Jordan, Jordan Jr., & Newport Tattoo Costa Mesa

Last week I got to introduce Jordan to Jordan Jr. Sounds like a baby daddy situation, but it's not. For those of you who stumbled across this blog by googling "pink floyd pig flying," "constellation tattoos" or "ralph steadman art" (which apparently is half of my readership according to google analytics), I paint people. My recent subject - was Mr. Jordan Sabolick. We call the painting "Jordan Jr."

We met up at Peet's Coffee. It was pretty cool too because as I was walking towards the coffee shop, there was a Mexican family of four walking behind me, and Jordan was walking behind them apparently. I didn't realize this until I reached the table in front of the Peet's where I set the painting down and the dad of the family said, "hey that's him, isn't it?" pointing at Jordan. So 1 in 4 strangers agree: Jordan Jr. and Jordan look alike.  +10 points for my confidence. Then a woman walked by our little crowd and looked to see what the action was about. "Did you paint this? It's wonderful!" +10 more points for my confidence. As much fun as painting is, it is nothing compared to having your work seen and enjoyed. Which is why I'm so glad to have my work up over at Newport Tattoo: Costa Mesa.

Things were a little awkward at first between the two...

but in no time at all they were chatting it up like old pals.

After catching up with Jordan and taking some hilarious photos of him with the painting (to the chagrin of all inside), I headed down the 405 freeway to Newport Beach to join Jordan Jr. with my other paintings that reside at Newport Tattoo: Costa Mesa. Also residing there is Ryan Hopper, the artist, tattooer, and my next victim/subject. He wants to be painted at the wienerschnitzel with a corn dog. Hmmm. I'll let you know how that one pans out.

Now back to work on my painting of Miss Sara. It is really starting to look rad! It's got this great blue/purple color scheme going that I didn't plan, but am loving. Pictures tomorrow!

- Amy
Listening to: "Dancing On Our Graves" by the Cave Singers

Middle Brother, Making Stone Cold Steve Austin Cry, & More Hilarious Dopplegangers

[ Fig. 1: Middle Brother. Left to Right: John McCauley, Taylor Goldsmith, and Matt Vasquez. ]

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF AMY HOOD: Middle Brother at Detroit Bar

My sister and I headed up to the Detroit Bar to catch Middle Brother [fig. 1] last night. It was AWESOME. It's a supergroup of small rock/folk/indie bands. When I say supergroup, think Monsters of Folk (yay!), not Them Crooked Vultures (yawn). And like MOF, this band is made up of a plethora of amazing singers joining forces, sometimes taking the lead, other times taking turns backing each other, and at best breaking into three part gritty harmonies that would make even Stone Cold Steve Austin tear up (or at the very least make him want to join a folksy rock band).

[ Fig. 2: Johnny Corndawg. © cjfoeckler ]

Middle Brother is made up of Taylor Goldsmith of Dawes (yay!), Matt Vasquez of Delta Spirit (double yay!), John McCauley of Deer Tick (Yeah 3x! [cue Chris Brown]), and on special occasion the hilarious musician/leatherworker Johnny Corndawg [fig. 2]. And I can't forget the drummer, Griffin Goldsmith of Dawes [fig. 3], who's game face rivaled any Billy Idol scowl. I like the way Rolling Stone described them as a whole: "This singer-songwriter summit... is an alt-country round robin, with raw harmonies and punk-rock sentiment as unforgiving as a prison shiv." Couldn't have said it better myself.

[ Fig. 3: Griffin Goldsmith. ©Jack Edinger ]

The album is really good. Seeing them live was even better. Which is almost always the case with a good rock n' roll band; They've got that energy, that stage presence, they love the live performance and they love the crowds. All of which seems to be very rare in pretty much all the bands today. Most of the bands I've seen recently either seem like they'd rather be surrounded by hot chicks in a hotel bar somewhere, or they are seriously lacking in talent without their production magic. 


I also discovered a new act thanks to the show (which is one of my favorite parts about going to shows). The opening act was a guy named Jonny Corndawg and not only can he sing a country/rock/rockabilly song, he is one of the fines leatherworkers you've ever seen this side of the Mississippi. I'm pretty sure every member of Middle Brother was wearing a finely crafted leather belt with his initials in it courtesy of Jonny. Last night, despite suffering from a bleeding ear and horrible amp feedback, he won the hearts and minds of the Detroit Bar masses. You can see him below featured in the song "Middle Brother." Also check out his song at the bottom or google "Trash Day." 

[ Middle Brother © Brandon Tauszik ]

[ Bickering just like loving siblings. ]

And to close this blog out with a bang:

And I've said it for years now, but how much does my dear old friend Sean Murphy look like Matt Vasquez!? I think a DNA test is in order because they may be twins seperated at birth. Don't believe me from this photo [below]? Visit Sean at Kaylani's in San Clemente and see for yourself. 

Here are some tunes for you. 

-Amy

Listening to: Middle Brother's "Wilderness" 

Tsunami Warnings, Our Campaign To Be The New Face of Doublemint Gum, & My Undying Love For Chris Brown (Even Post Rihanna)

[Fig. 1: Yenny (right) and me.]

Jen and I went to the beach this weekend. One of our favorite spots: Pirate's Cove/Wesley Dr. It was sooo lovely outside. Of course we abided the tsunami warnings. So intense. It's so horrible what happened in Japan. I seriously think the end of the world is coming. Hurricane Katrina, Indonesia, Haiti, New Zealand, Australia and now Japan. Not to mention all the governments that are bankrupt or in complete civil unrest. It's hard to watch the news anymore. It definitely makes me thankful to God for sunny days like this and friends and family. 

 [Fig. 2: Me and Jen circa 1996. Guess which is which haha.] 

Don't these pictures just scream Doublemint Gum commercial? [Fig. 1] I think so. I gotta get my agent on that ASAP. They've got to be looking for a new face for their campaign after the Chris Brown debacle. We've been practicing for this role our whole lives. Check out this vintage shot [see Fig. 2] of the Hood sistas back in our Syracuse, NY days. For Halloween we dressed up as giant sticks of Doublemint Gum. It snowed. Our costumes melted. Blasted water based finger paints. Speaking of Doublemint Gum and Chris Brown...

INSPIRATION OF THE DAY: Chris Brown's Insane Dance Skills

I know he beat Rihanna, but I still love Chris Brown. How does he move like that? And that cute little face with those tattoos? I can't help it. I'm determined to try to learn his tunnel dance moves in the "Deuces" video. Woah. 

- Amy

Listening to: Chris Brown's "Yeah 3x"

Smoking Stogies, Adventures With Caroline and Jen, & Crazy Jordanians

[ Fig. 1: My fancy photoshop blending/layering skills. ]

Every Tuesday I hang out with my friend Caroline and my sister Yenny. Mayhem inevitably ensues. And by mayhem I mean happy hour assaults, chick-flick-a-thons, mall-trolling - and this week - smoking stogies at our neighborhood gazebo (a.k.a our secret hideout which is now not so secret). Batman and Robin have the Bat Cave, The Babysitters Club had Maryanne's bedroom, Bart Simpson and Milhouse Van Houten have the tree house, and we have the gazebo. The gazebo has a great view of the man made lake. If you blur your eyes it's almost like you're in Venice. I said almost. The only problem is it's flanked by grass riddled with duck poop. Minor setback. 

After a successful trip to the Cheesecake Factory (where we caught the tail end of the Lakers win over the Timberwolves), we hit up H&M (oh how I love that store) and then it was off to our secret lair. I had recently come into possession of some cheap stogies that had to be smoked. How? The strange Jordanian I work with. This guy is such an interesting specimen, and a little weird. A couple of years ago he got in a car accident that put him in a coma. He woke up a year later to find that the wife he had been matched up with by his parents back in Jordan left him while he was in the coma. Gnarly, right!? Despite having been put in a coma from reckless driving the guy still drives "like a bat outta' hell" (cue Meatloaf). He also insists on giving my sister and I presents everyday, most of which are either his ex-wife's old possessions (awkward) or items from his brothers Kwik-E Mart (talk about a stereotype filler, eh?). This is where the stogies came in. He gave me a pack the other day. This was the first gift that I readily accepted. Below are some fun and sort of trippy shots of us getting our Clint-Eastwood-via-The-Good-The-Bad-The-Ugly on [see Fig. 2].

[ Fig. 2: Clint Eastwood as The Man With No Name. ]

Most of the photo creds go to my sis. Except the ones she's in. Obviously. I got creative after being inspired by Tamara Lichtenstein's photos and had some photoshop fun with my photo. It turned out pretty rad if I do say so. [See Fig. 1.]

[ Jennifer Hood ]

[ My lovely friend, Caroline Landon. ]

[ Me and Care-Bear. ]

[ And again. ]

[ Caroline giving that come hither stare. ]

[ Taking  a good toke to try and get an artsy smoke photo. ]

[ It only sort of worked. ]

[ Caroline Landon ]

[ Caroline, Yenny and ghost. ]

[ Jen hilariously pointed out to me that this looks like the cover to that horrible movie with Ben Affleck and Sandra Bullock. See Figure 3.]

[ Figure 3: Forces of Nature Cover. ]

Cheers,

Amy

Listening to: New York Dolls' "Personality Crisis"

New Tattoos, Keeping It Real Like Ponyboy & Playing The Guinea Pig

[ On the "operating table," stencil on foot, awaiting the gun. ] 

Like I posted a couple weeks back, my friend Ari is apprenticing at Newport Tattoo right now. In order to practice he's handing out free tats like a pedophile hands out free candy on a playground. Being the starving artist that I am, and looking to scratch my metaphorical itch for some fresh ink, I offered my skin as a sacrifice. It was done in the name of art... and pauperdom. Here's a photo essay of the night as documented by my favorite twin sister (no need to point out my only twin sister), Jennifer Hood. 

[ Awaiting my foot's fate. ]

[ Starting to get excited! That's my friend and tattooist in training, Ari Kotsiris. ]

[ Discussing the plan of attack. ]

[ I had to run out to the car to grab my phone, and then I had the dirtiest feet you've ever seen which Ari had to touch. Sorry Ari. ]

[ Jen Hood, up to no good. ]

[ Sweet Jen. ]

[ Me mid-tattoo. ]

[ No pain, no gain. Or so the meat heads tell me. ]

[ Ari doin work, hoping I don't find out he has no idea what he's doing. Just Kidding. Ari was a pro and a half! ]

[ Trying to talk between whimpering - I mean - trying to talk while not noticing my foot is getting blasted. ]

[ We both made it out alive! Authors Note: Ari has the quickest thumbs-up draw you've ever seen. This thumbs-up was recorded at .06 seconds. ]

My tattoo says "Stay Gold Ponyboy." It's my first semi-ridiculous tattoo and I just adore it. Like I said a while back when pondering my potential Clint Eastwood tattoo, I've realized that the tattoos I like most on other people are the kind of ridiculous ones. The ones most would consider their mistake tattoos. And I don't mean the Winnie-The-Pooh-on-your-hip or dolphin-on-your-ankle kind of mistake tattoos - I mean a smiley face on your knee cap like my friend Tim Wiececk, or half the tattoos on or done by my friend Chris De Armas over at American Vintage Tattoo in Orange [See Figures 1 and 2]. Funny/strange/absolutely unique tattoos. "Stay Gold" is a pretty common tattoo, but adding the "Ponyboy" to the end makes it quite unique and semi-comical. Mission Accomplished. As soon as this bad boy heals I'll post better pics of the actual tattoo.

[ Figure 1: A Jackolope, and Figure 2: A Colonel Sanders headed chicken shitting biscuits. Tattoos by Chris De Armas. ]

If you want some free ink and want to play the guinea pig too, call Newport Tattoo and ask for this guy [Fig. 3], Ari Kotsiris.

[Fig. 3: Ari]

 Cheers,

Amy

Listening to: The Duke Spirit's "The Step And The Walk"