Dan S

12 Mile...Armenian bangers and suburban wannabe's! Detroit isn't that bad, believe it or not, I actually kida like it there. You just gotta know what you're about, but it's no worse than parts of the SS in Chi, or Gary. If you're looking for some urban homesteading, shit, bring your shotgun, that's the place!

Always get a chuckle out of 'em talking about "big bad Eight-Mile" like it was the heart-o-the ghetto or like that.

I hear you on how messed-up religion is, and on the differences of translation. The King James version was, if remembry serves, translated from the Greek, which was translated from the vulgate. Personally, I still use the Knox translation of the vulgate in light of the Greek & Hebrew originals. Anyhow you slice it, you can read most anything into it. Interesting stories, but that's as far as I'd take it.

My kid tells me they are going to go on-air with "Hardcore Pawn Chicago"...should be interesting!

to everything turn, turn,turn... - - - Updated - - - Probably shouldn't even relate this one, but hey... So, what, maybe 32 years ago, young and running wild, had hair down to my shoulders, beard down to my belt, one of my Brothers asks me to help him move some furniture at an old ladies house. Okay, we go there-she was a lady from his wife's church, and turns out she's an artist, works in oils. We move the furniture, and before we leave, she's all agitated, asks me if she can ask me a question. Sure. "Our church has commissioned me to paint a picture of Jesus for the sanctuary, and I've always worked from life...would you sit for me for the painting?" Um...you gotta feature, I'm a shiftless scooter tramp, she's like 80 years old, all religious and holy and grandmotherly...what could I say? So, if you ever are in a little church outside Chicago, and you think the pic of Jesus in there looks a tad familiar...

All depends on the piece. For a major, covering lotsa territory piece, I totally agree with @Colored Guy, you should see the complete design and still have plenty of time to adjust it, whether that's a week, two weeks, whatever, will depend on the artist. For a smaller piece, yeah, I wouldn't sweat it-if it's just minor edits, they can be done on the fly.

Hi Maria, welcome to LST, hope you enjoy your stay with us!

Details, details. It's a neat place if you stay out of town, but truly, the sex-tourism thing is way too gross. I got no problem with people doing what they're gonna do, tryina get over, but when you see 14 y.o. kids with 50 y.o. guys, well, guess I'm a wuss-turns my stomach. Phil, I imagine there are as many ways of pronouncing Phuket as there are of pronouncing N'Awlin, so I sure nuff won't argue, but I've only heard it pronounced as fooKET by locals. Hey-who knows?!

Some weak shit this month... not

Ah, Phuket...that's foo-KET. Lovely place..is you're looking for Euro sex-tourists!

The KJV is the standard of most protestants that I know.......did I miss something with those NT transcripts? Didn't know they had found more??? So you would have no problem with the Douay version, or any of the others printed under Catholic Canon Law? Comendable...I guess I have run across too many nutjobs-most of those ol' boys would pluck their eyeballs out if they happened to read a papist text! Believe me, I try not to be! For a number of years I was sorta kinda stuck dealing with a group of hardcores-First Church of Christ types, they were pretty bad. Dealing in dirt and stealing in the name of the lord. When I was coming up, I had some truck with hardshells, at least they were pretty straight-up about who and what they were. Preached for a summer for a little river-baptised church, so yeah, I've been in touch with a few, but not recently, hence my question about prevailing attitudes. No problem understanding that. Personally, I feel that we need a revolution in this country, and that there will be one-just a question of time. As for anarchy, that's all good, but when one proclaims anarchy, then one needs to divorce themselves of all the trappings of the system they disdain. Turn out them lights, boy! I'm not sure either, but remind me to get some nekkid womens tattooed on me!!! You know, I think I'll stick with the Wotanist concept of hel as a place of gloom where you aren't able to fight, and you never get to sit in the great hall of Valhalla with the rest of the warriors.

I wouldn't classify them as ramblings, he seems to have grounded his position in his beliefs, and backed that up with those portions of the bible that he specifies. Is he "outside the christian mainstream"? Well, if you define mainstream as Luthera, Episcopal, Catholic, Baptist, etc., then yeah, probably, but by the time you get to Pentacostals, Holiness, Charismatic, well, then he's right there with them, from what I have seen and heard over the years. Pretty simple to calculate the number of deaths per second worldwide and start a count running when the page is opened. Just for the sake of discussion, what is the best and most accurate translation of the bible? Careful now, you know as well as I that each and every flavor of christian has it's own peculiar taste in that! But bottom line, his opinions and beliefs are no different than those espoused on the site I referenced. He dresses it down a bit, gets it a little slicker, a little more suburban, but in the end, gee, you're still lost. Again, you would have to define "mainstream" here. I hear you. Really, we need to look at the difference between faith and religion. You know, one of the biggest differences betwixt various christian groups is their position on the bible. Some discount the old testament, say that it is "nailed to the cross" and that only the new is to be followed, some follow both, and some, especially British Israelism and Christian Identity, follow the old. Glad to heard it! Ah, there we are in those gray areas again. So, if I live a good life, follow the precepts of the bible, love god, love my neighbor, but I don't have someone "baptize" me, (and that's a whole other kettle of mess-what type of baptism is good enough for you?!), or even if I DO get baptised, I don't "have communion", then I've got A/C problems in the "next life"? Communion...is that as in communion of the minds, i.e. fellowshipping, or as in "Hoc est enum Corpus Meum"? It's all equal to me, Shaun, I just can't get my head around people letting other people tell them what they should or shouldn't do, based solely on an ancient creation legend. I know that even in the bad old days when I was coming up, there was no huge amount of opprobrium from the actual mainstream churches concerning tattooing. I even met priest and ministers who were tattooed! The fundies, on the other hand... Again, I'm not tryina piss anyone off, so if this whole subject is lame, Mods, feel free to delete my posts.

Ah, Sister Mary Elephant loves you for 'em, boyo!

I have had pieces put on entirely free-hand, knowing ahead of time what it was that was going on, and roughly, how. That involved a whole level of trust that you just can't have with someone you haven't worked with, or someone who isn't a major, major tattooer. If you are getting a large piece done, a sleeve, a backpiece, whatever, I don't think it out of line to have the whole thing laid-out on paper ahead of time. Doesn't necessarily have to be a stencil, but I'd sure want to see the tattoo in it's entirety before I committed to getting it done. When I had my arm sleeved, I already had a decent amount of work on it. The tattoer that did it, Miles Maniaci, wrapped my arm in onion-sheet and traced the old work. A few weeks later he called me into the shop to see his design. I had given him some elements I wanted used, and he did the whole thing on the onion-sheet so that I could see how it looked on my arm. It was tits, and he started it the following week. About thirty-odd hours later, I had a sleeve that I'm still, ten years later, proud to wear. Trust is the key element. If you don't know what someone's ideas and thoughts are for your work before they start, trust is hard to come by. .02

One man's ceiling is another man's floor. There are shops I don't care for, but what I see as one thing, someone else sees differently. Guess I'd rather talk about shops I think are outstanding than name the ones I don't care for.

Gimme that ol' time religion!

Broad strokes..you can search each item for the symbolism attached to it... Meanings of tattoo designs & Irezumi – Clark North Tattoo Popular Japanese Tattoo Meanings, Symbolism and Designs Tattoos are beautiful: Yakuza Tattoos Horimyo - Traditional Japanese Tebori Tattoo Artist Interview Realize that everyone involved will have a different version of what a certain symbol used a certain way will mean. As a Westerner, you aren't bound by any cultural edicts on what you can or can't get, just float your boat and that's all she wrote!

That's gots to be worth a shot, Brock.

The rest of y'all don't even bother trying!

I hear that. Bigtime.

I'm guessing not, and I won't even start with my picture of Wotan on his throne!!! - - - Updated - - - Down on your knees and repent if you please! I guess the part that has always interested me is the dichotomy that exists within the "christian" community. I was raised catholic, and left when I could no longer reconcile words and deeds. Took me till I was 12 or so. That said, I always thought that if you are a member of a club, and publicly identify yourself as such, then you should follow the rules of the club. If I tell people "the bible says it, I believe it, and that's that!", then I for sure should be hewing to the word, right? Ah well...just idle speculation on a cold morning. No offense meant to anyone, nor denigration of any religious belief intended. No icons were injured in the production of this post.

Once I started I had to read through the whole site. I spent two years in a "youth home" in Missouri as a teen, lotsa Pentacostals, Hardshells, and like that around. In latter years, I even ran across some snake-handlers..to each their own, but I want no part of it.

Man, I just gotta be a troublemaker! Seriously, I'm not tryina bust anyone's stones here, just curious as to how others view this. I'm not a christian, so my feelings about the subject come from a different angle. "Even among many Christians the once-forbidden tattoo is welcomed with open arms (and legs, and necks, and backs, et al). Not surprising the major perpetrator of the Christian tattoo is the Christian rock music community. And fast following their Christian rock idols, thousands of Christian young people are getting "marked for Jesus" with the tattoo. Among the fastest growing trend in the tattoo industry is the Christian tattoo shops." TO TATTOO OR NOT TO TATTOO So, there seems to be many different viewpoints in christianity, but the more "traditional" views, especially of the hardshell variety, seem to be more or less inline with those offered on the site referenced. C'mon you sinners, whattaya think?!?!?!?!?

Happy B'day, Slayer..ya ol' fart! Else, look at the bright side, no drive-bys, no screaming in the street, and no getting dressed for dinner! To all of you that are on the road, out of town, out of money, out of luck, or just plain bummed, not to worry-it'll get worse!!! Hey, but then it'll get better-it's just the "eventually" part that sucks. Y'all have a good New Year's Eve, and best of everything for your year coming up.

@phickey... Outfuckingstanding!