I Love the Smell of Murderous Thuggery in the Evening

Radley Balko | November 20, 2008

Legendary high-end Paris candle-maker Cire Trudon introduces "Ernesto," for those of you who want to fill your home with the scent of a sweaty, murdering Latin revolutionary:

In a hotel of Havana, sizzling under the stubborn sun of the Revolution, fierce overtones of leather and tobacco meddle with waxy silence of wood. Breaking out of the cool dimness, sly grimaces emerge, framed by the smoke of cigars and the barrels of guns.

Please note, this scent isn't for the proletariat.  This particular block of paraffin infused with the scent of glorious Marxist uprising will set you back a cool $75 for 9.5 ounces.  ¡Hasta la Victoria Siempre!

Thanks to Jim McCarthy for the link.

Comments

The Angry Optimist|11.20.08 @ 10:59PM|#

That's some deep irony right there. A proletarian-friendly candle at bourgeoisie prices.

anarch|11.20.08 @ 11:12PM|#

But. Marxism. Is. Not. Friendly. To. Workers.

|11.20.08 @ 11:16PM|#

I somehow enjoy the idea of marxism being sold as kitsch. I remember many years ago, Barq's root beer bought a couple carloads of Soviet insignia like military rank pins, baby lenin pins and the like, and they were giving them away in 12-packs of root beer.

I think I'd like to get some massive bit of nazi memorabilia to use as a urinal in a bar somewhere. Either that or Marx's gravestone from that cemetery in London.

-jcr

Lester Hunt|11.20.08 @ 11:16PM|#

Oh wow, I gotta steal me one o' those!

|11.20.08 @ 11:53PM|#

I have a Che tshirt with a dollar sign on his stupid ass beret and the words "This Shirt Brought to You by Capitalism."

People who would spend seventy five bucks on Ernesto candles are the same people who will sneer as they tell you that Americans just don't get irony.

|11.21.08 @ 12:14AM|#

To be fair... they are also selling Napoleon candles, Marie-Antoinette candles, and an "Empire" candle. I think it is more in the lines of "these are interesting historical figures" than "Che Guevara was great".

texas_libertarian|11.21.08 @ 12:29AM|#

To be fair...they are also selling Napoleon candles, Marie-Antoinette candles, and an "Empire" candle.

I hope they make a George W. Bush candle, too.

|11.21.08 @ 12:30AM|#

Next up: Obama candles.
Smells like newsprint, plastic, and febreeze.

The Angry Optimist|11.21.08 @ 12:32AM|#

Rex Rhino,

Looking at that list, I think that their inclusion of the "Ernesto" candle is even more bizarre. The list is a veritable rundown of French history and culture. Napoleon, Marie Antoinette, La Revolution Francaise, a candle for the Roi de Soleil in Versailles and one for Madame de Pompadour...

And Che Guevara. What the fuck?

One of these things is not like the other...

The Wine Commonsewer|11.21.08 @ 12:34AM|#

Che hasn't been smoking many Habanas in the ensuing years since his sorry backside was eliminated to make way for the proper revolution.

Oh wait, it was the Americanos who rubbed him out.

Hey when [name withheld] went to Cuba, he brought back some three peso bills. They had a nice portrait of Ernesto on the front. Not as good as Balko's, but still, quite enchanting. I still have mine. Mint condition, too.

|11.21.08 @ 12:48AM|#

Probably the funniest lede on a blog post I have ever read.

Paul|11.21.08 @ 2:04AM|#

This particular block of paraffin infused with the scent of glorious Marxist uprising will set you back a cool $75 for 9.5 ounces.

I smell capitalism! Breathe deep, commies!

|11.21.08 @ 3:31AM|#

How does it smell?

|11.21.08 @ 8:23AM|#

How does it smell?

It smells like...victory

|11.21.08 @ 8:27AM|#

I'm sure joe has already ordered a six-pack of these...

|11.21.08 @ 8:45AM|#

fierce overtones of leather and tobacco meddle with waxy silence of wood

What, no gunpowder? Or blood? These candle makers are slacking.

ed|11.21.08 @ 8:49AM|#

I hope they make a George W. Bush candle, too.

In a ranch of Crawford, sizzling under the stubborn sun of the failed presidency, fierce overtones of cow shit and sweet tea meddle with despondent rustling of tumbleweeds. Breaking out of the suicide-scenario, sly sycophants emerge, framed by the stench of old lawyers and fresh book contracts. $39.95 at Spencer Gifts.

Nigel Watt|11.21.08 @ 9:07AM|#

There aren't any tumbleweeds in Crawford, ed.

|11.21.08 @ 9:14AM|#

From "Steel" wafts the fragrance of millions of peasants, starved to death.

|11.21.08 @ 9:37AM|#

I had no idea there was such a thing as a 'high end Parisian candle maker'; damn fools will buy anything...

|11.21.08 @ 10:17AM|#

A proletarian-friendly candle at bourgeoisie prices.

Anyone who put as many proles in the ground as Ernesto did is not "proletarian-friendly".

$75 for a candle is not "bourgouisie pricing".

Other than that, pithy comment.

|11.21.08 @ 10:33AM|#

Are these the French candle-makers behind that reply to this