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irezumi

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Everything posted by irezumi

  1. I dont mind sharing this one because just about everyone has seen it already.
  2. Bill, you are correct. Brain tumor. And Hogg is correct, I spent a lot of time at Tux's, both as a client and a friend. He did a lot of my first tattoos and a proud to have a lot of work from him, and among other things he was also a very major influence on my outlook & my early impressions in Our Thing. He was the first person to put a machine in my hand, was the one to introduce me to both Higgs and DeVita, and always freely gave me info or answers to anything I asked. I dont know why he bonded with me or my old housemate Poppy, but for some reason we clicked. He was such an asshole to so many other people. The very epitomy of the old grumpy tatbro, I saw him mercilessly & cruelly shoot down so many ideas of walk-in customers (including myself; he saved me from a lot of stupid tattoo ideas I had when I was 18/19) with the ol' "thats a stupid fucking idea. Thats not a tattoo". I can only assume this is where Dan got his phrase 'mine is not the only way, but the only way you'll get from me'. I can not speak with complete accuracy on this, but if I'm not correct, I think Seth might've asked him for a job way way way back? If what I remember is correct, Tux treated him like a heel and told him to split; in so many words. Only Seth could verify this for sure. Seth if I got that wrong, my bad. Not that Seth was the only one. I'm pretty sure the same thing happened when Dave Waugh was at his shop, feeling out a job if my somewhat shakey memory is correct. All of this happende back in 93 or 94, so if anything is incorrect on the Seth or Dave story, plz understand. I was really bummed when I heard of his passing. It happened when I was living in Minneapolis and had no way to come back to Bmore & visit or pay my respects. Jeff, you did a lot for me, and can be responsible for much of my appreciation of our culture. Many thanks. RIP
  3. I notice that hardly anyone ever mentions Tux when Higgs or DeVita are brought up. Is he that slept on?
  4. Sorry I didnt see this sooner; Havent been to LST in a minute.

    No, It's been about 11 years since I lived up that way. Been in Savannah GA for abour 4 years now.

    What about you?

  5. I have been tattooed by him at his house; but only by referral by a good mutual friend. From what I hear you may or may not catch him in a zappin mood at the very few conventions he goes to.
  6. Extremely difficult. Fortunately a little bit of interneting will get you the recent re-release of the 7" Good luck on finding the purple album.
  7. I'm feeling generous today. I give you 2 photos not available on any internetz anywhere. Well, maybe you can find the single cover somewhere but I really doubt it. These are from Dan's first band call Reptile House.
  8. How odd. I just recently scanned that same article for a friend. Except I scanned it large to read without going blind hahaha. In fact that whole issue is a gem in the rough. Very early interviews with Marcus, Rassier, Hoyer, Elio.. for a already-dated publication at that point, this issue has some knowledge jewels. In the Higgs interview, one of the things I identify with the most is where he talks at length about his experience at Tux's; what he says can pretty much sum up word for word my experience as well with him as well, to almost every detail. His description of the shop, its unique atmosphere, the mood it set, etc. I must've missed this pic.
  9. Pretty sure this is why The Melvins almost never play in Canada anymore.
  10. On that note, without really trying to derail the thread too much, I did ask & get to see an AMAZING backpiece by Roper on Ichibay's back when I saw him @ Montreal Convention. Holy shit.
  11. I think most people dont post his work online intentionally. Same with Roper. Some things need to be seen in person.
  12. No names need be said to prevent people catching feelings. But most likely any shops or owners mentioned here would not be enlightened enough to know what the words forum or thread are. Having worked in nothing but street shops, I have seen/worked around plenty of gnarly shit. But none takes the cake of the first shop I worked at. In 99 I got my first job in an armpit of a shop, working the counter for tips and shop experience. I was stoked to have my first foot in the door. This was at a place in College Park MD, right near DC. Owned by a biker whom we will call Sonny, who thankfully was never there. With no exaggeration, he was never out of jail for more than 4 days at a time. Seriously, that was the record while I was there. We had a betting pool each time he was out. We had wall-to-wall carpet evrywhere, including the bathroom, which was also where the handwashing sink was also dirty sink/tubescrubbing sink. Basically walking through the lobby & down the hall with dirty tubes everyday. The tattoo area had years of inkspots decorating the carpet. On the rare occasions when Sonny would be out of jail, he would sometimes come in at after we all left to tattoo friends. The aftermath of this would be coming in the next day to find a dirty setup on someone's station (using all that persons equip), and for some reason he would leave used needles in the top drawer of your station instead of a sharps. One of the best/worst examples was coming to find that he had used someone's ink & had apparently lost the cap; so plugged the bottle by sticking a used bar into it, needle & all. On the days when he was out during the daytime, he would usually come in, take ALL the cash out the till (leaving nothing for change) and hopefully leave ASAP. If he was in jail, he would have his gf/exwife's sister come in randomly clear out every dime, even if bills were overdue & utilies about to get shut off. There were occasions where we had to hide paperwork from him to squirrel the money away to pay the bills to keep the shop open and running. Sadly enough, He was actually better off in jail, where he was in a structured enviroment. With no access to alcohol, which was always related to every arrest, he stayed out of trouble for the most part. Him being locked up actually kept the shop in a somewhat more stable enviroment. We all flew the coop eventually and from what I heard, there was a 'mysterious fire' that most likely happened after he made his insurance was paid up.
  13. irezumi

    Man Vs. Food

    Correct! Only 10 winners plus ManFood dude. Not gonna quit til I get my Mr Miyaki headband. Will post pics upon completion.
  14. irezumi

    Man Vs. Food

    I have been to the Bushido in Charleston where he did the ten spicy tuna roll challenge and have attempted it myself, knowing full well I would not make it to level 10. I got to level 5, and boy was I sweating hard. Finna make it to level 7 next time.
  15. I was lucky enough to get a Higgs zap while living in Baltimore, but back then I had no idea he was going to be so unavailable after that; would've gotten more. Best tattoo I did not get was from Rollo. Was visiting Minneapolis in 99 or 2000 cant remember which, and my friend who know him well took us to Aloha where I met Mike & Keith. Super nice guy, Mike was more than gracious in letting me go through boxes and boxes of crazy old China Sea stuff, and a few books with all kinds of drawings, tracings,and stencils from Jerry. Saw a LOT of stuff that has never seen the pages of any book or magazine or printed anywhere. Shared some good stories as he was tattooing some chick, and smoked a cigar with his gloves on hahaha. He reminded me of a big ol tattooed cigar smoking Santa. Having only 250$ to spend, I had a tough choice in front of me. Get a zap from Mike, or get some rad artwork. I figured I'd get the art this trip, and a zap on the next trip. I bought the stencil of a snake with Jerry's head wrapped around a broad holding a fan in front of her face, and a lil seahorse drawing he did. By the time I was up in MPLS next, it was '02 when I was moving there to work at a shop, but I believe Rollo had already moved away by the time I had dough saved after moving up there. One of many highlights was to watch him paint, and also getting to look at a lot of the originals for the blackeyes book, but at the time had no idea they were being painted for publication. I don't think I regret not getting tattooed; I absolutely love what I bought. I just wish I could've gotten both.
  16. ^surely this does not match thread title. That shit is rad.
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