Sweat Nuts

Ryan Adams has a crazy cool article up here. His writing style takes some getting used to but it has grown on me.

Eels Hombre Lobo

I've been listening to the new album by the Eels "Hombre Lobo" a lot lately. Somehow the Eels fell off of my radar for several years but this album has brought them back into sharp focus. I guess I'll now have to go back and pick up their last few albums to see what i've missed. This album has a lot of guts, you can find the story behind the album all over the internet but it does have to do with E's magnificent beard so it's worth a read. Here are a pair of great videos from the album. Make sure you check out the songs In My Dreams and All the Beautiful things, masterpieces.

Uncovered

I recently came across this wild picture of the lovely Kat Von D, it's a shocking look at her sans tattoos. If you watch her show you know that she has a makeup line and apparently one of the products in the line is a tattoo cover up and this is what it can do. Pretty amazing if you ask me, she looks like a completely different person. I'm not sure if it's the lack of her distinctive tattoos or the missing eye makeup but whatever it is that's a big difference.
A lot of people don't like the tattoo t.v. shows and what they are supposedly doing to the industry and the culture in general. I'm all for them, sure they might help people who were on the fence about getting tattooed take that step but that's a good thing right? More people wanting tattoos means better artists and better art and improved materials and more creativity. I know some people think too many people are jumping on the bandwagon and people with tattoos aren't as individualistic as they once were but that's why Jesus made neck and face tattoos. I also don't understand the backlash against the artists that appear on these shows but that's a part of the whole hatred of the "sell out" mentality that crops up everywhere, artists, musicians, businesses, athletes. For the most part the people who make it to the level where they can "sell out" deserve the money, fame, exposure etc... We should be wishing them well and be happy that they can support themselves with their passion.

Art Stuff

If you won't be able to visit us here in Paris don't fret, 35,000 of the Louvre's works are available as Hi res photos and it's in English.

Speaking of art Mike Giant and Mike Davis collaborated on a piece and are selling prints at the Skullz press.

Tom Neely is part of a group show in Portland, Oregon, he's done his take on several classic horror comic book covers and they are exceptional. Hopefully my brother will get out to the show and sent some pictures.

Yard Sale

The family and I spent a nice weekend in the country outside of Paris. Our visit coincided with the towns summer celebration. The weekend was chock full of swimming, a fair, a parade, fireworks, and a city wide yard sale. Paris has big flea markets but nothing like a good old yardsale. The items were a pretty crazy ix of modern junk and antique treasures, one thing that stood out to me was the fact that the French like to sale fancy antique plates and serving ware. I lucked out and found this amazing Carhartt jacket and a pair of pristine chuck taylors for 5 euros each.