Three days had passed since Clara, a three-year-old English bulldog, was stolen outside a grocery store in Manhattan's Hell's Kitchen neighborhood. The NYPD followed a few leads but in a city with nearly 500 homicides a year, a missing dog was not exactly at the top of the local police blotter. Then a crew of intimidating-as-hell, tattoo-clad equalizers heard about the missing pooch from a neighborhood poster and hit the streets. Convinced that the theft wasn't the work of some punk kids, the crew roamed the area, pounding on the doors of local dealers, thugs, and anyone desperate enough to steal a defenseless animal in broad daylight.
Steve McQueen nailed the concept of cool in the 1968 film Bullitt with his portrayal of Frank Bullitt, a San Francisco police lieutenant who floors a souped-up Ford Mustang through one of the most exciting cinematic chase scenes in history (and makes turtlenecks with sport coats cool in the process).
Nothing about Margaret Cho made it look like she had a chance in hell in Hollywood. Chubby, Korean, and bisexual (she admits to all three) in a business that typically has a hard time swallowing that list, Cho’s rank as one of the biggest female comedians on the planet is the result of a one-woman battle, built from her fi rst stand-up comedy gigs in a club near her parents’ book store in San Francisco to tours with Jerry Seinfeld and a showcase full of awards. For a while, Hollywood won. After a failed TV show attempt, where suits told her she was “too Asian” then hired a coach to ...
In This Moment singer Maria Brink rocks, spits, screams, and sweats. Meet the new face of metal. A couple of years after moving from Albany, New York, to Los Angeles, In This Moment frontwoman Maria Brink almost gave up on her dream. It was mid-2004 and she was living alone, had no friends, hated her day job, and none of the groups she called to audition for would call her back. But instead of following her judgment, packing up her car and heading back east, the singer drove to a local tattoo shop and had the words “We Will” inked on the underside of her left wrist and “Overcome” on ...
Mario Barth grew up in Austria, immigrating to the states in 1995 to set up his tattoo shop in New Jersey. “I started tattooing a long time ago. It chose me to do it,” he says. “There was no scene at the time, it was all very underground. I had no financial interest in it, but then I realized I could make money out of it.” It took a while for Barth to develop his large customer base, of which he guesses 20 percent are celebrities. “I got good exposure in the ’90s from traveling. I did a few celebrity clients, and it was a slow build up from word ...
“People come by the store all the time just to play pool,” laughs Shamrock manager Cody McCarthy. “That’s why it’s called the ‘Social Club.’” While the shop has famously tattooed celebrities like Angelina Jolie and Bruce Willis, its real claim is being the place to go for black and gray work. “When you talk about black and gray, there are four names that are mentioned the most,” McCarthy explains. “And two of them work here.” While the shop has famously tattooed celebrities like Angelina Jolie and Bruce Willis, it also caters to bikers and ‘second-generation’ clients. “It’s funny,” he muses. “A lot of the time kids will come to Mark because their Dad got a piece from him years ago.” With three floors, a pool table, and couches, this big, ...