Author Archives: Sidney Bensimon

page 5 of 6 ←first … ←previous 3 4 5 6 next→ last→

California Nightlife Gallery Red Balls and Rock N’ Roll

by Jeff Nau and Sidney Bensimon
May 13, 2010 - 10:01 am

Who doesn’t think “porn industry” when someone mentions the San Fernando Valley? I mean, maybe other images ping pong back and forth, like lots of pine trees, gangbangers, or just a portrait of general suburban drudgery…but after an orgasmic experience of the edible kind, I will now think “perfect pizza and porn” when I hear it. Because not only is the Valley home to that lucrative backyard business, but residents also have access to an entire 20 inches…of delicious pizza crust, that is! And at Red Balls Rock N’ Roll Pizza, the coolest New York-style pizza joint on the west coast, you get yourself helpful servings of amazing Italian food, wide screen Hi-Def vintage concerts by The Stones, The Stooges, and Black Sabbath, and even live punk rock. All for a fraction of those NY prices.

Read the full story →

Event Gamer’s Delight: UGTL Hosts Echo Park Street Fighter Competition

by Nicole Pajer and Sidney Bensimon
May 6, 2010 - 10:37 am

Fast Fingers

If you were born in the 80’s or anytime after, there is an outstanding chance that you owned video games.  If you happen to be a part of the male species, chances are a large portion of your social festivities revolved around video games.  Remember all those nights of staying up late trying to beat that level of Tetris, or cheating by putting the gun all the way to the screen to better your shot accuracy in Duck Hunt?  Video games go hand in hand with childhood memories for a lot of us.  I know I personally owned a Nintendo, SEGA, and Nintendo Game Cube.  I played Sonic the Hedgehog for hours, secretly thought Luigi was cooler than Mario, and did my share of bragging when I beat my very first game, The Little Mermaid.

Read the full story →

Art/Design Featured Gallery The Tattooed Portraits of Shawn Barber

by Barbie Brady and Sidney Bensimon
April 6, 2010 - 3:04 pm

Shawn Barber is a quiet man. When you get the opportunity to spend some time with him you realize that he is intensely reflective and thoughtful about the work that he does. In 1995 he faced a turning point in his life and his career. He decided to take matters into his own hands and get serious about the art that he created. His blended technique of realism and expression capture life and emotion in a way that is incredibly refreshing.

Shawn, being tattooed himself as well as being a tattoo artist helps to inform the stories he tells through paint. He latest collection consists of tattooed portraits of tattoo artists that he admires from all over the United States, as well as some tattoo studio environments and still-lives.  The above portrait being my personal favorite, of two brothers who are not only tattoo artists on opposite coasts, but twins. This work in progress still needs the brothers actual tattoos painted in but the gestures and expressions between them read firmly of familial taunting….each brother egging on the other, as brothers often do.

Read the full story →

Music Black Gold Shines On Sunset

by Jeff Nau and Sidney Bensimon
February 22, 2010 - 1:22 pm

Black Gold B & W

Ask any of the “Gold-Diggers” — the clever moniker certain some of the more obsessive BG fans/followers have bestowed upon themselves — and they’ll tell you that no matter how short their stage time, Black Gold is always capable of tearing up the most renowned of Hollywood’s row of Sunset bars/clubs. Indeed, tonight’s Roxy crowd seems comprised mostly of BG fans, a line stretching so far down the sidewalk in fact that I don’t stumble inside until the band has already finished their first number. Part of this is due to the fact that Roxy management has become sort of a stage act itself: upon arrival, I’m herded opposite a metal gate outside the box office while a bee-hived, chain-smoking, Jersey-accented club owner barks “Yeh godda wait in line like everyone else!” to a dozen flannel-decked twerpies, one of them who confessed tonight she’d be breaking her Hollywood club cherry (her words, not mine). Judging by the crowd, I’d be hard-pressed to disagree that Black Gold makes for a memorable first time.

Read the full story →

Event D-Fest is a Wrap

by Nicole Pajer and Sidney Bensimon
August 3, 2009 - 12:20 pm

Tulsa Ok

Wednesday night we rolled into town and grabbed some dinner at McNelis. The local magazines, like The Current, featured D-Fest on the cover and the waitress briefly asked if we were in town for the event, but other than that, things seemed pretty low key. Thursday morning was no different. As I walked through the vacant streets of Tulsa, I couldn’t get Oklahoma-based Shiny Toy Gun’s “Ghost Town” out of my head, there was just no one around and the tune seemed all to fitting. There were traces of D-Fest setting up, a few stages up here and there, but no other sign of a normal urban civilization. Extremely tired and jet lagged from traveling, we had trouble even finding a coffee shop open past 6:00 and after wandering around, aimlessly following a tip that we might find caffeine inside of an office building that still might serve us, we gave up. We called the cab, which I’m pretty sure was one of the only cabs in Tulsa, which wasn’t an exaggeration because I couldn’t count past one hand the number that I saw the whole week, and headed back to the room. I began to wonder where on earth these 60,000 anticipated festival partakers would come from.

Read the full story →

Event Beats in the Streets of Tulsa

by Nicole Pajer and Sidney Bensimon
August 3, 2009 - 12:19 pm

Dfest Drumming in the Street

Thursday night after walking out of the D-Fest kickoff party, I felt like I had entered one of those scenes in a musical where people randomly burst into song and dance on a street corner. A crowd of people had formed and was dancing circles around a man playing a very elaborately constructed homemade drum kit. This wasn’t just a drum and some sticks; this was a very intricate creation consisting of a wooden frame, pots, pans, buckets, cymbals and a kick drum, made entirely of household items. The crowd was instantaneously captured by his beat and he seemed to secure additional hostages as more and more people spilled out of the venue, seeking out some after hours entertainment. It was a picture-perfect, and almost choreographed scene: a girl holding her shoes in her hand yelled “You gotta dance people” to everyone that walked by and one guy got so lost in his ‘moves’ that he rolled his ankle in the process. The “T-Town” trolley rattled thru the streets and passengers cheered as they passed by. As our street corner friend drummed away, people drew on the ground with sidewalk chalk, scribbling all kinds of messages and imaginative images. Before I jumped into my cab, I looked over my shoulder and noticed a hopscotch had been drawn and those that had moved on from dancing had transitioned into hopping thru their own personal Alice and Wonderland.

Read the full story →

Art/Design Twin Atlantic Inks Up

by Barbie Brady and Sidney Bensimon
June 16, 2009 - 10:26 am

twin-atlantic-tattoo-gallery-2-sm-023

Maybe, if you guys aren’t too busy, perhaps later, would you like to join us for a drink at the Verdugo? This was the offer made nightly by an unassuming studio engineer at the studio where Twin Atlantic recorded in Eagle Rock. The Verdugo is a neighborhood bar that the boys in Twin Atlantic never quite made it out to. I know right? Then why would drummer Craig Kneale get Verdugo? tattooed on his arm forever. Honestly, if you have to ask that, you simply don’t know Craig.

The quiet drummer has a quirky sense of humor to say the least. Craig’s first tattoo is a bar he’s never stepped foot in, and yet it speaks volumes about his experience in Los Angeles. The boys in Twin Atlantic hit The Tattoo Lounge to make some memories, and for Craig this kind request that went unanswered reminds him of the hours of work and dedication that faced the band while hard at work 5,000 miles from Glasgow, Scottland where they call home.

Let’s hear it straight from the man himself….

Words by Barbie Brady, photos by Sidney McMullen, Video by Moving Images
Read the full story →

Art/Design Twin Atlantic Scratches the Skin

by Barbie Brady and Sidney Bensimon
June 9, 2009 - 9:29 am

Twin Atlantic Get L.A. Tattoos


The truest way to set a memory is to mix it with a little of both pleasure and pain. Scottish rock band, Twin Atlantic, broke virgin skin in the service of remembering their time recording in Los Angeles. For singer Sam, and drummer Craig, it was their very first tattoo. Bass player Ross already has a few mementos of his own from previous encounters with inkslingers abroad. While Guitarist, Barry, just watched it all unfold.


Read the full story →

Music Twin Atlantic Plays the Viper Room

by Barbie Brady and Sidney Bensimon
June 8, 2009 - 8:35 am

Twin Atlantic at the Viper Room

One of ChinaShop’s favorite new bands is Twin Atlantic.  They play the rock-n-roll and all the little girls scream. Traveling all the way from Scotland to Los Angeles to record their first full length LP, they played an impromptu set at the world famous Viper Room. Since we first met up with Twin Atlantic in Austin, and since we have sentimental feelings for the Viper room it turned out to be a fortuitous happening.

The Viper Room

Read the full story →

Music Unwritten Law at the Roxy

by Barbie Brady and Sidney Bensimon
May 18, 2009 - 3:49 pm


Scott Russo, lead singer of Unwritten Law sits in his dressing room backstage at the Roxy in Hollywood, shirtless, jagerbomb in hand. Its been a minute since UL has played out in Hollywood, and a minute longer since they were on an all out tour. This show was a bit of a one off, while they are ramping up to finish their new album and take over the world.

Unwritten Law – Shoulda Known Better

Read the full story →

page 5 of 6 ←first … ←previous 3 4 5 6 next→ last→