This kind of says it all, no?

Friends who indulge sophomoric antics are friends indeed

Ian Wiggans was one of several of my alter egos created for a cable access show I used to produce called, “My City Underground”. Ian was based loosely on real-life soccer thug cum actor, Vinnie Jones. (Have a look. Most will recognize him.) “Me and The Lads” was a fictional CD release by Ian’s (also fictional) poser punk band called Stinkbitch. (Beautiful name, no?) From left to right: Nick Verbanic, Kevin Grant, Ian Wiggans (ALWAYS stay in character), Mike Graffeo, Dave Adelman, and Frank Grgas. On this same day, they indulged my inner hooligan on video as well. Thanks, guys. Now, game on!

Close enough to sate my man crush. Merci, Eric!

The year 1995 marked my (so far) one and only pilgrimage to football mecca: Old Trafford. (For the uninitiated, Old Trafford, aka The Field of Dreams, is the home of Manchester United, arguably the most famous soccer team on the planet.) At that time, Eric Cantona was my favorite player. He was also serving a season-long suspension for the famous kung-fu kick incident with an unruly fan. I spent two days at Man United’s training ground called The Cliff, hoping for a few photo ops or autographs. The second day I waited 5 hours for “Eric the King” to emerge from the clubhouse. The “lean in” was worth the wait!

Feel the working class rage!

My mother first indulged my shutterbug bug with a trusty Polaroid. I spent ungodly amounts (of my Mom’s) money on film. (Thanks, Mom!) My good friend, Billy Fern had the martial arts bug long before me as his father had begun studying karate. (Billy often sneaked out of the house with his dad’s nunchucks, allowing us the bonk ourselves and claim we fell.) But once I was bitten in 1979 (?) in the form of the Golden Dragon Kung-Fu Society, Billy and the rest of the gang were fully on board with Bruce Lee imitations. This image is the lovechild of my obsession with photography and martial arts. (Also includes appearances by James Lomax, Kevin Tufts, Chris Kessler and Heinz Ketchup.)