Lori Nyx

If Maila Nurmi had never created her alter ego, Vampira, I wouldn't know how to act, dress or put on make-up. As the Misfits sang: "Two inch nails, micro waist, with a pale white feline face, inclination eyebrows to there." Nor would it have been as cool to be into all the weird, spooky, horror show stuff that I've loved since childhood. We all need role models, and without mine, I would have been...

After a visit to the doctor for my yearly oil change and lube, I was in the need of a bit of fresh air. Don't you just hate the irony of a heavy-set doctor telling you that your blood pressure is closer to high than it should be and that losing all the weight you gained back might be a really good idea? Yeah, me too. Damn it, I really wasn't planning on any...

This unexpected Tiki God has materilized on Mildred Ave. between Pacific and Dell--steps from my weekend gig in Venice. A few weeks back when I caught a glimpse of a resident with a machete, I was a little concerned. Thankfully, this friendly neighborhood Tiki was the result! I wonder if he is meant to be Lono, the god of Peace, or Kanaloa, the god of the Sea, or just a whimsical protector of the local...

I was looking through the recipe box for ways to use up the old Christmas carcass, when I re-discovered a little gem from days gone by: 1969 to be exact. It's one of those tiny paperbacks that they used to sell, a Flash World Library For Modern Living publication called: bachelor's cook book (all lower case for style's sake). The bachelor's cook book was created to help those fellas with just a hot plate,...

Sometimes the old remedies are the best remedies. Then again, sometimes they're not! No doubt by tomorrow morning we will all be scrambling for pills, potions and greasy breakfasts in the vain hope that the nausea, pounding in our temples and sensitivity to any and all stimuli will cease. Sure, lots of water and some Advil before bedtime or a Bloody Mary the next morning may do the trick in the year 2008, but...

Have a taste for deliciously scary eye candy? Check out Christopher Ulrich's phantasmagorical paintings: Demoneater Series One in Santa Monica!

This scary Santa is a relic from my childhood. It's a mechanical bank toy, the kind you drop a penny in to make it twitch and shake. Circa 1960 (4 years before my birth) it still kind of-sort of works, if the rusted contact points connect with 2 D batteries...and you pray hard. As I recall, it has always been freakish, even when new. It makes a whirring/jangling sound, lurching back and forth on its...

The Romans are often bagged on as being the Borg of the ancient world: assimilating barbarian cultures left and right, stealing the style and grace of the Greeks, tossing the odd Christian to lions. Yet, you must admit they did know how to PARTY, especially during those barren winter months. In antiquity, the feast of Saturn or "Saturnalia" was celebrated from about December 17th through the 23rd. It was a winter solstice festival in...

Does Depp's Sweeney Todd rip off Dave Vanian?

As a send off to photographer, Ann Summa's Los Angelesshow, bands/performers from the bad old days of early L.A. punk played in the gallery. Dude, it was both awesome and bitchin.