by Becca Lemire

Mikel Marton is not a woman, but he takes photos that may be of interest to most women with intact retinas. A trip to his blog is like a trip to an artsy porno shop in Paris. I love his aesthetic and costume choices. Full of good taste, hot packages (oh please, Mr. Postman) and even hotter angles. He occasionally takes photos of women as well, but to be honest, I hardly noticed when surrounded by that much rooster. He’s from Montreal and has shown work in various galleries in NYC, as well as MTL, for now. As well as designing sets and styling his photographs, many of which remain un-manipulated, he and his creative partner Colin Seymour have founded a new-wave project titled Bad Taste Burlesque. He describes it as “sexually varied performance art with often offensive inspirations” in an intimate interview that can be found on Homo-Neurotic with plenty more photos found not on his blog. Warning, don’t browse his material with your kid sister in the room, this is some steamy content.

L SquaredYou know how now it was like totally the hot thing to get a part of your head shaved on the side and get some designs shaved into it, like Cassie, Rihanna or Adam Lambert at this year’s MMVA’s? It seems to be really popular in MTL, the indie scene, now more in the rock scene. I’ve seen it a lot lately in the hip hop world and on edgy, sexy girls everywhere. If this is your type of thing, here’s your man: Louis Anthony Couthino of L Squared Salon. After working for years at Marla’s in Dufferin Mall, the demands for his magic touch became too great and he needed his own place, which now rests in the heart of Little Italy, across from the Metro at 714 College Street (416 532 3939). He pretty much does line ups, fades, and everything else that I don’t know the technical name of for every Portuguese and Italian guy in Toronto, and can do anything. Does pretty-girl hair cuts as well. He used to be on my speed dial back when I had an art-hawk and got something new shaved into my sides every few weeks, and back when I had a home phone with speed dial.

girlVIRUSThe other day I was traveling back to the west end from Cabbagetown, and not only did I see a guy wearing gigantic novelty sunglasses on the streetcar, I found dozens of hot pink girlVIRUS flyers scattered at the back, and it kinda made my night. I’m into keeping cool things I find (a la www.foundmagazine.com) so I picked up a few and they now have a nice home on my bulletin board or “Dream Board” as Oprah calls it. They’re ranty, funky, and in your face. One of them has a pic of Courtney Love and Paris Hilton sitting together on one side, and then on the back a Paris quote that makes her seem like an idiot, and one of Courtney that makes her seem like a revolutionary. Another is covered corner to corner with a rant that starts off with “The girlVIRUS is writing and saying whatever the fuck you want. It’s sleeping with who you want and saying no when you want. It’s about making sure your YES and your NO are heard and respected. It’s about sharing your love and expressing anger”. I found a bunch of pics of their flyers on random people’s flikrs which indicates spreading, and you can join the Facebook page to spread it even more. Rock on, ladies!