kara-not-oke

OK, so first and foremost, HAPPY NEW YEAR! Me n Ross didn't end up going to Macau, we ordered a pizza and watched crappy movies all night. 

Figured i'd better blog about something, so i'll blog about ladies night. The night started out with me meeting an old friend from London who comes to Hong Kong now and then to visit her folks who recently moved out here. Here's the lady in question....

Here's a more substantial picture for y'all. She's training to be a doctor specializing in weird tropical diseases.....and she'll be "Doctor Payne". Sounds pretty awesome...

After some free champagne, we went to Algave fro free frozen Margarita's. Once i pretty much raised the bar for my brain freeze pain threshold we went off to see Janine who had karaoke booked til 1am. Twas quite dire.... at 1st i thought it wouldn't be too bad, i spotted Hank Williams and Willie Nelson on the artist list, but they only had 1 song of each, and not exactly their best songs.... so i was stuck watching crap like "Hero" by Mariah Carey, which weirdly enough had a video accompanying it completely made up of African kids and elephants. I mean....there's low budget then there's NO budget.

We made a pretty swift exit from there and ended up in Amazonia. 

(we thought we'd skip all the real classy joints, like "cockeye")

He plays Jimmi Hendrix with his feet. It's wrong....

I was waiting for this guy to play Jimmi Hendrix with his head, but it didn't happen... I have no idea who he is, he's friends with the keytarist....i guess he's just visiting.

There's a new beggar on the block who's pretty awesome...

We spent most the night outside, and managed to rustle up a pretty decent game of street hacky sack with some rolled up paper!

Tomorrow is my last day off before i go back to work, then this time next week we're off to Singapore. Hoping i'll get a few tattoo posts in, but no guarantees..... lots of small stuff, nothing too special. I think i'm doing a star trek tattoo on sun which is pretty kick ass though! the vulcan symbol i think....on a friend of a friend...

anyways, it's 7:10 and the suns coming up, so i gotta get some shut eye. adieu

Thank God for rules

So Ross and I went to go see the new Sherlock Holmes film last night, and every time we go to this cinema, i wanna blog about this sign..... so here ya go..... read it through.... can u spot the one that took me by surprise?!

I mean....I'm not even sure what "being green" is, but i can't believe they actually wrote DO NOT WANK. wow. i know it's a terrible pic, but we weren't even meant to have a camera in the cinema, so taking pics of the ceiling proves difficult! 

You're 2 faced and they're both ugly

It's just dawned on me how soon the Singapore convention is... and how much i am looking forward to getting off this rock! wow, that could be grossly mis-interpreted..... i am looking forward to LEAVING HONG KONG FOR A WHILE. better? yeah...

Today was the last day at work before New Years eve, as tomorrow is the sacred wednesday, my day of rest. Somehow i got talked into going out to ladies night in Wan Chai, which is like my idea of hell, but i am broke, and "ladies" drink for free. God knows why it aint called 'skank ho's with no shame night'.... think it has a nice ring to it. I guess then i really wouldn't be caught dead there, and it's hard for me to turn down free drinks, so i guess it all works out for the best....

Think we're buggering off to Macau for New Years eve. Nothing really going on here that interests me so i figured i might as well go to something that doesn't interest me in a different country, and get duty free cigarettes while i'm at it, eh?!

We're hoping to spend most of the day there too, soak up some culture, get some photos of the cathedral n stuff n stuff. i love that place... (anyone who plans on going, make sure u go inside underneath....there's more than meets the eye)

See how i'm finding a silver lining to everything right now? 

Hmm, ok enough moaning,  did actually get some good concrete news about Andy coming to do his guest spot which i'm really looking forward to! It's the first time i've had a friend come do a spot, i've had many say they'll come, but it hasn't happened til now! I'm just as bad when it comes to stuff like that, but i'm hoping i'll fit a spot here and there next year before i move back to London.

I also good a good friend coming to Hong Kong right after i return from Singapore, Michelle from Retro Rebels is coming over for the international trade fair at the expo centre, then crashing with us for a few days. Looks like i'll be doing some commission work for their clothing line too which'll be fun!

We'll also have Electric Pick back from Denmark, so anyone who wants to book in with him please either e mail the shop at info@starcrossedtattoo.com or the man directly at pick@electricpick.com.

Oh, in other news, that t shirt i designed like..... 2 years ago for Murray's finally got printed. I'll be doing them a new design or 2 when i get a minute, the guy in contact with me is so chilled out, that you just can't get upset when stuff takes years to emerge from the factory and resurface some sort of vague memory from times past! (keep doing what you do buddy! Long live Murray's!)

wow, lots of links to keep y'all busy huh? Suppose y'all want some pics of some sort to gaze at? Well, here's a really nice photo of none other than my husband, Ross. This was for a really sweet guy's final project at uni (i think like 3 different guys did their final project on Ross..... weird....) Beautiful work though, 

and here's my ever so jolly banner for the Singapore convention.... (don't ask!) What's better than a little self deprecation and Chihuahua's right?

Today was really weird at the shop, i think lots of people must have made a New Years resolution last year to get a tattoo coz today was walk in after walk in, i was booked up anyway, and Rob wasn't in so sorry to everyone i couldn't fit in...i tried!

OK y'all have an awesome New Year! Here's to 2010!

I've got the blues

OK! Today was the 1st day back at work after a really nice 4 day break (which seemed to fly by in the blink of an eye!) anyways, i was looking forward to this piece so it was a nice way to get back into the swing of things!

It is her 1st tattoo, and it took up a big ol' chunk of her back, so she did really well. 10 points well earned i say!

(i've uploaded this pic 4 times, different sizes and none came up bigger when clicked on, so here's a detail section for y'all)

Also got the design for my banner for the Singapore convention underway, i'll be sure to post that once it's all snazzed up!

XXX

no i ain't straight edge, not even close, this is the blog of the 3 x mas days, eve, day and boxin'.

OK, where to start..... Christmas eve me n Ross had a quite night in,  (he fell asleep on the sofa and Milo made himself comfy!

 i gave all the dogs their treats. Milo can eat more than a horse, it's absurd..... so this kept him busy for a while. he even carried it into bed.

look at his little grin......so content!

So then Christmas day me n Ross exchanged presents. we are pretty short on cash right now, and with Singapore 10 days away, we didn't spend much. Ross got an awesome new jacket and an Ashley Wood book. I got an Oyster boy figurine and a Stain boy figurine (they r from this)

OK so then we had the most ghetto lunch ever, nachos and 20 dollar wine(hong kong dollar..... 20 hong kong dollars, u don't wanna know it tasted like!)

i love eating up on the roof, I'm definitely gonna miss the roof when we leave!

so for dinner i had booked a restaurant, which ended up raping my wallet and my taste buds. it was pretty bad food, and way too expensive. plus, i had the displeasure of sitting next to the most obnoxious Canadian ever, who treated his wife like a slave. not cool.

So then on Boxing day we had friends round for a BBQ....on the roof (did i say how much i love my roof?!

Milo was tired, the other dogs were very well behaved, and therefore got fed lots of leftovers!

Milo got spoilt once Janine's maternal side stepped up too though!

We finally had enough people round to play Pictionary man too! (it's an awesome game)...

lots of hand gestures, (u can't tell from this pic too well, but believe me!

this is Lara's idea of a "professor" i don't think we guessed that one!

The best run of guesses i had went from this to this....

• Jew
  
• Amish
  
• Tony Blair
  
• Maggie Thacher
  

The answer was actually Oliver Cromwell...

Oh, and i made vegan cookies for Pranjal (who's girlfriend is opening a vegan bakery in Oakland). these are ginger and lemon sugar cookies.

we made a mini BBQ to keep the vegan food separate too, and i found out that burning coal indoors is Hong Kong's version of sitting in your car in the garage with the engine running. I had no idea.....

so there are loads of suicide hot lines and stuff on the coal packets.

i don't wanna stay on this subject, it's a sore spot for me, but thought i'd share about the coal....

ok, so anyways, merry christmas, and wishing y'all a pre-emptive Happy New Year!

Eat, drink n be merry

So been a bit crap with blogging these past few days. Yesterday was pretty much hijacked by a hangover, and today (well....officially now it's Christmas coz it's 2:30am so i meant yesterday....) was spent cooking n cleaning. Ross had to nip into town (Hong Kong side)for some last minute shopping and i nipped into town (Sai Kung side) to get ingredients for cookies and other stuff i'm making for our boxing day BBQ. 

Today i made some gingerbread men/dogs (the dogs are for a friend who is obsessed with Dachshunds) I had to get the cutters when i saw them, coz i knew little doggie cookies would make him smile!

The gingerbread men started off looking respectful, then they acquired weird undergarments, and before me n Ross knew it, they'd grown..... appendages.

Tomorrow i got more baking to do, need to make some vegan cookies for the BBQ and i'm gonna try and make some vegan bread..... (i'm sure my vegan buddy will be content eating grilled veg.... but i thought it'd be nice if i could make him something....)but i'm not holding much hope in the bread department. I've never cooked vegan food before, and did lots of online research, found some nice looking recipies, but the grocery stores here are anything but vegan friendly, so now my dairy substitutes have been substituted for substitute dairy substitutes. hmmm.....

Anyways, didn't fancy a big fancy dinner tonight, and had ginger on the brain, so i whipped up a nice ginger, garlic and chilli chicken stir fry. tasty goodness.... 

Tomorrow we r going out for our Christmas dinner, seeing as my oven is the size of a small microwave with one shelf..... it didn't seem like a good idea to attempt a Christmas roast!

In other news, my awesome Hungarian guest artist from London (he hasn't updates his myspace for a while, but i'll get a portfolio in the shop for y'all to peruse through soon) has now confirmed he'll be here in february, so more on that soon! He's crashing at our place for a month..... i hope he likes dogs is all i can say!

It's weird having 4 days off all at once, i'm kinda shocked how quick they have flown by.... was hoping to get a new banner drawn up for the Singapore convention which is creeping up like a little pervert wearing slippers..... but i dunno if that's gonna happen now.

Anyways, dunno if i'll blog 2morrow, but i'll take some pics of the BBQ and probably give u a bread recipe that u might wanna make for people u really hate.... we'll see!

gramophoto

So i got the gramophone piece coloured yesterday... had an impossible task getting half-decent pics though, so these are the best i got i'm afraid...

all the black is healed, so once it heals it'll come back through and the right image is from a weird angle, so her face looks a little distorted, but it's the only pic of the front part i got.  hopefully i'll get a healed pic in a few weeks. 

here's a detail pic...

Tomorrow we got the Joe Strummer tribute gig @ Rockschool, so anyone in HK should swing by. it's free entry and we got some good bands lined up! 

Rock and Rollin' down the avenue

So, I miraculously managed to find enough time to fit Marc (singer/guitarist) from The Bembol Rockers in for a nippy new acquisition. This is tucked up on the inside of his right arm. Was a little worried he wouldn't be able to sit through it all in one go, but he cowboy'd up and we managed!

I was supposed to be finishing off the music themed calf piece today, but he's 25 mins late so i aint sure he's coming. 

In other news, i got videos of me n ross singing with the bembol guys so i'll upload one  later on!

to blog or not to blog....

hmm, spent the majority of yesterday frantically trying to finish a HUGE tattoo on Chao, a really nice guy from Beijing who helped babysit us and keep us awake on that 38 hour no-sleep-fest last year. He travelled down with his girlfriend and i booked the whole day for them. We did manage to get his piece finished, but i was in such a rush, i didn't take a photo of his until after i'd tattooed his girlfriend, and he had started to scab up and no matter how much/hard i wiped his tattoo (sorry man, i know that musta sucked!) i couldn't get it clean enough for a good photo....

 i feel like i need to post something to show how much he put up with.... so here's a cropped section (the least bloody bit) this piece is on his back, and it's pretty big....

and here's his girlfriend....Miss Lotus' new tattoo...

My next customer cancelled last minute, so i am now off to meet up with the Bembol Rockers. They are playing the Fringe Club and Rock School tonight. I'm singing a song with them. I'm petrified......

You never know, if i don't die of embarrassment halfway through the song and the ground doesn't open and swallow me up, maybe i'll post a video. MAYBE

Blisters and birds

So today i tattooed an artist and an actor. ooh, aint i fancy?! 

Did this lil' piece today which was pretty fun. If i had a choice i would filled it with a little more solid  colour, but it's a painting the client brought in so i kept schtum! I think when it heals and softens up it'll look really nice. Surprisingly hard to get a photo of though, so i had to opt for no flash... so it all looks a lil' duller.

The blisters on my hands are giving me lots of jip. They have kinda imploded, and on my right hand, i can see layer beyond layer of shades of green. (no it's not infected, it's over a green tattoo...)

Ross is playing a gig at the Wanch tonight, but i think i'm gonna head off to Ned Kelly's to catch the end of Bembol's set....after i do the accounts.....bah.... :(

2 kindsa custom

So, today was pretty eventful. Managed to squeeze Lakshmi from Bembol Rockers in for a tattoo due to an appointment re-scheduling, and that awesome super top secret object(s) i ordered off ebay arrived! 

So here's lakshi's arm....Super excited to do this, i love Ganesh and the only Ganesh piece i've ever done was teeny weeny, so got to fit a lot more detail into this one! (he insisted i signed it too....which was kinda weird! haha)

here's a detail coz the pic aint coming up larger...

And here's my *new prized possession*.... (customs must have had a field day with this one!)

Front half is hanging in the shop, so y'all are welcome to come visit him!

Back half is hanging in the studio, so i get to stare at his ass all day long!

i woulda taken a pic from the door frame so u can see front and back together, but we have a blind on the studio door that blocks the view.

downward spiral

So, long story short, Bembol Rockers are back in town, so i'm kinda compelled to go out drinking every night coz they are playing many many gigs. Yesterday was kinda non-eventful. I did 4 hrs work on the c'o'd phoenix, didn't get it finished, he was bleeding like his life didn't depend on it, probably coulda filled a paddling pool, but other than that, i went for a pre-X'mas family lunch, my brothers coi tattoo healed up super sweet. The harbor looked incredible, and it was hot. Like, "who needs a sweater" hot!

So last night we went to go see The Bembol Guys play at Rock School

, then we went to Amazonia, then at 4am when i got home i decided to bake cookies. Cookies (peanut butter n choc chip) came out awesome, but i burnt both hands on the oven. I have a cute matching pair of blisters now, and wearing gloves at work kinda sucks..... a lot.

We have 2 new village puppies who are super friendly... i think they tried to rape me a little....

(they both need homes, so GIVE THEM A HOME PEOPLE!)

Anyways, today was busy busy, started off with.... a line... (not that kinda line, you deviant bastards)

Then i had 2 hrs put aside before my next booking for Ross, we got this done, it ain't finished (obviously, but got a fair amount done... (this is the other side of his chest to his "sweet as a nut" squirrel)

Then off to see the Bembol guys again. Looks like i'll be tattooing Lakshmi (double bassist) tomorrow coz i had an app move to Jan, i also gotta try and find some time to squeeze in another piece for Mark, who got tattoos last time round too....