The Insane Clown Possethe face-painted, Faygo-swilling horrorcore duo behind viral profundities like "Fuckin Magnets, How Do They Work?"has inspired an FBI investigation into their fans alleged gang activity, the stoning of Tila Tequila, and a cult following of thousands, who convene annually at "The Gathering of the Juggalos."

Now, the ICPs devotees have inspired the worlds first Juggalo-themed art exhibition, called Where the Juggalo Roam, on view until December 20th at Start Gallery in Detroit.

The works are comprised entirely of oil paintings by British artist Lucy Owen, who immersed herself in juggalo culture for several months after learning of Insane Clown Posse for the first time last year. She would soon find herself drawing unlikely inspiration from the bandnot just visual fodder for her paintings, but ideas on how to live one's life, too (although she's still not sure how magnets work).

"I was online one day, and saw a self-proclaimed juggalo getting tons of abuse from posters on a forum," Owen tells Co.Design. A bit of online research revealed "widespread mockery" of juggalo culture. "It was like watching poor little fat kids get bullied on the playground," she says.

Owen started to listen to ICP and Twiztid, the bands proteges, to better understand this killer clown bands cult following and its haters. While she found some of their violent lyrics hair-raising (a random sampling: "I'm hating sluts/Shoot them in the face, step back and itch my nuts"), she decided she had to come to America "to see some real live juggalos." Off she went to The Gathering, a three-day festival in Detroit.

Though she was initially terrified ("What if the juggalos turn on me?"), Owen ultimately found The Gathering "magical." "They were lovely," she says. "Everyone was deeply charming and polite and respectable. I was impressedthat wasnt the case at more mainstream music festivals Id been to."

The paintings in "Where the Juggalo Roam" resulted from Owens experience becoming not a full-on juggalette, but what she describes as "a friend of the family." They portray these maligned, deliberately clownish characters in a fantastical but humanizing light.

"As a creative person, I learned a lot of things from Twiztid and Insane Clown Posses business model," she says. Theirs is a business strategy that flies in the face of hard-sell, self-promoting models most pop stars use. Here you have two guys from financially depressed backgrounds in Michiganknown as Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dopewho have openly called themselves 'The least talented band in the world,'" a designation Owen disagrees with. "They disturb and disgust people, yet "theyve created an empire out of nothing."

The Insane Clown Posse has sold more than 7 million releases and earns upwards of $10 million a year (insert evil clown laugh).

"The message in their lyrics and in the way they operate is to just keep trying, and not to worry if people dont like you or your work. I took a lot from that," Owen says. "Its kind of strange." It's a valuable lesson for any artist or designer, struggling and face-painted or otherwise. Owen tried to live by this sentiment while making her paintings, which draw from photographs she took at The Gathering, photographs she found online, and her imagination.

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Zen And The Art Of The Juggalo

San Francisco, California (PRWEB) December 16, 2014

There is nothing more relaxing than playing a tile-matching game after a long busy day. Today G5 Entertainment brings Zen to players leisure time, launches an engrossing free-to-play pair-matching solitaire game, Mahjong Journey, on iPad. Download Mahjong Journey now and the relaxation will be as easy as a tap.

Embark on a magical journey through Asia in this addictive Mahjong Solitaire adventure! Enjoy a new take on Shanghai Solitaire and help a young girl and her grandfather traverse China, India and Japan in search of her lost parents. Progress by pairing tiles in order, dismantling hundreds of layouts. Collect achievements for special accomplishments while taking advantage of innovative gameplay twists like Shuffle, which allows to get out of a difficult situation, or Firecracker, a tool for blowing up multiple pairs of tiles. Visit the Forbidden City, Virupaksha Temple, the Taj Mahal and the famous Mount Fuji while fulfilling challenging quests and earning gold stars for completing levels as fast as possible!

Mahjong Journey diversifies challenge with relaxation by stirring up time-sensitive levels with the ones without any time limits. Helpful tools vary from a regular hint that shows which two tiles could be paired to an eye that highlights all pair-able tiles. This grade-A game features 120 immersive levels and 132 types of tiles to match, wrapped in technicolor graphics and rich sounds. Upcoming free updates will be adding more and more to the tile pairing fun. Check it out now!

The game is developed and published by G5 Entertainment.

Key Features:

Game trailer: Mahjong Journey for iPad

Assets: ftp://ftp.g5e.com/PR/

When: Today, December 16, 2014

Where: iTunes Store: Mahjong Journey for iPad

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G5 Brings Zen to Gamers Hectic Days with Mahjong Journey (iPad) Today

SAN FRANCISCO (PRWEB) December 16, 2014

Of all places to find peace, quiet and contentment, one wouldnt think of a big city bus to top the list. Douglas Meriwether, or Driver Doug as he likes to call himself, is probably one of the only exceptions. The veteran San Francisco transit operator finds life lessons in just about every aspect of his daily job and hopes to share those with others.

In Meriwethers new book, The Dao of Doug: The Art of Driving a Bus or Finding Zen in San Francisco Transit: A Bus Drivers Perspective, he outlines helpful tips and tricks for other bus drivers learning the trade and passengers, whether new to public transportation or daily riders.

Useful tips include:

Meriwether describes the book as a guidebook on how to ride a trolley bus in San Francisco and appreciate public transportation for reasons many tend to forget.

Its a view from the trolley cockpit and how to apply safe driving techniques to real life, Meriwether said. I wrote this book for new operators who just finished training and for newly arrived city dwellers, unfamiliar about getting around San Francisco. I hope I can increase awareness for the way it was before the car became king.

For more information visit http://www.DaoofDoug.com.

The Dao of Doug: The Art of Driving a Bus or Finding Zen in San Francisco Transit: A Bus Drivers Perspective By Douglas Meriwether ISBN: 978-1-4525-6650-4 (e-Book) ISBN: 978-1-4525-6651-1 (hardcover) ISBN: 978-1-4525-6649-8 (softcover) Available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Balboa Press online bookstores.

About the author

Douglas Meriwether has been a transit operator for the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) for 16 years. Meriwether currently resides in San Francisco where he works nights as a bus driver on Mission Street.

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Finding Zen in Public Transit: A Bus Drivers Perspective