Female-fronted metal band’s album covers in their usual depreciating style.

Yours with the Bunnies in the Throne Room!

Steampunk Necklace, from The Lost Dream Machine

I am a sucker for some good steampunk jewelry – because steampunk is so trendy now, a lot of people are flexing their creative biceps and trying to create steampunk jewelry. The look is very jumbled – and it’s meant to be so – but even a chaotic piece must contain some kind of internal order. Not everyone has an eye for that. I’ve been enjoying the pieces designed by Marcus at The Lost Dream Machine, a Belgium-born jeweler working from his studio in Spain. You can buy Marcus’ steam-inspired industrial jewelry from the Lost Dream Machine etsy shop.

Also digging NO FUNERAL – a metal / hardcore zine based in Huntsville, Texas. Their site hasn’t been updated since 2009, but I’ve been reading back through the archives and finding some real gems.

WebUrbanist does it again – 6 Incredible Underground Spaces. I’ve been to Capadocia in Turkey, and it’s even more awesome in real life. It really does look like a place from outer space. We explored the underground city where the Christians went to hide – we went down 11 storeys, I believe, but the city itself goes down over 25. Archaeologists actually have no idea of its full expanse. Incredible.

I am thinking of getting a pair of these. They are totally OTT and silly – and that’s why I love them. They would be my dragon pants. Perfect for a Hammerfall concert, no?

Where the Streets Have Sexual Names.

Fantastic essay by artist Hazel Dooney about marketing for creatives and getting behind your work. I am in total agreement with Hazel, and there’s much in this essay and the comments to inspire the creatives who read this blog, whether you be a musician, artist, writer, blogger or designer.

The Sassy bitches at Reign in Blonde have been having a go at this Metalliblog guy, for posting this article rating the personalities of various metal musicians he has met. I think this is pudding proof of “things you say on the internet that reflect upon you in a bad way” as Metaliblog dude comes off sounding like a major racist, homoerotic (I love his use of the word “playful”), fanboy douche. He probably isn’t, but that’s how he sounds. I’ve met a few metal musicians – Lemmy, Zakk Wylde, the dudes from Opeth, Nile, Behemoth, Cannibal Corpse … a few others, I’m sure. I found every one of them to be professional and appreciative of fans. The touring lifestyle must be hard, and sometimes you must want to tell the kids waiting out the back of the venue to fuck off, you just want a cigarette and to crawl into bed. Im not saying that excuses anyone from being an asshole, but I dislike the mentality that any musician is required to be “available” to his / her fans for autographs, chatting, drinking, whatever, once the show is over. If they are, great. But if they can’t, then that doesn’t make them an asshole.

Metal Insider has a few gloomy words to say about the Scream It Like You Mean It Summer Slaughter Thrash and Burn American Carnage Cool Ozzfest Mayhem Tour … And How Warped it All Is. I think – and please disagree with me here if you’re from the States and know more about the situation than I do – the problem here lies in too many summer tours with similiar lineups. I don’t think live music will ever die – in fact, I think it will get bigger and bigger over the next few years. I think the problem here is that kids only have a finite amount of money, and now, they can choose from 5-6 tours starring their favorite band. All these tours cater to the same audience – they’ve simply reached saturation point. Once tour promoters start thinking outside the box, they’ll see numbers and sales picking up again.

X-ray pinup calendar. Best. Idea. Ever.

Hot hot hot Medieval groom with sword.

And, for the boys, Hannah, who is also hot hot hot.

What are you reading this week?

Iron Maiden - the Final Frontier

Also in fucking awesome metal news, Iron Maiden’s website counted down today to the announcement that their new album “The Final Frontier” with some of their best cover art yet, will be released on August 16. The first sinle, called “El Dorado” will be available as a free download.

Halloween Party with Nuptuals, and the most delicious-looking cake ever. Also, Victorian Steampunk Corset-goddess wedding. And an At-At wedding cake, with cute little ewoks!

Fiver – a site where people tell you what they’ll do for you for five bucks. For example “I will help you play a practical joke for $5″, “I will do a dance for you for $5″, or “I will draw a cartoon for you for $5″. Such a cool idea – I’ll put up a couple of entries soon, I thinks.

This is freaky … 8 Mysterious unsolved sounds. I love that one is called “The Bloop”.

We’re All Sluts. This is a topic of frequent conversation around feminist circles. “Slut Bashing” or calling other women sluts, either to their faces or behind their back. I’ve never really encountered this firsthand before, as I have a pretty awesome circle of peeps, and don’t tend to associate with people who sit around bitching. But, “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all” applies here, and if this is something that you’re a victim of, remember name calling says more about the person doing the calling than the person being made fun of.

Vote for this supreme court judge in California, because he likes Ozzy. I’m sold.

Why You’re Actually Terrified of Having Time to Create.

Necklace made from pen nibs. This would be a really easy DIY. I love how spiky and gnarly it looks.

I didn’t know LJ communities were still going, but here’s a cool one: CraftyGoths.

A friend posted a link on Facebook to Beserk Clothing (Aus) and they are sick! I am in LOVE with this skirt.

Squadron skirt, $85, Beserk Clothing

I will buy it. It will happen. As soon as I am a millionaire.

Decor for the discerning metalhead: Skull furniture.

The cute is killing me.

So, what have you been reading this week?

Cthulhu, as drawn by HP Lovecraft himself. SO not what I imagined.

Growing Jewellery by Hafsteinn Juliusson, an Icelandic designer working in Milano. Cute little patches of Icelandic moss growing in rings and pendants.

From the Telegraph, a 15 year old picture showing the ghost of a girl standing in the inferno of a burning town hall (the famous Wren Ghost picture) has been revealed as a hoax, after a researcher discovered the “Wren Ghost” was actually doctored from a postcard. I always find this a bit of a shame – as I’m sure there are plenty of seriously unexplained photographs out there who are having to fight for legitimacy against the overwhelming evidence of hoaxes.

Topshop’s Zombie Hunting Vest.

One Million Beers for Metal. Go forth and contribute to this most-excellent project \m/

A blog devoted to rude, crude and disturbing cross-stitch.

Ozzy sharing the shit out of visitors to Madame Toussauds. \m/

Dog Lamp, by Planta Design. So cute!

Creepy abandoned crypts.

What are you reading this week?

abandoned Norwegian whaling vessel, Antarctica

Enter the Goatlady laments fluctuations in currency exchange rates when planning Grymm and Epic metal adventures! (I hear ya, missy!)

I continue my love of photography from abandoned places with this series of Antarctic Abandonments.

Metal style blog In Her Stilettos features some wicked metal / rock inspiration pics.

A disgusting piece of news reached me today. The Westboro Baptist Church – called “the most hated family in America” for their abhorrent treatment of and protests against homosexuality – intend to picket the memorial service of Ronnie James Dio. Ronnie’s late wife, Wendy, urges attendees to “turn the other cheek”.

“Ronnie hates prejudice and violence! We need to turn the other cheek on these people that only know how to hate someone they didn’t know. We only know how to love someone we know!”

I am a firm believer in the right to protest and to free speech, but this is a memorial service for a family, friends and fans in mourning, and is not the time to make any kind of political, racial or religious statement. Metalheads wouldn’t show up to a pastor’s funeral blasting Bestial Holucaust and yelling about how he’d led you all from the true path … the path of Dio :).

Ronnie James Dio‘s public memorial service will be held on Sunday, May 30 at 2:00 p.m. at The Hall Of Liberty located at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills, 6300 Forest Lawn Drive, Los Angeles, California. If you’re there, please go, and show the WBC how people SHOULD act at a memorial service.

Octopus Chandeliers by Adam Wallacavage. When we finally build our dream castle, I am having these in the library. Woah, tentacles!

Michelle at Wicked Whimsy is doing a series of posts about Neil Gaiman’s books, and to give everyone the necessary knowledge to better understand the series and Michelle’s arguments, she’s giving lessons on Paganism 101.

Jason Newstead’s first art exhibition opening was attended by Lars Ulrich. The exhibition – at the Micaëla Gallery (49 Geary Street) in San Francisco – runs until June 27. Newstead says:

“A white canvas is silence. I always played loud — (my) art is loud. It’s a direct transfer. I was always a team player. Now I’m the field goal kicker. I get the glory or I get the (blame).”

On leaving METALLICA:

“It took 10 years for me to decompress and come back down to the ground from all that. You have to have a purpose. That’s why people get (messed) up on drugs and alcohol. Because they don’t have a purpose.”

Read more at this location.

Also in Metallica news, the BIG FOUR at Sorisphere this year will be livecasting their shows to over 800 theaters worldwide.

Purple Rock n Roll bride with mohawk.

What are you reading about this week?

Range of Postcards available in the Steff Metal shop

WebUrbanist continues to be one of the few blogs who post something I’m dying to read every single day. Here’s 10 Most Amazing Ancient Objects of Mystery. The most mysterious thing I ever dug up was a squashed bullet casing.

Download Festival in the UK is renaming their second stage the “Dio Stage“.

From Rock n Roll Bride, Night of the Living Wed. Also, congrats to my wonderful friends, Tim and Tarah, who got engaged! You guys are awesome and are so wonderful together!

10 Tips for Marketing Your Books online. This applies to marketing anything online.

Bones of War: Haunting Skeleton photography.

I am about to place a HUGE order at Steampunk Couture. I bet, after you look, you will too.

Urgh, sorry, yes that was super short. If anyone wants to come over and do my work for me, you’re more than welcome.

Urgh \m/
Steff Metal

Anamorphic art greets commuters in Toronto

We have just got back from dropping my mum off at the airport. Had a lovely weekend with her – a big group of friends got together to have Mongolian for dinner and then see a local theatre group perform Terry Pratchett’s Maskerade as a theatre play. It was hilarious, as is expected of Terry Pratchett. He’s one of my mum’s favorite authors so I treated her for mother’s day.

I freaken love anamorphic art. It’s those paintings on streets and walls that look like weird splodges till you see them from just the right angle, and then they’re awesome. Here are some rad examples of Anamorphic art from the Toronto subway.

May Is Zombie Awareness Month. In honor of this important movement the Zombie Research Society are giving away a different zombie-themed item every day. I missed the first week (damn) but don’t think I won’t be over there adding my name in for some zombie swag.

Via Blabbermouth. By day, Thomas Gurrath, 29, is a trainee teacher in politics, history and ethics at Hegel Gymnasium in Stuttgart. By night, he is Thomas “The Bloodbeast” Gurrath, frontman of Debauchery, the goriest gore metal band to ever gore up the German city. But alas, Gurrath has been told he must choose the children or the metal. I’m interested to hear what you guys think about this – should a man fronting a gore metal band be allowed to teach school kids?

Wedding stuff: a Dia de los Muertos vow renewal. Black Boots in the snow7 (just a really cool photo shoot). Pretty picture (inked couple looking hot).

Ronnie James Dio has taken a turn for the worse and had to cancel all of Heaven and Hell’s summer shows. So if you were looking forward to seeing them at Bloodstock … sad face L. He says:

Wendy, my doctors and I have worked so hard to make it happen for all of you, the ones we care so much about, that this setback could be devastating, but we will not let it be. With your continued love and support, we will carry on and thrive. There will be other tours, more music, more life and much more magic.

Over on Reign in Blonde, Angela discusses artists who take their band names from the song titles of other bands.

New Collection from Complex Geometries. I love how these outfits look like the latest designs in Mad Cultist Garb.

Do you long for the day when robots and androids walk among us? It’s already here.

For random décor items and steampunk misc., try the Victorian Trading Company.

Gossip Girl star (and frontwoman of The Pretty Reckless, who are apparently some kind of emo band) Taylor Momsen wearing an Iron Maiden shirt. At least she’s not throwing the goat.

Apparently, New York City is one of the most linguistically diverse cities on earth. You can hear over 800 languages – some, like Vlashki, Garifuna, Mamuju, Gaelic and Romany.  The Endangered Language Alliance attempts to document and preserve them all. As a person who has spent a significant period of her life studying French, German, two ancient languages (Greek and Egyptian Hieroglyphs) and one invented language (Quenya) I find this article rather fascinating.

Latex designs including a latex wedding dress from Etsy sellers Creative CHAOS Designs.

What are you reading this week?
Steff Metal