by Alex Dueben

Christopher Moore is one of America’s funniest novelists and his new book, Sacré Bleu, a novel subtitled “A Comedy d’Art,” makes the case for him also being one of the smartest and most inventive. Arguably his best work, the book is set in the Belle Epoque era and involves the impressionist and post-impressionist painters who lived primarily in the Montmartre district of Paris. Starring Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, who is so colorful and entertaining a character that it’s hard to believe that Moore didn’t create him, it’s a strange and fascinating novel that is about, among other things, the color blue.

Moore is fascinated by what made the impressionists so radical that they created unconventional work and lived in unconventional ways. If this novel is less laugh out loud than some of his previous books, it’s because Moore is trying for a different tone. While there are plenty of hilarious moments – try looking at a Renoir after reading this without cracking a smile – the book details the murder of Vincent Van Gogh and how his friends try to discover what really happened. Along the way you’ll learn the best way to test a baguette, how color is made, and learn a lot about art (although admittedly, some of what we learn is fictional). Moore is currently on book tour and we spoke to him about his just-released novel.


Read our exclusive interview with Christopher Moore on SuicideGirls.com.

Sand Suicide in Rainbow Fish

• INTO: Cinema, photography and pretty girls.

Get to know Sand better over at SuicideGirls.com!

by Nahp Suicide

Talamia describes herself as a “photographer, illustrative designer, and thinker.” She lives is South Africa. She has been shooting for SuicideGilrs since 2008, and has more than 30 sets in the site.

How did you first get involved with SuicideGirls?

I had always loved the concept and internet stalked the models of SG ever since I could remember but was always under the misconception that it was a US only thing. The day I came to realize this was not so was when I randomly stumbled upon a local girl’s FB profile page whose profile picture had the SG logo on it. It was Lynx, and she introduced me to Diaz, and from there I threw myself at SG with a fervor.



What’s your background photography-wise?

I have a four year degree in BA: Information Design (aka Information Architecture), which covered some photography here and there, but mostly I am self taught.

 


What was the first photo you had published?

If we’re talking print media then It was probably a campaign series of portraitures of VJs and musicians for MTVbase that ran in a variety of music and youth related magazines.

How would you describe your style?

Having trained as a creative director-designer I find it very difficult to adhere to having one particular style. Or rather, I cannot see it in my work, even though others have said they can. All I can say about my work at this time is that I strive to makes images that are striking with the right amount of contrast to make the image pop.



What gear do you use?

I currently use the Canon range of equipment including a variety of L lenses.



How important is Photoshop in your final images?

One always continually strives to achieve the desired end result out-of-camera so as to minimize reliance on post-editing, but Photoshop will always be vital for the odd blemish or bruise or stubborn stray hair.



What gives you ideas and inspires you to create such amazing sets?

The question is more like what doesn’t give me ideas for sets. Everything from dreams; the products of popular culture; the things people say; even patterns that emerge in tiles! Everything, no matter how trivial, can make splendid set ideas, and the more idiosyncratic the better. But what helps most directly is getting to know the amazing women I have gotten to work with and allowing them to inspire me.


What is your favorite image?

There are so many favorites it’s really hard to choose. From the way the light sculpted Lumo’s beautiful form (in Afterglow – see NSFW image) to the stunning water-like reflection in the image of Hadess (in A Beautiful Mind – see NSFW image).

Tell us why it’s your fave and how you achieved it?

I like using light sources that wrap around the body’s contours to illuminate the fine details of shape and form. Reflective surfaces also provide gorgeous points of visual interest.

Is there anybody or anything you would love to photograph that you haven’t?

I love working with strong creative women. Some that come to mind are (I’ve probably left out three dozen others!) Bexi, Serial, Radeo, Bully, Jamity, Rashel, Prussia, Liu, Clio, AnnaLee, Nena, Waikiki, Manko, GoGo, Rigel, Vice, Annika, Bee, Flux, Lumi. Apart from being tremendously gorgeous, they are all so provocatively intelligent which is the biggest kind of turn on.

[..]

by A.J. Focht

A month out from release and AMC has already sold out advanced tickets for The Ultimate Marvel Marathon which promises to show all of the movies leading up to The Avengers before the midnight release. But if you didn’t get your tickets to the nine hour movie marathon there is no need to worry as AMC will be adding more locations. Cinemark theatres have also joined the party hosting the marathons at half the price. While AMC is charging $40 a seat for the marathon, Cinemark is charging $20. Although, it is unclear if the midnight showing of The Avengers is part of the Cinemark package.

The Iron Man 3 release date is scheduled for May 3, 2013, just a year after The Avengers. Now it looks like Ben Kingsley is in talks to play the villain for the third movie. Insiders at Marvel have debunked the rumor that he will play Mandarin, without giving any hints as to what his role might be.

DC Comics is launching a new round of comic titles this July. The titles in the mix so far are National Comics and Masters of the Universe. National Comics will feature obscure and offbeat heroes, starting with Jeff Lemire’s Kid Eternity. Masters of the Universe will follow the adventures of He-Man against the evil Skeletor. Don’t be expecting the classic He-Man story as it looks like his origins have changed, and as the series starts, Skeletor has already won.

Do you want to bring a little piece of The Hunger Games home with you? Well now you can since Katniss Everdeen has been transformed into a Barbie. I don’t know when Barbie started idolizing child warfare, but this Katniss Everdeen doll is equipped with a bow and arrows nonetheless. If that isn’t good enough for you, you could always buy District 12. Henry River Mill Village, the location for District 12 in the film, is now on sale and can be yours for only $1.4 million.

The Hugo Awards, one of the most prestigious awards in science-fiction, has listed this year’s nominees. Among the top contenders are all the big players: Harry Potter, Doctor Who, Captain America, and…Community? That’s right. In what can only be described as the best nomination ever, the Community episode ‘Remedial Chaos Theory’ has been nominated for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form. While it is up against some excellent Doctor Who episodes, this episode stands a good chance of winning thanks to its excellent use of alternate and parallel universes.

The Doctor is getting wrapped up in some legal issues of his own. David Tennant starred in a new Virgin Media commercial that has upset the BBC. The commercial played off time travel, and for BBC anything time travel with David Tennant is their jurisdiction. They sent a takedown request to Virgin Media saying they do not want to be perceived as endorsing any organization.

Facebook has paid $1 billion for the purchase of Instagram. While the purchase has had many Instagram fans nervous, Mark Zuckerberg announced they plan to let Instagram grow free from the Facebook brand. Is that enough though for Instagram fans or do you still worry that Facebook ownership will taint it?

by Daniel Robert Epstein

Jared Leto is a super fine hottie, plus he makes damn cool movies. He’’s chill and he knows about SuicideGirls too. He thinks he’’s seen some of you sweet ladies at some of his 30 Seconds to Mars shows. His latest flick is Lord of War, in which he plays the junkie brother to Nicolas Cage’s’ Uri Orlov, a major international gun runner.

Read our exclusive interview with Jared Leto on SuicideGirls.com.

Malinconia Suicide in Lovin’ It

• INTO: Music and tattoozzzzzzzzz.
• MAKES ME SAD: People.
• 5 THINGS I CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT: Sex, drugs, music, and little candy.
• I SPEND MOST OF MY FREE TIME: Doing nothing.

Get to know Malinconia better over at SuicideGirls.com!

by Justin Beckner

Over the past decade Sailor Jerry has turned itself into one of the greatest success stories of the industry while miraculously staying true to its roots. This is largely due to grassroots style underground marketing campaigns and the relentless work put in by people who believe in the product. But let us not forget that marketing campaigns are not what ultimately sells rum, the uncompromised flavor of Sailor Jerry’s is what sets it above its competitors and is fast making it one of the top selling brands of rum in the country.

Our story starts with a man named Norman Collins, known to friends and clients as “Sailor Jerry.” Jerry was a seafaring tattoo artist, musician, and poet, who schooled himself on the Asian art of tattooing during his time in the Navy. Everything Jerry pursued he did with valor and passion, but it was his work doing tattoos that garnered him his iconic and legendary status within the annals of the tattoo industry and beyond. Designers like Ed Hardy have been heavily influenced by Jerry’s work, Converse has put his designs on shoes and clothing, and the use of anchors, compasses, and ships are staples in tattoo shops around the world. Jerry was also very insistent on the sterilization of equipment, especially needles. This helped to decrease the spread of infection and clean up the image society had of tattooing.

The tattoo work of Norman Collins contains a resonance of the passion and valor which he put into everything he pursued. So it makes sense that those who played such a vital role in making Sailor Jerry’s Rum would share those same principles. The rum itself is a work of art. A gentle blend of caramel and vanilla flavors that are so smooth, you can actually enjoy this rum straight on the rocks. It also tastes great with a cola or in any sort of mix which calls for rum.

The following is an interview conducted with Sailor Jerry’s Rum Brand Ambassador and marketing mastermind, Erin Cooper.

Justin R. Beckner: How did the Norman Collins namesake become a brand of rum?

Erin Cooper: A company called CCM owns the Sailor Jerry brand. They bought the artwork and the name and started off as a clothing company. A few years into this, they decided that they wanted to have an alcohol in honor of Norman Collins. They went to William Grant, who are known for their Scotches, and of course Hendricks Gin, and they put together this amazing spiced rum to honor Sailor Jerry.

JB: Tell us a bit about Norman Collins, the original Sailor Jerry.

EC: He was the grandfather of Americana style tattooing. A lot of people don’t know that and are somewhat jaded because of Ed Hardy and how they blew up that form of artwork into this commercial thing rather than a respected artform. Norman Collins actually taught Ed Hardy how to tattoo, so many of the things that Ed is known for were learned from Norman Collins. Norman traveled a lot, especially around Japan, and learned their tattooing styles and techniques and made them his own. Around the time of Norman’s hayday, during World War Two, the pinup culture was booming. So that’s where we get the pin-ups incorporated with the anchors and compasses and other symbols of Americana.

JB: I’m told that the recipe for this rum is kept under lock and key.

EC: What’s great about William Grant is that we are a family owned company and our Scotchers will talk your ear off about how our Scotches are made and the distilling process. But with Sailor Jerry, the recipe and the process are kept under lock and key, and even the Ambassadors aren’t allowed to share them. I can say that we do our blending in New Jersey. Of course the flavor is no secret; it’s got a rich vanilla flavor with some caramel and a hint of lime. A lot of people assume that because Sailor Jerry is 92 Proof that it’s really sharp and you can’t get any of the flavors. But in spite of the high proof, you can really pick out the flavors and see the scope of the awesome profile of the rum. One of Sailor Jerry’s mottos was “My work speaks for itself.” That’s what we like to say about the brand. When you mix it with cola or have it straight up or however you choose to drink it, you’re going to taste it for what it is. We make it the way it’s supposed to be made.

JB: The marketing strategy for Sailor Jerry is very grassroots. How did this brand grow so quickly to rival some of the more commercial rum brands?

EC: We started underground with Sailor Jerry and we hit the dive bars where we thought would be a great place to put it. We gave bands the rum and they promoted it on tour – it was definitely a snowball effect from there. We won’t put advertisements on TV or magazines and the brand has gone further than they ever imagined it would. We still want to stay underground and we want to stay true to the people who know Sailor Jerry’s for what it is. We want to stay true to the punk rockers and the rockabilly geeks and the people who made Sailor Jerry’s what it is today. But at the same time, it is a rum for everybody and we want to make it available to the general market. What’s cool is that recently we’ve been seeing Sailor Jerry’s in high end bars here in Las Vegas and many of the casinos and it’s been getting picked up by corporate beverage programs, and it’s not because of the label or because of Norman, it’s because of the liquid inside. It’s the same way with music; the bands that who drink Sailor Jerry and help promote it are always a natural fit.

JB: I think Sailor Jerry’s philosophy fits quite well with the philosophy at SuicideGirls.

EC: I totally agree. I think that when Missy and Sean started the site it was very underground and it was based on this alternative lifestyle and the art that goes with it. Sailor Jerry’s stated out the same way. I also would like to say that Amina is fantastic. She’s a great photographer and if it weren’t for her, I wouldn’t be where I am today. I started out in modeling and she was a great inspiration for me and it’s been so amazing to have her and AmberLynn on our staff at SJ.

JB: Let’s talk a bit more about how you got your start and how you came to be the Ambassador for William Grant.

EC: I started out modeling here and there and did some work with Inked Magazine. One day I got a phone call from one of my friends who knew an agent who was looking for tattoo models for this company called Sailor Jerry. I had never done modeling for a liquor company before and I was super nervous but I did it and pretty soon I was working at all the Sailor Jerry promos that were going on in Las Vegas. Then when New York decided that they wanted a brand ambassador for Nevada, my name came up and I went to New York, interviewed, and got the job. Around that same time they were doing a casting call for the 2011 Sailor Jerry Calendar, so I sent my picture in and crossed my fingers that I would get it and I got a phone call like a week later saying that I was going to be in the SJ Calendar. All these great things happened all within a short span of time. I love my job and everything that the company it. I’m very glad to work for a company that fits me so well because I am a terrible liar. When I worked in retail, it was hard for me to sell things if I didn’t really like the way it looked. With Sailor Jerry’s, it’s so easy for me to sell because I believe so strongly in the product.

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