I discovered Trevor Paglen’s book I Could Tell You But Then You Would Have to be Destroyed by Me: Emblems from the Pentagon’s Black World some time ago and picked it up because frankly it was awesome design inspiration. A collection of mysteriouso Black Ops military patches. Patches that looked so ridiculous I just assumed this was a design book that had a slew of artists invent these patches and try to pass them off as real but I didn’t really give it much thought and filed the book away on our office bookcase. Well how wrong I was!

After taking a nasty spill on my bike yesterday afternoon and being forced to spend the rest of the afternoon/evening indoors I comforted myself by flipping through whatever few cable channels I have. And of course at the most unexpected of channels, C-SPAN’s Book TV I found my evening’s entertainment. Trevor Paglen was discussing this very book at a very small reading (even though the book had little to read) at Brooklyn’s Melville House.

I was amazed to find out that all the patches were indeed real and he had been collecting them for quite sometime. Paglen makes his living as a military journalist specializing in reporting on all things that should be classified! So trying to decipher the clues of the symbols and iconography on these patches plays heavily into his reporting! Most of the talk was spent pointing out how certain graphics can easily now be related to recently declassified operations, programs or ships. While others were probably hinting to military programs or organizations still under wraps! It quickly started turning into some real X-Files level shit and was quite eye opening and amazing! If any of this remotely interests you (I know it does most of us at Mishka) then you should check out this book and see if you can catch a repeat of his talk on C-Span’s Book TV. Or better yet just frequent his excellent website for all sorts of details and updates!

Like Mulder… I want to believe!

**UPDATE 4/1/08**

The NY Times has a great article on Trevor Paglen and his patches in today’s Science Section! 

This is just on another level… I… actually I think all of us have been fans of Skullphone and his various projects for quite some time, but my hat’s totally off to him. This is fucking amazing!

He’s gone and hijacked a slew of LA county Clear Channel digital billboards interspersing his own iconic graphic amongst the various ad they had been running!

Head over to the Supertouch Blog for more pictures and much more info!

**Update**
Thanks to some comments pointing me to a Wired Blog entry I guess there’s some debate as to whether these were actually hacked or paid for. Hacked or paid for I still think the concept itself is deserving merit AND this is Clear Channel claiming “oh they were paid for”. The evil empire may simply be trying to save some face or maybe they were paid for… who knows.

For all of our West Coast fans that wished they could take part in our sample sales, here is your chance! Also, great chance to pick up samples and cheap clothes from OBEY, Reason, Goorin Bros., and Akomplice!

Cash Only Show!

April 5th & 6th, 10 am - 5 pm.

Beauty Bar Hollywood

1638 N. Cahuenga

CASH ONLY! No Checks and No Credit Cards!

For more info: info@cashonlyshow.com

Also check out the myspace page!

I never liked Napoleon Dynamite. I just mostly felt it was cheesy, tried too hard and to me was a failed attempt at Wes Anderson does white trash. And I’m not saying this after some colossal let down after months of people quoting it, acting out scenes and hyping it. I actually got to see it at a screening before it saw wide release. My hate is reeeaaalll!!!!

The Sasquatch Gang however is basically everything everyone thought Napoleon Dynamite was… but wasn’t. I just rented this on a whim and I’m only mentioning Napoleon Dynamite because the studio that is distributing this movie slapped a huge “From the people who brought you Napoleon Dynamite” Tag on the box. Tim Skousen, who wrote and directed The Sasquatch Gang was like a second unit production dude on Napoleon Dynamite and John Heder has a 15 second cameo. Way to stretch the truth there!

This is a totally good late-night comedy, especially if you’re into the Mac Guy, I’m Looking at you Drew Barrymore! And more so if you’re into LARPing, I’m looking at you Prolly!

The ultimate collab! Uzi Suicide… Mad Decent, Mishka & Turntable Lab!

These are the perfect jump-off if you’re trying to see some wet t-shirts in the club.

So thanks to the lovely world of the Internet everything and anything now has a blog or forum where you’re either put on a pedestal or burned at the stake at blindingly fast rate! It’s a wonderful modern world we live in! And with Google Alerts everyone can keep tabs on their own Court of Public Opinion with minimal effort and maximum fun!

Here are some things that have brought joy to our hearts this week:
Both of our infamous Tom of Eternia shirts (which were masterfully illustrated by Robin Nishio) seem to now, almost 2 years after their release, gotten some attention on a Masters of the Universe forum! And the results are fucking awesome!!!! However this isn’t anywhere near as great as when the He’s A Whore T-shirt made it onto the forums of Electrical Audio which is Steve Albini’s Studio not once, but twice! Truly classic! And of course today we got to ride the Shark’s nutsack right onto DBTHB/Stachel of Gravel! Fuckin’ Finally! I was starting to think we didn’t matter :(

**Update**
Thanks to some peeps over at Hypebeast we also got a cameo on a Craigslist Austin Missed Connection! Sweet!

Meet Mike Jones, he is one of our full time designers, and a longtime member of the MISHKA family.

He is also about to join the “job stoppers” and “dirt bag” club. Mike Jones is getting “TEAM WORK” tattooed on his knuckles.

Joesph Ari Aloi aka JK5 is the lucky artist making Mike Jones legally disabled (Well, I don’t know if that is actually true, but we did decide you can claim unemployment if you get a tattoo on your face).

And for all the ladies wondering, yes, he is single!

Late start… sorry! Anyway this go around I thought I’d post some videos from bands who helped inspire the current Spring ‘08 Collection. Some of the influences are painfully obvious, while others are not so I wanted to shed some light on those and I guess some of the obvious ones as well, enjoy!

Death In June - Giddy Giddy Carousel

Budgie - Breadfan

Dark Angel - Darkness Descends (Live)

Goblin - Theme From Suspiria

Megadeth - Symphony of Destruction

Celtic Frost - Jewel Throne (Live)

PAYBACK March 28th: Mad Decent vs. Turntable Lab Miami, Florida!

Featuring DJs:
Switch, Blaqstarr, Cosmo Baker, Blu Jemz, Sega, Bart B More, Lloydski, Small Change, Induce, South Rakkas Crew, Alex (Holy Ghost), Matt Cash, The Gaslamp Killer, Sabo, Santogold, Spank Rock, Drop the Lime and… *Special Guest*

You know with a line-up that deep and heavy whoever the remaining *Special Guest* may be has to be pretty big for them not to be able to list it in fear of a riot!

Charcoal Studios
2135 NW 1st Ave
Miami Design District
10pm-6am

I wish I was going. :(

Check out the Spring ‘08 Look Book Here!

This Spring, Hell rides in from the east! Lock up your women and children, as this season we will be releasing a full collection marking the triumphant return of the Death Adders.

Head over to our Online Shop Now for a diverse array of apparel and accessories for each buyer. At the heart of the collection are several Death Adders themed pieces ranging from a nylon coaches’ jacket with sleeve appliqués and full back embroidery to simpler items like raglans, cardigans, T-shirts and shorts full of subtle, but menacing details.

Check out the Death Adders M.C Jacket, a cotton twill jacket with leather sleeve inlets, screen print of the Death Adders logo on the back and 4 front pockets with accompanying 2 one-inch pins. On the technical apparel side, we have you covered with the Swarm Windbreaker, a fully waterproof nylon jacket coated for 1000mm of pressure.

But that’s not all! We have six new styles of New Era caps for sale right now!

And last but certainly not least, the highly anticipated Lobotomizer T-shirt by heavy metal master Ed Repka, acclaimed illustrator for Megadeath, Nuclear Assault and Death to name a few!

The Mishka Spring 2008 collection is available Online Now and at our Mishka Pop-Up Shop (located at 218 Bedford in Williamsburg, Brooklyn) as well as select retailers across the globe!

We will be re-stocking items all week long! If an item is sold out, please check back later or email us!

Did another Born Jamericans post here on the bloglin some time back, but I had to put this up cause its too SICK! Notch! Best flow and voice out there!! Love it!!

Rap City ft. Born Jamericans

Rap City ft. Born Jamericans Pt.2

Don’t you ever forget! And don’t you ever call them The Cut!

Bike Shorts is this weekend! Come on out to Galapagos in Williamsburg at 8pm on Sunday night for bicycle-centric films!

We have lots of fun stuff this time. A beautiful montage of Mo from
Berlin’s trip to Japan, para-Olympians, the most belligerent polo
player in New York, Kissena’s hour record holder and more!

…and tonight, bicycle photographer Tak is showcasing his work at Memes on Great Jones Rd. [Next to ACME]. Come early for free beer and Dj Neil Armstrong on the 1200’s! 7-10pm

I hadn’t realized that Mexico was having a huge problem with Emo. It seems that mainstream squares along with Metal Heads, Skaters, Punks & Goths (not certain if this includes Hip Hoppers) have all formed an alliance against Emo in Mexico! And as one online Anti-Emo proponent puts it “they do not drink, they do not have sex, they do not have fun, they go to concerts just to cry, they go to parties just to sit in a corner and cry, and they feel victims of everything, it is really, a very stupid behavior.”

The Anti-Emo sentiment has even gone so far as to spur pro violence Anti-Emo Movement that has been involved in 3 attacks already! But as you can see by the above clip (if you can understand Spanish that is) the Mexican Emos won’t take this lying down and are fighting back against all the Emo hate! This is getting major news coverage in Mexico and while I have to admit I find this humorous, it’s also really fucked up! When Skaters, Goths, Metal Heads and every other outsider subculture gangs up against you, well then you know you’re in serious trouble! Even the VJs have begun fanning the flames! Even if you don’t understand Spanish you’ll still clearly make out “Fucking Bullshit” & “Screamo”! hahaha.

Thanks to the Daily Swarm & The LA Weekly for this bit of enlightening and disturbing news. Please head over to either of these sites for more in depth coverage on the Emo/Anti-Emo Revolution!

Last week I flew over to the Nordic Motherland known as Sweden to wade through tall fembots and snowy streets. I was told that I had missed the “nice” weather by a week and since it was Easter and the Swedes celebrate the fertile bunny rabbit-holiday like it’s Christmas, most of the shops I wanted to check out were closed. Luckily for me, the Mishka family in Stockholm is strong. A lot of shops carry Mishka and since Greg and Mike were just over there a few months ago, the shop owners were familiar with the NYC crew. They took us in like family and showed us all the local spots.

Luckily for me I had met a dude who works at Caliroots and has ties to Odd Number, Stockholm’s only Track Bike boutique. Richard took us to all the essential shops and showed us around on his day off. We hit up Weekday, Caliroots, Six Feet Down, Black Market, Sneakers n Stuff and a few others. Our last shop was Monkey Bizz and after we spent about 30 minutes looking for it, we found it. Tarek, the owner, was a great host. Monkey Bizz carries a lot of NYC brands and other staples like Flying Coffin and Actual Pain and Tarek had put Greg up in the crackhouse a while back, so he had a lot of stories.

Enough chitter-chatter, here are some pics!

A restaurant called Bauer

Keep Watch!

Parra x Caliroots

Six Feet Down

Nike’s Be True

Monkey Bizz!

Garlic and Shots’ HUGE fucking burger…

“hey man”

Haberdashery, another Mishka account with the finest selection of denim in Sweden!

… and these Mackdaddy x Madfoot collaborations!

… my last night there Tarek took us to Pelikan for fist-sized meatballs!

This Thursday our friends Cut are having their 3rd year Anniversary party! With the help of the Shark and his dope idea of the homage to NYHC legends Sick Of It All, we bring you the New York Heavy Bass Exclusive T-shirt! The shards of glass are replaced from photos from 3 years of CUT parties. Maybe you will find yourself our a friend in Heavy Bass Moshed Glass! Only 80 of these tees have been produced and will be given away FREE only at this party!

Save this date! Thursday March 27th
Cut 3 YEAR ANNIVERSARY & Institubes Paris Terror Club Tour Featuring:
Para One
Surkin
Bobmo
and
The Trouble & Bass DJ’s

$10 in Advance!
Get Your Tickets Online Here

Studio B
259 Banker St.
Between Meserole & Calyer
Brooklyn, NY
21+ to Enter
G train to Greenpoint Ave.

Sponsored by Missbehave Magazine and Mishka

Although Marylin Manson would single handedly spearhead the Mall Goth revolution of the mid 90s… it was Type O Negative that laid that initial seed a year earlier with Bloody Kisses. After the collapse of Brooklyn thrashers Carnivore in the late 80sPete Steele took a major left turn and formed Type O Negative who in ‘91 released a mess of an album called Slow, Deep & Hard. A poorly executed concept album about a failed relationship that kind of threw everything and the kitchen sink into itself stylistically. The songs were super long and It was parts metal, parts goth, parts punk & parts hardcore and I couldn’t tell if it or the lyrics were supposed to be taken seriously. The best way I could describe it is that Tool would would later on do exactly what this album tried to do but do it successfully.

2 years later came Bloody Kisses and while they still over indulged their own songs by 3-5 minutes this time they got it right and wrong in every way and voila! An Awesomely Awful Album was born! I was never certain if Pete Steele took himself or Type O seriously back then, but listening back to Black No. 1 now I can totally see that everything they did was tongue in cheek. Check out the lyrics to Black No. 1… they’re hilarious, at least to me!
“She’s got a date at midnight - with Nosferatu
oh baby, Lilly Munster - ain’t got nothing on you “
or
“Yeah you wanna go out ’cause it’s raining and blowing
you can’t go out ’cause your roots are showing
dye em black - dye em black “

Add Christian Women, a sludgy cover of Summer Breeze & of course We Hate Everyone and you have everything that was horrible, sad & forever sullied the notion of goth rock BUT was equally awesome and irresistible all at the same time.

Which is best?

It’s so hard to choose and more fun to just watch them back to back to back! I think we need worthwhile inductee into this comedic canon.

Vancouver thrashers S.T.R.E.E.T.S* (Skating Totally Rules, Everything Else Totally Sucks) hit NYC’s Cake Shop tonight, Saturday, March 22nd for a most bodacious reunion show! R U READY!??

The Cake Shop
152 Ludlow St. (off of Stanton)
L.E.S., New York City

P.S. why do Canadians still thrash so well!?

*Not to be confused with Mike Skinner AKA The Streets