KYIV, Ukraine — Russian forces have advanced further into Georgian territory in the country’s northwest separatist enclave of Abkhazia, where reports say their forces have crossed the breakaway republic’s border and are occupying a town in Georgia proper.

Now pressuring the small country from two sides, Russian forces are raising the question of whether or not they will push further into Georgian territory.

Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili said on August 11 that his country has been cut in half by Russian forces, citing the Russian occupation of the central Georgian town of Gori, through which passes the only major roadway connecting the eastern and western parts of the country.

Saakashvili also appealed to the international community’s attention in what he called an “ethnic cleansing and annihilation of the ethnic Georgian population in Abkhazia.”

Video courtesy of The Boston Globe

KYIV, Ukraine — In a brazen maneuver that has ignited an international military conflict, Russia late last week sent 150 tanks over its border into neighboring Georgia’s separatist territory of South Ossetia, prompting Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili to declare a 15-day state of war with Russia.

The assault was a response to Georgia’s surprise capture of the pro-Russian territory, which for years has struggled for independence from Georgia with Moscow backing. Internationally recognized as part of Georgia but a self-proclaimed, de-facto independent republic, the north-central enclave has battled on and off since 1992 to grasp official independence. Observers and political officials have called it a “frozen conflict.”

Here in the capital of Ukraine, the pro-Georgian government announced yesterday that it may not let Russian naval ships, based in the Crimean, Black Sea port city of Sevastopol, back to their bases. The Russian Black Sea Fleet has for long been a thorn in Ukraine’s side with regards to their relations with the larger country.

Russia argues that it is simply protecting the interest and well being of its citizens in the breakaway region. The Russian government has issued most of South Ossetia’s citizens Russian passports, thereby legitimizing Russia’s claims of “protecting their own.” Although there are virtually no ethnic Russians in the territory, they have do have a cultural and lingual connection to North Ossetia-Alania, a federal republic of Russia, which it borders to the north.

Throughout the weekend, Georgian troops exchanged artillery and small arms fire with Ossetian separatists and Russian soldiers, officially sent in by Russia as peacekeepers. Russian planes bombed Georgian towns in and around South Ossetia, completely leveling the breakaway capital of Tskhinvali. Some planes reached as far as the Georgian capital of Tbilisi, bombing military bases on the city’s outskirts.

Russia has claimed that over 2,000 civilians — most of which were ethnic Georgians with Russian citizenship — were killed in the territory as a result of Georgia’s invasion, but more accurate, independent estimates have yet to be released.

Two journalists have also been killed covering the conflict. Alexander Klimchuk and Giga Chikhladze were photographers with Caucasus Images (CPI), a Georgia-based photo agency that supplies photos to various news organizations. They were embedded with Georgian forces fighting in South Ossetia, according to the Ukrainian newswire, UNIAN.

Envoys from the U.S. and the European Union traveled to Tbilisi over the weekend in an attempt to negotiate a ceasefire between the countries, but have not yet reached a peaceful agreement, according to various reports.

White House Deputy National Security Adviser Jim Jeffery warned that a prolonging of the violence could strain important political relations between the U.S. and Russia.

“We have made it clear to the Russians that if the disproportionate and dangerous escalation on the Russian side continues, this will have a significant long-term impact on U.S.-Russian relations,” he said, speaking to reporters on Sunday in Beijing.

But then he smiles. And if he was wasn’t wearing a t-shirt and ink-stained jeans – perhaps a well-cut suit and tie instead – he’d win your trust faster than you could say, “Stereotype.” Normally, though, it takes a brief, sit-down consultation for you to realize that he’s completely capable of professionally and skillfully marking you for life.

Natan Lin has spent the better half of his career battling stereotypes and turning people on to the safer, more respectable side of tattooing. Thanks partly to him, everyone in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts can get tattooed safely and, perhaps more important, legally. He’s also produced – for six years in a row now – the annual Boston Tattoo Convention, through which he spreads the word about the artistic value of tattooing, and helps introduce talented artists from across the country to a greater following.

Foremost, though, Lin, 38, is an artist and business owner. Running two successful studios in the greater Boston area – with another, his biggest yet, on the way in Salem – Lin has gained a crucial understanding of what it takes to run a solid, lasting business in a relatively new-age profession. Twenty years ago, Lin’s career path would’ve seemed inconceivable, but today, his business is a “million-dollar baby.” And that, it seems, only makes him stronger.

“There’s a high degree of responsibility in what I do. People entrust me to alter them for the rest of their lives, so I take that pretty seriously,” said Lin. “And as a business owner, people entrust their careers and livelihoods to me.”

But before you peg him as all business, he’s got a self-admitted light side, too.

“Underneath the crushing weight of all that responsibility is the essential fact that I get to draw and paint on a daily basis,” he said. “That, in and of itself, is a miraculous and beautiful thing.”

Lin’s ascension to the top of the Boston tattoo game began sometime in the early ‘90s, when he flew to Amsterdam expecting a much-needed vacation. But, as any chick-flick would have it, he met a girl while in Holland, prolonging his original, brief visit to a stay of five years. But after some time in the land of flowers and windmills, the girl, Lin realized, wasn’t the biggest pull.

“I met some tattoo artists there,” said Lin, “and I started spending my time in the company of tattooers and people who collected tattoos who were interested in the art.”

Within a year, Lin – then a freelance graphic designer – had gotten his foot in the door at one of the very few shops in Amsterdam and began apprenticing under a Dutch artist, learning the ins and outs of the business while occasionally inking a willing customer for practice. While studying the art of tattooing, Lin connected deeper with his artistic side, which, although he always maintained, had never before been so stimulated. Still, however, he didn’t expect to carve a living out of a frowned-upon practice.

“I thought that this is a great medium that I wanted to work in, but I didn’t really consider it a career path,” Lin said. “I didn’t think I was going to become a tradesman or a craftsman of some kind.”

Meanwhile, tattooing in his native Massachusetts had been banned since 1962. The only people wearing tattoos had either traveled out of state to get them, or had endured an agonizing and shady homemade procedure, probably in someone’s basement. When Lin returned to the states in 1995, after years of polishing his new craft and now excited about the prospect of tattooing in his home state, he was amazed to find out that he’d have to stick with other jobs to get by. During that period, he found work as a musician, a bouncer and even as a stain glass artist.

But nothing, it seemed, was a substitute for tattooing.

In 1996, he created a website, MassInk.com, which promoted the practice of safe tattooing, as well as the overturn of the tattoo ban within the Commonwealth.

“Once tattooing did come out into the light, then I got pro-active about safe tattooing,” Lin said. “By creating the website, I was able to disseminate a bunch of information about the bare basics of what people should be looking for when they’re getting a tattoo.”

After several years of inaction on the Commonwealth’s behalf, Lin teamed up with a few fellow tattoo artists – including Boston-based Stephan Lanphear, whom Lin credits as the true figurehead of the legalization movement – and other advocacy groups, such as the American Civil Liberties Union. Now with a substantial force behind him, Lin began speaking out more aggressively: He organized rallies, helped sponsor bills to the state legislature, and even spoke on Beacon Hill, vouching for the safety of tattooing.

On Oct. 23, 2000, State Superior Court Judge Barbara Rouse overturned the ban, and effective Jan. 31, 2001, tattooing in the Commonwealth would become legal for the first time in more than 40 years. For Lin and his advocacy team, the victory was groundbreaking – it was one that would change the course of his life forever.

“We struggled with it for a few years,” Lin said. “But one key idea applied at the right place and the right time made a massive social change.”

With tattooing in the clear, Lin was ready to pursue his newfound passion at home. He opened his first studio, Darkwave Tattoos, in Roxbury in 2001, followed shortly by his second, Lightwave Tattoos, in Saugus in 2003. A steady, dedicated following of clients provided for the growth of his businesses into some of the most well-known shops in the greater Boston area, and has allowed him to open a third – Witch City Ink, in Salem – later this spring. Lin’s successful combination of professionalism and dedication has made more than one mark on his customers.

“He has the skill, and a certain way about him,” said Tim Coady, a friend and longtime customer of Lin’s. “The conversation’s going along, we ask each other about our families, and next thing you know, the tattoo’s done and it’s just the way you want it.”

Over the course of eight years, Coady, 59, has accumulated 26 tattoos from Lin – two full sleeves, half of his back and half of his chest – and says he won’t let any another artist touch him.

“I’ve noticed that he gets respect,” Coady said. “He has that kind of a personality that you just know he’s a good artist.”

It’s no mistake that Lin has made people happy with his work. He says that his business is not only about giving people tattoos, but about making a greater statement in favor of the art and being responsible for its consequences.

“We have an extended circle of responsibility that includes ethical practice and raising the standards of not only what people perceive as tattoos, but what they perceive as people who get tattoos,” said Lin. “But getting paid to use your imagination and to make people happy when they’re doing something empowering for themselves is a great place to be in.”

Apart from advocacy and tattooing, Lin’s into activism – one of his children suffers from severe autism, and since her infancy, Lin has sought to increase awareness of the disease by donating a cut of the convention profits each year to autism charities, thereby promoting its research. He’s learned the virtues of caring and compassion on this whole other front – when Maya, 6, was diagnosed with the disease, the tattooer quickly realized the stakes of her illness. In the last year, he’s been trudging through a painful divorce from his wife of 10 years, Lily, over disagreements in their daughter’s treatment.

“Autism is something that you don’t plan for and that you don’t expect. But when it comes along, like any severe illness, it changes the road map of your life in a pretty heavy duty way,” Lin said. “It’s a terrifying and heart-breaking thing to cope with, so it’s taught me a lot of things, but I suppose that a lot of deep sadness has a way of tempering your personality in a lot of ways.”

Although he only gets to see his children on the weekends – his son, Max, is 8 – Lin savors the time he has with them, and ensures that he’s still a big presence in their lives.
“He’s awesome with his kids,” said Gwendolyn Ditsch, 41, an employee at Darkwave Tattoos. “I see him with them all the time, and they just light up his life.”

Throughout the past six years, Lin has donated 10 percent of the Boston Tattoo Convention’s profit to organizations such as CureAutismNow and Realizing Children’s Strengths, the school his daughter attends in Natick. As long as his daughter is sick, he’ll be at the forefront of her development, ensuring that she gets the best care every step of the way.

There’s no doubt that Lin has enjoyed substantial achievement throughout his career, but he seems to simply shrug it off his shoulders. To him, business is business, and he’s just lucky enough that his passion is his business.

“As you go beyond, particularly in the larger movement of art, you realize how little you are in comparison to what you do,” Lin said. “I’m not a celebrity. I’m fortunate to do what I love and that I have a good shot at giving my kids a great future through doing something that I do well.”

Sitting on a stool inside his tattooing station, Lin carefully cleans and re-inspects each needle, looking for any imperfection that may lead to infection, or even the slightest change in ink color. He’s a perfectionist, and it shows.

Rhys owns and operates Rhys Gallery, in Boston’s elite, artsy South End. It’s an open, airy, 2,500 sq. ft. street-corner gallery that exhibits mostly paintings and 3D installations by artists from all over the world. It’s on the far fringes of the neighborhood – right across from the biggest homeless shelter in town – but he could care less about local clientele. When you’ve got buyers and artists waiting on you from Moscow, Berlin or Dubai, who would?

Essentially, Rhys – a youngin’ by age but a cool, calculated and driven businessman by rhetoric – sells art. He’s the middleman – the guy who hooks up with artists to sell their art for them. It may seem trivial, but Rhys makes it an art. He makes it cool.

A San Francisco native, Rhys comes from humble beginnings. Four years ago, he was selling artwork out of his little studio apartment for $300 a piece, if that. Today, it’s no big deal for him to sell a piece to a collector in Los Angeles for a slim $40,000.

Kicked back comfortably in his “office chair” inside a tiny niche behind a drywall in his gallery – he hides out back there to cut costs on unnecessary additional office space – Rhys sporadically checks his email and voicemail. He apologizes profusely, and in a tone that somehow conveys that he actually gives a shit about making me wait just another two minutes or so. He’s wearing tailored jeans and a sweatshirt, and sports a 5 o’clock shadow just to tack on a few years for good measure.

We sit down together – legs cramped and nearly sandwiched by two walls over 10 feet tall – to chat about the business of art, and what it’s like to be the young guy on the block.

Are you an artist yourself?

No, I’m just in the business of slinging art. I don’t believe in dealers that make art. I think it’s a really bad, dangerous situation, because what’s your agenda, you know? What’s your motive? If you’re an artist, are you trying to get your work into the gallery? Or if you’re a gallery director, why are you making art? Why aren’t you out schmoozing, meeting clients? I get really worked up about this, actually. I’ve had a lot of friends get fucked over doing it. My agenda is to sell as much work as possible, and selling and making money is a part of that. And it’s my only agenda.

So why, then, the business of art?

Well, my background was a double degree in business and in art – I went to Tufts and the Museum School – and marketing is my life. There are actually some artists that won’t work with me, because I push their work way too hard. I push their work like you would be launching a new product for a new company. I mean, that’s what you have to do. When you’re introducing an artist, let’s push the romance aside – this is a product you are selling. The artist is the person – that’s the vision. And the combination of the two – of your vision and their vision put together – is what the collector is buying, at least in my opinion. So I think that’s how we were able to get to this point.

How did you get started?

I was living in this little loft, paying rent, and it was really stupid. So I wrote up a plan for my parents; we put 10 percent down, and we bought the place. I was working another job at French Connection to make money for the basics costs. I started the whole thing in my loft, and grew and grew and grew it. Rhys Gallery was me at that point – for 2 and a half years I didn’t have any employees. I did the hanging, the postcard stamps, all that shit! Rhys Gallery was just some kid’s loft and his name and his vision. Then I started getting, like, 350 people coming to my openings.

What, in essence, is your gallery all about?

Well, it started as a project to provide people with an experience that wasn’t available anywhere else in Boston. I learned that people were really going to New York City to have this “real” experience, not just to see small photos on the wall. So when I built this space, it was my driving vision to bring in non-regional artists, and people who are unique.

How do you make your money?

Consignment. The artist will come to me with a painting and say, “I want to get $1,000 for it.” So that means I’m going to sell it for $2,000. I take a thousand and they take a thousand. Simple as that.

So how exactly do you hook up with all these artists from around the world?

Get on a plane, bro. I went to Dubai last year. I was over there for an art fair, recruiting artists. And that makes peoples heads turn, like they say, “Damn, you flew 16 hours?” Yeah, man! Fuck it. I guess that’s where my age comes in. Like if I was 60 and didn’t have a private jet, I probably wouldn’t be doing that. But I’m all about the briefcase, the suit bag, and running through the airport. I love that shit, man. Jet-setting all of the time? Hell yeah! And you get to expense it. Plus I get to bring in huge diversity into the gallery.

You’re a young guy. You’ve got to admit – it’s pretty amazing how well you’ve done in only a few years, don’t you think so?

You know, people say that, but when you look at the art world, I think its one of the only industries, beside tech, where people are in the game at this age. You don’t really need a physical space right off the bat. You just need a good personality and a vision for work. It’s a relationship business. Using the internet, you can start off a fucking laptop and make a billion dollars! Now the art world is not like that, but you can get your foot in the door. People may not take you as seriously, but it’s definitely possible.

Well, you’ve come this far. So what’s next?

I’m getting really freaked out by this U.S. economy, because what goes first? Disposable income. And what goes first from disposable income? The most expensive, non-useful goods, which, in this case, is art. People will start to methodically eliminate stuff, and mark my word, art will be the first thing that suffers. So how am I going to counteract that? I’m making more phone calls to my UK collectors and saying “Hey! You’re buying this on 50 cents on the fucking dollar! Let’s do it. Let’s do two pieces right now!” I’m international now, like I’m going to Moscow in May to sell some stuff. I’m going to have a larger international focus and highlight the fact that now’s the time to buy good art from here. I mean, fuck, there’s not enough money in the United States anymore. If I’m going to fly seven hours, I’ll go to Berlin, not to San Francisco or something.

OSCAR’S PICKS

Best Picture:

“Atonement”

It’s the kind of sappy, over-the-top, made-for-the-Oscars film that you’d expect from the likes of Clint Eastwood. Plus, I can’t stand that stupid, hyper-emotional shot of Keira Knightley with her arms stretched out in the fog. Dear writers: Don’t bank your film on a pretty girl looking sad. Lame.

Leading Actor:

Daniel Day Lewis, “There Will Be Blood”

Exception. I think even the Academy has enough sense to recognize groundbreaking acting when they see it. The man’s brilliant, but somehow, he’s only got one Oscar under his belt. Now, it’s finally time for another.

Leading Actress

Julie Christie, “Away From Her”

A formerly attractive, married old woman (Julie Christie) comes down with Alzheimer’s, gets committed and somewhere between fraught old folk-emotions, falls in love with another man in the nursing home. Smells like Oscars. And maybe more old folks. Plus, the buzz in Hollywood circles has been traveling almost exclusively around her.

Best Directing

The Coen Bros, “No Country For Old Men”

Joel and Ethan Coen seem to have finally gotten the recognition they’ve deserved for more than 20 years. Their latest film has garnered four nominations this year, more than any of their previous contemporary cult classic films at one time. Once again, there’s been tremendous buzz about this one, and once again, it’s about time, anyway.

Best Cinematography

“No Country For Old Men”

Even ol’ Oscar can’t resist the sweeping shots of the barren, yet somehow beautiful rural Texas landscape the Coen Brothers captured. It’s nothing particularly stunning, but it seems cool enough – without being too sophisticated – for the Academy to stomach.

MY PICKS

Best Picture

“There Will Be Blood”

Simply put, it’s the most ambitious, frightening, deliciously creepy and visually satisfying film in recent memory. Other critics say it’s the “next Great American movie.” I say “good call.”

Leading Actor

Daniel Day Lewis, “There Will Be Blood”

The man is a genius. Somehow, Lewis is able to transcend his own humanity and fully enter into the role of a maniacal oilman. His stare is deathly eerie, and his delivery is superb. I first witnessed his performance about three weeks ago, and haven’t been able to sleep since then.

Leading Actress:

Laura Linney, “The Savages”

Laura Linney is one of those rarely acknowledged indie gems that sparkles with every performance. Her character is likable and accessible, and she’s the only one who could’ve pulled it off. Plus, she hasn’t won an Oscar yet – seriously – and I know that the Academy is into concessions (a la Scorsese), so why not?
Best Directing

Paul Thomas Anderson, “There Will Be Blood”

PTA is one of the up-and-coming young-ish directors who’s on his way to making movie history. So let’s start here – with his epic masterpiece – in which he flawlessly directs the larger-than-life D. D. Lewis, and photographs the lonely, haunting California landscape with enough macabre to make even Edgar Allen Poe lose his lunch.

Best Cinematography

“The Diving Bell and the Butterfly”

This picture is one of the most magnificently shot films I’ve ever seen. The soft colors and interesting focus-play just makes me feel good. And imagine that in a film that’s about a guy who loses nearly all control over his body, forcing him to live with “locked-in syndrome” for years before he dies. Dreamlike, subtle, yet atmospheric, it captures the delicate beauty of the here-today-gone-tomorrow essence of life.

Throughout the course of his illustrious career, Mailer was twice awarded the Pulitzer Prize, and won the National Book Award. His flair and demeanor cemented him as one of the most celebrated authors in America.

Norman Kingsley Mailer was born on January 31, 1923 in Long Branch, NJ and was raised in Brooklyn, NY. He attended the Boys’ School. Mr. Mailer graduated from Harvard in 1943 at the age of 20 and was soon drafted by the U.S. Army. Serving in the Philippines he would use his wartime experiences later in his writings.

Cocky and defiant, but equally talented, Mr. Mailer rose to prominence as part of the Greatest Generation, having graduated a prestigious institution and thrust full-force into the Pacific during the Second World War. Culling details and emotions from his time there, Mr. Mailer wrote his first–and some would say his finest–novel based on the events. The Naked and the Dead was published in 1948, and almost immediately shot the 25-year-old to literary stardom.

After a brief, mostly unsuccessful stint as a Hollywood screenwriter, Mr. Mailer returned to New York City. During the 1950s, he continued writing novels, although he didn’t immediately see the same success that his first novel had gained.

One of his subsequent novels, The Deer Park, was based on his writing experiences on the West Coast. It was repeatedly rejected by numerous publishers because of its extremely sexual content.

Apart from his literary success, Mr. Mailer saw the same problems that had plagued many writers during his time and from generations past. During his rise to celebrity status, Mr. Mailer discovered the power of alcohol, a mechanism that would, throughout the rest of his life, either bless him with a sort of inebriated, humorous charm, or curse him with tumultuous relationships and painful events.

One night in 1960, after a night of partying, Mr. Mailer stabbed his then-wife, Adele Morales, with a penknife. Although she fully recovered and refused to press charges, this incident would haunt him the rest of his life and would result in many plaguing him as a misogynist.

Mr. Mailer will be undoubtedly be remembered as a a literary icon for generations to come. But perhaps the most interesting aspect of his legacy is that he had played just as much a part in crafting his towering identity as did his novels and critics. Shortly after the release of The Naked and the Dead, Mr. Mailer had claimed that he was going to be one of the preeminent authors of his time, and that he was going to pen “the big one”- the great American novel. Through the subsequent commercial failures that followed Mailer into the 1960s, he firmly maintained his belief that he was an icon.

The kind of success that Mr. Mailer had once predicted seemed to have found him in the late 60s; his nonfiction account of the October 1967 anti-war march on the Pentigon, The Armies of the Night, won both the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize in 1968. In it, Mailer documented the events of that fall with creativity and precision, often glamorizing the march and, to no surprise, his own “heroic” contributions as a novelist and a historian.

Mr. Mailer won another Pulitzer prize in 1979 for The Executioner’s song, another mostly nonfiction account of the imprisonment and execution of convicted Utah murderer Gary Gilmore.

Among his most notable contributions to the literary community, apart from his novels, was his co-founding of The Village Voice, perhaps the most widely recognized alternative newspaper in the country. Mr. Mailer’s dabbling in journalism (he regularly contribued to The Voice, among other New York-based publications), along with his famous nonfiction-plus-some-creativity novels, put him at the forefront of what some called the “new journalism” movement, with the likes of Tom Wolfe and Hunter S. Thompson.

Mr. Mailer had undergone lung surgery recently at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan, NY.

Although widely unknown to younger film-viewing generations, Bergman’s films were hailed by peers and critics alike as some of the most artful and genius work to have ever been recorded on film. His repertoire of over 50 films in many ways set the standard for future filmmakers, and created a substantial legacy to which many younger writer/directors aspire.

Bergman was known for his emotionally-charged films that probed into the darker, often-unnoticed territories of the human soul; they portrayed explicit pain and suffering, and examined the fragility of both life and faith. He scripted dialogue with a precision almost as painful-and just as real-as the death, sadness and bitter self-discovery he often depicted.

Each of Bergman’s films were conveyed through a series of unique cinematic techniques such as long, drawn out close-ups of faces–with particular attention to eyes and lips–and explorative shots of animate objects, like ticking clocks, statuettes and other portentous notions.

Throughout his career, he embraced the artistic and emotive power of film, once saying, “no form of art goes beyond ordinary consciousness as film does, straight to our emotions, deep into the twilight room of the soul.”

Bergman was, by all intents and purposes, a grassroots filmmaker. Even after striking considerable fame with the release of Wild Strawberries and The Seventh Seal, he kept his films stylistically modest; film budget and production costs were never his top priorities. He stuck to a staple cast of varied and immensely talented actors, including Gunnar Bjornstrand, Max von Sydow, Bibi Andersson, Erland Josephson and Liv Ullman-known particularly for her classic, delicate beauty.

Famed New York filmmaker Woody Allen–himself a pioneer of modern dramatic cinema–personally holds Bergman to the highest esteem, once pegging him as “probably the greatest film artist, all things considered, since the invention of the motion picture camera.”

Born Ernst Ingmar Bergman on July 14, 1918, in Uppsala, Sweden, to a strict religious family, Bergman spent much of his youth mentally and emotionally distancing himself from his Lutheran minister father’s ideals and sermons. His battle with faith and the existence of God would later serve as a major theme throughout his artistic career.

He first discovered the intense power of film when his brother received an early slide projector–a “magic lantern” as Bergman later dubbed it–as a Christmas gift. After some failed attempts to acquire the object for himself, Bergman finally traded his brother one hundred tin soldiers for the projector, and thus changed his life forever.

After breaking with his parents at 19, Bergman set out to the Swedish capital of Stockholm in 1942 to work for Svensk Filmindustri-the top Swedish production company at the time-as a scriptwriter. Bergman was soon granted prime directorial privileges after the film featuring his first original screenplay, Torment, won the Grand Prize at Cannes Film Festival in 1946.

With the release of Smiles of a Summer Night in 1955, he began on a streak of important films that would cement him as one of the most serious and emotionally powerful filmmakers of his time. Among his most popular and studied subsequent films include Wild Strawberries (1957), The Seventh Seal (1957), Persona (1968), Cries and Whispers (1972) and Scenes From a Marriage (1973).

In addition to his film direction, Bergman was also known for his successful and equally moving stage plays. He had been involved in Swedish theatre from the mid-40s up until several years before his death. From 1963-66, he was the executive director of Stockholm’s Royal Dramatic Theatre, where he had hired nearly all of Sweden’s contemporary professional actors at one time or another.

Bergman spent the later half of his life on the mystically bleak islet of Faro, in Gotland, Sweden, a small block of land that served as the setting for many of his films. Although notoriously dreary and largely uninhibited, Faro was depicted as a place as magical as it was mysterious; it featured a landscape consisting of ominously cascading rock cliffs, gorgeous oceanfront scenery, and dense, lush forestry.

It was on Faro where Bergman found the subtle beauty that ultimately permeated his work. He had formally retired from film directing in 1982, after the semi-autobiographical Fanny and Alexander won an Academy Award for Best Foreign Film that year. Although he had continued writing and directing some stage productions throughout the 80s and 90s, he announced in 2004 that he would never again leave Faro.

Bergman is survived by nine children from five different wives-including one with the iconic Ullman.

He was considered by many to have been one of the last living great directors of the 20th century, among the likes of the Italian director Federico Fellini, Japan’s Akira Kurosawa, Frenchman Francois Truffaut and others.

The Simpsons Movie is fast-approaching, and you’d better be ready for an all-out onslaught of unbearably cheesy gimmicks. This is just another one of them.

Simpsonizeme.com, a site recently birthed by Fox and Burger King, allows curious visitors–those with tons of free time–-to craft a Simpson-like character in their likeness, using the site’s, uh, automatic human/Simpson character imaging device, I guess.

On “Simpsonize Me” you can upload a picture of yourself, and the site gathers the person’s main features, and essentially, translates them into the ever-famous, yellow-colored cartoon model. Users have limited control of the features, such as the ability to choose dress style, hair style/length, and gender. The photo should be a fairly high-resolution/high-contrast headshot to work best.

Once your humble editor defeated his serious insecurity issues and finally mustered up the necessary self-confidence, he turned the image transformer “thingy” on himself. See photo for results.

However, most people have found serious problems with the application; they find themselves uploading and reloading picture after picture just to get it to work, if it even ends up working at all. What the program doesn’t tell you is that in order to get your Simpsonized image, you need to meticulously adjust the contrast of the photo so that it can properly read it, even if it’s a perfectly well-lit picture.

Either way, this application has made a pretty big splash; it’s been featured in Entertainment News International, the front page of Digg and has been one of the main promotional tools for both Burger King products and The Simpsons Movie, which hits theaters July 27.

Claiborne left behind a legacy that includes the multi-billion dollar Liz Claiborne Inc., one of the most successful and recognized fashion companies in the world. Her single most celebrated accomplishment came in 1986, when Claiborne’s company was the first business headed by a woman to make the Fortune 500 list.

Anne Elisabeth Jane Claiborne was born on March 31st, 1929 in Brussels to a wealthy American family from Louisiana. Upon the outbreak of World War II, her family moved back to  their native New Orleans. Claiborne was educated at St. Timothy’s Boarding School in Catonsville, Maryland but left to study art in Europe.

Her first big break in fashion came in 1949 when she won the Jacques Heim National Design Contest, which was sponsored by Harpar’s Bazaar. Shortly thereafter, Claiborne moved to New York City, where she found work first as a sketch artist for the sportswear line Tina Leser, and then as a designer for Dan Keller and Youth Group Inc.

Believing that the role of the woman in the business world was on the rise–as well as frustrated by the lack of affordable, stylish attire for businesswomen–Claiborne broke out on her own in 1976, founding Liz Claiborne Inc. Much to the surprise of the entire fashion industry, the clothing line instantly struck success; the company had grossed $2.6 million by the end of its first year, and over $23 million by the end of 1978.

The company went public in 1981, and Liz Claiborne Inc. eventually entered the elite Fortune 500, with retail sales reaching just over $1 billion. By the time Claiborne retired from active management in 1989, her company had become one of the most recognizable in the fashion world.

Claiborne, known for her short, close-cropped hair and oversized sunglasses, was the epitome of her elegant-but-assertive businesswoman model. She headed her company with the utmost seriousness, but maintained the stylishness and grace of a leading woman; she was often known to ring a glass bell to maintain order during executive meetings.

Having experienced a short-lived marriage to photography agent Ben Shultz, Claiborne married again in 1957 to Arthur Ortenberg, to whom she was married until her death. The two had actually began a love affair while they were both still married to their previous spouses.

Claiborne is survived by her husband, a son from her first marriage, and two stepchildren from her second marriage.

His words? “Just go for it, man.”

The 38-year-old former TV personality recently kicked off his very own clothing line, Robert Earl Couture, based in La Jolla, Calif., under that very motto.

Robert Earl Couture is-–now, at least-–a line of limited run T-shirts for men and women, featuring funky and fresh designs. To add to the exclusive quality of the line, each shirt is personally signed by Earl himself.

Earl says that the line of clothing was born out of a penchant for fun and eccentric fashion, not for money.

“I’ve always dressed crazy my whole life, so I wanted to do something that was fun and created a great vibe,” he said. “All those big companies are like machines; I want to stick to small business so that our stuff will never be a mass-produced thing.”

The brand – 5 years old in idea, but just over a year old in practice – currently features about 15 men’s shirts and 21 women’s shirts, sporting all kinds of designs from Faux Pockets and Faux Collars, to the substantially popular Poka Poka Dot pattern.
“I want to stick to small business so that our stuff will never be a mass-produced thing,” Earl said. Having already been featured in several publications, including InStyle, 944 and Riviera, Robert Earl Couture is on its way up in the fashion world. Earl credits the recent publicity for his brand’s growing popularity.

“We were really just fooling around here,” he said. “We bought a printer and a silk screening machine, and made a few shirts. When InStyle got a hold of some, they put us in the issue, and then they started to sell.”

His future plans include adding on several other accessories, as well some new designs.

“Now that we’ve touched on this stuff, I’d really like to do a whole other line of men’s and women’s clothing,” said Earl. “I’d like it all to be an eclectic mix of products that I really like.”

Earl isn’t necessarily rising to stardom for the first time through his new fashion venture, however; he’s already been a star of some sorts for over 10 years. As the main host of ESPN’s X-Games for its first seven years, Earl broke out into the world of extreme sports broadcasting. After his relatively long run at the X-Games, he experienced a stint as the host of a short-lived extreme sports show on ESPN, Brave New World. Additionally, he hosted Tony Hawk’s Gigantic Skatepark Tour on EXPN, gaining further notoriety as an easy-going, fun-loving TV personality.

Earl brings the same attitude he threw in front of the camera into Robert Earl Couture; each T-shirt possesses some sort of unique, swanky quality, seemingly poking fun at the greater world of serious fashion.

“I’m going to make fun of the fashion world and have fun, so that everyone learns that you should love what you do,” he said. “It’s all about sending a message: do what you want to do.”

Up until May 25th, I had always taken that with a grain of salt. But by midnight that evening in Cambridge, Mass., as local favorites Cassavettes were roaring through the middle of their set, it became clear to me: it’s the hidden gems that always rock the hardest.

The Boston-based indie darlings, now approaching 2 years in the running as a full lineup, appeared that night as the headliners at T.T. the Bear’s in Cambridge, along with Logos Business Systems, Self-Righteous Brothers and The Appreciation Post.

Riding on the recent release of their first full-length album, It’s Gonna Change, the relatively young quartet re-energized the seemingly drowsy crowd in the half-empty venue, and kicked some life back into the room.

Cassavettes broke the ice with “You’ll Be Crying Soon” and “On The Lam,” and by the time they blasted into the chorus of their third song, “Carolyn Don’t Leave” – a crowd favorite – they had almost instantly won the affection of every kid in the room.

With three-quarters of the group hailing from Texas, the band seems to capitalize on its twangy Southern charm; every other song possesses an endearingly sweet quality that leaps into the listener’s chest and plants a little seed of country love.

Apart from their musical assets, the group features a few aesthetic values that boost their live performance. Among them, perhaps, is Glenn Yoder’s (Vocalist, Guitar/Piano player) gleeful grin peeking through his slightly disheveled muff-top hair, or Scott Jones’ (Bassist) playful interaction with the crowd.

The real crux of the show, however, was the crowd’s impeccably personal connection with the band; the audience members loved Cassavettes and Cassavettes loved them back. Every song brought with it at least 20 wildly dancing fans, pumping their fists at the band and screaming every other lyric, nearly drowning out the band’s own vocals.

By the end of their set, the band had finished something which they had only 40 minutes earlier created: an almost illegally entertaining local show that shed a glimmer of massive future potential.

This seems to be the central question presented throughout Brian Flemming’s independent documentary, “The God Who Wasn’t There.”

Probing through the annals of Bible history, Flemming sets out to basically disprove–or at least argue against–the validity and existence of Jesus Christ.

The film–-released by Beyond Belief Media-–is an entertaining and thought-provoking watch, but it’s nothing that would sweep away the awards at Cannes.

Throughout the course of the film, Fleming consistently offers up credible and believable information that directly refutes the existence of Jesus, especially as a God among men. The strong point of this film is every documentarian’s dream: much of the evidence is cold hard fact.

Fleming points out instances of time lapses within the storyline of the Bible, leaving the narrative of Jesus totally susceptible to alteration or misinterpretation through time. He also draws attention to the fact that not many people actually know the full story of Jesus.

Herein lies the best part of the film: it’s unbelievably entertaining for yours truly to watch “devout” Christians explain the idea of Jesus Christ with complete vagueness and naïveté. All cynicism aside, it’s pretty mind boggling to think about the fact that even those who actually believe in him, don’t really know who he was.

In addition to the “regular Joe” testimonies he gets from various passersby, Flemming includes some substantial, educated talking heads; they’re all thoughtful, interesting scholars and they present valid arguments as to how Christianity and the story of Jesus may have been misinterpreted or lost in translation throughout time.

To bolster the entertainment value, Flemming employs clips from several well-known, bygone religion-themed movies, dating all the way back to the days of silent film. In its entirety, the film seems to shoot for a light-hearted mood, even though it’s basically challenging the foundation facts of one of the world’s oldest and most widely practiced monotheistic religions. Flemming’s little bits of humor can be detected through subtle ironies in the narration or, as mentioned before, in the painfully embarrassing testimonies of “believers.”

Overall, this doc’s a pretty stimulating watch; you’ll enjoy it if you’re either a staunch agnostic, or just a simple doubting Thomas (no pun intended).

Seven-time Gumball 3000 champion, Alexander Roy, has launched a new line of European racing-inspired jackets fit for those of us who can’t stomach the action of an intercontinental rally race but want the look of one.

The jackets are the real thing; they’re made of the finest leather, and are delicately crafted to provide the look and feel of an actual racing jacket. Designed for both men and women, the jackets are available in various sizes, colors and styles.

The origin of the elite racing team–-and its custom jackets–-lies on the very surface of modern European history.

In 1957, the German government formed Polizei 144–the world’s first Autobahn Intercept Unit. Think of them as the ultimate highway patrol unit; they became known for snatching Europe’s most notorious high-profile criminals along the world’s most famous highway.

When the force was disbanded in 1998, rally driver Alexander Roy restructured the defunct police force into an elite racing force that tests out test-phase and prototype cars that are too fast and powerful for ordinary roads. Since the birth of the Gumball3000–the giant annual, multinational rally race across Europe–in 1999, Team Polizei has won every single year.

These racing jackets are meant to capture that very essence of European style and the edge of rally racing. Zipped up, they look fit to hit the concrete; unzipped and open, they look sleek, yet casual.

The jackets also feature additional mods, such as various combinations of pins and patches–these can be customized–along with a wide variety of color and fabric (nylon/leather) combinations.

So far, the trend has caught on in the States. The list of celebrities who have donned these jackets includes Courtney Cox-Arquette, Dave Navarro, Jessica Biel, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, Paul Walker and others.

For anywhere between $650 and $950, you can pick up your own piece of Euro-racing gear at Polizei144.com.

Mr. Halberstam was best known for his reporting on the Vietnam War for the New York Times, as well as the extraordinarily well-received books he wrote, including The Best and the Brightest and The Powers That Be.

Having won the Pulizter Prize at 30 for his coverage of the Vietnam War, Mr. Halberstam solidified his place in the generation of young and talented war correspondents who helped change the public’s perception of American involvement in theconflict.

“He was one of the truly colossal figures of the second half of the 20th century,” said Charles Fountain, Professor of Journalism at Northeastern University in Boston. “His work at the Times set the stage for war coverage, and it changed the entire dynamic of wartime correspondence.”

Mr. Halberstam was killed in a car accident in Mountain View, Calif., while on the way to interview former NFL quarterback Y.A. Tittle for his book, The Game. He had been in the Bay Area the previous weekend to attend an event at UC Berkeley.

The loss of David Halberstam is a tragedy that has resonated far and wide within the realm of journalism. He has a lasting influence as both a courageous, truth-seeking reporter and as a thoughtful, prolific writer

“He really had two enormous legacies,” said Fountain. “If he hadn’t done his work for the New York Times, then he would have been remembered for his books; and if he hadn’t written his books, then he’d have been remembered for his war correspondence.”

Halberstam was born on April 10, 1934, in New York City to an Army Surgeon, Charles Halberstam and a schoolteacher, Blanche Levy Halberstam. He spent most of his youth in Westchester County, N.Y., and graduated from Harvard in 1955. While at Harvard, Mr. Halberstam realized his journalistic calling as the Managing Editor of the school newspaper, “The Crimson.”

Upon graduating, he moved to the south, where he began covering the already brewing civil-rights situation for The West Point Daily Times Leader in West Point, Miss., then at The Nashville Tennessean.

He joined the staff of the New York Times in 1960, first at the Washington Bureau, then as a foreign correspondent in the Congo. It wasn’t until his assignment in South Vietnam in 1962, however, when he dropped his marker in the journalistic concrete and put his name on the map.

While in Vietnam, Mr. Halberstam helped to uncover the hidden truths of the ultimately unwinnable war: that the South Vietnamese government was failing, and that U.S. commanders were lying about it. Mr. Halberstam was among the first to publicize the massive missteps of the war, and as a result, President John F. Kennedy himself unsuccessfully asked then-publisher of the “Times,” Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, to fire Halberstam.

After leaving the Times in the late 1960s, Mr. Halberstam moved on to writing books on various topics: war, government, sports and culture. Among his most highly regarded books are The Best and the Brightest, a consideration of the paradox of a highly educated U.S. leadership and its catastrophic mistakes in Vietnam; and The Powers That Be, and in-depth examination of modern journalism’s various institutions and figureheads.
He will most likely be remembered as an unstoppable force of cultural and political criticism, as well as for the arduous work he put into every assignment and book.

“He will absolutely be remembered as one of the giants of journalism,” said Dan Kennedy, Visiting Professor of Journalism at Northeastern University, “and he became a giant strictly through hard work.”

Because of the amount of books he published , coupled with his naturally persevering work ethic, the real tragedy is in the potential work he could have still accomplished in the years to come, according to Kennedy.

“It’s very sad especially because he was still very much a working journalist,” he said. “It’s sad to think about all the work that he will not do.”

Mr. Halberstam is survived by his wife, Jean, and his daughter, Julia, both of New York.

Wolf, 24, who became the victim of the longest contempt of court term served by a media figure, agreed to hand over video footage of a San Francisco street protest against a 2005 G-8 summit in Scotland. In return, he will not have to testify in court.

Federal officials requested the tape as evidence for an investigation into events at the protest, during which a San Francisco police officer was injured and a police car was set on fire.

The affair ignited a heated debate over whether or not Wolf, who owns and operates his own blog site, is a professional journalist. Having no official ties with any media institution, it was disputed as to whether or not Wolf should receive the same protection as working journalists, evoking undertones of the First Amendment.

Wolf’s mother, who spearheaded a media campaign on her son’s behalf, used the case to push for a national shield law that would protect professional journalists from revealing their confidential sources.

So far, over 30 states and Washington D.C. have adopted sort of shield law. The federal government has not.

The saga of Josh Wolf has resonated loud and clear throughout media circles; should he be viewed as a professional journalist? And if so, should he be granted the same protection to which most other journalists are entitled? What will this mean for the Internet and the massive “blogosphere?”

Although Wolf has been released, the debate over shield laws and the definition of a “journalist” is up in the air. In the Internet age, everyone has the ability to post their opinions and multimedia on the web, but as the media world has seen in Wolf’s case, not everyone has been afforded the same rights.

“Journalists absolutely have to remain independent of law enforcement,” Wolf said outside the prison where he had been held since August 1. “Otherwise, people will never trust journalists.”

Reports indicate that the videotape, which Wolf also posted on his Web site, does not contain footage of the alleged incidents. But, according to Wolf, the video was not his main concern. He agreed to hand over the tape on the condition that he would not be called to testify.

“Although I feel that my unpublished material should be shielded from government demands, it was the testimony which I found to be the more egregious assault on my right and ethics as both a journalist and a citizen,” Wolf said in a statement after his release.

Elizabeth Raftery and John Guilfoil, both of the Blast Magazine staff, also contributed to this report.

The film features Academy Award nominee Will Smith playing real-life stock broker Chris Gardner in a heartwarming story of a single father defying the odds and raising a son by himself under the toughest of financial circumstances. Smith’s real son, Jaden, co-stars alongside his pops.

Following the rocky career of Gardner, a struggling San Francisco salesman who’s pulling for a competitive, unpaid internship with a top stock-trading firm, the film is a classic tale of rags-to-riches. Throughout the movie, the audience is exposed to a series of emotional ups and downs, as Gardner’s journey toward success seems to get sidetracked by his eviction from his apartment and other financial difficulties.

While in theatres, the film grossed over $145 million, and garnered numerous nominations for the Academy Awards, Golden Globes and NAACP Image Awards.

Both the DVD and Blu-Ray versions come fully-loaded with special features, including “The Man Behind the Movie: A Conversation with Chris Gardner,” and “Father and Son: On Screen and Off,” among other featurettes.

In the case of the Arcade Fire, I think it’s safe to say that their sophomore effort, Neon Bible, will make–or rather continue to make–the band’s already solid reputation within industry circles.

Rewind back to September 2004, when the Montreal-based outfit released their debut album, Funeral. The record immediately garnered extraordinary reviews from the independent local press to the New York Times. Overflowing with lush, textural sounds and endearingly sweet melodies, Funeral became a staple record for anyone who dared to call themselves fans of indie rock.

In juxtaposition, Neon Bible picks up where Funeral left off; the band perpetuates their signature sound of swooning, heartfelt melodies backed by an array of pleasantly uncommon instruments–accordions, harmoniums, harps, etc.

In terms of content, however, Neon Bible is a work far more diverse then both Funeral and other albums from bands of a similar feather. The Arcade Fire, in a sense, took a chance when recording this album, as it features a broader range of styles. Whereas Funeral was a slower-paced, more brooding album (it was inspired by the deaths of three different relatives of the band within one month), Neon Bible is more cheery than it is gloomy and introspective.

Recorded in a large church near the band’s hometown of Montreal, Neon Bible reflects this notion precisely; every track on the eleven-song album is spacious and grand, the layers of sound and instruments seemingly flowing through a tonal landscape of rich texture. Having worked around a giant pipe organ that the band found inside the church, the Arcade Fire produced, with the help of several musically-related friends (Wolf Parade, Calexico, Final Fantasy), an album of sonically epic proportions.

The standout tracks on this album–-the unofficial “singles,” so to speak–-are No Cars Go, The Well and the Lighthouse, Intervention and Keep The Car Running (the band performed the latter two songs on Saturday Night Live back in February). As a testament to the album’s diverse sound, all four of the aforementioned tracks differ immensely. No Cars Go showcase the band’s newfound penchant for a driving, fist-pumping melody, coupled with layers of almost heavenly violin orchestration. Intervention, on the other hand, makes full use of the discovered organ and provides the band with a soulful backing to an anthem-like song about misery and longing, harking back to the themes of Funeral.

That being said though, Neon Bible is not, for all intents and purposes, an amazing, ground-breaking album; those who are familiar with the previous work of the Arcade Fire will most likely peg it second to Funeral. For every good song on the record, there seems to be another one of mediocre quality (Rene, the female vocalist/instrumentalist, should steer clear of singing). It is, however, an album that remains true to the band’s unique sound, and even expands on it through use of several more interesting instruments, a more diverse body of songs, as well as impressively executed orchestration.

Overall, if you dug Funeral, buy this album to stay pleased with the Arcade Fire. And if you’re new to the band, buy this album to hear what serious instrumental talent and impeccable songwriting sounds like.

I feel relatively ordinary now.

Throughout the 80-minute film, the viewer is exposed to the hilariously unfortunate, true stories of a drag queen searching for a Led Zeppelin cover band, an ex-alcoholic Vietnam vet looking for 270-pound women and an ordinary guy who pulled off a one-night stand with a married woman, among other characters.

You probably already guessed it: these folks all have Craigslist to thank for the fulfillment of their strangest desires.

24 Hours on Craigslist is an outsider’s look at the everyday folks who use the immensely popular community board website, and an examination–within the span of just one day–of just how much you can get away with selling or buying on the internet. Set in the original home of Craigslist, San Francisco, the film explores peoples’ reasoning for buying, selling and doing the things they do.

One man is selling a bunch of wooden doors, just because he has some extras lying around in his garage. Another guy is looking for a band “akin to Aerosmith or Heart” to jam with, while yet another person is offering his services as a Rent-a-Husband to provide help with gardening, chores and even listening.

Though set in an interesting style, there’s not much documentary substance to the film. I hesitate to call it a “documentary” because there’s no real research or exploration as to what Craigslist is really about; it’s more of an 80-minute-long reality show.

With technical criticism aside, it’s an entertaining watch; not necessarily for credibility or for cinematic value, but just to see how strange and resourceful your fellow man, woman or transvestite can be.

Picture this: you’re on a reconnaissance patrol; it’s dark. There are bright lights flashing all over and noises going off everywhere, but you’ve got your eye set on a target. You need to make a move-–and fast-–but you’re afraid of giving away your position. You adjust your scope and lock in on the target. Sporting carefully designed and intricately constructed sniper camouflage, otherwise known as a “Ghillie suit”, you walk up to the bar and go in for the kill.

Score: now you’ve got that girl’s number.

Enter Cordarounds’ new military-flavored Ghillie coat, possibly the most ridiculous looking, yet supremely fashionable new product from the San Francisco-based clothier.

The Ghillie coat is truly the most innovative military surplus gear since combat boots and peacoats. It’s designed to handle all the obstacles of modern urban battlefields like New York and San Francisco. Modeled after the very same garb worn by snipers all over the world, Cordarounds’ version lets you play the part of an urban soldier without the risk of actually getting shot.

“It’s fantastic urban sniping attire,” said Enrique Landa, cofounder of Cordarounds and self-proclaimed “Purveyor of Pants.” “It’s the perfect coat for hanging out casually in an urban environment.”

The coat features a thin nylon layer topped with rather intricate webbing, which is intertwined with shreads of varying green fabrics and cloth. Basically, it looks like the Swamp Thing’s upper torso, just with a hood.

At the risk of sounding like sociopath weirdoes, Landa and cofounder Chris Lindland have actually got it figured out. Since the launch of Cordarounds in January 2005, the two have released several lines of self-admitted “smart-ass clothing.” It started with the basis of the company: horizontal corduroy pants, for which they were credited with the actual founding of the inverted pant style. Next, they offered a reversible smoking jacket, tailored especially to give off that Hugh Heffner vibe. And now comes the Ghillie coat: totally unpractical, but completely stylish

The best part is its quality guarantee – the coat’s been battle-tested during many nights on the town.

“I went out drinking for an entire month wearing this jacket,” admitted Landa. “People went insane, the reactions were great.”

Check them out online for the latest in oddball, smart-ass fashion, and to pick up your very own sniper wear for $90.

Barth came from a small town in Austria, only minutes away from Arnold Schwarzenegger’s hometown, before soaring to the upper echelon of the trade through word of mouth and tattoo magazine exposure. He had little but a tattoo machine and enough money to open its first legal tattoo studio.

Since opening nearly 20 years ago, Barth has risen to high-class status. Today, his exclusive services include in-flight tattooing on private jets, and a private limousine escort to and from the airport whenever a celebrity decides to “drop by” Barth’s flagship studio – Starlight Tattoo, in Rochelle Park, NJ – for some skin art. His client list includes: Nikki Sixx, of Motley Crue; Gene Simmons, of Kiss; Vanilla Ice and various members of My Chemical Romance, Panic! At the Disco, Taking Back Sunday, KoRn and more.

Speaking in a low-key, laid back Austrian accent, it all seems to be no big deal. He’s even got the luxury of endearing some of his hottest clients: Dave Diehl, star lineman for the New York Giants, is simply “Davy,” while rap star Jim Jones, is “Jimmy.” He boasts an arsenal of nearly 300 tattoo awards and a clientele that has kept him booked solid for over 20 years. Barth has undoubtedly seen all sides of the big picture of today’s tattoo industry.

Editor’s note: Blast’s Dan Peleschuk sat down with Mario Barth at his Rochelle Park, NJ studio, and picked his brain about his art, the culture and the celebs.

Tell me about life in Austria as an up-and-coming tattoo artist, back when there was no Miami Ink.

Talk about a generation difference; when I was just starting out, tattooing was REALLY in the underground. I actually opened the first and only legal shop in Austria. At that time, tattooing was a different enemy. People we tattooed were either criminals or prison guards, and there was absolutely no “regular person.” They were all just really specific, heavy subcultures. This was our clientele. It only shifted in the early 90s, when it became more open.

How did you manage to build up such a solid reputation?

When I opened the first legal shop in Austria in 1989, it got enormous exposure from TV and newspapers, and automatically I attracted people who would have otherwise been afraid to come in. I started to attract this totally different crowd, and then all of a sudden MTV came. But it was really the tattoo magazines that did it; when people started recognizing my work, they started publishing it in the magazines. Then in 1994, I won the Best Tattoo Artist award from the National Tattoo Association in San Francisco. I won 11 different best artist trophies that year, which had never been done at that time. It was also different back then if you had a studio, or if you had no studio; if you worked in a basement, you were going to attract a basement kind of crowd. That’s how word got around.

What made you move to the U.S?

At that time, I had the biggest reputation that you could get, and then from one day to another, I starting having clients fly into Austria to get tattooed. I even had people from Australia come in. Then it became a natural instinct; you know, the grass is always greener on the other side of the river. I come from little Austria with only seven million people, so why not go to big America? It was actually a pretty big jump, because I had a really secure living there, but I figured I’d see what happens here. I worked a little at Wonderland Tattoo in Detroit, where I started out guest spotting. From there, I moved down to Miami, which, of course, attracted the right clientele. From that moment on, it started to come. When I moved to Jersey, my clients followed me, and many of them still fly in today.

Why do celebrities choose you?

With me, I think it was just the right timing, the right moment. They choose me now because of my personality: I’m flexible, I’m very professional and I’m always there. I was always known to be very quiet about it, and I guess that got out and I accumulated clients. I started out having a lot of celebrity clients when I was younger and I just really didn’t care. For me, it’s like dealing with a regular client, that’s the good part. I would treat Lenny Kravitz the same way I’d treat you, that’s just how I am. I think most of them just want to be treated like normal human beings. I actually had a funny situation when I tattooed Lenny for the first time – I didn’t even know it was him. I was tattooing him and we were having a good conversation and then my other artist asked me if I knew who he has, and I said, “No, and I don’t care.” I think that’s why celebrities look for me. I try to treat them like regular people. But we also have special services because we know how valuable they can be. Catering to celebrities, you need to understand that their time is very valuable. And this is where it makes the difference for us. We give you the service, but we don’t treat you differently, it’s a very fine line.

When celebrities get bigheaded, do you ever play it down?

Absolutely, I don’t care about that. Over the years I learned that all my clients have the same value. One [celebrity] client wanted me to tattoo him and asked me to come to his house because he didn’t want to be in the shop. So I refused that. What makes you different that I should cancel an appointment with a client waiting here just to come to your house to tattoo you? Especially if it’s a person who has saved all their money to get tattooed and makes it on their spare time. When I started to understand that part it became very easy for me to deal with those situations, because now I just treat everybody equally, whether they’re celebrities or not. It’s also a hard situation with people who think they’re celebrities. Sometimes, it’s tougher to deal with the people who are just coming up rather then with people who have been at the top of the game for a long time.

Tell me about some of your special services for celebrities.

There’s a new in-flight tattooing program we just started. What’s basically happening here is that we made a merger with Revolution Air, which is a privately owned company that flies a really high-end clientele. We made a deal with them in which we are basically getting their heavy jets to offer a service now to celebrities who are maybe flying from here to L.A. and have 5 hours to kill, and want to get tattooed. So we’re actually going to go on board with them and work on them in-flight. It’s mainly about us offering special services to our clients. Their real value is time. Celebrities rarely have the time to come into the shop, it’s very hard for them, so it’s a form of special service we offer. Celebrities all travel on private jets now, so here, we actually would have 5 hours of privacy, and if you could have that session, it’d be great. We’re getting great feedback from it.

Is it difficult to accommodate celebrities?

Oh yeah. Just getting them here from the airport takes 2 hours. People are just star-struck. We usually just try to hide them out down here. If you go out on Route 17, it’s like half of New Jersey is going to know they’re there. For a celebrity to come into the shop is tough; we have back entrances and private booths, but somehow people still seem to find out about somebody coming in. When we had Korn here, it took about 10 minutes for it to get out, and then once people found out, they started pouring in. For me, as a celebrity tattoo artist, I deal with celebrities all day, but the “regular” person will find out and calls his friend, his mother, et cetera, and it gets crazy. When you get a tattoo, you want to be quiet, be in a good mood, you want to chill with the artist. If I always had a camera around me, or people in my face I’d be pretty cranky. It’s the part that comes with the celebrity. They just have different lifestyles, and they can’t move around freely. We’ve seen situations where people want to come in, but they really cant. If they arrive in an airport, 4,000 people automatically recognize them. It’s not that easy.

How did you feel about breaking into the circle of celebrities as just a regular tattoo artist?

When I first started I got really excited when I got more and more clients, and when I saw that more and more people liked my work. I got a kick out of it. [As an artist], when you get your first celebrity client it’s really big, because it brings you outside of your little circle. It gives you that feeling that you’ve taken it somewhere from the underground to the TV screen. Celebrities are almost in this big fantasy world that’s going on, and when you see this person walking into your life, it’s actually a big boost for your ego. But I found out the other side about celebrities, too. Many of them just want to get stuff for free; they feel entitled because they’re this big monstrous person walking in and the whole world is supposed to stand still.

Does your celebrity work score some points with your regular clientele?

I think that for the “regular” clients to get work done by someone who tattoos celebrities, for some reason, it makes it a status symbol. I think it’s the hype of the media. Everything is so geared toward Hollywood and flashy cars and stuff. So when you bring that reputation with you, it gives you more credibility with your clientele.

Do you have any favorite celebrity clients?

Nikki Sixx (Motley Crue) is great. Fieldy and Jonathan Davis (Korn) are also really cool. I basically click with anyone who’s down to earth. The mood (Sixx) sets is just great. What I look for in celebrities is how they interact with normal people. I can tell if they’re really cool with people. Nikki gives every single minute to everybody. When he was in here he talked to everybody like he knew them for 50 years. Most celebrities are cool but he just had that special edge.

Who’s the next celebrity client on your agenda?

Jonathan Davis is coming in. We’re organizing the schedule for him. We’re having our own limo driver coming to pick him up from the airport in an unmarked private limo. There are no outside sources, so nobody should know that he’s here. That’s where the special service part comes in.

In general, tattooing is a pretty intimidating business. After all this time do you ever still get freaked out about it?

It’s been 30 years and I can walk into a brand new tattoo studio where I don’t know anybody it’s still like, “What am I going to see behind that door? 4 rotweillers and a guy standing there with a shotgun?” It’s almost like you open a big dangerous gift box. But that’s the plague of tattooing. This is never going to change. There’s a certain edge that keeps it that way.

What distinguishes you and your studio from other tattoo artists and their studios?

I think that other tattoo artists all specialize in one field, either in colors, or portraits. The versatility of my work was what was different, when I won best realistic, and also best color. People wondered how it was possible. When I retired from competition in 1998 I had 250-300 trophies. I also have all the top cats from Europe come here to work for a while as guest spots. And I’m connected deeply with artists from the Orient. They actually fly out from Japan to work here. I like crossing over, and I like to bring cultures together. Tattooing is a huge field that’s also very small. There are so many different cultural styles, but it’s all somehow a part of the tattoo family. I really try to cross the bridge. I’m also in the business now almost 30 years. So people know I’m not going anywhere. We’re not a shop that’s here today and gone tomorrow. People know we have a 30-year history.

Who inspires you artistically?

Almost everybody. It’s a hard question because there are so many good artists out there. There are so many good ones out in the woods that we don’t even know about yet. Even my apprentice influences me. I like anyone who can really work. I was never too good to appreciate good work. I’m very open like that. I’m also influenced by almost everybody who does something different. I couldn’t say that I have one specific hero.

Do you have any favorite style of tattooing? Color? Black and Gray? Portraits?

A lot of stuff that people say that’s not possible. How I really started to surface was actually being known as a very heavy color tattooist. When people told me back in the day that I couldn’t really make a nice blue in the skin, I did an entire back piece all in blue. I started to prove people wrong. I even have my own color today called “Mario Blue”. From that point, I liked the challenge. Also, I like doing cover-ups where )customers) tell me that they’ve been in 14 different shops and [the artists] said that they couldn’t do it. So I said, “Okay, lets make a yellow dragon over it.” Lately, I’ve gotten into really detailed portraits. It’s just a new phase that I’m trying to explore. I’m also heavily influenced by Japanese tattooing. There’s nothing more impressive than a well-layed out Japanese body suit.

Has tattooing taught you a thing or two about life?

As an artist you connect with almost every single person who comes in. Sometimes we have a hard time charging people, because [a customer will] come in three or four times and we become very close. If I would do everything by myself, I would never get paid again. Tattooing brought me to so many different places, shown me so many different lifestyles, and connected me with so many different people from so many walks of life. And I didn’t only meet them, but I heard their story – that’s the biggest thing. I had talks with people who were in prison for 20 years, and people who make millions of dollars a month. And after 30 years, you learn that all the stories are the same, it’s just a different value line. You get very humble after a while. You learn that everybody struggles, and everybody makes their life. I think it made me very open-minded. I came from a little country of several million people, so if you think about it, I didn’t really have that many different kinds of personalities or lifestyles in my society. It still is a learning experience, even today. Everyday it’s a new person, new skin, a new design, a new story and a new encounter. It’s a never-ending learning experience. I sometimes feel bad for people who sit in front of a computer all day and experience the same thing everyday. Once I even worked on a psychiatrist who called me to get tattooed and talk in order blow off his problems.

What are the downsides to tattooing?

It is something that’s irreversible. What in the beginning is just something cool to do becomes a challenge not to fuck up. In the beginning you don’t think of that so much, because you just feel it’s the cool thing to do. When you start learning the trade, you realize that every mark you do is permanent, and your brain is then marked forever. One day you’ll wake up and you’ll realize that every mark you make is irreversible and then your whole life changes. If you’re a real tattoo artist, I can tell you what the scenario is like: you’re probably single, not married, and you have troubles in relationships. [Tattooing] is very eccentric. Twenty-four hours a day, [artists] have only one thing to do: tattoo. And the only thing they have to think about when they’re done is what they have tomorrow, and they know that they can’t fuck up tomorrow. There’s a constant pressure of being perfect, but there is no perfect. I search for the perfect tattoo everyday, and when I think I have it, it’s gone. That’s the downside. You’re going to be spending 24 hours a day on tattooing. You work during the day and at night, constantly. You have to work when your client is ready for you. It will consume your whole life. Never being accepted as an artist is a downside too, but who decides anyway? Most artists known today as the biggest and most influential artists in the world never considered themselves artists. There’s a lot of mental pressure these days about not being accepted. I know tattooists who are afraid to say what they do for a living.

Wow. So what’s the good part?

Meeting different people. Also, the success you feel after seeing the happiness of the client; it feeds off to you. Constantly being forced to create new things is great, too. The possibilities of traveling are wonderful. I tell all my apprentices that when they’re finished here, they can go anywhere in the world and survive there. That’s the ultimate thrill. You can actually break language barriers with your work, because everyone understands the meaning of a tattoo, anywhere from here, to Japan, to Russia and to Europe.

Any final words?

It doesn’t matter which rank you come from, which society level you come out of, or which country you’re from, if you get in that tattoo chair, it’s all the same. It hurts you the same that it does me. This connection is the nice part. As soon as you get in my chair, you’re like everybody else.