Tattooed and a Night of Music

We've been watching L.A. Ink and Miami Ink on The Learning Channel lately. The shows chronicle the inner workings of the tattoo business. They make for interesting viewing as you get a look into the lives of people as they go about having their bodies tattooed and the reasons for their specific tattoo. Oftentimes there is a personal tragedy or triumph which led to their choices. No doubt there are those who get tattooed on a whim but I don't think that would make for good tv.

When I was in the Navy we'd occasionally pull into port in Hong Kong while cruising the western Pacific. There was a tattoo parlor called Pinky's and if a tattoo was in your future that was the place to go. I'm not sure that many if any of the tattoos my shipmates got were born out of tragedy or triumph. I think it was more the thing to do after a night spent drinking. I never saw it but there was a Marine on our ship who had his penis tattooed with red and white stripes so that it looked like a barber's pole. How is that even possible? A friend of mine, Garry Ingles had a squirrel tattooed on each inner thigh. On one thigh the squirrel was running up his leg and on the other thigh, the squirrel was running down his leg with a nut in its mouth. I'm sure it seemed like a great idea at the time but I have to believe Garry lived to regret that tattoo.

A few years ago we were kicking around the streets of Stillwater when we stumbled upon a tattoo shop off the main street. We went inside and began perusing the many tattoos on the walls and in books. I'm not sure which one of us came up with the idea but the three of us agreed that we would someday return and get Christian fish tattoos. We couldn't do it then because Rachel had to be 16. Rachel even drew a fish on her ankle to see how it would look.

Every once in a long while somebody would mention the plans about getting our tattoos and we'd agree that as soon as Rachel turned 16 we'd follow through. As Rachel's 16th birthday grew closer she was bringing the idea up more and more to make sure we were still going to get them. She turned 16 last week and it was now time to make good on all those spoken intentions. And so we did.

We found Archangel Customz tattoo shop 10 minutes from home. Tammy and I stopped in to give the shop a once over. Not that we knew what we were looking for but maybe it was more of a chance to talk ourselves out of it. I don't know. We showed Viper our little drawing of a fish and some color shading Rachel had added to it. He told us that the color shading wouldn't hold up over the years and that he wouldn't do it. I asked if the outline could be done in a color other than black. Viper in so many words told us that we'd get what he'd give us. Okay.

Rachel was excited on the other end of the phone as we called ahead to tell her to be ready as were picking her up to get our tattoos. Viper had each of us in his chair for no more than 5 minutes. It's a bit of an odd feeling after having it done and the realization sets in that it really is permanent. No regrets. Here's mine

The meaning behind our tattoos is to make a simple statement that we're followers of Christ trying to walk his walk, not that we don't trip up at times. I had my tattoo colored red to symbolize Christ's blood. A funny aside about the color I used in mine. We agreed that we'd do our tattoos the same with color in the center. I went first and when I came out, the first thing out of Tammy and Rachel's mouths was, 'I'm not going to color the inside of mine'. Thanks a lot. I like the way it looks even if you don't. 'Oh no, I/we like the way it looks...I/we just want ours plain.'

We were a bit worried about what Rachel's dad would say when he saw her tattoo. He was fine with it.

Tammy and I went to an outdoor concert at Midway Stadium in St. Paul Saturday night. Collective Soul was fronting for Counting Crows. The weather couldn't have been better but we could've done without the 4 drunks behind us during Collective Soul's set. Totally obnoxious. They were spilling beer on people and falling into people. There was no reasoning with them although we tried as did others. One of them tapped me on the shoulder and said, 'we're just trying to enjoy the show'. I responded with 'so are we'. You expect a little of that but these guys were way over the top. We moved back a bit for the Counting Crows set and enjoyed the show much more.

I'd heard from a friend that Adam Duritz has a reputation for being drunk on stage and giving an underwhelming performance for CC but that wasn't at all the case Saturday night. He put on a great show and we both agreed that we'd like to see them again.

I wasn't fully prepared for the show. When I took out my digital camera it wouldn't turn on as I'd forgotten to replace the battery after recharging it. I lifted the photo of Adam from my video camera.

Here are a couple videos I shot from the show for my YouTube account. Collective Soul and Counting Crows.