The Seven Deadly Sinners

A Boyhood Hero

Finally, I got to draw something for (some kinda) pay that was near and dear to me! For me as a teen (and still, as a now aging heavy rock-freak), Lemmy from Mötörhead (and Hawkwind and Sam Gopal before that) always seemed like just the coolest bloke in world. Mötörhead was on Canadian TV almost every night (somebody at City TV in T.O. must've been a fan, as they seemed to crop up on the syndicated show The New Music with alarming regularity, either in promo-clip form or in actual interviews with J.D. Roberts). Anyway, I did this for the monthly local music/film paper Beatroute, and it also showed up on Mötörhead's actual website! (I just wish I could see them on their English tour with Girlschool and the Damned as the support acts...)

Ladies and Gentlemen, the tattoo backlash is here

Sure, laser removal has been around for a while, and the web abounds with tales of tattoo regret. This ad though (OK! Weekly, September 7, 2009) combines a dusty shame-based “tattoos lead to divorce” warning with a confessional style, an unspecified medical authority, a sketchy "device" and my all time favorite wacky advertising cosmetic ploy; the marriage of ancient secrets with modern science. Here they avoid labored descriptions and go straight for the punch with “state of the art, vintage technology”.

“Let them see YOU, not your TATTOO”

I’m Tina. "It all started when I walked down the aisle. The smirks; the giggles; the regret – the old tattoo from college sprawled across my back. Two years of my life getting ready for this very moment and all I felt was remorse. ‘My day’ ended up with a fight with my inlaws and then led to an ugly divorce soon after. I knew I should have removed the tattoo years ago, but didn’t know how…Well, I’m about to get married a second time, and I’m not making the same mistakes that I made in the past. Thank God for WreckingBalm © - it faded away my past quickly!”

Doc Sez: “Just 9 minutes every week and you’ll be on your way to ridding yourself of that unwanted tattoo! WreckingBalm © is a combination treatment using state-of-the-art, vintage technology, along with an FDA-approved, in-home tattoo removal device. Cleaner, healthier skin will be your new statement of identity without the funky bodyart regret. The best part about WreckingBalm © is you can try it RISK-FREE in your own home. It’s OK! Go ahead and get another tattoo – Your mistake is only skin deep…now you can correct it with WreckingBalm ©…Tina did!”

Ladyfingers!

Here's a brush n' rapidograph drawing done for this year's NMPAC instructors' show. Hope everybody is spooked.

Advanced Style

A friend pointed out this wonderful blog the other day while we were discussing what our future fashion sense might be. Rod plans on becoming The New Wave Button Man, wearing a Free Moustache Rides t-shirt. I plan on sporting a top hat and wearing plenty of leopard print (I guess I'm not too far off from that already). Of course whatever we wear, it'll be a reflection of who we really are, as it is now, but without the self-consciousness.

The people featured on Advanced Style are truly one of a kind. The first image shown here is a man who has to be one of the coolest, most dashing fellows I've ever seen. In particular though, I love Mimi Weddell (second image) who's just recently been featured in a documentary about her life called Hats Off! 

These last two images were taken in New York on Veterans Day. Do you recognize them?

The Calcutta Devil Cat

A beautiful spooky image by Etta Diem; for more dark things, pretty things, go here.

Real Men Work Here

Metal fabrication shop, Calgary

Deer head, smoking sign, babes, calendar featuring a different sort of sweet ride.

YES!