As you may know, the last issue of ROKon featured a longish piece about a Persian fellow worried that his natural cultural behavior might come off as, well, a bit gay. That, in turn, really annoyed the gay community in our audience. Since we see our publication as quite gay-friendly, this concerns us to no end.
ROKon Magazine is in large part my effort to re-create a magazine called Punchline that existed in Richmond, Virginia for a few years. It was trashy and weird, but it beloved by the same people ROKon strives to serve – people in their 20s and 30s who want an honest representation of the world around them. If you, gentle reader, are willing to give us a few more issues, you will be delighted at our growth. We’re always going to be weird, different, unexpected and, well, just a little bit strange.
It reminds of me DJing. Sometimes, you have to ignore someone’s request for the greater good of the night. Just because one person wants to hear the Velvet Underground, doesn’t mean I should play it. Later on, after the party’s died down, I might play it. The same with ROKon. Just because one group may be annoyed with something in one issue, doesn’t mean they won’t be delighted with something in the next one.
I would rather us tick people off every once in a while by accident than be so boring that no one can summon up the energy to pick us up. That’s the trade off, either we try to please everyone and serve no one, or we serve the community the way we feel it needs to be and have a living, breathing magazine.
20 Comments
Shelton, pardon my English but who gives a flying f*** and why are you posting that here?
i understand your opinion, but I think the issue is of general interest enough to post about it here. I promise to do so sparingly in the future.
It sounds to me like your gay readers nead some cultural sensitivity training.
I think the issue is of general interest enough to post about it here.
You don’t say.
DJing in a club is kinda gay too.
Which is too bad (if true) because it seems to be a great way to meet girls.
nori is not a “club”
it’s a bar where you can dance to rock music
I can’t tell you how many times some tagger has managed to get a girl I had talked to across the bar all night. Working 8 hours at your favorite bar does have its disadvantages. sigh.
are you only dj’ing to try and pick up girls?
no…of course not…I do it ’cause I love it…but it is frustrating to see that, nonetheless..
Maybe if you played the music she requested you might get the girl.
A lot of these free-love hippie chicks would like nothing better than to get a fruit to switch teams. Sexually-ambiguous males like Shelton are like catnip to that kind of girl. But then being trapped behind the bar, he can’t spring the trap on them. It must be awful to see them get pinched by undeserving interlopers reaping the benefit of your lubing them up. Say, what’s the address on that bar again, Shelton?
your post is just so gay, shelton.
Good golly a tempest. Need to see what the hoo-hah is all about. So time to visit ROKon.
Know what?
There ain’t no tempest. No hoo-hahs. Not even a ho-ho.
Not one comment made in response the though-I-seem-fey-really-I’m-not-gay Persian’s letter. In fact I can’t find a comment in the 10 most recent articles. Including “Ask Pablo”. The only “comments” at ROKon are trackbacks. Here.
C’mon. What audience?
I wouldn’t do Sheldon even if I was a haemaphrodite
look ma, no link
If you are hanging out at Nori, you are washed out the bottom of the waygook barrel. Maybe if you have been in Korea for 1 month you can get away with it, now…well, you know…
i gotta say….these attempts at “journalism” really remind me of the student newspaper back in university. the “cult of personality types” who just have to be somewhat alternative and shop at value village come up with all these cute and quirky editortials that are supposed to be on the cutting edge. the word “I” appears far too much.
all in all i think the marmot has to be a bit more discerning about what he allows posted on his otherwise wonderful website. but lately it seems a lot of “look at me!” stuff is popping up on here making it more like a personal blog rather than a news related one.
less fluff please.
shelton
just make sure that rokon’s paper and ink got no toxic substances
they’d be perfect for wrapping fish
in twenty years when shelton has reached hefner-like status (and here i mean the good parts, not the super creepy parts), i wonder if any of us will be invited to the magazine’s parties.
if nothing else, it’ll be cool to get interviewed for the A&E biography special. we can all talk about how we knew him back when the magazine was going through its rough first issues. (maybe there will be a part of the program that covers shelton’s failed DJing career, too.)
so give the guy a break. it may pay off in the form of lap dances and chances to be on tv.
Mr. Bum is “super creepy” already.
But he doesn’t look a day over 18 in those newspaper ads.
By the way, Shelton, are you multiethnic? Asian and European, maybe?