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On the historic night when Barack Obama was elected as the first African American President of the United States, while people flooded the streets from Harlam to Hollywood, my particular neighborhood was subdued. And it wasn’t because I dwell in a particularly Republican enclave. In fact, my local stretch of Santa Monica Blvd in West Hollywood is known as boys town. We’re as liberal as you can get in these parts. But along with Obama’s victory came news that Proposition 8 had effected a ban on gay marriage in California. A sobering reminder that as much reason as their was to celebrate, there was still work to be done. Read Full Story

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Chicago has a lot to offer, amazing pizza, incredible concerts, Da Bears!  But what I was really drawn towards was the Real Pirates exhibit at The Field Museum.  Let me start by saying that I fancy myself a bit of a pirate at heart. Of course unlike the lame “white” witches, piracy never really gets warm and fuzzy. Johnny Depp put a nice Disney spin on the lot of them but essentially they were just plain rotten. And for that I truly love them. Rape and Pillaging aside they were some of the most colorful characters in history.

Driving up to the museum you can’t help but notice the massive  Jolly Roger flag splitting the Roman columns like a beacon calling all the wayward braggarts home.  Its skull and cross-swords is imposing, majestic and dare I say it, fun!  I was thrilled to get inside and document the exhibit for my fellow enthusiasts. And I sure would have if the “man” didn’t step in to wreck my documenting desires. The irony of trying to share the Pirate exhibit with you is that the souls of those fearless men on the Whydah, the worlds only pirate shipwreck, are damned to spend all eternity being protected from piracy. Copyright laws do apply.

So instead of showing you an image of the pirate’s lethal sharp daggers and sawed off muskets, here’s a close up of the resident T-Rex’s teeth. Sue, as she is known, is the most complete skeleton of a T-Rex in the world. Not really as cool as pirates but just as deadly.

Instead of showing you a diagram of two pirates engaged in mortal combat, swords drawn, greed in their eyes, here’s two elephants engaged in what I can only assume is not a game of slap and tickle.  Pieces of eight or peanuts? You decide.

And just as you can imagine the power struggle between satan’s own sailors, these two stuffed groundhogs paint a convincing portrait of the struggle of the fittest.

However, joking aside, the museum did successfully showcase this unique pirate find. They have a stunning display of the only legitimate pirate treasure known to ever be found, and a collection of tales of all known pirates, not just the sailors on the Whydah. My favorite, and dare I say most inspiring, story is of Mary Reed and Anne Bonney. Both women who disguised themselves as men and first ran away to join the army, but later rebelled further by becoming the most legendary female pirates in the annals of history. These women were two of the most fearsome creatures, famous for their cruelty and aggression.  Eventually they were caught and sentenced to death only to surprise the court by claiming to be pregnant. Both sentences were changed to life in prison where Mary died of fever and Anne was never heard of again.

Let that be a lesson to you women with loose morals and a penchant for violence.

So if you find yourself in Chicago before October 25th, stop in The Field Museum to Shiver ye timbers and walk the plank. As long as the Jolly Roger is flying, you never know who just might drop in!

Words by Barbie Brady, photos by Matt Brady

5.00 (3 votes)

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When we told you about the relaunch of the Los Angeles branch of Doctor Sketchy’s, there was promise of hosting the event at The Medusa Lounge  I recently made my way to this Gothic (in interior design terms only, though the Goth club Batcave does happen here as well) bar to see the new location and the cabaret life drawing extravaganza for myself.  As it turned out, Medusa Lounge has been around since the 1930’s under the name “Lowenbrau Keller”.  Back in the day it even served as a laid-back hideaway for the likes of Elvis Presley!  Just as I was getting acquainted with the low-lit statues, stained glass windows and sparkling chandeliers, Bob the esteemed Doctor Sketchy’s host approached me with a dilemma:  one of the models had taken ill, could I stand in for a couple of poses? Though I wasn’t about to drop my drawers on the spot to match some of the other less-dressed models, I did negotiate a quick costume change in the bathroom, and managed a couple 10-minute poses.  The night was saved, art happened and the “Bacchus Drunken Shrimp” were intensely awesome.

Words and photos by Zoetica Ebb

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