DJDeepFried

Okay -- so it's not the best picture of me. Lay off, guys!

@embers takes it with the late entry! Well done, my friend.

I for one am proud to be a (small) part of a forum whose members are posting some of the best tattoos in the world right now.

People are dumb. Having said that there is something funky about some traditional Japanese tigers I've seen. I read somewhere that it's because there were no tigers in Japan so the images were based on written descriptions in Chinese literature. In fact I just Googled it: Tigers in Japanese Art | Arts & Culture | Smithsonian. Here's the example they use:

Sweet! Me too.

I want...

You guys were not kidding about the elbow ditch. A week in, my arm is almost healed except for the ditch which is bruised, scabby, and sore.

@Ragen -- that is killer. Who's the artist again?

I was considering a jellyfish after I saw this article on Boing Boing. Incredible creatures they are. http://boingboing.net/2010/06/17/photo-from-peter-sc.html

@Graeme -- that's exactly what I said!

Go to Rock of Ages or Perfection -- both in Austin.

Yep -- that's me arm. It's exactly what I wanted and better than I imagined. His lines are so thick and clean and bold. Thanks @Graeme & @suburbanxcore! PS: I saw your Necronomicon in his new portfolio. So bad ass.

@Graeme, I'm getting a kickass Japanese-style dragon 7/10 sleeve w/ sakura, I think. Going past the elbow -- new territory for me re: tattoo visibility, which admittedly makes me a little nervous for some reason...

Seth mutha truckin' Wood -- booked! In 11 short days we start my right arm. Super stoked.

Even better -- they're giving it away for free! EL-P + KILLER MIKE = RUN THE JEWELS I don't know why I have a soft spot for Kanye. He's like an idiot savant, but a smart one. Yes, he's a total jackass but that adds to the weird mystique, I think. For sure he's been listening to Death Grips. I like the rawness and that he's trying to make Art with a capital A -- unlike say Jay-Z who's just putting out more "product" for the masses.

@HaydenRose "I am a god So hurry up with my damn massage In a French-ass restaurant Hurry up with my damn croissants" The man is the poet laureate of our generation. @Graeme Never saw 'em live. MBV was one of the best shows I ever saw -- back in the '90s. (The LSD helped.) Not so crazy about the new album so it didn't make the cut. Disappointing after a twenty year wait.

Yes -- and all wear fundoshi. You too @TrixieFaux!

Just finished watching the series. Don't understand Italian, don't need to. Great stuff.

Hoping to go to the opening. Anyone else?

Here's mine: 1) Queens of the Stone Age – ...Like Clockwork 2) Deafheaven – Sunbather 3) Parquet Courts – Light Up Gold 4) Kanye West – Yeezus 5) Nine Inch Nails – Hesitation Marks 6) Tomahawk – Oddfellows 7) Red Hare – Nites of Midnight 8) Killer Mike & El-P – Run the Jewels 9) Prodigy & Alchemist – Albert Einstein 10) Atoms for Peace – Amok 11) Dumb Numbers – Dumb Numbers 12) Big Business – Battlefields Forever 13) Jesu – Everyday I Get Closer to the Light from Which I Came

It looks pretty good to me. Think you're obsessing a bit (as many of us do). Hard to tell if you're lying perfectly straight or the camera angle is dead center -- and even then the human body is not perfectly symmetrical without the use of Photoshop.

As others have posted on here, your best bet would be: John Sultana or Zac Scheinbaum @ Saved NYC Thomas Hooper @ Rock of Ages in Austin, TX Getting an appointment on the other hand could be... tricky unless you're willing to wait. Nathan Kostechko has been known to travel a bit as do the fine folks at 2Spirit in SF who do some amazing work -- shout-out to @Mike Bennett in particular.

Please review here when you have!

This is probably the most comprehensive explanation I've found on the internets of the "what goes with what" vis-a-vis flowers that I think you were referring to. Some of this seems like common sense -- like don't mix plants from different seasons -- but I agree: if you're not super hung up on what's "traditional," get what you dig. From an interview with Horihide: "Tattooists who have not been apprenticed and trained by tattoo masters do not know the reasons or meanings of the traditional designs. For example, there are four seasons (spring, summer, fall and winter) in Japan. The seasons should be expressed in tattoo art as well. Real Japanese tattoo artists express each season on the skin. However, the untrained tattooists do not know traditional thoughts on Japanese art. The untrained tattooists draw a snake and cherry blossoms, but this is a wrong way in tradition. When cherry trees begin to bloom in March in Japan, the snake still hibernates under the ground. So the snake and cherry blossom cannot be seen in the same period. In other words, it does not make any sense if the snake and cherry blossoms are drawn together. Some tattooists draw a carp climbing up the waterfall together with peonies. Actually, we can see the carp climbing up the waterfall from the late September to October in Japan. It is supposed to go with maple leaves, not peonies. (The symbol of maple leaves refers to the autumn.) When hutatsugoi (twin carp) and huhugoi (a married couple carp) are drawn, two carp (one carp for the arm, for example) can go with peonies, because we do not have to express seasons in these cases. There are several traditional combinations: Karajishi, which is a combination Shishi (lion) with botan (peonies), and ryu (dragon) with kiku (chrysanthemum) and menchirashi (men means “a mask,” and chirashi or chirasu means “to scatter”) with cherry blossoms. Those images are particular sets for Japanese traditional tattoo designs.” Re-post from: ANCIENT ART OF THE JAPANESE TEBORI TATTOO MASTERS | INK IN HARMONY | The Selvedge Yard

We've noticed that his newer ones -- probably by better, established artists -- make his old crappy ones look better. A classic example of "get more tattoos." Yes, he's a douche, but he gets a permanent pass from me for being in Jane's Addiction.