CHICAGO — Local venue The Brain Factory has abruptly changed the design of its entry stamp, much to the dismay of artistic punk Mel Kravtsova, who had just mastered the nuances of the block letters “OK.”
“I tried to draw it for weeks. I wasted my money on entry to get stamped last November so I could practice. Months go by, it finally happened, I drew it right and then they fucking change it to some circle design bullshit?” said Kravtsova, with a small hint of sadness. “That just goes to show that no matter how hard you work to make something great and meaningful, the little guy is always getting fucked over.”
Support from the community at Mel’s endeavor is evident in best friend and regular venue attendee Spike Nowak, who cannot stop raving about her friend’s genius stroke of innovation.
“The day she first drew it right we both had tears in our eyes. We went on a journey together and now we’re finally here, and we’re never going to pay cover here again, or so we thought,” Nowak stated. “Then, just like that, basically our entire world came crashing down. I can’t believe they decided to do this to us. We have to start again all the way back at square one. It never ends. She’s gonna need a Goddamn art degree just to get us into shows.”
Noticeably tired doorman Steve Vega, however, said he didn’t see what all the fuss was about.
“I dunno, we just fuckin’ felt bad for her because she comes here so much,” Vega confided. “We know she’s just been drawing it on. Anyone can draw block letters. I can draw block letters and I can’t even draw a stick figure. My dog can draw block letters. We just ran out of black ink, so we had to switch it, it wasn’t because we found her out or give a shit. The locks on the toilet paper holders, however, are absolutely because of her.”
At press time, Kravtsova was licking the back of her hand and pressing it against the stamped hand of a friend to gain entry into a $3 show.
Photo by Jana Miller.