hack0si's Tattoo

An anonymous tip has led me to hack0si's tattoo in www.rankmytattoos.com.

Photo has been removed on behalf of owner's request, original is located here:
http://www.rankmytattoos.com/Oregon/Eugene/11512.html

Under tattoo design details, it says:

100% freehand work done by Adam Lunt of Eugene Oregon. About 3 hours, one smoke break, and a few days of the lovely stinging sensation that reminds me my newest piece of art is healing. I would like the Kanji rated, and how the color contrasts the black, since my skin is pale and a perfect palette. PEACE

However, one commenter named "Bob" has summed up the whole thing in the following:

Well... This is supposed to read 善惡, "zen'aku," or "good and evil." There are mistakes in the way both of them are written, but the big problem with this tattoo is that the first character is upside-down. Sorry. And there's really no way to fix that. And the sadder thing is, you probably can't even sue. A skilled artist might be able to do a cover up....

Sorry For Late Post

Hello Boys and Girls !!

Its been many days since I updated this site...

I have been very busy with stuffs going around in the studio and the new pieces that I have to work on and all the photoshoots that I have to plan and attend. Its taking a toll on me !!

I will update this site whenever I can and I promise you, it will just get better...

Stay tuned !!

"Beware of the Bull Rat"

Two of BMEzine's May 21st entries were from "Lil Miss Strange" with the caption of

"First Tattoo I Did On Someone Wo Is Neither Me Or Family And Doesnt Do It As A Joke
Good I Was Scared But The Guy Is Happy With It!
(Turnhout, Belgium)"

http://www.bmeink.com/A70521/high/bmepb523679.jpg
http://www.bmeink.com/A70521/high/bmepb523678.jpg

By a strange coincidence, the tattooed phrase 畏牯鼠 means "beware of the bull rat".

We should all thank this young man for doing a public service announcement with his flesh.

Butterfly

Butterfly tattoos have been one of the most popular tattoo designs requested by females for the past few years. They have always held a fascination with humans and are often the subject of artistic expression from painting to music. Most people would agree that their uniqueness and striking colors are undeniably beautiful.

Some cultures believe that butterflies are the souls of the dead while others believe that the appearance of butterflies can signify the arrival of a baby. To see a butterfly among flowers in a dream can signify prosperity and a need to settle down. It mean news from absent friends if they are flying around.

I was able to work on something different few months back. Its of a butterfly with "henna-like" designs on them, instead of the regular bold colours that are usually used. It was a custom piece designed by me, which took 4 1/2 hrs to complete it on skin!! Any more takers?

Dice-K Dictionary

My friend Mark of pinyin.info sent me an article titled "Dice-K Dictionary" in recent issue of The Phoenix, an alternative newspaper in Boston area.

The article pointed out due to the popularity of Japanese baseball player Daisuke Matsuzaka (松坂 大輔), joining Boston Red Sox, many signs with Japanese have been spawning up around Boston area.

The article's author, Mike Miliard, contacted Momo Shinzawa, a fine-art photographer from Tokyo to help translate some of these signs.

In one of their examples,


http://thephoenix.com/article_ektid40133.aspx (114KB pdf)

Shinzawa said:

“Oh, this is really good one! The first three letters says ‘Red Sox’ (literately means ‘Red color sox’) which is kind of okay, but everybody knows Red Sox as Red Sox. You know what I mean? We pronounce and used the name of the team just like Bostonian, so this is kind of funny. On top of it, I think they try to say “Red Sox Fans” but, the last two letters literately means ‘an army corps,’ not ‘fan.’ I can see this sign was made by someone who speak Chinese, maybe? Who can not write [Japanese characters] Hiragana and katakana. When we use foreign words, we use Katakana. So the word ‘Red Sox’ or ‘fan’ should be all Katakana, not in Chinese letters. So this is my suspicious. Yeah, it is kind of No, No to call Japanese ‘An Army corps of red color sox?!’ Since [the Japanese were] Americans enemies long time ago!? I found this sign kind of funny! If Japanese see it, they can understand what they are trying to say. It is almost there, but not right Japanese.”

Actually if the characters shown above are be read as Chinese, it would translate as "Army group under red/bare boots". 赤 could be translated as either "red" or "bare" depending on the context.

The correct Chinese translation for Boston Red Sox is 波士頓紅襪(隊).

Evolution Of Dragons

The dragon is a mythical creature typically depicted as a large and powerful serpent or other reptile with magical or spiritual qualities. Mythological creatures possessing some or most of the characteristics typically associated with dragons are common throughout the world's cultures.

Although dragons (or dragon-like creatures) occur commonly in legends around the world, different cultures have perceived them differently. Chinese dragons and Eastern dragons generally, are usually seen as benevolent, whereas European dragons are usually malevolent. Malevolent dragons also occur in Persian mythology and other cultures.

In Revelation 12:3, an enormous red beast with seven heads is described, whose tail sweeps one third of the stars from heaven down to earth (held to be symbolic of the fall of the angels, though not commonly held among biblical scholars). In most translations, the word "dragon" is used to describe the beast, since in the original Greek the word used is drakon.

Over the years, having tattoos of dragons have changed. From the more oriental or mythical looking to more modern contemporary ones. Most choose to have this kinds done on their skin, so as to not to run out of the "Trend" by having traditional dragons done instead, even though there are many who still prefer the traditional looking ones.

Artwork and Photography : Immortal Tattoos

Tattoo Removal with Handheld Sander

tattooremovalwithhandheldsander.wmv (2.43 MB)

My friend Gordon just emailed me this video clip of someone getting a tattoo removed.

Instead of using a scalpel or laser gun, the person administering the procedure is actually using a Black&Decker handheld sander. It is unclear if the patient was given any anesthesia prior to the operation, but at least the "doctor" was wearing gloves.

The one minute video is not for the weak-stomached, especially the buzzing sound of sander grinding into human flesh.

Japanese Demon

The hannya mask is the vengeful and jealous woman turned demon. Pointed horns, metallic eyes and teeth, and the expression all exhibit the full wrath, anger and resentment of her nature. The origins of hannya masks may have come from early snake masks but most likely the image was taken from painted hand scrolls of stories and legends of the Muromachi period. In fact one of the oldest hannya masks is dated 1558. Of course the most prominent feature is the horns. Even to this day a hand gesture of two index fingers sticking up from a man's forehead is an indication that his wife is mad at him or jealous.

There are many variations of hannya masks. The coloring of the face also signifies the degree of passion in the demon's anger. For example, a more reddish color indicates strong resentment and anger and is used in such plays as Dodoji and Kurozuka, whereas a paler color would be more appropriate for Aoi-no-ue. Dodoji is the story of unrequited love between a woman and a priest of Dodoji (temple). She turns into a demonic serpent who wraps her body around the temple bell consuming it and the priest in the process.

For more information on Japanese Mask and their history check out http://www.yoshinoantiques.com/masks.html

Highly Intoxicated

Being a Tattoo Artist for sometime, running my own studio, its just funny how u meet all kind of people. What really cracks me up, are the people who come in highly intoxicated by alcohol or by any other substances which only God knows of !!

Its really funny when they can't even stand straight, they talk with a slur which seems like they are speaking in tongue and wanted to get a tattoo at the same time. Its like a Fusion went wrong !! God !! Do they even realise what they really want in the first place?

I had a customer one day, who walked into my studio and wanted a tattoo of his wife's name. He did'nt seem that drunk to me at that point of time until I asked him of how would I spell that name. My oh My !! He can't even remember his wife's name for Christ's Sake !! He took out his handphone, went through his contacts and pointed out one of the names in there and said, "That is my wife"...

It does irritate me when I have drunk customers and seriously, I DO NOT ENTERTAIN ANYONE WHO IS HIGHLY INTOXICATED BY ALCOHOL OR BY ANY OTHER FOREIGN SUBSTANCES - So they can just fuck off from my studio.

Most of my customers ask me this question. "Must I get high on alcohol in order for me to take the pain"? To answer the question, NO. Whether you are drunk or not, you will still feel whatever pain you might feel and you will bleed more than usual as your heart pumps faster as it tries to flush out the alcohol content in your body. I was wondering, why would one, want to have a tattoo if they are afraid of the pain?

Ladies and Gentlemen, Tattoos are not for the weak !!

"Che ne sarà di noi?"

Today I received an email from Professor Gorni of University of Udine, Italy, about tattoo in the 2004 movie "Che ne sarà di noi?" (in English, "What Will Happen to Us?").


http://flickr.com/photos/tiangotlost/490223003/

Since I personally have yet seen the film, Prof. Gorni described the scene to me as the following:

The main character gets the tattoo after his high school final exam. His buddies ask him what the chacaters mean. His answers "peace, love, bread" (yes, in this order!). When asked "why bread?", he explains that the tattooist had proposed "peace, love, freedom", but he just didn't like the shape of "freedom", and settled for "bread" instead, because it looked better.

Later in the movie, some girls ask him about the tattoo, and he gives the meaning as "peace, love, angel of death" (yes, in this order; no reference to bread).

Nowhere in the movie there is a clear indication that anybody was aware that anything specific was wrong with the tattoo. They only say, "luckily enough, nobody knows Japanese around here".

The correct translation for 愛和夢 is "love and dream" if they are read as one complete phrase.

A Serbian's Chinese Tattoo

http://www.bmeink.com/A70507/high/bmepb516698.jpg

Freshly uploaded in BMEzine's gallery, this one did not offer any translation with only caption of " Tattoos by Shone Liman, Serbia."

I am too lazy to get into the details. The only thing I can think of is:

Dear Mr. Serb,

If you admire Chinese culture so much, why not just build a Bruce Lee statue like what Bosnia did, perhaps bigger and made out of precious metal?

The Cross

The Cross is one of the most ancient human symbols, and is used by many religions, most notably Christianity. It is frequently a representation of the division of the world into four elements (or cardinal points), or alternately as the union of the concepts of divinity, the vertical line, and the world, the horizontal line (Koch, 1955).

The word cross was introduced to English in the 10th century as the term for the instrument of the torturous execution of Christ (gr. stauros', xy'lon), gradually replacing rood, ultimately from Latin crux, via Old Irish cros. Originally, both 'rood' and 'crux' referred simply to any "pole," the later shape associated with the term being based on church tradition, rather than etymology. The word can nowadays refer to the geometrical shape unrelated to its Christian significance from the 15th century.

Artwork and Photography : Immortal Tattoos

Phoenix

Creatures from the world of Legends and Myths have been evolved into something else in this Era. For many years, tattoos such as the phoenix have been collected by many. I had the chance to tattoo a phoenix on someone not long ago... So here it is !! (Still In Progress)

The phoenix bird symbolizes immortality, resurrection and life after death. In ancient Greek and Egyptian mythology, it is associated with the sun god.
According to the Greeks, the bird lives in Arabia, near a cool well. Every morning at dawn, the sun god would stop his chariot to listen to the bird sing a beautiful song while it bathed in the well.

Only one phoenix exists at a time. When the bird felt its death was near, every 500 to 1,461 years, it would build a nest of aromatic wood and set it on fire. The bird then was consumed by the flames.

A new phoenix sprang forth from the pyre. It embalmed the ashes of its predecessor in an egg of myrrh and flew with it to Heliopolis, "city of the sun," where the egg was deposited on the altar of the sun god. In Egypt, it was usually depicted as a heron, but in the classic literature as a peacock or an eagle.

"Panda Process"

This photo was posted in BMEzine's tattoo gallery with the title of "Panda Process".


http://www.bmeink.com/A70430/high/bmepb514122.jpg

The top "character" does not look like anything I have seen before. The lower character has been blurred and distorted (probably from repeatedly copy one set of template many times) that I am not sure if it is 带 or 蒂.