Lance

Ha ha! That's what happens @cvportagee when you're a 5'-8"ish cherubic faced Asian with long straight hair, I guess. You end up being called ma'am when people take your order, and @hogg and thinks you're @Reyeslv's wife. Then there's @Scott R who wants you to take your clothes off. He wanted to see the back piece but it was hilarious. Oh the things that happen at the SFO convention. Not to mention meeting @ian too and then seeing him tough it out, getting his chest tattooed Sunday. Oh and I cannot forget to mention meeting @beez punch drunk on tattoos. It was awesome. You're a mad woman getting tattooed all day. @MoistTowelette, I saw your post too late. I saw you getting your ribs done by Gogue but I didn't know it was you. That Hannya is jaw dropping impressive. It was great meeting everyone and their spouses. I would have liked to have met the rest too, next year for sure. Like Scott R my flight out was delayed too. It was annoying cuz all I was thinking was how I could have stayed till the end of the convention instead of sitting at the airport, then again waiting in the plane sitting on the tarmac. Awesome convention though. The busiest one I've been to in the last 4 years. And the Shige seminar was awesome. I'll try to post something on that later. Let me also add that all of you who got tattooed from what I saw was awesome and cvportagee, Jill's back came out great and Horitomo's is bad ass already. I'm incredibly jealous, but it's going on a good guy. Can't wait till December/January when it's my turn.

That's a great book which shows progression from a sketch on her back to finished piece. I also like it because as far as I know, it's the only publication outside of Bushido that shows Taki's backpiece, albeit still in-progress. Even better since I added it to my library via the clearance section of Kinokuniya bookstore (suckers!) ;-) On that note @beez, and anyone else visiting, you should check out that bookstore in Japan Town (SF not SJ's store). It's tattoo section is much better than Seattle's Kinokuniya. Also not really my thing these days, but if anyone is an anime/manga fan you'll drop dead of a heart attack.

Ha ha @beez! Actually, I just bought the book because of the photos of her tattoos. I haven't gotten around to reading it yet. It's in my "to read" stack. Sad right? Absolutely. But I've heard it's good unless you're a yakuza-phile. It's about her life not details into yakuza underworld. So I've also heard wannabe yakuza romanticists are disappointed. You're in good hands with Junii so you're doing it right!

I've got that book, Yakuza Moon, lying around somewhere. I believe the artist is Horiedo. I'm not too sure of the spelling though. Her tattoos are pretty awesome. Have you ever seen photos of Junii's suit from Horitoshi? Woah! That one 's a jaw dropper too. But I'm sure you get to see her arms when you're at the shop so I'm guessing you already know that :-)

@spookysproul, it's funny how images/graphics can stick in our heads and spark a memory. Before even reading your post I saw the image and the first thing that popped into my mind was "Dark City". Damn fine movie :-)

@beez, ditto! Love the peonies too. Snakes with that will be damn spiffy.

Oh congratulations on that! I am for sure swinging by to see that piece after not being able to see it at JANM.

Man @ironchef, that is coming along fabulous. Thanks for sharing. Also 6 hours? Oof! Yeah bet you were worn out after that.

This is absolutely amazing! Sadly to be a downer, and I know the subjects been talked about already elsewhere, but this piece has already been copied by someone else and can be found on Instagram if you search #Shige. Not inspired by, but straight up copied by the person's own admission. I refuse to link it. A sad state for a custom piece designed for a specific person :-( At least Gogue's is the original and everyone knows it.

Btw, is anyone besides me going to the Shige Seminar? On Saturday?

CONGRATULATIONS!!! That's awesome news. I can't help but wonder however, about the masses who tried to scramble into that vacated slot. I'm surprised you didn't step in to keep it in the family. ha ha. Wait, has it been filled yet?

Looks like it starts at 5pm and runs till 11pm on Friday. Bummer for me, since I'll have to run for the BART by 6 or 7 to see previous said friends in SF. Hmmm, friends vs. tattoo convention. Decisions, decisions... It runs 11am-11pm Saturday and 11am-6pm Sunday.

Yes, let's try to meet at the convention. I'd be more than happy to since I'll be missing the pre-party. I'll probably dive into the city Friday to see some old friends at some point, but I'm staying at the Hyatt all weekend. Horrible description, but I'll be an Asian guy with long hair, glasses, black & grey Japanese sleeves, probably wearing black or some shade of grey, trying to be discreet about staring at everyone's tattoos but too shy to approach you and ask ;-) Anyway if you see me before the meet, just come up and say Hi!

You should get a kitchen sink tattoo as well in one of your filler spaces ;-)

Dried squid, that's some good shit. From the asian markets. Nosh on that and some cold beer. Yeah, that's gooood.

True that part, but I especially hate it when people actually try to pull up my shirt to see my back or pull it up to show someone else my tattoos. Sometimes, I'm not even part of the group conversation when someone's tried to lift up my shirt. Then they get pissed off at me when I whirl around glaring. WTF!

Ooooo, that's going to be nice. I like how the crescent sits and caps the shoulder.

Thanks for the info! Good to hear. I don't yet have a scheduled appointment with him. I'm on his list and I've seen a sketch, but I'll be patient and wait my turn. It'll all be worth it. The good side of it is the longer the wait, the more I'll be able to save up for future work

Grrrrroooaaan... What exactly do you mean by "special" and "not wrong"?! I'm planning my next tattoos to be on both my feet. You two scare me given all the tattoo experiences you've had. Mind you absolutely wonderful ones at that! Knock on wood, I'm hoping for Horitomo cats. Just praying, sacrificing the neighbor's goats, reading some KFC chicken bone messages and sorta patiently waiting for that special phone call asking when I'd be able to set up an appointment. Fingers crossed.

Hey all! Just announced on the Convention's FB. Shige's Seminar reservations are now available for purchase. I believe it goes from 10am till 11:30, with only 100 seats available each day on Saturday or Sunday. 99 on Saturday, since I already booked in on that ;-) Not to be missed! https://www.eventbrite.com/event/8220639153

@Kahlan Everyone, please correct me if you feel differently or have alternatives. For the short duration I lived there I felt any shop mentioned in SF is accessible. The city is pretty much 7 miles x 7 miles. I pretty much walked the span once or twice running errands. But if you're more sane, cabbing or bussing it anywhere is easy. State of Grace in SJ, is about an hour drive from SF. Typically I've driven but I guess you could take the train down too. Temple in Oakland should be an easy and quick BART trip over I believe. Spider Murphy's in San Raphael too should also be accessible but via ferry then bus I think. I'm not sure how long that takes though. Hope this helps a wee bit.

Yeah, this reminded me of a time I had a conversation with a friend's friend. I think she asked me about my tattoos initially and it somehow segued to Hardy. At that point she spewed some trash about Ed Hardy thinking of the clothing. I responded by trying to inform her that he's actually a great artist, a legend in the tattoo world, and a great influence on people despite what feelings there are towards the clothing design. Also that it was Audigier who she should probably be disgusted with. In her elitist arrogance, her look at me turned to disgust and saw me as a huge douche for even trying to say anything positive about the name "Ed Hardy". That pretty much ended the conversation and we happily went our separate ways. I might not necessarily be a fan of the stereotypes wearing the clothes but I'm far less interested in the people too elitist to have an open mind and who trash others they know nothing about.

I agree. Saw this and was really excited about it. Then I realized I can't make it the opening night at least. Pretty bummed. Please update me later if you go.

I was just at JANM, where they were photographing some Chris Brand back pieces. Everyone should get excited about this come next Spring. Plan your vacations and book your tickets now if you live outside of LA. This is going to be cool.