Here's the usual low down for this Friday with all the same rules and suggestions to make everything run smoothly and to get as many of you through the door as possible so everyone gets something fun to take home and show the folks.  The wait is long but we try to make things as easy as possible for everyone so you're not standing around the whole time.

 

• Daredevil will only be doing Friday the 13th tattoos. FunCity is open for business as usual.
• One tattoo per customer!  We want to tattoo as many people as we can for the day.
• Bring valid state ID (drivers license, passport) You MUST be at least 18 years old. No ID, no tattoo. NO exceptions.
• Do not block any of our neighbors doors or store fronts. Don't sit in the doorways and try not to get in anyones way. We don't want to ever have to stop this tradition so don't give anyone reason to complain about all the nice tattooed people hanging around.
• We start around 12 noon. If the doors open a little late don't freak out, we're just trying to get everything together before we let you in.
• Bring your cell phone. To keep the crowds at a minimum we will take names and phone numbers so there does not have to be a huge line down the street. Keep your cell phone in hand and don't wander too far. Feel free to check in to see where you are on the list. If you miss the call we will move on to the next person. YOU CANNOT PUT YOUR FRIENDS NAME ON THE LIST. One body= One name.
• The tattoo cost $13 + a lucky $7 tip. Bring cash and a few extra bucks. Please shop for refreshments from our neighbors while you are waiting, they appreciate the business.
• We are drawing up a sheet for the day. What you see on the sheet is what you get. No changes, no art directing and NO YOU CANNOT SEE THE SHEET BEFORE FRIDAY. It's not even done yet, relax.
• On Friday the 13th NO HANDS, NECKS, BELLIES, LOWER BACKS, CHEST, SIDES, or FEET. These places take longer to tattoo or are difficult to heal. It's a long day of tattooing for us; we try to keep it as easy on the artists as possible. Don't whine and complain about this rule! We have our reasons, trust me.
• Sometimes we decide we hate a design or are sick of doing the same one all day that people keep picking. That design might not be an option later in the day at some point. So yes we can "sell out" of certain designs. Don't be a cry baby, deal with it. There's lots of other cool tattoos to pick from.
• Expect a couple hours wait to get tattooed.
• Finally, we always appreciate nice reviews online. This day is a huge ordeal and the shop does not make money off of it so any shout outs via Yelp or other sites makes us very happy. Spread the love.

 

This is a very long day for us, when we say we're done, we're done.  We want to have fun and we want everyone getting tattooed to have fun. But at the same time this is the worst possible day to come in to the shop and get tattooed! Especially if you don't like crowds, don't like chaos and are picky.  It's a crazy day, enter and get tattooed at your own risk. We have a big crew working on Firday so we're really going to try and tattoo everyone who shows up.

Wow another tattoo TV show. I was feeling a little optimistic after Ink Masters. Everyone was expecting the worst and we were all somewhat surprised that the show wasn't totally terrible. Of course we all know and love Oliver so we knew it had that going for it but the Miami/LA/NY Ink debacle has left most in the biz sick to death of seeing our beloved industry raked over the coals of popular culture. Tattoo Wars was well received mostly because the show focused on the tattooing and not all of the tedious manufactured drama served up on the "reality" sets. So it's nice to see some shows focusing on the tattoos again instead of all the silly stuff.

NY Ink irked me because it created a fake business in an impossible setting that all of a sudden we had to compete with. I was hearing things like Ami getting two million for the season and then he's whining on the show about how he hopes they are successful. Meanwhile busses are riding around the city with his picture on the side. People coming to visit the city used to look online, find our shop and get tattooed at our place. Now there's this made up shop funded by a TV network that exists for us to lose business to. Luckily we've been around a long time and have a solid reputation but I still resent the intrusion.

Ink Master was interesting. The hacks (B-Tat) got kicked off pretty quick and Al Fliction was very entertaining for all of us.  Dave Navarro made a pretty good host while bringing in some star power.  Somehow Best Ink just comes off as a second rate Ink Master. I have no idea how they picked some American Idol loser with a few lame tattoos on her shoulder. (Really Oxygen? Carly Smithson wasn't available??) A super annoying aspect of both of these shows is the claim that their contestants are "10 of the country's most creative and skilled artists". That's stretching things by anyone's standards (besides some casting director who has never looked at a tattoo before).

Ink Masters seemed to give the artists a pretty good chance to really come up with their best work. I think they had all night to draw (I didn't actually see every episode) and the only pressure to come up with something on the fly was for the flash challenge so just a dead pig or a piece of paper was going to be stuck with an ill prepared design. This last episode of Best Ink only gave artists an hour to draw up their tattoos and swapped the "skins" on them mid way. BTW TV people please stop with the stupid lingo (also really annoying). So the artists really didn't get the prep time they would have wanted and the viewers were left with some pretty crappy half realized concepts in another annoying tattoo show.

Ok, the Philly Tattoo Convention.
I know it happened over a month ago. Maybe old news by now.  I was supposed to turn in an incisive and detailed report to DCP right after it happened.

It’s gone from being a local event in a hotel conference room to a multi-national gathering in a mega convention center packing in the tattoo crowd like bedbugs in a hotel mattress. An onslaught of humanity. A tidal wave of booze, ink, blood and pin ups. Carnie heaven.

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Here's Frank, the latest installment of our Old Guys and Their Tattoos series.

In 1955 Frank was 19 years old and stationed and in the Navy. Stationed at Naval Station Great Lakes.

He wanted a tattoo.

So one day he boarded a trolley. Stone sober and alone. He didn't want anything or anybody to influence his tattoo.

He took the trolley to Waukegan Illinois to meet  “Dietzel” .

What this 19 year old kid didn't know was that he was about to get a piece of history tattooed on his arm.