Smoke break

Softball siesta

Crates

Ace Hotel

The Standard

High Line at night

This was opening night. I'd been up there in press previews for Curbed but part of the hype of the thing was the light installations so they asked me to go back on opening night to see what I could get. I ran through the length of it with my tripod and only at the very end, literally my last picture, was I asked if I had press credentials (I didn't) and told to pack it up.

The Northside pier

I wish I had turned a little to my left. The right side of the picture feels dead. I like how it flows otherwise though.

Morning set-up

You can tell it's morning summer sun, right?

Receiving

Destination

And the bounty hunter played on...

Soho

I never take a picture at an angle like this. I'm still not sure I like it but I do like those guys hanging out in the door of the cafe.

Grab a seat

Lost in Queens

Kool Man green

Maybe not the most interesting picture, but what are the chances that she'd wear the same color shirt as the truck and he'd wear the same color shirt as the "slow" sign? Color serendipity is my favorite thing.

Up Down

Downtown D

Broadway flatiron

Everybody's dance

New Famous "Mary" piece

Here's a look at the Famous Stars and Straps "Mary" piece I did a few months back. Be on the lookout for this one dropping real soon! Head on over to Famous' website for for info...


WWW.FAMOUSSAS.COM

What!!!

Came across this bike all done up FAMOUS style with my "Tafoya" graphic. This shit is sick!!! Since this design, I've been hit up by many people who have gotten this tattooed... will post those pics soon!

HOHOHO

Garbage elf

I could almost convince myself she wasn't really there.

Back house geometry

Columns and tourists

I think he made her cry

Criss cross

Fornino and flowers

Knots

Motorcycle shoot

Red ribbons

This was the 12th annual international tattoo convention at Roseland in NYC. I took tons of pictures but only got around to processing a few. Eventually I'll post more.

Kermit boots

tattoo removal nyc australian tattoos magazine

This tattoo is in the form of text grafi similar times, and the picture tattoo

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tattoo removal nyc australian tattoos magazine

This tattoo is in the form of text grafi similar times, and the picture tattoo

..

Rihanna's Russian Roulette

The promotional material that came along with Rihanna’s new album, “Rated R”, has raised many eyebrows due to its racy nature.  Behind the  daring imagery of her videos, songs and pictures exists, however, a dark underlying theme: mind control and Illuminati symbolism. We’ll look at Rihanna’s new material and its symbolic meaning.

One of the first articles I’ve written for this website was an analysis of Rihanna’s 2007 hit Umbrella. The symbolism in that video was very subtle and cleverly hidden. Since Umbrella however, there has been a great increase of dark occultism and references to mind control in pop videos. I’m constantly surprised by the increasing obviousness of the imagery and the boldness of the messages. The incorporation of occult/mind control-themed elements in pop music (aimed at the young) is being accomplished in a seamless and gradual matter, apparently to desensitize the viewers. Those elements  invoke dark truths about the entertainment industry and some of its sinister “behind the scenes” practices. Dark rituals, initiations, pacts and mind control methods are all part of it.

First Hand Witnesses

You do not need to take my word for it, though. Some artists who are signed with major labels have spoken out about the sinister ways of the music business. Their words are not picked up by the mainstream media (duh) but the truth is out there if you look for it. Upon the release of “Russian Roulette”, signer and song writer Tifanny Evans vented out on the industry. Here’s  a short article written about this in The Examiner:

“Just days after its release, Rihanna’s new single “Russian Roulette” has caused numerous online discussions involving the song’s dark lyrics and obvious play on suicide.

Written by Ne-Yo, the track has many wondering the direction of Rihanna’s upcoming albumRated R, including singer/songwriter Tiffany Evans, who feels “Russian Roulette” could possibly lead many Rihanna fans to commit suicide.

Evans (best known for her single “Promise Ring” ft. Ciara and her stint on Star Search)  took to her Twitter page on Wednesday morning to discuss the topic. She tweeted:

“Russian Roulette= Suicidal Rate gon sky rocket!

You gotta watch what u say. Because there are a lot of weak people in the world. They are susceptible to anything so anything you say or do some people actually do listen. So make sure its nothing bad. Its okay to be deep, but not murder deep.
Man! I really wish I could tell you guys what the industry really is and what stars are apart of destroying this world. The stars who worship satan,and those who have killed to get the respect they have now. You’d be verrrry surprised. Some of your favorite people pretend to worship God but they only do that to save face. Or seem innocent.

Satan was head of music in heaven. He uses influential people…to help influence the world. Think about that. Once u make a certain amount of money. Just know that that’s when they ask u to join. To get in you have accept the beast, worship. Once you join they assist u with ur career.make u huge.only if u agree and obey to destroy Gods word.and his children.
Ppl listen and pay attention. Its a war going on right now between Good and Evil. Evil will rule this world for a min. The people that have this power are the people that RULE the whole world. I’m done I won’t say anymore before I get in trouble.”

Evan’s tweets are centered around the “rumored corruption and brainwashing that goes on behind the scenes of the entertainment industry, often referred to as a group called the Illuminati“.
Source

R&B singer Omarion, who has been in the music business since 2001, has provided the urban magazine Boombox a surprisingly honest description of the industry. He entered the business as a pre-teen with the group B2K and went through some strange controversies. He is well placed  to give a first hand account of the business. Here’s what he had to say regarding Rihanna’s Russian Roulette to the magazine Boombox:

“I don’t personally know Rihanna’s beliefs but I think there’s a very dark and very sinister part of the entertainment business and I think it’s very visible,” he said. “This is something that a lot of people don’t look at [but for example] Michael Jackson used to be a Jehovah’s Witness and I remember hearing that he wanted to separate from the religion — and this was during the time that he was doing ‘Thriller’ [which ended up being] his biggest album.”

“Fast forward to now,” Omarion continued, “[and] it really made me think that there is a [time as an artist] where there’s going to be a choice. The [entertainment] world [dictates] that you have to be with three or four women, or do this in order to get that [and] I think it’s really interesting. With God and the industry, it’s really dark. The dark side is having to get in, there’s a certain submission you need to have. Just like a gang [initiation], so to speak. You might have to do something against your moral code. I’m not saying that it’s always this way, but when you’re someone that is young and you’re coming up in the industry and you really don’t have a grip on your morals it can be very dark. The game is just about over saturation.

“I don’t know if Rihanna [has fallen victim to those pressures]. I’ve never really heard her speak about it,” he said. “I hope that she doesn’t believe in that stuff and I don’t think that she does, but I don’t know. It’s not just been a Rihanna thing, [there's has been religious speculation] about a lot of artists.”
-Source

Notice how he mentions the concepts of “submission” and “gang initiation”. Those are things that many young stars have to go through in order to be “accepted”. Those concepts are reflected in the symbolism of these stars’ videos and photo shoots.  The artists are forced to work with those symbols as part of their “pact”.   One of the symbols revealing the acceptance into the “Order” is the hidden eye.

One Eye Symbolism

In my first article on Lady Gaga (here) I’ve mentioned the fact that she constantly hides one of her eyes as a symbol of her “initiation”.  Some smart-ass comments claimed that Gaga hid one eye  due to her “horse face” and she was trying to hide it. Well Rihanna does not have a horse face, so why is she doing it? Furthermore, why do the artists who flash that sign – Rihanna, Lady Gaga and Beyonce – explore similar themes in their videos. Coincidence?

I’ve explained in the Lady Gaga article the occult meaning of hiding one’s eye, which can be traced back to the “eye of Horus” of Egyptian mythology. This symbolism seems to have evolved into a a kind of “signal”, flashed by the artists who have been initiated into the select circle of Illuminati pop stars.

Russian Roulette

Rihanna’s first single has caused some controversy due to its suicidal theme. Even more disturbing is the way this lethal game is depicted in the video.

The premise of the video is Rihanna being locked in a padded room while a man dressed in an army type uniform – her handler – is manipulating her thoughts through high-tech devices. The video is in fact depicting mind control and Monarch programming in a stylized and aesthetic way. The handler is using his gadgets to make Rihanna hallucinate traumatizing events in order to break her spirit and re-build her. Many key elements this sadistic practice (which have been documented in CIA documents) are being portrayed in that video.

Rihanna facing her handler

Monarch programming, a type of mind control procedure, was discussed in some previous articles (notablyBeyonce’s Sweet Dreams – Occult Mind Control). The main goal of this technique is to cause the subject to live an intense trauma which will cause the victim to dissociate from reality. A a fragmentation of the personality will ultimately ensue.

“Due to the severe trauma induced through electroshock therapy, sexual abuse and other methods, the mind splits off into alternate personalities from the core. Formerly referred to as Multiple Personality Disorder, it is presently recognized as Dissociative Identity Disorder and is the basis for MONARCH programming. Further conditioning of the victim’s mind is enhanced through hypnotism, double-bind coercion, pleasure-pain reversals, food, water, sleep and sensory deprivation, along with various drugs which alter certain cerebral functions.”
-Source

In the video, Rihanna is forced by her handlers to experience traumatizing scenarios. One of those situations is the to play Russian Roulette with a man. The lyrics start off with the handler guiding Rihanna through the game.

“Take a breath, take it deep

Calm yourself, he says to me

If you play, you play for keeps

Take a gun, and count to three

I’m sweating now, moving slow

No time to think, my turn to go”

There is a constant back and forth in the video between scenes of Rihanna looking tormented in her cell and the scenes of her hallucinations. This is the convey the fact that none of these scenarios are real, they are forced into her consciousness. The video illustrates the fact that Russian Roulette is not actually about suicide, it is about being forced to commit suicide by a handler. It is about mind control.

A one point, the cell gets filled with red smoke while a faceless Rihanna acts in a robotic way. This is video-friendly reference to the use of hallucinogenic drugs such as LSD in Monarch programming to alter the slave’s consciousness.  Flashes of scary images convey this sense of drug-induced terror lived by mind controlled slaves.

 

The handler then presses a button on his control panel to apparently prompt in Rihanna’s head other deadly scenarios, in which she must accept her fate (death) with complete submission.

In the above frame, Rihanna is submerged under water, a scene recalling the floating or weightlessness sensation felt by mind controlled slaves during their “treatments”. Bullets fly all around her but there’s nothing she can do about it: she is physically and mentally controlled and she must keep being a passive witness of her own death.  As she says in her lyrics, she must “pass this test” and pull the trigger.

And you can see my heart beating

You can see it through my chest

And I’m terrified but I’m not leaving

Know that I must must pass this test

So just pull the trigger

At the end of the video, Rihanna’s companion shoots himself. This traumatic event, as well as the others, will result in the the fragmentation of her personality, the creation of new alters, that will be programmed by her handlers. This fragmentation is visually represented in some scenes like this one:

This was a quick overlook of the mind control symbolism found in the Russian Roulette video. For a detailed review of the mind control elements of Russian Roulette, I suggest you read this article from the great sitePseudo-Occult Media which also covers many other aspects.

Rihanna's Pictures

Most of the imagery surrounding Rihanna’s Rated R album contains some sort of Illuminati symbolism. She is truly their current poster-girl.  The welcoming page of her official website (rihannanow.com) says it all. Here’s a screenshot of it:

A bunch of mannequins surrounded by barb wires…I don’t think there’s clearer  way to portray mind controlled slaves. The themes of dehumanization, control, pain, torture and restriction are all represented. The cover of the single of Russian Roulette depicts Rihanna as one of those mannequins. Her eye patch reveals who is controlling her

A bunch of mannequins surrounded by barb wires…I don’t think there’s clearer  way to portray mind controlled slaves. The themes of dehumanization, control, pain, torture and restriction are all represented. The cover of the single of Russian Roulette depicts Rihanna as one of those mannequins. Her eye patch reveals who is controlling her.

Literal veil in front of her eyes

Surrounded by naked dolls: multiple personalities and dehumanisation


Finally, if you know a little about mind control, I suggest you take a look at this promotional video. I’m sure you’ll be blown by the symbolism in there. Mannequins and mannequin body parts, checkerboard floors, cages, sex-kitten references and even Rihanna yelling stuff. It’s all there.

Rihanna Ellen Von Unwerth 'Rated R' Album Photo Shoot
by bens777

Notice towards the end of the video,  Rihanna and an assistant are watching one of her first videos (when she was a cute little girl from Barbados). The assistant says  “you came a long way” as in “what the hell happened to you” and then Rihanna starts giving her crap. Even more surprising, they chose to put that footage into her promotional video. Weird.

In Conclusion

If you’ve read other articles on this site, especially those on Beyonce and Lady Gaga, you’re probably starting to realize this that there is a powerful thread uniting these pop artists. All of them (and others I haven’t yet covered) portray mind control in their videos,  flash in one way or the other the “One Eye” symbol,  are shown as (or with) lifeless mannequins and I’m not even discussing the satanism part. This simply cannot be a coincidence. These articles are not about demonizing or even condemning the artists. They’re about acquiring the tools needed to understand the messages that bombard our conscious and subconscious minds on a daily basis. In order to understand these messages, one must understand where they’re coming from. I’m pretty sure some people will claim that Tiffany Evans and Omarion’s testimonies were the result of their jealousy of Rihanna’s success. They’re however not the only ones who have discussed those taboo matters. Many rock stars (ie Bob Dylan) have tackled those issues and have coded in their words the real nature of the industry. Read between the lines and you might understand one of the reasons behind the mental breakdowns, the drug abuse, the erratic behaviors and the mysterious deaths the world’s biggest stars.