Dhopper

It may have been months since I been on this forum, but Ed is the G.O.A.T! I am glad I got to meet him back in 2010 at Taki's and Roman's convention.

Thanks and I will... I mentioned the opening party right?

Yes you did. I will try to get up there for it. It will be here before you know it!

Not to hijack this thread but, this is one of the only threads I read on this forum anymore. Please keep us updated Jen!

@Dhopper thanks again for all the info!

I think the plan is to stay 4 nights (Wednesday through Sunday) in Austin. My girlfriend grew up 3 hours north of Austin so we will be staying there in that area another 2-3 nights prior to going down to Austin. I don't plan on renting a car while staying in Austin so we will be cabbing it to the different areas of town. Based on the above recommendations I think we are going to stay in one of the hotels along 35 (south of the river and north of 71) so we'll be about 3 miles from the E 6th bar scene and downtown area, 3 miles from Rock of Ages, and about 2 miles from South Congress area.

Any recommendations on a good place for a pre-tattoo appointment meal near Rock of Ages?

So, you are going to be by riverside, oltorf, and Woodward. You will be in an area that has a lot of Mexican food! Taking a cab from there is going to be costly. I would see if the dillo is running if you are going to go downtown. I would suggest not to hang around your hotel at night! It is not a bad area just a lot of college kids and a lot of traffic. I lived over there for 2 years and cars get broken into. Emos is on riverside.

Where to eat before your tattoo depends on what you like to eat. Closest places are gordos, Maria's taco express. Barton springs rd is a few mins maybe 4 or 5 in a car because of traffic, has Shady Grove, Baby a's, uncle Billy's, and p. Terry's. on congress and oltorf is Lucy's. I love there fried chicken! Gueros is on congress and a pizza place that I can not think of its name right now. I would suggest food trucks on congress. I eat at the Cajun one and my wife like coat and Thai. Threadgills is a cool Austin place. Southern style food.

I would suggest a rental car for the day of your appt though. 20 or 30 bucks and you can explore and you would pay that just going to and from your appt!

All good info, thanks.

I'll be over there in less than 3 weeks for a concert. :D

who you going to see?

Has anyone here actually been in the military in the last 5-10 years?

I was in the Army a little over 10 years ago and I remember getting shit for my tattoos. I was at Fort Benning and had to go to one of the General's office and had to explain my tattoos and him saying to get my tattoos covered or blacked out. The rebel flag (not on me) had to have the stars colored in so it look like a blue x. Mine would of not been that easy to fix and i was told to get them fixed or get out. Nothing happened to me. This was also within 6 months after 9-11 and you got a 30,000 signing bonus. You may say the military owns you but they dont. I actually got in an arguement with my buddy (who got out of the marines about a year and half ago) with his Uncle that was an Drill SGT at Benning also and he never said anything about tattoos being a problem.

Man, I was up around Parmer Ln yesterday .... used to live up there. That neighborhood (say, Rundberg north to Yeager) is just getting worse and worse. My advice is to stay south of the river, or tak a cab to the east 6th area. Lots of cool stuff over there nowadays.

Rundberg is never a good area to be! I live off Parmer but it is not like chicon and mlk area. Eastside of 35 is very hit and miss!

What do you thing of Fonda San Miguel @rileykill or @kevtijerina? It is a nice place for drinks if you are north.

The grackel and yellow jacket are some places on the east side.

freebirds! my friends hate it that i make them take me there everytime..

in that one anthony bourdaine episode, where they show the two bbq spots. the one you have to wait hours in line for, then the other one in the dirt parking lot where they have hoedowns and shit. id say go to the hoedown one (forget the name, but my friends there agree).

6th street is kind of corny. it reminds me of being in a really bad college movie, like if you want to go drink budweiser and listen to sugar ray and really bad rap music.

6th street is cool. just make sure you know where youre going, cause theres cool music stuff going on in the cut.

seeing the bats fly from the bridge at sunset is pretty fun actually. the fact that theres others out there waiting also makes it a funner experience, imo. im glad i went to go see that.

if i remember right, south congress? lots of cool resturants, coffee spots, and shops there (there might be a new district for this).

austin is fun. im sure its also changing pretty rapidly, so my advice may be a little dated.

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*mays also a good time to go, im assuming. thats when the locals can feel like they can fucking breath again, since sxsw came and went.

*if youre out on 6th street make sure you grab a slice from "morrissys pizza". its not called that, just some guy who looks like morrissy who sells pizza out of his truck.

The long line bbq place is Franklins. The other bbq place is Mueller. It is also the same shit. There is plenty of places to eat!

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There cooler bars/venues on the Eastside- don't waste your time with 6th Eastside Bar Crawl - Photos - The Austin Chronicle

Be sure and pick up an Austin Chronicle when you get to town- it'll help with the navigation.

Yes!

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*24 hour cafe action. theres a few spots. and restaurants, diners. could ask almost anyone about them. my buddys been hitting up the ol' ihop for afterhours. says all the other spots are becoming too hype. guess its diff as a local.

*go find some gangster shit too do. i know they party under the freeway sometimes with lowriders. meeting the same boring white person who transplanted to atx over and over again gets old.

Magnolia cafe and kerbey lane is probably your best bet.

.....Depending on when you are here in May and for how long will dictate where you can go.

Freebirds is pretty go. It is a chain restaurant.

WHat king of music do you like? Congress St has the Continental Club. A few restaurants.

If you are white, watch the gangsta shit! 6th street you could get in a fight easier than warehouse/2nd st area. I would go to the dirty dog if you are on 6th. The cops downtown will fuck you up if you thing you are bad or get caught up in some shit. Also, you can not drink on the streets and if you are caught driving you better not be a no refuse time (that is where you get a blood test on the spot with no chance of not getting fucked!). Usually holidays. I have had a buddy get stabbed and if you think just because you are a girl nothing will happen, you will be mistaken!

Eastside is some hipster places but still chance of sketchness. The homeless place, The Arch, is downtown and some crazies can be around.

Just be cool and keep your nose clean. That is what I am trying to say.

I lived here for 20 years now and most people are easy going. Slower pace is South Austin. A lot more like Dallas or California up North.

If I stay downtown is it easy enough to take a taxi to the different parts of town?

You can walk mostly where you need. 6th street and the warehouse district isn't more than a couple of blocks from either other. You can take a taxi but we have pedi cabs around downtown. I would only use a taxi if you want to go to the east side. It will be in the 90s maybe even 100 but May. Bring plenty of shirts and most clubs don't have a dress code unless you dress like a gangbanger or wear sandals/flip flops. Rock of ages is about 5 to 7 mins away. You can take a bus from downtown to them. Possibly take an one half to a full hour to go though the stops. If you want to go up to north Austin, rent a car. We have zip car and cars2go. Little smart cars that have there own parking at certain places. Barton Springs is good to go to. It is about 68 degrees year round and really chill and walking distance to a couple of restaurants. Some girls will be topless and if you have a dog you can take it to the dog area for it to run around in the walk or take it to lady bird lake.

If you have anymore questions just holla. Also @fallingapartart lives in austin

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get a bus schedule. best way to get around.

Have you been to Austin?

I'm planning a trip to Austin, Texas in early May and I'm looking for suggestions on things to do, see, eat, and where to stay.

***I already have an appointment at Rock of Ages w/ Steve Byrne so I don't need tattoo suggestions :)

Go to perfection and see all the great artwork.

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Yes you can! If you want a certain type of food then ask around.

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See a movie at the Alamo Drafthouse downtown.

Alamo ritz has a smaller collection, maybe 3 or 4 movies to chose from. If you have a car, go to the one down in south Austin. It is now assigned seating.

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I'm gonna follow this, since I'm going to Austin as well, in April. My friend lived there for a few months and spoke highly of it. Ill try to get recommendations from her to post for you

I am glad your friend moved away. Too many fucking people here anyway. Austin is not your home and don't try to make it your home either! If you are with someone that lives in Austin have them show you around. If you are visiting say downtown.

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Now, with that all said, best places to eat will be told to you by dryfess when you come to town. He works at rock of ages and is like the concierge. Stay downtown! Traffic is a motherfucker! It can take you an hour to go 15 miles if no accidents are on the road. The Hilton, San Jose and omni is my chooses to stay. Food trucks are big here! If you want more you can ask @else if she like the info I gave her and a places to eat at while in town!

Maybe things have picked up for them. Thank you to the artists that do i.e. you Shannon, take time out of their day to comment. There does seem to be a lack of quality lately on the forum of questions and answers.

I don't think Stewart, Valerie, Mario, Dan, Bryan, you( Shannon), or who else that is a professional, wants to have their name on a thread about " I am new here and bought a tattoo kit off eBay" or " I am a vegan, that wants only tantric music playing while I get my tattoo of a reminder to not screw my neighbor that is an alcoholic because I pistol whipped him with my taser!"

Probably numbering to remember which one that one is! (Not being racist or anything but she(who is holding the baby) probably is not an upstanding citizen that and who lives off the government!)

Water!

Here is a picture of me!

Here is a newer one in the middle.

Luckily I'm pretty close to Cleveland, but I'm Going to Chicago in March and getting tattooed by Nick Colella, and San Francisco in June where I hope to get tattooed by Scott Sylvia (haven't made the appointment yet) so if I can I'm going to Get one by Greg Christian somewhere in between if I can catch him while he's home!

Never heard of any of those guys. Do the specialize in portraits?

It was a great episode! Tin tin was the first realistic tattoo i seen and made me want to get a tattoo!

Traditional has rules of what goes with what ie Koi with a certain flower. Kwan yin (sp) hands a certain way.

Non traditional is more artistic.

Ed Hardy non-traditional. Horiyoshi 2 traditional.

Sailor Jerry non. Horitoshi 1 traditional (I think).

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Here is a traditional tattoo

<------ the one on the left

Or you can see on my profile

You go to the right artist, they will do it right. If you want Japanese traditionally done, i believe you would need to ask someone off the forum because it is a lot of stuff not easily just spoken. I think you need visuals too. I am not by any means an expert on anything tattoo related. See Trevino, Lehi, Rubendall, Brian Bruno, or get in contact with someone that could enlighten you, like a guy at state of grace, or Alex reike, filip leu. Just look at at Taki's people that do the San Fran convention there is bound to be someone. But this thread is about ink masters tv show. To love or hate!

Here is a pic of my wife's chest (shhh don't tell her I posted it ;) ). Her right side by Trevor McStay and her left side by Jason Kundell. They are my favorites!

I like Jason's tattoos. He was very nice when I met him.

So I made my first post the other day as @BrandonGermain and posted a picture of my elbow done by Steve Byrne. For whatever reason after posting I decided I didn't want to use my full name on a message board, so I made this account and will be using this one from here on out.

I apologize to the moderators if I broke any rules, and I'm sorry to whoever just read that shitty and irrelevant bit of information.

With that being said...Today I got tattooed by Chris Conn. Chris was so cool and really does go above and beyond for his clients. Everything about getting tattooed today was rad. Not to mention his studio is less than five minutes from my house. Couldn't have been a better situation.

I will post better pics once it is healed.

That looks like a tattoo of the month contender!

Are those ladybugs? Is that next to your armpit?

In all seriousness, without a picture it is hard to say what could cover it up. If you can't get a good picture of it on here just have a tattooer take a look at it. That would be your best bet.

My two cents

I can't afford to travel all over the place to go to all kinds of famous shops either. But I do believe it's important to visit your family. I mean, I want my kids to know their cousins/aunts/uncles and all. How can I help it if they happen to live in Texas, Arizona, Florida and California? As long as I'm driving/flying all the way there to visit them anyway, wouldn't it be borderline criminal not to visit some famous shops with a pocket full of cash and ample bare spots on my skin and, you know, just see what happens?

Well, that's what I'm telling my wife, anyway.

That is how it went with me. Oh lets go on a trip, I hear San Fran is nice. Tattoo by Grime. Hey we can go to Lake Tahoe for our honeymoon. Problem is we have to drive up from San Francisco and oh there is a tattoo convention by some guy name takin, Tania, Taki! That's it Taki!

Did not take long for her to caught on when I recommend a place to go she say " who tattoos there?"