The Big Green House

Tuesday, March 04, 2003

 

Moving pictures

Science Girl suggested that I say something about the guy I met outside the theater Sunday night. I aim to please.

Since the Little Theater is a small place and was very definitely oversold for the show we attended, it got mighty warm by the time the movie ended. SG wanted to use the restroom before we left, so I went outside to wait for her and cool off a bit. As the rest of the patrons wandered off into the night and the folks in queue for the 9:30 showing filed in, this heavily tattooed, pierced and stretched-lobed gent approached me and asked, �Is this it?�

�That depends on what �it� is, I guess.� Rarely am I without a snappy comeback.

�Is this where they�re showing the Shane McGowan movie?�

I confirmed that it was. We chatted for a bit, mostly about Mr. Modern Primitive�s obsession with Shane & The Pogues. �Check this out�, he said, pulling up his right trouser leg. Covering the entire back of his calf was a very well done black line tattoo of Shane (having a drink, natch). I expressed my appreciation of the work & asked if he�d had it done locally; he explained that he was a tattoo artist from Tacoma and that his boss had done it for him.

It was about then that SG found me, so I told him I hoped he�d enjoy the movie and said goodbye.

I have a small tat myself; it took about 45 minutes to an hour to finish, as I recall. I�m guessing that this guy�s piece was the better part of a day�s work, if not more, and a lot more painful than mine. I hope he gets to show it to Shane at some point; I wonder what he�d make of it? I�d imagine seeing one�s likeness tattooed on someone, no matter how good the line work, would be an odd experience. Flattering, yes, but odd nonetheless.

Tattoos are such curious things. Some look great, others don�t. (I�m from the �less is more� school. I�ve yet to see a sleeve that looked good on anybody. It�s just too much going on � it becomes a muddle. My personal opinion, your mileage may vary, etc.) I put a lot of thought into why I wanted mine, what it meant to me and what the image would actually be. While I was having it inked a woman came into the shop (parlor?), spent about five minutes looking through the flash book and picked out what she wanted done on her ankle.

I think the strangest one I�ve ever seen was down in Oakland. This guy had shaved his head, and then had someone tattoo a San Francisco 49er�s helmet on him. Not a picture of a helmet, mind you; it was as if his head was the helmet. I�m surprised he found somebody to do it for him

And then there was this guy I used to work with who had numerous homemade tats, on both arms. One day I asked about them. He said that in Fiji, where he grew up, it was common among teenage boys to tattoo each other. He then volunteered that he, himself, had tattooed his name on his penis.

I took his word for it.



bmarkey 3/04/2003 10:31:00 PM