Thursday, June 19, 2008

The Fresh Prince of Chicago












So does this make Bill Walker Beasley's Carlton?

22 comments:

rob said...

mark, you have this problem, too, right?

http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/worklife/06/19/too.tattooed.to.work/index.html

rob said...

and, of course, the mariners fire their manager today. damn you, morgan.

Mark said...

Funny you mention that, I just got back from a tattoo appointment about an hour ago and put down a deposit to get to my sleeve finished in a few weeks.

I dont have the problem now that I'm working at home, but at all my previous jobs I always wore long sleeves to the office everyday. I find its best to keep them out of sight to avoid the inevitable bias they'd create with certain people. I've generally been the youngest guy in most business situations I've been involved in and don't need/want something else stacked against me.

rob said...

so, serious questions from someone not opposed to tattoos but also not really interested in getting one himself:

where does the motivation to get the whole sleeve come from? that's a lot of work, money, and commitment. how do you decide what goes on the sleeve?

Whitney said...

Rob paid lip service in the early 90's about getting a tattoo. Something like the Sox logo on his arm. I don't think any of us were buying it.

Of course, it could be that my hideous array of inkwork scared him off. If so, you're welcome, dude.

rob said...

at that point in time, i might've actually gone through with it if i had the $35 to do it. probably not, though. i can't find anything meaningful enough to me to be worth permanently affixing it to my body. that's why mark's sleeve fascinates me.

Mark said...

As for deciding on what goes on the sleeve, I use the same artist for 90% of my work and he and I work together to figure out exactly what I want. I give him a fair amount of artistic license on things because he's so talented and much more imaginative than I could ever hope to be. He'll usually take my idea and specific instructions and make it much better than my original idea. I have alot of traditional Japanese work and thats his favorite style as well so it work out for both of us.

Of course, some of my tattoos are much more specific. For example, he just finished my stomach which features my last name and family crest so something like that is a different story.

Mark said...

As for motivation, I was always fascinated by them and wanted to get one (at least) from a very early age. At this point, its a bit of an addiction that I need to feed on a fairly consistent basis. The sleeve is just the next step. My right arm is already very, very adorned and my entire right lower leg is sleeved up too. I'm just moving to the next available area.

rob said...

is artistic/stylistic value more or less important to you than personal meaning of any single piece?

rob said...

can anyone tell that this fascinates me?

Mark said...

Depends on the piece. I always value the quality of them but thats not much of an issue with my guy. However, certain tats are absolutely about the meaning of them. My right arm is where I've chosen to place most of the tattoos that have some personal meaning and/or represent me and my life, aside from the aforementioned stomach tattoo.

The other pieces, which are largely Japanese style, are much more based on artistic/stylistic value.

rob said...

dude:

http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/06/dude-big-lebows.html

Mark said...

So thats it Rob? No more questions?

rob said...

i think i need to actually see the art at this point. when are you up here?

how much have you spent, all told, on ink?

T.J. said...

Beware Serbian minors:

An eight-year-old boy stole a car before going on a rampage through the streets of a southern Serbian town, leaving a trail of destruction in his wake, Beta news agency reported Thursday.

After jumping into the car -- a Zastava 101 -- the boy only identified by the initials V.P. promptly steered it onto a pavement and struck a passer-by pushing a pram in front of the town hall in Leskovac.

His apparent test of his driving skills soon came to an abrupt end when the boy crashed the car into a nearby tree, damaging the vehicle.

The pavement victim was in shock, but not injured, said Beta, which added that police had detained the boy before placing him under the watch of childcare authorities.

rob said...

zastava 101, bah. what a piece of crap.

Mark said...

I'm trying to schedule a trip sometime in July. Not sure of the dates yet.

I'm not sure how much but its around $5,000. I suspect it will be close triple that, possibly more, once I'm done.

rob said...

the word 'pram' in teejay's article reminds of one of the great songs of all time, billy bragg's 'new england', which contains the follow lyric:

i was twenty one years when I wrote this song/i'm twenty two now, but I wont be for long/people ask when will you grow up to be a man/but all the girls I loved at school/are already pushing prams

aaand, segue.

Whitney said...

"Pram" reminds me of Monty Python & the Holy Grail. Dennis knows why. Geoff just shakes his head condescendingly.

Jerry said...

Rob found the old set of the Merv Griffin Show in a dumpster last night.

rob said...

ahl. well played, jerome.

Mark said...

That was pretty good. I'm honored to be his first guest. Not nearly as honored as I was to make Geoff's "hate list" but honored nonetheless.