Happy Easter

Tat Tuesday

Thought I would try out a new weekly post (like I don't post enough, already).  I have always been a huge fan of tattoos and body modifications, but I haven't found way to incorporate that into the website.  Hopefully, that's where "Tat Tuesday" will come in.

"Tat Tuesday" will be a weekly post consisting of a photo or two of a tattoo or a piercing that I admire or appreciate.  In the last decade, the tattoo industry has attracted a bevy of classic artists, many with college degrees in art history and theory.  Tattoo artists are no longer the stereotypical biker with a tattoo gun.  They are legitimate artists, using the human body as their canvas.

For this week's post, I thought I would show my latest piece of work.  I had it done in May of this year by Josh at Serenity Tattoo in Tucson, Arizona.  He did a wonderful job.  He also did some work on my wife earlier this year.  I'll probably show her piece at a later time.  I had a hard time with my arm accepting the ink.  There were some areas where he had to go over eight or nine times before any ink would seem to go into the skin.  It also scabbed up differently than any of my previous tattoos.  On a couple of the numbers, overnight most of the ink bled out.  Since my last tattoo, I had been diagnosed as having Type II Diabetes.  It was a night and day experience versus any tattoo I had had previously.  The pain level was exponentially higher.  It initially healed up "waxy", and took about six weeks or so to look normal.  It's enough of a game changer to reconsider getting another tattoo until my A1C drops considerably.

It healed up well though, as you can see.  Pay no attention to the bruises.  I'm still recovering from surgery.

If you have seen 'Donnie Darko', then you recognize the image immediately and understand it's significance.  If not, let me explain.

In the movie, Donnie is visited by a bizarre looking, time traveling, six foot tall rabbit named Frank.  Throughout the movie, you're not really sure at times whether Donnie's actually seeing these's things, or if he's schizophrenic.  This demonic looking rabbit gives him messages throughout the film.  After one of his "episodes", he wakes up on a golf course.  The numbers above are written on his arm, exactly as they are on mine.  Frank tells Donnie, "28 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes, and 12 seconds.  This is when the world will end".

I got the tattoo for two reasons.  First of all, I'm a huge fan of the movie, and I thought it would make a badass tattoo.  I have never seen a full Darko piece on a forearm like that before, and I thought that it would be a cool tattoo to get.

Secondly, I got the tattoo on May 21, 2011.  It was the day that Harold Camping had prophesied that the world was going to end.  Doomsday prophesies are nothing new to me.

I grew up as one of Jehovah's Witnesses.  Every Saturday morning, I was knocking on doors, telling people that god was going to destroy the world at the "great day of Armageddon".  It was coming any day now.  My mother was so sure that it was right around the corner, in fact, that she kept me out of kindergarten.  Kindergarten came and went.  So did twelve years of school.  I was forbidden to go to college, because there would be no need for higher education in god's "new system of things".  Armageddon was right around the corner, after all.

I'm 36 now.  My daughter will be starting kindergarten in two years, and I'm sure my mother is still saying that Armageddon is, now more than ever, "right around the corner".

My point is, there will always be some religious zealot out there with a doomsday prophesy.  Whether it be the Jehovah's Witnesses, or Harold Camping or the Mayans, the world is set to end in someone's mind about every 28 days.  That is why I got the tattoo:  To remind myself of what I left 15 years ago.

Songs That Get Under Your Skin, Part II

Recorded for the 2001 film 'Donnie Darko', this cover of the 1982 Tears for Fears hit 'Mad World', by Gary Jules, instantly, and forever, gets under your skin.

I remember watching the movie the first time. The song comes in at the end. Instead of paying attention to the movie, I'm thinking to myself, "Oh my god. What a creepy song. Wait. Is that 'Mad World'?

The song is stunning. The first time you hear it, the piano(courtesy of Michael Andrews) will haunt you for days. The song has been featured in many TV shows and commercials since 2001, most notably A&E's 'The Cleaner', and 'CSI'. XBox 360 had a very successful ad campaign a couple of years ago using the song for it's 'Gears of War' game. But for me, it will always remind me of 'Donnie Darko'. Hope you enjoy the song, and I hope it haunts you too until you have to pass it on to someone else.

Remembering Patrick Swayze

Patrick Swayze died earlier this afternoon after a nearly two year battle with pancreatic cancer. He will mostly be remembered for his legendary roles in such hits as 'Dirty Dancing' and 'Ghost'. But even in his "lesser known" movie roles, he was an actor that put everything into his characters. Perhaps his most memorable roles to me was as the troubled motivational speaker, Jim Cunningham, in 2001's 'Donnie Darko'. It was quite a haunting performance. There were some of his movies that were, let's be honest, hated by the critics ('Point Break', 'Road House'). He made them cult classics. He had a way of stealing the scene; of bringing the focus on him. Case in point:

Chris Farley - Chippendales


Anyone......ANYONE!!!!....that can go through that six minute plus skit.....ON LIVE TELEVISION...and keep a straight face is a true professional. He may not be with us anymore but he'll live on through DVD, the internet, and all forms of digital media. Rest in peace Patrick.