Once Again...More Tattoo Work...

Mini praying hands for ya!
I love the gangster script all day every day!
This kid was really cool. He and a friend were on a roadtrip from Chicago and he got this cactus tattoo while passing though. We had a good time talking and cutting up while he was in the chair
Belly bird thinks that naval piercing is food

from: Taija N.
to: tiangotlost@gmail.com
date: Wed, Jun 17, 2009 at 7:27 AM
subject: Tattoo

Hi!

I got a tattoo few years ago, when i was young and now I think I really didn't think it through. In tattoo there is cat (looks like a rat), so I started to wonder if the mark with the cat is really real. Does it say anything, is it false?

When I took it, it had meaning for me. Now I can't even remember that word what it was supposed to meant. I've checked all the possibles I know it could be, but haven't found that mark anywhere. I know, I've might been a stupid and I really don't understand how I forget it. Maybe it was that I didn't really understand what it meant and I just trusted the man who tattooed it.

I've read too much stories about people having stupid, even insulting or meaningless tattoos, so I just want to know if mine is real.

I guess, good thing is no one japanese or Chinese haven't ever stared it or laughed:D

Thank you very much in advance. I hope you can help me. I put the picture of tattoo for you.

Taija N.



It looks like 名 to me, what do you think?

Hardwire Tattoo...

My friend Justin owns and tattoos at Hardwire Tattoo located in Wilmington, NC. When he opened a new shop, he asked me to come down and do some paintwork for him. The only photos of the shop that I could find are these two, but I did much more work than what's shown. Here's the lettering on the front doors, and below is a pirate wench. Justin always has interesting and fun projects for me to do, and this was no exception. I hope to visit him and the rest of the guys who work at the shop soon!

Some New Tattoo Work...

This lettering on the front of the leg is the beginning of a larger piece...
This girl sat like a champ during this fairly big tattoo on her back...
I never get tired of doing Old E lettering

DUB Show Phoenix This Past Weekend...

Went to the DUB Show this past weekend courtesy of my friends at Black Widow Customs. It was fun checking out all the trick paint, and getting fresh ideas for future projects. OG Abel was there selling his badass shirts, and I got to talk to him a bit. I had a great time hanging out with the Black Widow guys, and got a much needed break from the grind at home
This is Shaq's bike, and the eyes light up red...so dumb it's cool
Money, Power, and Bitches...you keep it classy Phoenix
Here are some examples of Mike Lamberson's striping and silver leaf work...badass!


The striping above is a little much for my taste, but looks good none the less
This was my favorite paint job from the whole show
Yellow candied silver leaf on a yellow truck actually looked really good
After seeing this car, I immediately put curtains in the windows of my ride

New Tattoo Work...

I put this tattoo on my friend Louie who wanted a piece to represent his career as a sailer in the navy. The anchors were taken from a photo of the pin he used to wear on his uniform
I did this paw print on a girl who's cat passed away yesterday. She wanted to do something in his honor, and now when she looks at her arm he will be remembered...

from: David L.
to: tiangotlost@gmail.com
date: Sun, Jun 14, 2009 at 12:11 PM
subject: tattoo meaning

Hi, I'm called David Lopez.

I'm from Barcelona and I would like to know that it means a tattoo that I did to myself years ago.
I believe that it is Chinese and though I did it for aesthetics, now I am afraid of taking a meaning that I don't want.

My girlfriend and I would have a lot of interest to know the real meaning of my tattoo.

Thank you very much in advance. You will be of great help!

David



賈 means "buy/trade", 路 means "road, path", 卡 means "card".

賈路卡 sounds like a type of prepaid card that allows its owner to access public transportation. Typically it is called 乗車券 定期券 (short for 定期乗車券) in Japan and 月票 in China.

Some readers suggested this could be translation of "Jeanluc", but that is not correct. Jeanluc is 吉魯克.

Massachusetts is red(-faced)

Dr. Victor Mair, who wrote about the MaxPlanckForschung Cover Fiasco, points me to another piece in Language Log.



Dr. Mair says:

Reading the New Yorker on the train this morning, I was struck by the full-page ad following p. 17. When my eye drifted down the page a little, I had a bit of a shock.

I could immediately read the four Chinese characters on the arch over the entrance to Boston's Chinatown: 天下為公 ("All-under-Heaven Is a Commonwealth"), reading left to right. What left me disoriented is that each of the characters in the inscription was reversed. But then I realized that the entire inscription was a mirror image of what it should be. In other words, all four characters should be flipped over as a group and read from right to left.


As shown in the ad


Corrected (Note: classical Chinese is written right-to-left, hence the corrected image shows 公為下天 instead of 天下為公)

While not as embarrassing as the MaxPlanckForschung Cover Fiasco, I think that the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism might consider asking the advertising agency responsible for the New Yorker slip-up to give them a partial refund.

Update: This snafu is brought to you by Connelly Partners in Boston, MA. http://www.connellypartners.com/

Go to "our work", print, MOTT, it's the third one.

(Thanks to anonymous for the tip.)

One Weird Graf Mural...

I painted this wall inside a warehouse owned by Marty Warhola, who is Andy Warhol's nephew. I'm not sure if there was ever a definite meaning behind the mural, but it's really big and looks cool. There were many other pieces of art hanging in the warehouse, including some originals by Andy. It was a cool place, it was the home to two of the coolest cats I ever met.

from: James H.
to: tiangotlost@gmail.com
date: Sun, Jun 7, 2009 at 12:31 PM
subject: Translation of friend's tattoo

My friend Trev got this tattoo several years ago and he claims it means "survive". A Japanese woman in a sandwich shop gave us some reason to doubt this when she claimed it does not translate to that but she declined to translate it for us, She did say it was "nothing bad" though. As you can imagine I'm looking forward to mocking him if it is wrong. Any idea what it says?


I forwarded this to Alan Siegrist and he had this to say:

The tattoo reads 存続する [sonzoku suru] which means to "continue to exist."

This is not the same as the ordinary meaning of to "survive" in English which should be translated 生き残る [ikinokoru], when referring to a person surviving some sort of disaster like a plane crash, or surviving to old age.

The verb 存続する is not used to refer to people, but rather some sort of inanimate object or concept.

Perhaps 存続 might be used in the legal concept of "survivorship" so that might be how the mistake occurred.

I guess this is sort of "close but no cigar."

A Gang of New Tattoo Work...

My buddy finally came back in the shop to get his pinup girl tattoo finished. I lined and shaded it a couple months ago, and couldn't wait to finish it with some color...
This revolver design is from my flash set and represents the five two cero...
My friend Michael had me ink this rosary on him. I didn't do the praying hands and cross design...
I really enjoy tattooing big lettering pieces like this one, it must be the sign painter in me...
This fire department badge also has elements of EMT and SWAT team emblems added for my buddy who wanted a tattoo that reflected his various careers over the years...
Can't go wrong with this one...keeping it gangster...
Tattoo on my buddy's palm. When this one heals, we're going to do the other hand...
Big, bold, gangster lettering...
This was a cover-up for my friend JD. He had three Japanese kanji symbols that he wanted covered up with a design that symbolized his passion for racing.

Lowrider Caddy Striping...

My friend Jose wanted me to paint some scroll striping on his Caddy. He was really happy with the way it turned out. I was too.