Saddam Hussein - Pimp my AK

Put some class to your drive-by. But remember, drive-by shooters will be sentenced to die !

Gwar - plastic killers

The thrash metal shock rock band formed in 1985 is still out there. As Beavis and Butt-head’s favorite band, Gwar is now a cult figure in the Pantheon of sub-trash culture. In every performance, during or between songs, the group and its slaves mutilate or execute, under eyes opened wide by the amused spectators, a handle of politicians and personalities - as Schwarzenegger, Tyson, Reagan, Bush and the others Paris Hilton. The band also makes frequent references to political and historical figures, fantasy littrature, and mythologie. Gwar also has many references to Lovecraft's themes (Antarctica, Yig, Giant Penguins, Fleshy Insanities... etc) as well as Warhammer 40 k (Plasma Cannons,Plague Infection Barges, slaanesh Chaos Champions obsessed with pleasure and violence). In addition, the title of their fifth album RagNaRok comes from Norse mythologie.

Kassagi !

Tunisian born, Henri Kassagi, was one of the most famous illusionists of the XXth century. He amazed children and adults by his magic tricks presented with righteousness and elegance on all the scenes of the world. He refused to lead astray the noble art of the conjuring by being engaged in the deceit which consists in being supposed to a sorcerer, endowed with supernatural powers, as did so many others notably Uri Geller, the Philippine quacks... Kassagi is not any more among us, but the memory of his kindness, his intelligence and his talent live. Kassagi forever !

Kiraz - the french lover

Kiraz was born in Cairo in 1923, but it is in Paris where he began his illustrator's career.

At the request of Marcel Dassault, in 1959, Kiraz leaves definitively the political drawing and creates "Les Parisiennes ( The Parisians) " for the magazine "Jours de France". Kiraz always considered his work as journalism. Actually, " Les Parisiennes " are a mirror of feminine behavior since the fifties. From the seventies, their fame goes to numerous countries and is Kiraz comes to the world of the advertising. The line is subtle but the humor is sometimes less. Well, it is so French, quoi.

An history of barbecue

Most people view Kansas City as the beginnings for barbecue in the United States. In my opinion a closer look at the North American Indian is necessary. They used natural herbs, seasonings, spices, and a variety of wild berries to add flavor to a variety of ways of drying, curing, grilling, roasting, and smoking various wild game and fish. Barbecue, as defined by Merriam-Webster Dictionary, means "to roast or broil on a rack over hot coals or on a revolving spit before or over a source of heat". I think it is pretty safe to say that BBQ has been around since the stone age when man invented fire. He started to cook over an open fire. Long time before the Indians. And also before Indians, the Gaulois had their own BBQ. But why talking about BBQ in that blog ? I must be tired.

Colors - motorcycle magazine

Colors is a short lived magazine, and predated Easyriders debut. It was founded and edited by Phil Castle, a biker who ran a fuel oil delivery company in New Jersey while trying to make the mag a success.
But, the money soon ran out before the mag caught on, and by the end of 1971 it had folded, after only five or more issues. It also suffered from poor distribution, as some newsstands, hypocritically, wouldn’t carry it, and the first issue was banned in a few states. Colors was a hands-on production, by those concerned, for the love of their motorcycles and non-conformist lifestyles. It went against the odds, and flew in the face of a hostile reception by some newsstands and motorcycle shops. It's a very hard-to-find mag now. I don't know any of todays mags that deal with the biker scene like Colors did. The contributors were real bikers and that makes all the difference. I know only one exception, a french mag, Culbuteur, in the early '70's.

Deyrolle - I love my taxidermist

Since 1831, Deyrolle is a unique place in Paris. Like in a cabinet of curiosities where you find exotic naturalized animals, insects, birds... Visit the place, I think you can also rent it for a private party... the atmosphere is rather surprising. By moment, you would imagine almost in a Dario Argento's film...

Talking boards

From 1890 to 1950 dozens of different manufacturers with names like Kennard, Fuld, Haskelite, and Lee, cranked out their unique versions of the Wonderful Talking Board. Some displayed fanciful images of pyramids, swamis, and strange, mystical places. Others were more akin to Halloween with pictures of black cats, witches, and devils. Some boards, cheaply made, were merely poor imitations of the more successful ones. Despite their popular appeal, most talking boards were used a couple of times, shelved, and eventually thrown away. This resulted in the tragic loss of a fascinating American art form.

The Shaggs - Harmony sisters

The Shaggs were three sisters, Helen, Better, and Dorothy (Dot) Wiggin, from Fremont, New Hampshire. Despite the fact that they had shown no musical inclination, their father, Austin Wiggin had the idea that his girls could be the next 'big thing', like the Beatles. He named the band for the long, shaggy hairstyles then in fashion. On his textile factory worker's salary, he bought the girls their instruments and paid for their lessons and booked studio time. Nine hundred of the original thousand copies of "Philosophy of the World" vanished right after being pressed, along with the record's shady producer. Even so, the album has endured for thirty years. Music collectors got hold of the remaining copies of "Philosophy of the World" and started a small Shaggs cult. Depending on whom you ask, the Shaggs were either the best band of all time or the worst. Frank Zappa is said to have proclaimed that the Shaggs were "better than the Beatles. The music is winsome but raggedly discordant pop. Something is sort of wrong with the tempo, and the melodies are squashed and bent, nasal, deadpan.

New York Adorned - Stephanie Tamez

Tattoo artists are good drawers (well, not all of them but that's another story), but how many tattoo artists are also good writers ?! I felt in love with Stephanie's (!) work from New York Adorned tattoo. I don't know her, neither the place, but next time I come to NYC, I'll visit her bringing some letters.

Ray guns from space

Among the most popular props used in 1950s space opera were ray guns. At least twelve toy space guns were sold in association with television space adventure shows during this period. Merchandised as premiums or sold as toys in retail stores, these space guns, are among the most beautiful and interesting space toys produced at the time...Sometimes I wonder if I was not born too late.

Mandrake - true classic magic

Mandrake the Magician was created by Lee Falk during the Great Depression, a time in USA's history when adventurous comic strips became popular for their morale-building appeal. Mandrake was an illusionist whose work was based on an impossibly fast hypnotic technique. Mandrake also worked against crooks and other bad guys (the Cobra, the Brass Monkey...) in his spare time. This would include common gangsters, mad scientists and aliens from space. In their case, he would gesture hypnotically and they would see their guns change into snakes or red hot irons.

The Warriors - New York mythology

This movie, directed by Walter Hill in 1979, tells the story of nine Coney Island gang members, and the girl they pick up along their way, who must bop their way back to their home turf after they are falsely accused of killing a powerful leader at a city wide meeting of the gangs in the Bronx... This amazing movie went on to be the greatest cultural impact. 25 years later its surreal vision of New York has had an influence not only in film, but also in realms including music, fashion and art. It’s a thrilling, brutal, vibrant and sometimes hilarious movie. It’s also weird as shit. Still, The Warriors is one of the few cult classics whose quality actually surpasses its kitsch appeal. Among the gangs fighting each others, I find my favourite are the Base Ball Furies. Remember, they wear base ball gear and carry base ball bats. Filthy guys, aren't they ?