Video clip of Angelina Jolie's interview with Bob Simon

Click here to view the video. She talks about her mother during the interview.

Tattoos from the Blogosphere: Matt's Canva Gypsy Head

We're revisiting an old friend, Mat, whose last piece posted here, will link you to two previous posts as well. Mat had dropped off my radar a while, but these photos remained in my inbox, awaiting to see the light of Tattoosday.

Here's the finished piece:

Mat explains, "I've attached a new leg piece. I got recently of a cavna gypsy head. Dustin Golden from Roanaoke, VA. was doing a guest spot [at 713 Tattoo] and had a last minute cancellation. I jumped on it."

What is a "canva gypsy head"? I'm still not sure, but Mat responded to my recent query for further clarification on the motivation behind the piece: "That Kafka mask was sort of a "gypsy" phase (which I am finding myself in now again). The real shiner of that piece was Dustin's red inks, which he mixes himself."

Indeed. The piece just jumps out at you like a bolt of light in a dark alley.

Thanks again to Mat for sharing and illuminating his ink for us here on Tattoosday!

Niki Returns with a New Tattoo by Dr. Lakra

I think I'm within the statute of limitations for Thanksgiving, so let me say I am also thankful for past contributors sending me photos of new work that they want to share with the Tattoosday community.

Take Niki, for example, who I met in the summer of 2010, and whose tattoo appeared here. Out of the blue she recently sent me this e-mail:

"about a year ago, you featured my beautiful cat memorial tattoo (by John Reardon, who was at Saved Tattoo at the time). i follow your blog regularly.  you always feature beautiful work with interesting stories attached. i just got a crazy new tattoo that i thought i'd send along, in case you think it's worthy of sharing.  it was done by the incredible dr. lakra in oaxaca, mexico."

 

That's pretty darn cool, if I do say so myself. Skulls are common tattoo themes, so it is exciting to see a spin on that idea, and what better way to honor getting inked by a famous Mexican artist than by getting a skull with a tattered lucha libre mask?

Thanks to Niki for staying in touch and sharing her new tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

You can see more art by Dr. Lakra here in his Google photostream.

This entry is ©2011 Tattoosday.

If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.

HARLEY & JOKER

Angelina Jolie talks about her mother in 60 Minutes

Angelina Jolie had an interview with 60 Minutes reporter Bob Simon and she talks about her late mother Marcheline Bertrand.

She said, "She didn't have much of her own career, her own life, her own experiences. Everything was for her children."

"I will never be as good a mother as she was. She was just grace incarnate. She was the most generous, loving – she's better than me."

Source

Elf_Christmas 2011

Study for a Christmas character

The Tattoosday Book Review - Science Ink

If you’re still recovering from a day of camping out and fighting the crowds for Black Friday holiday gifts, might I suggest one more item for your list?

Science Ink: Tattoos of the Science Obsessed was recently published by Sterling Press and it rates as one of the finer titles on tattoos that I have seen in while. Science Ink is written by Carl Zimmer, a science writer with great credentials and whose blog rates a spot on my blogroll shortlist.

I have been a fan of Carl Zimmer’s Science Tattoo Emporium since 2008, even warranting a mention in a stand-alone post here.

I was excited to hear last year that he was compiling a book on the subject of scientific tattoos, as, unlike a lot of the work in London Tattoos (my last review, which appeared here), the ink is drenched in meaning.

As a storyteller and a writer, I’ll admit to favoring tattoos that have stories and/or specific meaning behind them. Not that I don’t appreciate a fine work of  body art that is beautiful for beauty’s sake. I just find myself more intellectually stimulated by tattoos that pack a narrative punch. This is also why I dig literary tattoos.

All that being said, Zimmer should be commended for compiling a whole slew of scientific ink, and organizing it in such a thoughtful and pleasing way. Chapters are divided up by category (Physics, Chemistry, Astronomy, Earth Sciences, etc.) with photos of the contributors work, along with a paragraph or two devoted to explaining the accompanying pieces. These are not tattoos that resulted from walking in to a shop and picking flash off the wall. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Rather, we’re treated to tattoos that were clearly thought out and executed with the purpose of connecting to the individuals passion for their intellectual stimuli.


Tattoo purists may look at this book and cringe at the quality of some of the tattoos depicted. But the quality is not the point, and there is a lot of fine work, nonetheless. With a few exceptions, we are not seeing work contributed by tattoo aficionados. Instead, we get a glimpse of tattoos from people that you don’t normally associate with ink: scientists, doctors, university professors, and anthropologists. For that reason, Science Ink succeeds in drawing in the reader to the individual narrative behind the tattoo. What makes someone who is uninked take the leap and go under the needle?

Ultimately, it is the answer to that question that propels the mini-narratives forward and make Science Ink such a compelling read. Above and beyond the appreciation of tattoos, the book speaks to a larger audience, those who are steeped in the sciences and those who don’t consider themselves part of a “tattoo culture”. Ultimately, not everyone who is science-minded gets a tattoo related to their field, but a mathematician may understand someone’s desire to get an interesting equation inked on their forearm more than they would, say, getting a flaming skull or a scattering of cherry blossoms.

The biggest fault I find with Science Ink is not an original one. Marisa over at Needles and Sins voiced the disappointment in her review, as well, that the artists who created the body art are rarely named by the contributors. I always ask Tattoosday contributors to disclose their artists’ names to give credit where credit is due. Occasionally I  meet people who do not recall the names of their artists, but that tends to be a smaller percentage. Zimmer includes a thumbnail “visual index” of contributors. It would be nice, if there is ever a Science Ink II, to include an index of artists, as well. As a saving grace, Zimmer does credit the artists on his website here, but I only discovered that by accident.** I’d imagine, however, that to the bulk of the reading audience, the tattooist’s identity  is not as important and may seem extraneous, but for many it is nice to see credit where credit is due.

All in all, however, Zimmer hits the ball out of the park with a wonderful tattoo-themed product that I fully endorse and recommend.

With the holidays just around the corner, this would make a great gift for the science obsessed person in your life!

**After this posted, Carl Zimmer e-mailed me:

"Thanks! I agree that the artists should get credit. My designer and I put together a list, but a change in schedule prevented the publisher from putting it into the book. We'll be sure to get it into the next printing".

This entry is ©2011 Tattoosday.

If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I can contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.

Brad Pitt concerned about Angelina Jolie's trip to Cambodia with Maddox

Angelina Jolie went to Cambodia with her adopted son Maddox and this makes her partner Brad worries. This is because the journey involved travelling through a remote area littered with landmines.

One souce said, ‘Angie and Maddox are incredibly close. She calls him her buddy and was determined to take him on the trip, but Brad questioned the trek because it was so dangerous.,

‘The area they ventured through is littered with hundreds of thousands of landmines and cluster bombs. To say Brad was concerned is an understatement.’

Source

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie wants to adopt again?

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie already have 6 kids. They may adopt again because they promised Zahara lasttime that they will adopt one from where she was born.

A source said: "They are really excited about it. Brad and Angie made a promise to Zahara years ago that they would adopt another child from the region so she could have a sibling to relate to."

The source added to the Daily Star newspaper: "Also, seven has always been Brad's lucky number. He and Angelina think it would bring them luck and happiness."

Source

Tom's Two-for-Tattoosday Ink Honors His Heritage and His Love of the Yankees

After a bit of a drought of inkspotting, I finally caught some new tattoos in Penn Station on Tuesday, along the L.I.R.R. corridor.

Tom has "19 or 20" tattoos and is working to some day achieving a full sleeve on his left arm. He offered me these two tattoos (for Tat-Tuesday), whose close proximity on his forearm made them the natural choice.


On top is the trinacria of the flag of Sicily. This symbol contains the the (winged) head of Medusa and three bent legs, which supposed to represent good luck and prosperity.


It is a nod to his Italian heritage.

Below that is a New York Yankees tattoo which is very similar to my wife's cousin's stars and stripes-filled NY logo. Tom gave it a simple explanation: "I'm a huge Yankees fan".

Say what you want about other cities, but I would venture to guess that the greater New York City area has a higher per capita count of hometown tattoos than any other metropolitan area.

Tom's ink was done by Rob, owner of Skin Deep Tattoo in Levittown, New York. Work from the shop has appeared previously here.

Thanks to Tom for sharing his work with us here on Tattoosday!

Angelina Jolie is Kristen Stewart's role model

Angelina Jolie is Kristen Stewart's role model according to reports and she is eager to meet her too seek for advice.

One source said, "She sees a lot of herself in Angie and would love her advice. She’s been studying her style and mannerisms. She thinks Ange’s a great role model.”

Source

Angelina Jolie keeps her kids' used band-aids

There is rumor saying that Angelina Jolie keeps her kids' used band-aids in a jar. Is this true? What a disgusting thing to do. Sounds like vampire.

Source

Thanksgiving Re-Post: Have a Happy and Safe Holiday!

This Thanksgiving, I am thankful for many things, especially my lovely wife and two amazing daughters. You, the readers out there in the world, are also people for whom I am thankful. Mahalo, as they say in my childhood home, for visiting often.

I am also thankful for the month of November, which always seems to be a slowdown month for me and Tattoosday. My posting pace slows significantly, despite still carrying a backlog of posts from the summer. Consider them my tattoo acorns that I'm saving for those cold days ahead when a tattoo sighting in New York generally means someone has removed their gloves or scarf!

Stay tuned in the weeks ahead for a flurry of book reviews, just in time for the holiday shopping season and, in the mean time, enjoy this post from last Thanksgiving, slightly edited, which appeared here.

Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving!

In honor of the holiday, I am sharing this, my newest tattoo, located above my knee on my right thigh:

This was done at Hand of Glory in Brooklyn yesterday as part of the shop's $75 Thanksgiving Tattoo Special ...

For those of you just tuning in, check the pre-post here, which includes all the Thanksgiving flash designed for the occasion. I asked readers to vote on which tattoo to get, and this one sneaked out a narrow victory over the traditional Native American profile.


I like this design because it combines a lot of traditional tattoo elements and delivers an image with a sociopolitical subtext. We have the traditional American flag and handshake designs, but the added element of crossed fingers serves as a reminder that, despite apparent good intentions, there was subsequently a historical betrayal of that initial good will.


But that's just one perspective, of course, and the Thanksgiving holiday focuses on the positive in our society. The mere existence of the tattoo reminds me to be thankful, which I alluded to in my original post.


I was fortunate enough to have BJ as my artist again. He had inked my Friday the 13th tattoo last August, and I appreciate that he works quickly and concisely.

BJ at Work

It was nice, also, that this design was one of his contributions to the flash sheet, as he was kind enough to embellish slightly on the original design, and it always seems better when an artist is tattooing his or her own design. As for the idea behind it, he was trying to represent graphically a broken treaty. I'm extremely pleased with the end result.
...

I want to thank all of the readers who voted for designs, and for everyone who reads and supports the site.


And thanks again to ... BJ at Hand of Glory, and to my family, at home in Brooklyn and across the U.S., for their support

This entry is ©2010, 2011 Tattoosday.

If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I can contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.

Angelina Jolie talks about her past

Angelina Jolie feels lucky that she is still alive because she did dangeous things in her past.

She revealed this in an interview with 60 Minutes, 'I went through heavier, darker times and I survived them. I didn't die young.'

Then she continues : 'So I am very lucky. There are other artists and people that didn't survive certain things... people can imagine that I did the most dangerous, and I did the worst... for many reasons, I shouldn't be here.'

'You just... too many times where you came close to too many dangerous things, too many chances taken too, too far.'

Source

Fabiana - Under Saraswati

Back in June, I introduced some awesome work on Fabiana here.

I followed up with her Saraswati tattoo here.

And then, her most important tattoo here.

And now we're coming back to Fabiana to see what else she has to share with us here on Tattoosday.

This post is called "Under Saraswati".

In Fabiana's words:

"And under [Saraswati] on my wrist is also a matching tat with one of my exes, the same one that broke my heart. Well, it was once again butterflies because I love them and suns because she liked them. I love butterflies, they mean freedom. Oh, wait, my big giant butterfly is under the saraswati! I drew that one!"

Just to clarify, the tattoos at the bottom of the wrist (the small butterfly and the sun) were the matching tattoos she got with her ex. The larger butterfly above those, under Saraswati, was the one she drew.

Butterflies have appeared on Tattoosday before here.

Fabiana recently e-mailed me and told me she has some new ink to share, so I thought I'd post these leftover ones from the last batch she sent me, before I introduced some more.

Thanks to Fabiana again for sharing her ink with us here on Tattoosday!

Angelina Jolie's son Pax went to see his biological grandmother

When Angelina Jolie and her family went to Vietnam, her adopted sono Pax manage to meet his biological grandmother Nhan Dung.

One source said, "It was a one day visit. Nhan was looking forward to it after Pax had lived so many years abroad."

Source

Angelina Jolie ruin Thanksgiving plans by going to Vietnam

In Touch claims Jolie has spoilt the Thansgiving plans by going to Vietnam.

An In Touch “insider” said, “She wants Pax and the others to give back."

“at Angelina Jolie’s command, the family won’t be home for the holidays."

I think they didn't mind going to Vietnam because after all, Thanksgiving is about having dinner with family together.

Source

Mark's Dueling Sugar Skulls

On a Sunday back in July, I met Mark on the subway. He chose to share these tattoos among the many he has:

Full disclosure: it was this encounter that taught me an important lesson - my voice recorder doesn't do well on the subway.

I was able to ascertain that these companion pieces were inked with specific meanings. The blue tattoo on the right arm has the subtext of a break-up. Juxtaposed with that is the red piece which represents the rise of artistic expression.

These nearly-mirror image tattoos were credited to Shaun Carroll at Hod Rod Tattoo in Blackburg, Virginia.

Thanks to Mark for sharing these tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

This entry is ©2011 Tattoosday.

If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I can contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.

Now Appearing on KnuckleTattoos.com!

Nathan over at KnuckleTattoos.com, who has featured Tattoosday content before, has now added me as a contributor, and I'm pleased as punch (and oh-so-thankful). My first contribution, although not original (it appeared in a longer form here first) is up and viewable here.

I'm excited because affiliation with his site will expand my range of inkspotting and lend me some additional street cred. I mean, what sounds cooler? "Can I ask you about your tattoo? I write a tattoo blog..." or "Hi, I'm a contributing writer at Knuckletattoos.com....".

Either way, I'm stoked to be expanding my repertoire, and am looking forward to a long and productive partnership with Nathan and his site.

Chris Shares Memorial Peonies for His Grandmother, Aileen

Here at Tattoosday, we're all about finding great ink on the streets of the greatest metropolis in the world, New York City.

But we also occasionally get mail from the tattooed who I have not met, but who want to share. I had a little bit of backlog from earlier this Fall and am finally getting to some of the generous contributions.

Chris sent me a photo of his tattoo in early October, along with a thoughtful and well-written history behind the piece. His story is fascinating, and his insight into the tattoo process is meticulous and, I believe, illustrative of how best to go about creating a design that imports significant meaning into the tattoo in question. I'll let Chris' words tell the story...

Hello,

My name's Chris. I'm a freelance graphic artist who lives in the East Village. I stumbled across your blog when I was trying to track down an artist from New York Adorned - the one who did the tattoo I'd like to share with you. I hope you don't mind me just writing you like this, but I liked what I saw on your blog and I felt it would be a good place to share this piece.

I am originally from Australia SC, but I came up here two months later to visit my brother for a week or so. The first thing I did on the Sunday afternoon when I got here was head to New York, but I have lived in the US since 1990. I have not gotten to visit home the whole time I've been in the states, which means I've missed all my cousin's weddings, as well as my best friend's and I've missed being there when they had their first children. Not having been home in all this time also means I never got to see my grandmother again before she passed away in June of 2007, which was just the most horrible feeling. At the time of her passing I was still living in Adorned. I'd already set up an appointment before I came up and I'd set aside funds just for the visit, so I went over there and Damion Ross got started on my memorial piece. The piece was originally a painting that I did and Damion did some redesigning to make it truer to the style of tattoo that I wanted, so the end result is really the perfect tribute to my grandmother who loved her garden and flowers. The tattoo required two sessions and it cost more than any of my other work, but you really can't put a price on a piece that commemorates the life of someone so dear.


Just for frame of reference, I have been recovering from severe facial injuries for almost four years. At the time I made the trip up here to get the tattoo I was out of work and had no income, other than a measly settlement that a judge had begrudgingly awarded me for Social Security. I spent a sizable chunk of that settlement to memorialize my grandmother, even though I had no idea when I'd have income again. My point is that people should not be stingy when memorializing a loved one, because you're going to be carrying that reminder with you for the rest of your life. Do you really want to be reminded of how cheap you are? Give them prime real estate and wear it proudly.

Thanks for letting me share with you.

Chris.

Damion Ross' work has appeared on Tattoosday previously here. And New York Adorned has been featured many times, as evidenced here.

Chris wrote me back and expounded further on the importance of really putting thought and effort into getting the perfect design and not settling for anything less:

Hey Bill,

I'm glad to be able to share my ink and story. I am working on getting some good coverage, but that's kind of hard to do when your income is extremely limited. I've collected images and put together designs for a number of years, but this was one that I wasn't prepared for at the time, nor did I have any idea that my next tattoo would be a memorial piece. So I set about searching images for my design - looking through numerous illustrations of Japanese floral paintings, as well as photographs of flowers and different types of traditional tattoo banners. I also made sure I did my research on the symbolism of flowers in Japanese art - both for flower type and colour, as these details are of great importance. When I'd found some good, solid reference material, I was then able to start on the design work.

I did a strong pencil sketch from a photo of peonies, the two most opulent blooms and capturing as much detail as I could. I spent a good number of hours sketching to make sure I had a good solid foundation. When I'd completed the sketch I scanned it and started to colourize it in Photoshop to make sure I'd have just the right colour scheme. Once I had that down I started painting what would be my first floral painting ever! I have to honestly say I amazed myself, as I wasn't even sure I could paint flowers, but my eye didn't betray me and the results were fantastic. That said, it was the digital version that I took to New York Adorned and it ended up being simplified considerably, but the image became more bold in its simplification.

So I would recommend putting a lot of thought and work into your memorial piece, but then let the tattooist do his (do I need to say or her in this day and age) job, as they generally know what they're doing. I'm attaching a (terrible) photo of the painting,


as well as the digitized version that the tattoo artist referred to. There's a drastic difference between the scan and the photo already, as I'd only sketched the flowers when I scanned the board. I took the painting in the direction I did to offer further interpretation and ramifications to the piece. I ended up selling the painting, though not for nearly as much as I'd have liked, consider the tremendous amount of work that went into it. Before it sold I had a tattooist contact me asking if I'd sell him a digitized version to use on t-shirts. I replied with very precise terms, saying that I'd already considered making t-shirts and prints of the design so maybe we could work something out, but then I never heard back from the guy. So if you see this design around - the one with the hand and scissors - it has been stolen and I'd be most interested to hear about, as I have not had the opportunity (read: the funds) to have anything printed.....

It isn't often that I receive such an in depth analysis of a tattoo from someone. It's clear that Chris being an artist has magnified his passion about this art form. I appreciated the opportunity to share his thoughts here with everyone on Tattoosday. Once again, much thanks to Chris for illuminating his beautiful memorial tattoo for us!

Angelina Jolie's partner Brad obsessed with Moneyball

Angelina Jolie's partner Brad obsessed with Moneyball. He has spent four years bring it to the screen.

He said “I became obsessed with the book and what the guys in Oakland did in re-imagining the game – like questioning religion in a way."

“It’s about how we value things: how we value each other, how we value ourselves and how we decide who’s a winner based on those values. The film questions the very idea of how to define success. The players these guys hired thought of themselves as failures and suddenly they were given the opportunity to play, proved worthy and changed the game.”

Source

Tattoorism 101: Alli's Ink

Here's another installment of Tattoorism. Alli sent me these photos at the beginning of October, so I appreciate her patience while I've taken the time to post these. I'll let Alli speak for herself:

Hey there,

I'm an avid Tattoosday reader. I, like many others, enjoy the stories that connect us all through one mutual love: tattoos.

I have three tattoos, my first inking done at 16 in Durham, North Carolina. I don't exactly remember the name of the shop, it was really underground and kind of shady. It's the old flag saying "don't tread on me," inspired by a respect for my veteran father and love for American war history. It's on my left foot:


My second tattoo was done at Glenn's Tattoo Service Inc. in Carrboro, North Carolina by the artist Paulie Andrew. A few weeks after my 18th birthday, I went in with a friend and saw this design on the wall. I immediately asked about it, and he told me everyone always compliments it, but no one had gotten it tattooed yet. I sat on it, went back the next day, and got it tattooed on my upper back in dedication of the bond shared between my father, my sister Carly, and myself:


Through our lives, the changes in characters have been so many, but we always stuck together. Elephants are a sign of good luck, too, which is always a plus. :)


[That's the tattoo at the top of the post, as well.]

My last tattoo was inked in Athens, Ohio. Can't remember the name of the parlor right now, but it was my second day of college. Inspired by the possibility of my dreams of becoming a writer coming true, the start of real life, I got one of my favorite quotes tattooed on my right underarm:


"So it goes" is from the works [first introduced in Slaughterhouse-Five] of Kurt Vonnegut, one of my favorite authors of all time. Reading Vonnegut is one of the reasons I came to this school to pursue writing as a career, and it's also how I like to handle what life throws at me. This tattoo was also prompted by the New Buffalo song "Cheer Me Up Thank You," which I think is absolutely amazing. [Here's the video:]




Sorry about the poor focus of the pictures. If it makes the cut for the site, feel free to crop. My camera is under repair right now, so it was just randoms I found!

Thanks so much.

Alli

Thanks, Alli, for sharing your ink here with us at Tattoosday! And thank you for waiting so patiently for me to process your post!

Angelina Jolie will act in Gertrude Bell

Angelina Jolie will act in Gertrude Bell, which is a biopic of a pioneering figure in the Middle East in the early 20th Century.

Ridley Scott from Scott Free Productions will be producing the movie.

Source

Tom's Spirit Introduces Me to Eric

I wrote the majority of this post on the way home from my friend Tom Wacker's memorial service on November 12, 2008. I am currently recovering from some outpatient surgery and will use my recovery time to attempt to catch up on things here at Tattoosday.

So I am on my way home from Tom's memorial service. A friend gave me a ride from the church in Ft. Lee, New Jersey to the P.A.T.H. station in Hoboken.

I catch the P.A.T.H. to the World Trade Center station in lower Manhattan. I walk a little disorientedly and find the 2 train at Park Place. I switch at Pacific/Atlantic for an N express train. Standing there in the last car is a bike messenger with full-on ink - his neck is covered and he's got his hands and wrists done. And his long-sleeved sweatshirt is undoubtedly covering a goldmine of tattoos.

But I don't have any of my fliers with me. I left my bag at work. I find some tattoosday cards I made up from www.vistaprint.com and strike myself a deal. He's got earbuds in, and I don't want to strike up a conversation since I am getting off in 2 stops, so I decide, if he gets off at 59th
Street, I'll stop him on the platform. And Tom is backing me up from on high. The messenger exits the train when I do.

So I introduce myself and hand him my card. I apologize for not having a flier, but he stops me: "I e-mailed some pictures to you already."

I've never met this guy before in my life. But I look at him, and recognize his face. His name is Eric and he sent me shots of his phenomenal work back in September. The nature of his work, and the sheer size of it, meant that his face was visible in the photos he sent. Wow. And I've been meaning to post his photos, but they're so rife with incredible work, I couldn't get a handle on it. And I've been busy. And on and on and on.

But now he is "legitimized" as an actual Tattoosday encounter. Of course, I am convinced Tom is behind this coincidence. Whether it's true or not is irrelevant. It makes me feel better.

So Eric peels off a layer or two and gives me an extra piece, on his inner right bicep:


It is a guesture known as "the shocker". I will leave it at that. People who know what it is will understand. People who don't and are curious will research it and be appropriately shocked. And for everyone else, including the aforementioned parties, here's Eric's work:


Tom saw these photos when I first received them, and was similarly impressed with the quality and scope of the tattoos.

I think it's apparent why I didn't post them immediately. Where to begin? I like discussing elements in detail, and it seems I could write a novel about Eric's work.

The Shocker tattoo was inked by Jim Class of White Tiger Tattoo in Rochester, New York. In a follow-up email, Eric had advised me that Class "did my turtle neck sleeve, right arm, sides, armpits, entire front, and my left leg. My back, head, and right leg sleeve were done by Mike Dorsey at Permanent Productions in Cincinnati, OH. I've gotten a few souvenir tattoos and conventions along the east coast."

So we've started out small. Stay tuned for future visits from Eric's canvas. I offer him thanks for the initial photos and for stopping to chat with me at 59th Street. And thanks again to Tom for being so instrumental in the success of Tattoosday.

Angelina Jolie's directorial debut will released in December

Angelina Jolie's directorial debut, In The Land Of Blood And Honey , will be released in US screens in December in the native language of Bosnia.

Angelina Jolie said in a statement: "It was always my hope that US audiences would have the opportunity to experience this version."


Source

Gabby and Carter, Forever in eBaum's World

At the end of August, I spotted a couple near the entrance to Penn Station on Seventh Avenue. The woman had a bunch of tattoos, the man did not appear to have any. When I interviewed them, it turned out that the guy did have a tattoo on his arm - one that corresponded to a piece in the center of his companion's chest. Here's a peek:

Our chat was a little bit rambling, but here are the highlights:

Me: What are your guys' names?

Woman: Gabby. Carter.

Me: Gabby and Carter?

Carter: Yes.

Gabby: Forever.

Me: Forever? How long you guys been together?

Gabby: Like, two years.

Me: So, what is that, it's a heart and a...

Gabby and Carter: It's eBaum's World.

Gabby: It's a website.


Carter: It's been around forever ... like YouTube.

Me: So that's just like the logo? The heart?

Carter: And the little globe, I got that.

Gabby: I did that tattoo on him.

Me: You tattooed that on him? Then who did yours?

Gabby: My friend, Nick. We're not friends anymore...

Me: Well, the two of them go together, that's cool.

Carter works for eBaum's world, which can best be described as a site for videos, like YouTube, but with more of a CollegeHumor.com slant. It's not just videos, but jokes, blogs, photos and games.

Thanks to Gabby and Carter for sharing these companion tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

This entry is ©2011 Tattoosday.

If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I can contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.

Angelina Jolie persuade Pax to board the plane

Angelina Jolie and her family were in Vietnam for holiday. This is where Pax was original from.

He looked relunctant to leave the country at the airport. Angelina Jolie persuade him to board the plane.

Angelina loves the country and said, 'Con Dao is very beautiful. My kids like the island very much. We hope to return here in the future.'

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Brad Pitt will retire at the age of 50

Brad Pitt will retire at the age 50. He is currently 47 years.

He said, "Three years. Hell if I know [what I'll do next]. I'm really enjoying the producorial side and development of stories, and putting those pieces together, and getting those stories to the plate that might have had a tougher time otherwise."

"I don't know that we're finished. I don't know yet. I don't know."

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Al Shares Two for Tattoosday, Including a Rare Sole Tattoo

Back in August I received an email from Al, one of the thousands of people that commutes in and out of Penn Station on a daily basis.

As a reader of Tattoosday, Al recognized that a lot of my inkspotting occurred in this major transit hub and he had recently thought he saw me there. Of course, this was quite feasible, as I generally pass through Penn during my lunch hour, as well as before and after work.

He also sent me some photos and, as occasionally happens, the e-mail from Al got buried in the deluge known as my inbox.

But we are excavating it here to share some of Al's ink. I'll let him do the heavy lifting....

"... I often read your blog and I especially love the stories you include about how you ran in to each person or convinced them to show you their tattoos or whatever it was.  Also the fact that you include the artist info (when you can) is amazing!  So thanks, and keep up the good work!

... [Included are] pictures of two of my tattoos that are especially fun for me, and in their own ways, unique.  The first at the top of my back, and it's an image of a jaw harp done as if it were an old-school traditional piece.

If you haven't heard of a jaw harp (also called Jew's harp, trump, mouth harp, etc...) check it out!  It's a very simple instrument that has a place in indigenous cultures all around the world...and it's one of the most ridiculous and fun instruments I've ever played.  I especially love that it's considered something of a "low class" instrument in most cultures.  Sort of the underdog of the musical world!  This piece was done by Michael Hastings at the Boston Tattoo Company in Somerville, MA.

The second one is less of a serious tattoo and more of a product of "hey, you know what would be funny?"  A tattoo artist friend of mine and I were joking around, and I convinced him to tattoo the bottom of my foot, more or less to see what would happen.

Anyone will tell you that getting a tattoo down there is a bad idea, but how exactly would it work out?  Well, the first picture you see is on it's second or third day of life -- already blown out in areas and starting to fade. One month later, and you can see it's already nearly half gone.

It was a fun tattoo experiment, and it earns me major badass points everywhere I go :-)"

Thanks to Al for sharing these tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

This entry is ©2011 Tattoosday.

If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I can contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.

Angelina Jolie and Brad went to Con Son "tiger cages"

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie went to Con Dau Islands, Vietnam on Sunday. When they arrived there, they went notorious Con Son "tiger cages". This is actually a prison first built by the colonial French to imprison political prisoners and was used to house communists later on during the Vietnam War.

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Petra's Tattoo with Teeth

A couple weeks back, I was coming out of my office at 7 Penn Plaza when a woman named Petra walked by with this tattoo on her foot:

When I stopped her and introduced myself, she was happy to share it with us here on Tattoosday.

Petra explained that this is the skull of a Velociraptor. When I asked why this particular design for a tattoo, she elaborated:

"Velociraptor is my spirit dinosaur. They're small and quick and very vicious and I identify with that as a person ... I really like dinosaurs. When I was a kid, I wanted to be a rock-climbing paleontologist, so I knew it was something that I'd like, you know, for the rest of the time I have my skin on."

This is Petra's first tattoo, and she got it inked by Cheyenne Sawyer at Atlas Tattoo in Portland, Oregon.

Thanks to Petra for sharing this cool tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Angelina Jolie is not happy that Brad's co-star look like Jennifer Aniston

Angelina Jolie is not happy that Brad Pitt's co-start looks like Brad's ex, Jennifer Aniston."

One source said, "When Angelina found out Katia was going to be sharing scenes with Brad, she hit the roof," revealed an insider. "She warned him to steer clear of Katia or she'd come down to the set and see to it herself!"

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Joss Whedon wanted an Angelina Jolie version of Wonder Woman

Joss Whedon wanted to write script for 'Wonder Woman' movie but he abandoned the project in 2007 because he wanted the Wonder Woman to like Angelina Jolie.

He said: "She was a little bit like Angelina Jolie. She sort of travelled the world. She was very powerful and very naive about people, and the fact that she was a goddess was how I eventually found my way in to her humanity and vulnerability, because she would look at us and the way we kill each other and the way we let people starve and the way the world is run and she'd just be like, 'None of this makes sense to me. I can't cope with it, I can't understand, people are insane'.

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Nina's Ink, Part Deux

I'm following up from this post here.

Nina had offered up so many tattoos I had to split up the post, and then, well, she sort of got lost in the inkshuffle. Best to reacquaint yourself with her through the post above and then resume here.

Nina told me she was the product of Quaker and Jewish parents, and was raised in the Quaker tradition. The core values instilled in her upbringing were virtue and the importance of leading a simple life, known as the Testimony of Simplicity. She recalls the silence that is so prevalent in Quaker meetings. These values translated to the tattoo on her right forearm:


She says this is a reminder, based on her upbringing, that she can "find simplicity through silence".

The saying is punctuated by the recognizable symbol of the fleur de lis, which has been recognized as a royal French symbol for purity.

The fleur de lis is also a significant element in this tattoo, which is on the back of Nina's neck:


A closer look:


This piece has roots in her family. Along with the decorative aspects of the design, the letters N and T represent her name and the name of her brother Tom. The name Rita belongs to her mother. The crown represents her mother being the queen of her family.

The final piece Nina showed me was only partially visible the day I met her, only because modesty and a public setting prevented her from letting me photograph the whole tattoo:


The general design and the phrase "this will linger" is from a skateboard deck. Nina is avid longboarder and the design appealed to her. Not to mention that "this will linger" can be interpreted in so many ways, and can even speak to the idea of tattoos themselves. This could also be a reference to the final line in the song "Beside You Now" by the band, The Fold:

I've no regrets of yesterday, though these tears are falling
I will look to you, I will still remember (God help me now)
This will linger on, your memory deeper than the oceans

Note the fleur de lis just below the navel.

Added to this design, on either side, are two calla lilies, a la Georgia O'Keefe. They, to her, represent "the realm of possibility". Nina told me that she and the tattooer discussed adding white ink to the flowers to make them more "realistic". They decided against that, however, as the tattoo may have suffered due to what likely would have been an aesthetic issue with the ink and Nina's much darker skin tone. I would tend to agree that they made the right choice.

Nina credits most of her work to Dan at Amazing Grace Tattoo in Geneva, New York. She did however indicate that the lower abdominal piece was done by Noah at Extreme Graphix in Geneva, NY.

I would like to thank Nina for spending so much time talking to me about her ink. She showed me her whole catalog of tattoos, and I feel bad for neglecting "part two" of her post for these past couple of months.

Considering that she had all this work done in her eighteenth year, I can only wonder how much more has been added to her canvas since.

Thanks, Nina, for sharing your body art here with us on Tattoosday!

Angelina Jolie and Brad brought Pax To Vietnam

Angelina Jolie and Brad brought Pax To Vietnam to make sure he stays in touch with his cultural heritage.

They were spotted eating lunch in Ho Chi Minh City for Vietnamese food.

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Brian's Literary Chest Tattoo

The weather here in New York has been turning autumnal and visible tattoos have been disappearing from the streets, but fear not, Readers, we still have material to get us through the end of the year, thanks to a backlog of photos from the summer!

Case in  point is this tattoo from Brian:

I met Brian at a drugstore in Bay Ridge, back in the beginning of August. He told me he had just started working as an apprentice at A-List Industry Tattoos, a few blocks away.

At the time, Brian had seven tattoos, including this chest piece, which is comprised of two parts.

The top section reads "Incomplete - Imperfect" and is an allusion to lines from Chuck Palahniuk's novel Fight Club:

"May I never be complete.  May I never be content.  May I never be perfect.  Deliver me, Tyler, from being perfect and complete."

Brian credited this piece to Paul Ilardi, the owner at Monster Tattoos on Staten Island.

The bottom section of the tattoo features a banner that reads "Death steals everything but out stories."

Brian explained that he took this to mean that "what outlives us is the memories we have, the stories we have".

It's actually the final line in a short poem by Jim Harrison:

Larson's Holstein Bull

Death waits inside us for a door to open.
Death is patient as a dead cat.
Death is a doorknob made of flesh.
Death is that angelic farm girl
gored by the bull on her way home
from school, crossing the pasture
for a shortcut. In the seventh grade
she couldn't read or write. She wasn't a virgin.
She was "simpleminded," we all said.
It was May, a time of lilacs and shooting stars.
She's lived in my memory for sixty years.
Death steals everything except our stories..

Brian credited this part of the tattoo to Cesar at Bullseye Tattoos, also on Staten Island.

Thanks to Brian for sharing his ink with us here on Tattoosday!

This entry is ©2011 Tattoosday, with the exception of  "Larson's Holstein Bull" by Jim Harrison from In Search of Small Gods. © Copper Canyon Press, 2009.

If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.

Video clip of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie at Moneyball premiere

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The Tattoosday Book Review - London Tattoos

 

Let's eliminate the suspense - London Tattoos is a lovely book, and one of the best tattoo titles I have seen in recent years. I recommend it highly and strongly encourage Tattoosday readers to check it out.

The book is beautifully photographed by Alex MacNaughton. The concept is simple: each subject stands in a full shot at the beginning of their section. There is a paragraph or two composed by the host, describing, in various degrees of detail, their tattoo journeys. A list of tattooist credits follow as footnotes, and then we are treated to several more (at the very least) more detailed shots of the body sections featuring the person's ink.

There is a fine distinction here, that between a close-up of a tattoo, and a close-up of the tapestry on which the tattoo is marked. Its a fine line of art that McNaughton executes brillianty. We catch glimpses of work, we see sections in great detail, but we are rarely confronted by an image that is a sterile full-frame of tattoo.

I just love the way that this photo narrative unfolds. Especially remarkable are the subjects who appear mostly, if not fully, covered. A turn of the page strips layers off of the individuals and we are treated to the artistic treasures that lie beneath. It dazzles the imagination, the unveiling of a person who appears uninked, only to reveal a breath-taking display of coverage that illuminates that this person spent hours upon hours under the needle.

It is brilliantly executed and I recommend it fully, all 304 pages with 700 color illustrations. Alex MacNaughton is also the author of London Street Art, London Street Art 2 and London Street Art Anthology. I encourage Tattoosday readers to buy London Tattoos - the holidays are just around the corner - and, at the very least, visit MacNaughton's website here to get a bigger taste of the work inside this wonderful book.

This entry is ©2011 Tattoosday. Photographs are ©2011 Alex MacNaughton.

If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.