Volume I, Issue 42
March 23 - March 30, 1998

The Goths of the world are an expressive bunch. Their dark clothes and makeup stand out, of course, but Goths go well beyond that. Even in public, you often see them writing poetry or drawing pictures of sad-eyed wizards and naked faeries in pin-up positions. And when insulted, Goths don't hold back -- au contraire. They form Goth posses with which to verbally crucify the offending outsider. Don't believe me? Try leaving an anti-Goth troll on the alt.goth newsgroup. Better yet, read this roundup of letters the Memphis Flyer received in response to an unflattering reference to Goths. Ouch.

Now some of you may be wondering: Goth? What in the ever-loving? If you don't live in a major city, or you steer well clear of coffeeshops and the kind of dance clubs where they still play the Cure, perhaps you've missed out on the whole Goth phenom. Sure, it's been around for nearly 20 years (not counting hundreds of years of "Gothic" literature and culture), but we won't fault you. We'll just send you to these Web sites, where you can quietly catch up on the petulant trend that has singlehandedly caused an explosion in the black lipstick manufacturing business.

Oh, and any of you Goths out there, if you'd care to send a letter or two my way, I promise I'll publish excerpts. Relax, make yourself a cocktail, and dare to dazzle me with your poisonous wit.

Speaking of wit, those of you who couldn't care less about Goth might at least find a few smirks in this interview with Spalding Gray. The "Swimming to Cambodia" monolinguist has another set of tales to share, and they're even taller than normal -- perhaps because they take place on ski slopes. We've also got the usual terrific assortment of theatre and visual arts reviews. Wipe away that black eyeliner and take a peek.