TRAILER OF THE WEEK

SANCTIOND AUTOMOTIVE

Thanks to everyone who came out to the launch party of Sanctiond Automotive as we introduced our new car care products. Stay tuned for more details on where you can pick up your kit!!

Taking a break from black metal

We've been back from Germany for a few days now, and while the exhibition looks rad and we had a wonderful trip, it's reeeeally nice that it's all over now. Like, so incredibly nice.
We're actually only home for a little while and then we're off to Japan again, but at least there's no planning involved in that... or long ass drives! Just good friends and good food and probably lots and lots of radiation... oh, wait, not a great thing...
Anyway, i hope i'll be able to post some more tattoo pictures, since they've been increasingly rare here, considering this is a tattoo blog and all. But Black Metal March being all secret and shit has not made that easy for me!
But at least i had Allan send me a few "older-but-still-pretty-new" pictures yesterday, and that definitely is better than no tattoo pictures at all, right?

Part of a still ongoing sleeve on Natalie

I've been updating the blog ever so subtly this week. The "Travel & Guests" tab is now "News & Events", for instance. This is because i needed the tab to be a bit broader to include fun shop events like Halloween, something we hope to do more of this year. There's also a calendar now that you can check to see when we're doing something fun at the shop, or elsewhere!
I've updated the faq and other stuff too, and as usual, you're welcome to let me know if there's something you think i need to add to that.

Oh, and some info about the exhibition! I know i wrote in the previous post that it's there until the 13th of May, and it technically still is, but the owners of the gallery are going on vacation from the 1st of April till the 3rd of May, and that's, well, pretty close to being the whole exhibition period! So the gallery will be closed throughout April, but if you want to go see the show (and why wouldn't you? It's both awesome and amazing!), you can send them an email (lionheart-t-g@gmx.de) to let them know when you're coming, and they'll make sure someone is there to let you in. Easy as that!
We'll be posting a few pictures from the opening soon, either here or on Allan's blog, or maybe both, and in the meantime, you can see a sneak peek over on my blog!

THROWBACK THURSDAY

R U SANCTIOND?

SOUL SUNDAY

What's up! Welcome to Soul Sundays. Today's selection is "The Brothers of Soul" with their hit songs like " I Guess that don't make me a loser", " Candy", "One minute Baby", "Can't get you off of my mind"& "You better Belive it".... "Brothers of Soul" were an R&B vocal group from Detroit, Michigan singers Fred Bridges, Richard Knight, and Robert Eaton Knight, who possessed a sweet, smooth voice and Bridges, who had a rougher voice, tended to share the leads equally, and the group became known for their sweet vocal harmonies and romantic sound. The trio was originally a writing and producing act working with a Detroit label. In 1967, during the riots in Detroit, the group felt they were writing a hit, Dream. They showed it off to Ricardo Williams who was impressed by Bridges. Williams opened up a label for the group. Bridges knew they needed a new name, which they came up with "Brothers of Soul". The peak years for the group was from 1968 to 1969. The group was able to put more than 40 songs on disc. Chicago producer Ric Williams came to Detroit looking for songwriting talent for his recordings. "The Brothers Of Soul" first recorded on their own in 1967 as "The Creations", but after changing their name the following year, they made their first impact with the Bridges-led ‘Hurry Don’t Linger’ on Williams’ Boo label. It was followed by their only national hit, the Knight-led ‘I Guess That Don’t Make Me A Loser’ (number 32 R&B), which reached the charts in the spring of 1968. They had their second successful single with the Bridges ‘You Better Believe It’ in 1970. Subsequent releases failed to find an audience and the group made their final records in 1971. "The Brothers Of Soul " continued together for several more years, working as one of Detroit’s most in-demand vocal session groups. By 1980, Bridges decided to leave "The Brothers of Soul" and become the road manager of the "Four Tops". Due to financial circumstance some groups like the "Brothers of Soul" never continued, Blew up or made it to the top. Very sad because they had many hits that still sound good today & will always be on my playlist. Thanks for "Tooning" in! 

Mrs. Julie Toons
SKID ROW SOUL
Soul Sundays

TRAILER OF THE WEEK

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak 40th Anniversary Exhibition from HODINKEE on Vimeo.

"Faces of Black Metal" countdown

We're almost done with framing the paintings for Uncle Allan's first solo show in Germany this weekend, and that's a good thing too, cause we're leaving tomorrow morning!
We're gonna take a family road trip down there, and visit friends in Hamburg on the way, so hopefully it'll be a fun ride.
The opening party is this Saturday, so if you're in Oberhausen, or anywhere near that, come by the gallery and see Allan's awesome paintings and say hi!
The show will run until the 13th of May, so if you can't make it this weekend, there's still plenty of opportunity to see it.

Click here to read more about the gallery and how to find it

GUARDIAN ANGEL

SOUL SUNDAY

What's up! Welcome to Soul Sundays! Today's selections are "Baby Baby all the time"
, "One bad Habit", "It hurts so much" & "Sad Sad day" featuring "The Superbs" 

The mid sixties were a time when love songs and ballads were popular. It was also a
time when Doo-Wop groups were trying to make a transition to Soul. One of these
groups to successfully make that transition was "The Superbs". The group was based
out of Los Angeles and was comprised of founding members 
Walter White, Gordy Harmon(who co-founded the Whispers), Eleanor Green, Ronnie Cook
and Bobby Swayne. Bobby Swayne later became a member of The Entertainers IV and The
Natural Resources.

The Superbs' style was distinctive and they became well known for their trademark
sound consisiting of exquisite harmonies and the high soprano voice of Eleanor
Green. It was this sound that attracted Lew Bedell, founder of Era Records and Dore
Records to sign the Superbs to his label in 1964. Dore later signed other successful
R&B groups, including the ever popular Whispers. Although the Whispers received
greater name recognition, music critics have defined The Superbs as the more
prolific group.

While under contract to Dore, The Superbs recorded a variety of songs including
their first single, "Storybook of Love". This song was a local hit receiving airplay
on KGFJ, which back in the mid- sixties was the only R&B station in Los Angeles. The
Superb's second single was "Baby Baby All The Time", which was an overnight success
hitting both the Billboard Pop and R&B charts for over six weeks. Such 
success allowed the Superbs to tour extensively with the famous Shindig Road Tour,
Wolfman Jack and groups such as The Whisper's, The O'Jays and the Temptations.

"The Superbs" will be looked upon as a unique L.A. 60's group that made a strong
contribution to R&B history!  
Baby, Baby all the time was another song that Cartoon & I put on our Wedding Cd we
had special made for our guests.  Hope you like these selections! Embrace every
moment & stay humbled. Thanks for "Tooning In"

Mrs Toons
Skidrow soul
Soul Sundays

"Adam Hays, Adam Hays, Naked in our shop, Adam Hays"*

Damn, it's been a while since i've posted here, and the last time i did post something it just made you guys all sad, so i guess i should get to blogging some fun stuff, right?
We don't have time for a lot of blogging these days. Or fun stuff, for that matter! No, that last part is not true. It's just that black metal march and the black metal art show in Germany is taking up a lot of our time, and although they're both super fun projects, it'll be kind of nice to have them behind us.
The art show is next week, and we'll be driving to Germany with a bunch of paintings and a dog that always needs to pee, so i'll definitely be blogging about that!

So since we're basically at the shop all the friggin time, we're happy that our guest Adam has been booked for the better part of the week too, so we at least got to hang out at the shop. Oh, and there were some late dinners too.
On the days Adam didn't work, he got his back tattooed by Eckel. They started his epic backpiece Wednesday and continued it today, and it's looking pretty amazing already, but you'll just have to take my word for it... or find Adam and make him strip for you.

 A couple of the tattoos Adam did at the shop this week, taken from instagram:

Boar on Matthias

I think this is a character from some movie... Star-something...

Here's Adam having super lots of fun getting his butt tattooed today!

And just cause it's so awesome: the cake Allan's client Tom baked for us... it was as delicious as it was evil!

*Should be sung to the tune of "Baby Monkey", cause, well, that's what we did!

TRAILER OF THE WEEK

THROWBACK THURSDAY

MAKE MONEY, MONEY!

GEAR SHIFTING & LANE CHANGING

THE FOUNDATION

Mister Cartoon / LiveSTRONG / Nike / SA Studios – Limited T-shirt run.  Only available on the livestrong.org web site, all proceeds going to the Livestrong foundation. This design is from the actual mural I created on the back of the Livestrong foundation in Austin Texas. Lance & Crew invited us to partake in this mission for the Ride for the Roses yearly event. This is for an amazing cause, the fight against cancer.
Go support!
Thanks C Toons
 Photo www.estevanoriol.com SA Studios

SOUL SUNDAY

Welcome to Soul Sundays! Today I'm looking out for the ladies... My selection today
are "The Lovelites" featuring "This Love is Real","Love So Strong","My
Conscience", and "How Can I Tell my Mom and Dad".  "The Lovelites" was a female group
in the late 6o's early 70's.  They were the the old school version of Destiny's
Child.  It was hard for me to choose which songs they sang because every song was a
hit from them.  Every song I'm sure every female could relate too, whether it was
when her man was down for her, or when her man acted a fool and didn't appreciate
her, or even when you had a child with someone & it just wasn't enough (The baby
daddy Drama). "The Lovelites" was an American vocal group based in Chicago.
Originally, the group were sisters Patti Hamilton and Rozena Petty, and their friend
Barbara Peterman. In 1967, the trio recorded for the local Chicago record label
Bandera Records. In 1968, Peterman left the group and was replaced by Ardell
McDaniel.

One year after the change in lineup, the single "How Can I Tell My Mom And Dad", was
released on Lock Records. The tune, written by lead vocalist Patti Hamilton and
record producer Clarence Johnson, addressed the then taboo subject of teen pregnancy.
It went on to sell 55,000 copies locally and 400,000 nationally, peaking at #15 on
Billboard's soul chart, and landing the group a recording contract with the
MCA-owned Uni Records. By this time, the group had also undergone yet another
personal change as Joni Berlman stepped in for Rozena Petty.

The girls continued working with Johnson, as well as another producer Johnny Cameron,
and went on to release their only album "With Love From The Lovelites". The album was
not as well received as the group's previous single and subsequently flopped. After
leaving Uni, Johnson started up Lovelites Records, and the group released a handful
of singles. While in 1971, Rhonda Grayson replaced Ardell McDaniel.
By 1972, the girls had signed to Cotillion Records, where they released two singles
billed as "Patti & The Lovelites". Sadly by 1973, just like "Destiny's Child", their
ego's got in the way and they went solo. 

Please check out their other singles "Man in my
Life" , "Gotta Let You Go" and "I'm Not Like the Others". Thanks For "Tooning In".
Embrace every moment with that special someone.  

 Mrs. Toons

 Skidrow Soul
 Soul Sundays

Well, how are the dice making projects coming along?

Well, how are the dice making projects coming along? Better than my blogging frequency, I hope :)

Once again it is well overdue for me to post.

Exciting news (I hope) is that I am working on two books at the moment: one an edit/rewrite of The Corsers' Hinge to (again, I hope) be released as a stand alone novella, complete with maps, illustrations, a brief explicarium and other appendical (not a real word) matter. Do people want to see this? If it happens it is more likely to come out first.

The second is a proper novel that the more I work on it, the more I feel might stretch out into the usual fat, multi-volume "epic" (for want of a better word) I found myself stumbling into with MBT. It will not (as I might have said before... or was that just in a dream...?) be about Rossamünd and Europe this time around, but I hope you are going to really like the new fellow in the spot light (as it were) - he really takes up where dear little Rosey left off.

This is all what I would like but it is yet to be accepted/approved/green lit/let come into exiatence so prayers/good wishes/positive quantum flow all appreciated.

This does not mean I have abandoned the Branden Rose or her little man, just that I am trying out the Half-Continent from a different point of view. This is actually a significant element of the overall thesis of the Half-Continent: that it came well before I had any concept of specific characters and contains stories from many different points of view yet they are all interconnected - not so much sequel spin-offs but distinct folk who overlap in what I hope are conceivably realistic ways. For example, the protagonist for this new tale plays a very tiny role in Factotum, just as a teaser.

As for Duchess-in-Waiting of Naimes and Rosey-me-lad, well, Lord willing we shall see where they are at again in the future.

And in answer to you request, Master Come Lately, here be a map showing the rough political boundaries of the Sundergird. Such things are necessarily vague in a land without satellite imaging/modern political wrangling and all such modern/our-world stuff that makes out own maps so punctiliously delineated. I hope you like, and more importantly it helps you-all over there at the Forum.

The tabs, Madam Blackwood, are those Post-It [TM] tabs you buy at your local stationer, and I have used different colours depending which book I writing (yellow-green = Foundling, pink = Lamplighter, sky blue = Factotum, dark blue = navy/newest stories... its getting vague, be good to clarify to myself once more) marking a large number of my notebooks in this way at all the pertinent entries for each story as I find them: I sit on my couch and trawl a notebook for anything I might need to know for that current tale, typically scribbling on the tab what the entry it flags is about.

Ahh, Master Alyosha, as always you make my day(s): Pococo is actually Italian for "freckles" - I use Italian/Spanish for localised colloquialism of Tutin which one can especially encounter in such areas like western Seat, Tuscanin and across to Catalain.

Hello, hello Troubadour! Wonderful to hear about you project - apologies for the lack of a more full depiction of troubardiers. Perhaps Appendix 2 of Factotum gives some idea, just add the sash as shown in Appendix 3 Factotum around the back. And now I am going to be a drag/punctilious pain-in-the-rear and offer that the proper spelling is troubardier - the concept being that they are soldiers (the "~ier" bit) who wear proofing/armour (the "~bard~" bit) that is fully protecting (the "trou~" or "true" bit) *please don't punch me* Will you be showing us you wondrous work when it is done? Can it be seen in its incomplete state at all? If need more keep asking.

An art book, huh, Emily Odenwald? Well, I reckon this will be worth doing once I have a bit more "art" under me belt. MBT is just one story and I hope I have a few more in me to tell on the Half-Continent yet, a body of work from which a selection of "art" (appendices, illustrations, maps etc) would be selected. As for manga/graphic novel - sweet! If I was to do such a thing, to stave off boredom I think I would tell an entirely new story.

And yes, dear dear Portals old blog-friend, until the conquest by the Tutelarchs and then re-conquest by their descendants/heirs the Tutins, the Soutlands were a collection of independent city-states warring and combining as political need moved. The Germanic names shows the influence of crossing cultures, of Gottish people coming over the Pontus Canis to dwell in the Soutlands.

Well, a long blog makes up for a long pause.

I hope you are all well.

TRAILER OF THE WEEK

Eckel is leaving... it must be Thursday!

That was a Buffy reference there, in case you're less nerdy than us... which, let's face it, you probably are!

Anyway, Eckel finally decided to go public with his news of moving (again), so now i can post it here too.

If you're a Danish client who needs to finish a tattoo, you should get in touch with Eckel right away, and if you're not a regular of his, but just someone hoping to get tattooed by him, all you can do at this time is to keep an eye on his blog for future dates and booking info.

"i will leave denmark for good in may, therefore i wont take on new clients.

people with ongoing projects should get in contact with me as soon as possible.i will hopefully come back once in a while to keep in touch with allan and amalie(and lucifer,of course!)so in case stuff needs some finishing,there will be another chance later on.

i will announce me next destination on here in a few months,,but i have a long summer travelling ahead,and that will give me time to figure out where to go.

thanks to everybody who made my time in denmark a life changing experience.you are the best."

Og så den danske: Eckel flytter fra Danmark, så dette er din sidste chance i denne omgang hvis du er ved at få lavet noget af ham, som du gerne vil have færdigt inden han rejser i maj.

Hvis du ikke er kunde, men bare havde håbet på at blive det i den nærmeste fremtid, må du væbne dig med tålmodighed, og tjekke hans blog for opdateringer.

Han vil selvfølgelig komme tilbage til København og besøge os engang i fremtiden.

THROWBACK THURSDAY

KNOCK YOU OUT

ONLY THE BRAVE

Heres a sneek peek of a cologn colaboration I have coming out with Diesel.

CRISP AND CLEAN

Kate Moss X SUPREME

-Supreme Spring 2012 campaign enlisted fashion’s highest grossing model, Kate Moss.

PANERAI Radiomir Black Seal

-Created in 1938 for the Royal Italian Navy as the first Panerai watch, the Radiomir was characterized by its large size and water-resistant case, the legibility of the dial in immersion, its robustness in extreme use conditions, a reliable movement.

Levi's Original Fit 501

-Hood Certified raw denims in the city of Los Angeles since the 80's

VANS California 2012 Spring Chukka Del Barco Decon Ca

-Combining classic boat shoe styling with a mid-top chukka silhouette.