By M. Tekel, on May 1st, 2012 
Abandoniers! is a new column about breakin’ and enterin,’ tresspassin’ and trangressin’ — and all the cool shit you find. Wanna share your urban explorations? Click here.
by M. Tekel
Because it was a Tuesday night and we were bored, we decided the most entertaining activity of the evening would be to slip beneath the fence of an abandoned retirement home. I’d driven by the place multiple times, even went to school down the street from this shady little hideaway, but never really noticed it until it was closed, surrounded by a janky construction fence, which was easy enough to crawl through. Many others had trespassed here before, the place riddled with busted windows, kicked in doors and the copper wiring torn out.
Later, while doing a little research, I learned that this place, aptly named Fiesta Village, was closed because the owner was mistreating the elderly folks residing there. The Arizona Republic reported that Melissa Pacheco, who owned two other homes in addition to Fiesta Village, was letting patients stew in their own shit and piss, some had open sores and broken bones that weren’t properly treated, not to mention the many patients that were dehydrated and had lice.
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By M. Tekel, on April 30th, 2012 
San Francisco-based photographer, Natacha Merritt, made waves in 2000 with her book Digital-Diaries, an erotic exploration of her excellent sex life as she toured the underground S&M and slut-sex scenes. The book moved over 300,000 copies, featured in everything from The Wall Street Journal to Playboy to Rolling Stone.
So what do you after your pornographic diary becomes a best-seller? Well, for Merritt, she went back to school to study biology. Perhaps that’s an odd choice, but between photographing Cirque du Soleil performers and amateur models, she was getting close and personal with arachnid genitalia. Her passion for sex and science fused and became her latest book, Sexual Selections. You’ll find intimate, exposed pictures of young models juxtaposed by botanical slides and spider vagina, which brings our human urges into new light, exposing them for what they are – merely urges.
Filthfiller.com spoke to Natacha about her new book and some of her views on sexuality. You can read it after the jump. (WARNING: Some images may be NSFW, unless you have a cool job.)
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By C. Bass, on April 27th, 2012 
Ever heard of sumac? That’s ok, it probably hasn’t heard of you, either. If you have heard of sumac, you might be thinking I’m referring to poison sumac, or its cousins poison ivy and poison oak. I am not. The sumac to which I refer is a spice used extensively in Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cuisine, like turmeric and mint. Sumac, as you’ll usually see it for cooking, is a dark reddish granulated powder (definitely maroon, almost purple) that has a partly sour, pseudo citrus taste. The best way I, with my limited tongue, can describe the flavor is a cross between tamarind and lemon. Kind of like those Hispanic treats, I guess?
I myself happen to be quite familiar with sumac. I am Mediterranean by blood, and growing up, it has been a constant in the spice cabinet. It still is. However, I never thought I would be presented with an enormous shaker (just like the ones that hold shitty parm and red pepper flakes at your local pizza joint) of sumac, nestled right next to the salt and pepper. Oh, glorious day that I first stepped foot in this restaurant and discovered one of the most perfect of diamonds in the rough!
This diamond in the rough to which I refer is, of course, Haji-Baba.
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By M. Tekel, on April 26th, 2012 
There’s always been something a little off to me about Cee Lo Green. The larger, louder half of Gnarls Barkley just always seems so dark, like he’s hiding something, like he’s not so trustworthy.
I think this sinking suspicion began (sinking?) when I first heard Barkley’s debut, St. Elsewhere. In between “Crazy” and that Violent Femmes’ cover, there was a little tune called “Necromancer,” which has ol’ Cee Lo crooning “Naughty, naughty necrophilia…She was cool when I met her/ But I think I like her better dead…” The rest of the tune tells of a chic cosmopolitan woman who overdoses, but Cee Lo isn’t done having fun with her yet, if you know what I mean.
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By M. Tekel, on April 2nd, 2012 About two months ago, my job sent me on a trip to Virginia. With little to no time for anything but work-related slush, most of these pictures were taken from a car window. I think that’s a big no-no in photography rules, but here you are.
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By M. Tekel, on March 28th, 2012  Usually, listening to a “Best of” album is cheating and means you don’t really like music, but Squeeze is an exception*. You’ll know them for their song “Tempted” which I used to hear on repeat when I worked at Sears. I would look around at all the recently divorced loners shopping for gray socks and feel sort of bad and weird, until the anonymous Sears P.A. djs changed the song to something even more depressing. Here’s a video for that song acted out by some idiots who rooted in their step-father’s closet, after the break. Laws like SOPA will make things like this illegal one day — maybe it’s not so bad.
Just an FYI: Squeeze is a band from the ’70s and ’80s that are sort of New Wave, but without making you gag nearly as much. Like 95.23% of bands from that era, they’ve broken up and reunited seventy times and toured the world enough times to create small fuel shortages around the globe and most people don’t even remember who they are. Read More
By Troy Farah, on March 27th, 2012  Dark conceptual weirdness and a dulled duo’s edge
By Troy Farah
Published on 03/22/2012 in Flag Live
Cursive
I Am Gemini
Rating: 4/5
When Cursive played at the Crescent Ballroom in Phoenix, frontman Tim Kasher described the band’s seventh album, I Am Gemini, as “pretty weird.” Kasher’s lyrics have always evoked characters somewhere between Mark David Chapman and Willard, but now he’s gone full-blown schizophrenic.
Now, anyone with a brief knowledge of pop psychology understands the term schizophrenic is thrown around all too often, but it works here pretty well. Or maybe I Am Gemini just falls into dissociative identity disorder; the point here is that the main character in this concept album has some sort of split personality, increasing paranoia and an aversion to reality. Not surprisingly, he’s freaking out about it.
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By Troy Farah, on March 26th, 2012 
Published on 03/22/2012 in Flag Live
(Author’s note: This article was the blood and sweat of over eight months, where it was post-poned and delayed repeatedly. I feel like I became really close with the band in that time and I’m finally glad to see it in print. Enjoy it uncensored after the break.)
It took a number of beer-pounding sessions before settling on the offbeat name Tonsil Yeti. Other suggestions thrown about were Bronson Johnson, Six Year Old Girls, Konkey Dong, Vagiant (taken, as it turns out), and Bloody Sex. But what exactly is a Tonsil Yeti? To hear lead vocalist Derek Born describe it, it’s “Just straight up, good rock ‘n’ roll.” This Saturday is a landmark for the band because it’s a party for their debut album release, A Bomb and a Bull.
Falling somewhere between grunge and hard rock (with a healthy splash of metal) Tonsil Yeti is one of Flagstaff’s most vulgar (and fun) bands, touting song titles like “Orangutan Handjob” and “Legs So Fine.” The Yeti features Derek Born (vocals), Chris Wargo (lead guitar, also of Fight the Quiet), Will Joffroy (rhythm guitar), Mark Broom (bass) and Dave Swain (drums).
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By M. Tekel, on March 23rd, 2012 I have a bad habit of forgetting about cameras. I bought this stupid P.O.S. Bell&Howell camera from a thrift store because I knew it had film in it, but it was missing a top screw so I couldn’t jimmy it open. Long story short, I tried my own roll in there and forgot about it for two years, then had to break the camera to get ‘em. Of course the photos were slightly damaged. Anyway, here are those pictures today.
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By Troy Farah, on March 22nd, 2012 The Squid and the Whale is one whiney movie. Beats me why anyone paid attention to that half-assed attempt at some Wes Anderson thing, but that’s where Noah and the Whale get their silly name. They’re compared closest to Belle & Sebastian or Mumford and Sons, but to me they sound a lot like The Magnetic Fields. The Fields wrote/covered 69 Love Songs and they’re a main reason why The Arcade Fire is around. So Noah is like an evolution of baroque pop named after a shitty indie flick. Listen after the jump. Read More
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Specialty Gunk Runner
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Last Night: The Donkeys at Yucca Tap Room 5/14/12
Originally published in Phoenix New Times’ Up On The Sun
It’s hard to tell your friends “I’m going to the Donkeys show” with a straight face. No, not some perverted freak-show in Mexico. I mean the psychedelic San Diegan blues rockers The Donkeys, who tore the Yucca Tap Room apart with their ’60s-inspired pop and ’70s-era jams, a blend that’s earned praise from indie contemporaries like The Mountain Goats and The Hold Steady. The Donkeys treated the bar and lounge like they were regulars, which is pretty close to the truth — this is hardly their first rodeo in Tempe. . . . → Read More: Last Night: The Donkeys at Yucca Tap Room 5/14/12
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Tekel’s Book of the Month Club Returns!
This isn’t some Oprah bullshit. We read kickass books and at the end of it, have a swag party with cocktails, cigars and coke. Most of all, we talk all posh about literature. It’s an incentive to read and discuss ideas rather than what’s on TV or who’s sleeping with who.
Tekel’s Book of the Month Club existed in some form as a weird Facebook group, but now it’s public. Anyone can (and should) join!
. . . → Read More: Tekel’s Book of the Month Club Returns!
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The Filthfiller Interview: Jerking-off, spider dongs and BDSM photographer Natacha Merritt
San Francisco-based photographer, Natacha Merritt, made waves in 2000 with her book Digital-Diaries, an erotic exploration of her excellent sex life as she toured the underground S&M and slut-sex scenes. The book moved over 300,000 copies, featured in everything from The Wall Street Journal to Playboy to Rolling Stone.
So what do you after your pornographic diary becomes a best-seller? Well, for Merritt, she went back to school to study biology. Perhaps that’s an odd choice, but between photographing Cirque du Soleil performers and amateur models, she was getting close and personal with arachnid genitalia. Her passion for sex . . . → Read More: The Filthfiller Interview: Jerking-off, spider dongs and BDSM photographer Natacha Merritt
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Rock Monster: Flagstaff’s Tonsil Yeti gets by (and triumphs) with a little help from their friends
Published on 03/22/2012 in Flag Live
(Author’s note: This article was the blood and sweat of over eight months, where it was post-poned and delayed repeatedly. I feel like I became really close with the band in that time and I’m finally glad to see it in print. Enjoy it uncensored after the break.)
It took a number of beer-pounding sessions before settling on the offbeat name Tonsil Yeti. Other suggestions thrown about were Bronson Johnson, Six Year Old Girls, Konkey Dong, Vagiant (taken, as it turns out), and Bloody Sex. But what exactly is a Tonsil Yeti? To . . . → Read More: Rock Monster: Flagstaff’s Tonsil Yeti gets by (and triumphs) with a little help from their friends
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Phoenix Indie-Rock Band Knesset Is Big in Japan
By Troy Farah Mon., Mar. 19 2012 at 7:00 AM in Phoenix New Times
Released last year, Coming of Age is an appropriate title for Knesset’s first album, as the band is only now starting to step up locally. Pronounced KA-NESS-ET and named after the legislative branch of the Israeli government, these locals have played in the background of Phoenix since 2007.
. . . → Read More: Phoenix Indie-Rock Band Knesset Is Big in Japan
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