BS: Tattoos - why?

Subject: RE: BS: Tattoos - why?
From: Charley Noble
Date: 27 Jun 10 - 11:41 AM

Gnu-

Thanks for the link to "Morning After."

It's certainly something to meditate on.

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Tattoos - why?
From: Ron Davies
Date: 26 Jun 10 - 01:30 PM

It turns out Bonnie also got a tattoo.   "She ran out and got a tattoo high up on the inside of her right thigh. It had two red hearts connected by arrows and the hearts were labeled 'Bonnie" and "Roy'." (Guinn p 49.)

Roy was her boyfriend. "Big, good-looking, and well-dressed".   Had money for dates. She married him at age 15.   25 September 1926.

He left her three times--for up to a year-- with no explanations when he returned.

In 1929 he was arrested for robbery, sentenced to 5 years in prison.

She didn't take off his wedding ring, nor divorce him.   That "just wouldn't be right". Though as it turned out she never saw him again.

She never got a tattoo with Clyde's name.

Subject: RE: BS: Tattoos - why?
From: frogprince
Date: 25 Jun 10 - 06:23 PM

So this woman goes into a tattoo parlor, and orders two tattoos. One on the inside of each thigh. Robert Redford on one side, Paul Newman on the other. The artist finishes, and she looks down at his work. She announces that she isn't going to pay for the job, as neither image is even recognizable. They argue some, and settle on an agreement; they will step outside, and see if the first passerby identifies the pictures correctly. As it turns out, the first to approach is a lanky cowboy type. They explain the situation, he agrees to be the test subject, and she drops trou. He scratches his head a bit, and says, "Wal, I don't know who neither of the two on the sides are, but the one in the middle is Willie Nelson."

Subject: RE: BS: Tattoos - why?
From: Crow Sister (off with the fairies)
Date: 25 Jun 10 - 03:48 PM

I like tattoos, on men or on women. But I think the old 'drunk in the services' tattoos, all those faded blue roses, definitely have more charm than contemporary "(not very) tribal" styles.

Subject: RE: BS: Tattoos - why?
From: gnu
Date: 25 Jun 10 - 03:36 PM

Buddy loses his ID and at the Canuck border is refused entry. He says to the border guard he can prove he is Canuck because he a tattoo of Tommy Douglas on one ass cheek and of Pierre Trudeau on the other. He drops trou and the guard says, okay you can go home to New Brunswick.

Buddy asks how he knew buddy was from New Brunswick.

He relpies, I recognized your premier Shawn Graham in the middle.

Subject: RE: BS: Tattoos - why?
From: mousethief
Date: 25 Jun 10 - 03:34 PM

Yall are all dum tatoos aree the shitt

Oooh that really makes me want to run out and get a tattoo. Maybe I'll forget how to speak, spell, and punctuate English too.

Subject: RE: BS: Tattoos - why?
From: Don Firth
Date: 25 Jun 10 - 03:03 PM

When I was in high school, I was vaguely acquainted with a guy just a year or two older than I was. Tough kid. He was a drop-out, but he hung around school trying to score girls.

He claimed to be equipped with "twin screws."

"'Twin screws?'" said I. "What do you mean?"

He said he had two propellers tattooed on his rump, one on each buttock.

I took his word for it.

Don Firth

Subject: RE: BS: Tattoos - why?
From: mousethief
Date: 24 Jun 10 - 11:04 PM

When she was 19 she got a circle tattooed on her bottom. When she was 45 it was an oval. When she was 70 it was a line.

Subject: RE: BS: Tattoos - why?
From: gnu
Date: 24 Jun 10 - 07:28 PM

The Morning After.

Subject: RE: BS: Tattoos - why?
From: GUEST,Tig
Date: 24 Jun 10 - 03:38 PM

Firecat has finally got round to having a butterfly tattoo on her thight. This means she is now free of the panic attacks she used to throw if she went out without a butterfly somewhere about her.

I encouraged her to get it - it's been worth it!

Subject: RE: BS: Tattoos - why?
From: LadyJean
Date: 24 Jun 10 - 12:15 AM

I hadn't thought of this before, but here's a lyric add.

I got a daisy on my toe
It isn't real. It's just for show.
It's just a tatto of a flower.
So, I'll look nice, while taking a shower
It's on the second toe of my left foot.
It's just a stem and flower, it has no root.
Becaause That wouldn't look good!

I've got a daisy on my toe. My right foot loves my left foot so.

Subject: RE: BS: Tattoos - why?
From: Joe_F
Date: 23 Jun 10 - 09:53 PM

When I was young (1950s), I was told that if a man had a tattoo, he got it in the service & was drunk at the time. For a while I checked that out every time I met one, and found that it was almost always true.

I don't have any tattoos, but I imagine part of their charm is that of irreversibility -- like mailing a letter, quitting your job, or killing yourself -- or, once upon a time, getting married or enlisting.

Subject: RE: BS: Tattoos - why?
From: Ron Davies
Date: 23 Jun 10 - 09:09 AM

At the risk of committing truly egregious thread creep, let me plug the book again.   It also deals with how media misperceptions are created, the conflict between informing and entertaining, and how misperceptions first helped Bonnie and Clyde in their criminal careers and then eventually turned on them.

Subject: RE: BS: Tattoos - why?
From: Ron Davies
Date: 22 Jun 10 - 11:30 PM

"...a bit of relevance..."

Subject: RE: BS: Tattoos - why?
From: Ron Davies
Date: 22 Jun 10 - 11:27 PM

Just read the best book I've read in years:   Go Down Together, by Jeff Guinn.

A sociological study of the really down and out in Texas in the 20's (farmers, including Clyde Barrow's father, who got caught in the US farm depression which hit 10 years before the official Depression--"When World War I ended...American farmers went down to defeat with the Germans". He wound up close to the bottom of the pile, a junkman).

A dual biography of Bonnie and Clyde.

A whodunnit, since you know it ended in bullets but not exactly how it reached that point.

History that reads like a novel.

And on top of that, a bit a relevance to the thread.

Amos mentioned "the young and frustrated".    Fits perfectly here.

In anticipation of joining the Navy--and getting out of the slum where he lived-- Clyde had "USN" tattooed on his left arm. But the Navy turned him down due to "lingering effects from the illness that hospitalized him soon after the Barrows arrived in West Dallas" the slum across the river from Dallas.   (Could possibly have been malaria or yellow fever).

Then he added "EBW" (for Eleanor).    Then "Anne" and "Grace" joined the others.

Never Bonnie--though that was the one that lasted the rest of his short life.

Subject: RE: BS: Tattoos - why?
From: mousethief
Date: 22 Jun 10 - 10:21 AM

In these parts the tattoo at the base of the spine (of a woman) is called a "tramp stamp".

Subject: RE: BS: Tattoos - why?
From: katlaughing
Date: 22 Jun 10 - 08:59 AM

Ah, c'mon, Mooh, think how entertaining it could be!**bg**

kat who still loves her discrete tattoos; only a small one in plain sight which most folks never even notice and would mean nothing to them if they did.

Subject: RE: BS: Tattoos - why?
From: Mooh
Date: 22 Jun 10 - 08:40 AM

Well, I would say moderation in all things, but everyone has a different idea of moderation.

Personally in regards to tattoos, I wouldn't want one on my face/head/neck/hands/privates, but don't have an objection to other areas of the body. I'm not going to go for where's Waldo behind my ear or in my butt crack.

Peace, Mooh.

Subject: RE: BS: Tattoos - why?
From: mousethief
Date: 22 Jun 10 - 01:11 AM

I was at the pool yesterday with my son and there was a man there with a rather large tattoo across his sholders. It said "TRUST NO ONE"

I have a hard time believing he put it there himself. He at least trusted the tattoo artist, who could have been writing "kick me" for all he knew. The gentleman doth protest too much.

Subject: RE: BS: Tattoos - why?
From: LadyJean
Date: 22 Jun 10 - 12:18 AM

I understand that people in many cultures tatooed themselves as a kind or protection.

When my mom was having radiation treatments for cancer (Which didn't work.) They tattoed some small dots on her chest to show where the radiation was supposed to go.

I always thought a tattoo was way too much commitment. It's like when I got a shag haircut. I liked it for the first year or so. But by the time I grew it out, I was royally sick of it and it was a world class pain to grow out.

Subject: RE: BS: Tattoos - why?
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 21 Jun 10 - 11:05 PM

not something I'd want either, tho a number of friends (younger & same age) have them, including a woman whose daughter bought her one for her 50th birthday. 2 fathers (again younger & same age) I know have tattoos giving their children's birth dates, but body art is not my thing.

I recently read an article on tattoo removal in one of the Sunday papers, but can't find it online. Point of the story was that it takes many sessions & costs a lot of money.

Last year I was visiting Australia's oldest inland city, a wonderfully historical place, (pop. 26,000) & was amused to see one of the sections of magazines in the newsagency.

Every newsagent across the country has standard labels for different interests (Crafts, Computer, Business, Travel, Cars, Men's Interest, Women's Interest, etc) but I've never before seen 'Bikes & Tattoos' & there were 6 magazines in this section!

Maybe they're included in another category in the cosmopolitan Big City where I live. We have 3 or 4 tattoo shops in my suburb & special bike parking on the main road for The Kings Cross Bikers Social And Welfare Club

sandra

Subject: RE: BS: Tattoos - why?
From: Seamus Kennedy
Date: 21 Jun 10 - 10:54 PM

OK, so this big ol' biker chick wants to get the words "Biker Babe" tattooed on her butt, one word on each cheek as a surprise for her biker boyfriend's birthday.
She asks the tattoo artist how much it'll cost and he tells her "At $100 a letter, that's nine letters, $900."
She thinks that's a bit steep, and asks "Ya got anything cheaper?"
He says, "How about a big B for 'Biker' and 'Babe' on each cheek, $200?"
She agrees, so he does it.
When she gets back to the biker boyfriend's boudoir, he's sitting there in the recliner with the remote control, a can of beer and a large spliff, celebrating his birthday.
She says "I've got a surprise for you honey." and she drops her jeans and panties and bends over in front of him.
He says "Who the hell is BOB?"

Subject: RE: BS: Tattoos - why?
From: frogprince
Date: 21 Jun 10 - 10:52 PM

Tattos are for wimps; I'm trying to research whether I can get the skin removed from my forehead, so it heals with the bone exposed, and get a bit of scrimshaw done on my skull.

Subject: RE: BS: Tattoos - why?
From: maple_leaf_boy
Date: 21 Jun 10 - 07:46 PM

I'd say maybe one small tattoo. If I were to get one, I'd think about
my life so far, and things that I have valued for a long time. Maybe
my religion for example. I would get a small tattoo that defines my
life.
I don't think I'd ever get one, though.

Subject: RE: BS: Tattoos - why?
From: Don Firth
Date: 21 Jun 10 - 07:37 PM

Right, Amergin! I just took a look at it on my bookshelves and said, "Oops!"

Excellent collection. Some of Bradbury's best stuff.

Don Firth

P. S. One story I especially liked was "Kaleidoscope"

Subject: RE: BS: Tattoos - why?
From: gnu
Date: 21 Jun 10 - 07:24 PM

Effsee... good info.

Odd thought. When I was at uni, I started palying serious squash. I often showered several times a day as I would set up matches between and after classes. I would ofetn play several hours straight on the weekends and on Tuesday night at the club get together. I cut my hair very short as it was a bother to keep it "neat" and the style of the day was long.

Many young ladies found it, ah, let's say "different".

Of course, it was simply a conversation piece, as they were "serious" about the "squash results" on my build. Far more productive than any body art, I would think.

If ya wanna be different, be different in a healthy way. Whether that is physical or cerebral. But, tattoos, piercings, dying hair or even getting laser eye surgery to avoid wearing glasses... are just odd to me.

I wish, at times, I was still playing.

Subject: RE: BS: Tattoos - why?
From: Amergin
Date: 21 Jun 10 - 07:08 PM

Actually, Don, the book is called The Illustrated Man....a great read!

Subject: RE: BS: Tattoos - why?
From: Don Firth
Date: 21 Jun 10 - 07:03 PM

Whilst cruising down Broadway Ave. East on Seattle's Capitol Hill on a warm summer afternoon, one tends to see a fair number of young women displaying their body art. This can be aesthetically pleasing, kinda sexy, or downright frightening. Fairly standard is the slender young woman wearing a top which ends just below the breasts, leaving a fair expanse of bare skin, usually down to the top of the hip-huggers which are about a quarter of an inch above the top margin of her pubic hair (if any). The navel tends to be the focal point of this display. Ornate star-like manifestations, sun-bursts, flowers, sometimes whole bouquets of flowers, solar systems, galaxies. . . .

Since I travel the area in a power wheelchair, I'm generally at a fairly good level for admiring navel art.

Another aspect of these expeditions is the cell-phone. Many people are sufficiently occupied on their cell phones that they are not paying a whole lot of attention to the surrounding area, and frequently I have to shout a warning to someone or they will wind up in my lap.

I'm waiting for that wonderful day when someone sufficiently occupied with their cell phone conversation walks, forehead first, into one of the metal light poles that line the street. They have such a nice, loud, bell-like tone.

The Tattooed Man, by Ray Bradbury. A great frame for a collection of bizarre short stories. Each tattoo told a different story.

Pony tails? Nothing new. In times past, many men would wear their hair unpowdered and "clubbed," as an alternative to a powdered wig. Often, a mark of relative youth. André-Louis Moreau, hero of Rafael Sabatini's historical novel, Scaramouche, set in France as it was leading up to the French Revolution, wore his brown hair clubbed and unpowdered. [The movie with Stewart Granger was based very loosely on Sabatini's novel, but was a kind of dumb, Hollywood romp compared to the very fine novel].

How the hell did I get here!??

Don Firth

Subject: RE: BS: Tattoos - why?
From: katlaughing
Date: 21 Jun 10 - 06:09 PM

Either that, Becca, or the aliens did it to him!:-)

Subject: RE: BS: Tattoos - why?
From: gnu
Date: 21 Jun 10 - 05:47 PM

Saw a lad today. He had some writing on each side of his neck and lord knows how many piercings in his ears and face.

Seriously, what possesses people to become a human billboard for stupidity?

Some of the posts above approach an answer to this defilement of the human body... a momentous ocassion...

But, for the most part, in the end, why? A conversation piece? "Look at me" seems idiotic compared to the downside healthwise. And if that is all you have to attract other humans to interact with you, well, get lots so I can see you coming and walk the other way.

I heard a comedian say once, "I thought the goal was to leave this life with the same numbers of holes you came in with."

I have also seen a number of women in shops with lower back tattoos. Short shirts and low cut pants exposing them... in public... at the grocery store middle of the day? At times, I want to ask, "Are you a slut? How much do you charge?" But, I realize, anyone who would do that really won't answer in an intelligent manner.

Sorry, but I find this defilement of the human body disgusting on top of unnecessary.

Subject: RE: BS: Tattoos - why?
From: Uncle_DaveO
Date: 21 Jun 10 - 05:01 PM

Over my seventy-nine years I've occasionally thought of getting a tattoo.   

And I might, too, when I grow up!

Dave Oesterreich

Subject: RE: BS: Tattoos - why?
From: Becca72
Date: 21 Jun 10 - 03:40 PM

Perhaps he was a big fan of "The X Files"?

Subject: RE: BS: Tattoos - why?
From: GUEST,Wesley S
Date: 21 Jun 10 - 03:36 PM

I was at the pool yesterday with my son and there was a man there with a rather large tattoo across his sholders. It said "TRUST NO ONE"

Isn't it sad that someone would feel that way?
Sadder still that they were so committed to that feeling that they would have it printed across his sholders?
And - since he was single - wouldn't he be sending up a big red flag to any woman he dated in the future?

Subject: RE: BS: Tattoos - why?
From: Joe_F
Date: 03 Oct 09 - 05:07 PM

A couple of times, at the nude beach at Sandy Hook, I saw a man with swimming trunks tattooed on him. Nothing could deprive him of his modesty!

Subject: RE: BS: Tattoos - why?
From: Crow Sister (off with the fairies)
Date: 03 Oct 09 - 06:55 AM

Further to VTam's post up thread. Tam you could think about designing a 'compound rune': bringing two or more together into a single sigil. This way you can both personalise the final image, and meaning.

Subject: RE: BS: Tattoos - why?
From: Crow Sister (off with the fairies)
Date: 03 Oct 09 - 06:36 AM

Amergin: "It was a fad for a while for women to get the lower back tattooed with some flowery thing...[..]..I always did kind of wonder what they would do when the fad ended...."

One might see such "passing trends" as echoing universally human 'tribal' impulses, of personally identifying with ones contemporaries or social peer group. And in the long term, you could look back and recall 'when I was a rocker' or 'when I was a punk' etc. and know that these 'rites of passage' tribal type experiences in youth, eternally marked you, both within and without.

For myself however (as someone who's never really identified with any group), the reason I've never yet gone ahead with any form of permanent body ornamentation, is that it'd need to really ring true on a personal level - so that it wouldn't end up like the tattoo equivalent of being eternally strapped into whatever the fashion media have decided is "this seasons" skirt length.

I also think (for some of us anyway) that unless permanent body ornamentation is a personal ritual observance of a major life experience or event (i.e.: something that has left an indelible mark upon one as an individual), a tattoo is possibly best done at mid-life or beyond. So you've got as good an idea about who you are, as you're ever likely to get. And you're less likely to be affected by impersonal passing trends, that might become meaningless to you in a few years.

Subject: RE: BS: Tattoos - why?
From: Ed T
Date: 02 Oct 09 - 09:27 PM

Had one. Got it with three friends as a teen ager, on a dare. Got it removed a two decades ago, and have the scar to prove it.

Subject: RE: BS: Tattoos - why?
From: Amergin
Date: 02 Oct 09 - 07:19 PM

It was a fad for a while for women to get the lower back tattooed with some flowery thing...and they all looked pretty much the same no matter where it was done...while it was rather sexy on some girls....on others it did look like a fashion statement...and nothing more....I always did kind of wonder what they would do when the fad ended....

Subject: RE: BS: Tattoos - why?
From: Lizzie Cornish 1
Date: 02 Oct 09 - 06:28 PM

Best tattoo I ever saw was one of Jesus. I'd been asked by the cardiologist I worked for to put a 24 hour ECG tape on a patient. He was a nice man, a chauffeur for one of the Royal family of Qatar.

Well, he came in, and I asked him to strip to the waist and lie down on the couch. A few minutes later I went in...and there was Jesus staring at me, from the Cross...full length, down his body, covering his whole chest, tummy etc..out to his arms.

I kinda gulped, grinned and silently vowed to get my own back on Dr. Spurrell, because I knew he'd not told me on purpose.. :0)

The patient told me that he'd been in the Merchant Navy as a young man and his mates got him blind drunk one night, and in the morning he 'woke up with Jesus' in more ways than one... ;0)

He went on to need open heart surgery, and Gareth, the surgeon, said it was the hardest operation he'd ever done, because matching up Jesus took absolutely ages, and he had to get him perfect..


The most bizarre tattoo I've ever heard about was not long ago, when a friend told me of someone she knew who's partner had had her name tattooed on his erm....er...um............(YIKES!).....as a sign of his committment to be faithful, after having had an affair.

Subject: RE: BS: Tattoos - why?
From: GUEST,Bruce Michael Baillie
Date: 02 Oct 09 - 06:03 PM

Personally I hate tattoos on legs. Arms aren't too bad unless there are loads of them (although even loads of them can look good IF they are done really well) but tats on legs, y'know the sort Leeds United football club (or any other football club logo)just look shite, totally tasteless. And women with too many tats, and self inficted tats. Just another example of todays society's sheep mentality.

Subject: RE: BS: Tattoos - why?
From: Alice
Date: 02 Oct 09 - 10:51 AM

You must have missed all my joke caption Engrish threads. Much fun ensues.

Subject: RE: BS: Tattoos - why?
From: Alice
Date: 02 Oct 09 - 10:47 AM

nannying is joking around with a clerk about how we both noticed a pin was misspelled? I detect some defensiveness. Some people have tats and some people don't and everyone has their own reasons. Nothing nannying about that.

Subject: RE: BS: Tattoos - why?
From: Amergin
Date: 02 Oct 09 - 06:03 AM

The American Life on Mars was good....and Harvey Keitel was excellent....but the ending sucked...horribly...

The British version is ten times better....

Subject: RE: BS: Tattoos - why?
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 02 Oct 09 - 04:30 AM

Luv U2 Mooh. Vomit a good vomit, darling-heart.

Subject: RE: BS: Tattoos - why?
From: Jack Blandiver
Date: 02 Oct 09 - 04:22 AM

I pointed out to the person I was with that the pin was misspelled.

Er - nannying, perhaps?

I must point out that I'm of the belief whereby folklore must extend to the pragmatics of vernacular usage, which refuses to accept any word can be misspelled and that intention is all that matters, regardless of any unwitting literary, poetic or comic effect arising from comparison to The Rule (which is likewise mutable). In these respects I am a keen fan of Engrish, as well as the proud owner of a cast iron sign that reads Keep of the Grass.

Otherwise, we have the catchphrase You're fired! as part of the UK version of The Apprentice, only with Sir Alan 'Amstrad' Sugar in the place of Donald Trump. Like many British people I assumed the catchphrase to be his, but a little research reveals its American origins. What a sad nation of plagiarists we have become! Although I see Life On Mars USA starts screening in the UK this week. I will watch it of course - but Harvey Keitel as Gene Hunt???

Subject: RE: BS: Tattoos - why?
From: Mooh
Date: 01 Oct 09 - 02:40 PM

"No, but are you two perhaps getting just a bit PRESCRIPTIVE? I can never see what anyone wants a tattoo for — but those who like them should surely be at liberty to chose them to please themselves & not to reflect someone else's PC preoccupations." [MtheGM]

What's so necessarily PC about "What I dislike about tattoos are the skulls, violence, death, and dismemberment themes that seem so popular. Body art should reflect peace, love, joy, faith, hope, charity, nature, family, commitment...positive things."? As for being prescriptive, wtf, what they should be in my mind or in my opinion is hardly prescriptive. Folks can do whatever they want, but I bet negative themes are more often regretted later than positive themes.

Naturally, ymmv.

Peace, Mooh.

Subject: RE: BS: Tattoos - why?
From: frogprince
Date: 01 Oct 09 - 12:00 PM

I started getting virus warnings with the images on that last link.

Subject: RE: BS: Tattoos - why?
From: Alice
Date: 01 Oct 09 - 11:45 AM

Here is a website with photos and the caption "These are the tattoos where you just can't help but ask the person WHY!?!"photo archive of bad tattoos

Some of them are tattoos with spelling errors, like Your Mine instead of you're mine. Yesterday I was looking at a case of costume jewelry in a store where there was a pin saying "Your Fired", apparently inspired by the Donald Trump apprentice. I pointed out to the person I was with that the pin was misspelled. The clerk said, YES! I noticed that, too, and not many other people seem to see it.

Subject: RE: BS: Tattoos - why?
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 29 Sep 09 - 11:25 AM

" What I dislike about tattoos are the skulls, violence, death, and dismemberment themes that seem so popular. Body art should reflect peace, love, joy, faith, hope, charity, nature, family, commitment...positive things."

"Just because we get older does not mean we have to lose that spark of youth and become cynical."

No, but are you two perhaps getting just a bit PRESCRIPTIVE? I can never see what anyone wants a tattoo for — but those who like them should surely be at liberty to chose them to please themselves & not to reflect someone else's PC preoccupations.

Subject: RE: BS: Tattoos - why?
From: number 6
Date: 29 Sep 09 - 11:09 AM

Good one Mooh !

Exactly.

My tatto is a chosen symbol that is there to remind me to always keep the faith in myself and humanity.

Just because we get older does not mean we have to lose that spark of youth and become cynical.

biLL