LA Ink: Kat is back!

Are you ready for a new season of La Ink, I am. Kat still has Corey in the shop, but Hanna and Kim are gone. Kat had been away promoting her book and line of make-up. This episode of LA Ink starts out with some fireworks when Michael (Kat’s brother) hires a non-experienced shop assistant. Uh, Corey was not happy : ( I believe he used the words, ” you hired that BIMBO”. Totally funny because he whispers it his client that he is tattooing. When Kat gets to the shop and finds out about the hiring of Aubrey, she talks to Michael immediately. She asks him if she has experience, he says “no, but she has run three of her own businesses.” Kay asks what they were. Michael replies, ” uh, not sure. ” Kat states, ” great interview. I was just a funny conversation. On to the tattooing. Kat tats a portrait, her specialty, of a father’s son who had been hit by a car in a crosswalk. The son turned out to be okay and was even with his father while the tattoo was happening. He was chatting it up with Kat. Corey tatted a female sailor on a woman who is actually a captain herself. She had gone on a hard core sailing experience with her dad between high school and college and saw the world. I think that is pretty cool, I get sick when it get too rocky out in the ocean. Did I mention that Kat and Adrian do not like Aubrey. I’m thinking that Aubrey does not last long. Amy, a tattoo artist walks in and hope to get her portfolio looked at and Kat takes a gander. You could tell she was not feeling Amy’s rawness. Amy had only been tattooing for about four years. Did I mention that Aubrey is a pain in the butt to most of the staff? Well, it looks they are going to keep Aubrey around, at least for now and Amy the rookie tattoo artist may be getting the gig. Stay tuned

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LA Ink: 1st Anniversary

One year later and they are still inking. Your probably asking, inking what? Glad you asked. Mia St John comes into the shop and Corey has no clue who she is. I will say myself, I did not know that Mia St. John was still around. She mentioned she started boxing when she was 28 and she’s 41 now. Seems like she would be over the hill. Keep up the good work Mia. Oh by the way she got inked with the World Boxing Council (WBC) on her back shoulder. It was o.k. It should have been bigger, but Corey did what he could with how small it was. The Chiquita Banana dog was my favorite of the night. The lead singer of the All American Rejects has a 14 year old dog that named Chiquita and his thought was to get it tatted on his lower leg. The dog, appropriately named, was to emerge out of a banana peel. Hanna did an awesome job. The the sticker on the peel and everything. Very cool! Hanna does Kim! Get your mind out of the gutter, she tatted her. It seems that Kim had a very dark flower on her left shoulder that covered a tattoo that Corey had done on her many years back. Kim wanted it lightened up, so Hanna drew up all these flowers and vines and butterflies which were really bright and cheery. It was nice. I love this lady, Karen, who came in to get a tattoo to commemorate her 60th birthday and it couldn’t have been funnier. Karen keeps talking and talking about what she wants on this tattoo and you should have seen Corey’s face. He was waiting for her to add the kitchen sink. Props to Corey though, because he made it happen and it looked great. Party time! The crew got together for a very nice dinner and the original crew toasted Kat and the shop for being open for one year. Kat, congratulations and keep on tatting!

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La Ink: Dino Butt, Corey get Clay

Now this is an interesting week on LA Ink. Its starts out with an ice cream eating dinosaur getting inked on a butt cheek, hmmmm. To make a long story short, friends make a pact to get tattoos on their asses. He decides on a Dinosaur because it reminds him of his childhood and he loves eating ice cream, great! Natasha, soccer Olympic gold medalist comes into the shop and gets God’s hands written in Japanese writing, Kanji. On the non-tattooing tip, Kat visits the covenant house which is a facility for homeless youth. At this house, Nikki is funding a music room where homeless kids can rock out and play music. Kat feels inspired to do something, but nothing really came up.OK, the strangest tattoo of the night. A stenographer comes in to get a tat for her undying love for her husband and has a tat done in stenography: Snoozer. A bunch of letters that aren’t even cool looking. I would rather get a tat that says I’m a ding-bat in Japanese script. Sorry, to each is own. Everyyyyyyy compass had its’ rose. Yes, that’s a little Poison banter. This girl with cerebral palsy comes in to get a compass rose to show that she has always been guided, first by her family and then by her will. Update on the Covenant house, Kat is going to draw some prints to sell, to raise money for the house. Good idea. Corey went back to his shop, Six Feet Under, and gets his son’s Clay tatted on his arm. I’ve stated it before, if I ever decide to get a tattoo, it would be of my daughters as babies. I will always know them as adults, but as small children that needed you to raise them, now that’s something special.

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LA Ink: The “EEE” Show – Lemmy, Family and Party!

Lemmy from Motorhead is a funny dude. While speaking with Kat he stated that he had been a professional since the 1965 and he got into the music industry for the GIRLS! He stated that he did not have a plan or message for the rest of the youth, he just wanted the ladies. At least he’s honest. In the end, Lemmy just got the tattoos that he had existing on his arms refurbished, so to speak. Kat outlined them and filled the wording up a bit and they were as good as new. Onto little brother Michael. Kat’s brother Michael is coming to work at the shop and is going to be in charge of merch. That’s Kat talk for merchandising. Corey tatted a hummingbird on a girl and he was so excited to do it as I am about writing about it. I liked Holly which is Hannah’s daughter. Yes I said daughter. She kinda came out of nowhere. But there she was, ready to get her arm tattooed by her mother. They have a distant relationship but it seemed to work. It felt though, like it was a cold relationship, built mutual love but a lot of suppressed baggage. What am I Dr Phil? Okay on to the party. Kat genuinely loved that her bro was back and it was nice to see. Kay always seems so stressed so it was good to see Kat at ease for a moment. She was so much so at ease that she had an L.A. style pool party for Michael. The whole staff was there and people were swimming and getting there drink on. It actually reminded me of a scene out of many older movies that have been shot in L.A. It was that kind of vibe: Interesting! See ya next week!

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LA Ink: Poker, Korn and a Virgin Tattoo

Gambling is really bad! Yeah right, has over $375, 000 to argue that point. Tiffany Michelle comes in to get a Bible verse tattooed within a cross. I was nice and not over the top. Kat did a good job. Duh, like she’s ever had a bad tattoo. Brian ” Head” Welch, of Korn, comes in to get a tattoo of his album cover. Head talks about his break from Korn. He actually sent his band mates an e-mail and said, “I’m done and don’t bother me.” At first when Head came in to and I saw the promos for this show, I thought, really, a rock star that is a drug addict. Go figure. But, the more I listened, the more I began to sympathize with his plight. He wanted to actually raise his daughter after many, many years on the road. It’s great that he cleaned himself up and is taking care of his daughter: AWESOME! Corey and Hanna begin practicing to get on stage. We all know that Corey plays the drums, but guess what Hanna sings. Dan the architect man comes in to get a tattoo of some architecture on his arm, well maybe. He has reservations of getting a tattoo but he decides to go for it and it is titled the Tatlin Towers. I looked into this monument that was never built and it is pretty interesting. Russian architect, Vladimir Tatlin designed it to be built from industrial materials and would have dwarfed the Eiffel Tower in Paris. The project was meant to be the defining expression of architectural constructivism according to wikipedia. Now, on to the big show, alright, alright, it’s just Corey and Hanna jamming for the first time. The got up on stage and belted out some tunes and you know, they weren’t half bad. Until next week.

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LA INK: Kat’s BOOK’in

Kat is just a mini conglomerate. I’m truly excited for her. She is an excellent tattoo artist with her own shop, reality show, make-up and now a book and so, so much more. I couldn’t be prouder. I always get inspiration from people who are realizing their dreams and just GOING FOR IT! Julie came in to get a Buddha-Skull-Butterfly: What a combo. She got the idea from a former high school classmate from 20 years ago. She went through the evil cancer therapy and the tat represents her fight to live life: Awesome, you go Julie, LIVE STRONG! Ever watched the Deadliest Catch? Pretty cool show. It allows us a peak into the life of a fisherman in Bearing Sea. Matt, a crab fisherman has been on this show and is a crab fisherman and comes in to get a sexy pinup girl on his lower leg. He got the idea from his grandfather, who was a fisherman and had a similar tat on his leg. I thinks it’s great when people play tribute to family. Andy came in to honor his father and Chinese heritage. The tattoo that Andy wanted was a wicked design that Kim worked on. The tat was placed on his back. The design was a picture of a young dad who left China at an early age, so Andy figured he would honor his dad by sending him back home in a portrait of his dad sitting off to the side of a Temple and warriors fighting on the stairs in front. It was a really, really cool design. Corey’s the man. He sketches out a tattoo of a skull and dagger for a single father of four. He seemed like a really cool family guy with his family first! Kat tats her best friend’s arm. Her friend wanted a bunny in a panther suit to represent how soft she is onside and the looks on the outside aren’t all that hardened. Cool concept. So, throughout the show, it was lined with the concept of Kat’s deadline of finishing her book. She was stressed, nothing unusual for Kat, but needed to get her forward completed. Kat thought it would be a good idea to get her best friend to complete it because she knew her the best and then out of nowhere, go old Nikki surprises her with a foreword that he wrote. Of course Kat was extremely flattered and there it was, the deal was done. Kat, let us know when your book is set for release! Out!

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LA Ink: Kat Quits Smokin’….hmmmmmm

Disco fever was in the house, well for a second anyways. Mario comes in to pay homage to the ’70’s! So Mario captures it with a Hanna made tattoo of a trampy, almost Farrah Fawcet looking girl, weird. I know it’s about tattoos at Kat’s shop, but it’s oh so much about the hair tonight. First you had Mario and his 70’s hair chick and then a hair dresser comes in to get some shears inked on her back. One of the cooler tattoos was that of Banda singer Yolanda Perez. She got these words down her spine that represented her and her ongoing life. It looked really cool. Don’s the man! A 70 year old man, married 46 years, gets his first tattoo of his wife Kathy. Kathy passed away of cancer and Don wants here keeping an eye on him, so he has Kat place the tattoo, angled on his chest. I thought this was the best tattoo of the night, both for the story and the sheer beauty of the tattoo itself: it was simple and elegant. I guess there is still hope for me getting my first tattoo, who knows. OK, so Naheed and Kat go to a hypnotist to try to quit smoking. They convinced some of the other people in the shop to join them in their quest to conquer the cancer sticks. After further review it may be a bit early to tell, but I don’t think it’s going to work out. I remember last season, Kat quit drinking because she was so out of control, I wonder how that is working out? Until next week.

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LA Ink: My Family (Mi Familia)

This show started out all about family. Rapper, “The Game” came in to the shop and got a tattoo reading “LAX” which stood for the life and times. During the tattoo session, Kat asked the Game that she heard that he was going to retire soon and he confirmed it. His reason for retiring was very admirable: He wants to spend more time with his family. This is pretty refreshing, coming from a lifestyle that is full of imperfection and hardly worth giving anyone role model status. Staying on the family tip, Corey is being pressured by his family to be home more often. Corey has a tattoo shop in Upland which is quite a distance from Kat’s shop in LA. He made a commitment to Kat, so he is keeping his word, so I don’t Corey leaving anytime soon, however, he surely wants to be there for his family, what man wouldn’t. So, he made time to work on a back piece for his wife and then he took a few days off to build a fort for his kids in his backyard. I like this dude, he Rocks! More family news. This guy Jason, comes in to get a memorial tattoo of his daughter who passed away of cancer. He wants to get this tat on the left part of his chest because this is where his daughter Kayla used to lay her head. This definitely choked me up. The family also started the Kayla Weber Believe Foundation, very cool.

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LA INK: Wings, Clowns and Latina Magazine

Corey starts out the show by tatting some wings on the back of a girl with the biggest bootie. She is actually a model who works in the hip-hop industry. Very interesting that she is from Germany and looks more Latina than anything. The wings represented freedom to her and her ability do things on her own and her way. Speaking of Latina’s, Kat lands the cover of Latina Magazine. You may not have known, but Kat’s parents are actually from Argentina and they moved to Mexico so her dad could go to medical school. So Kat is an Argentinacan or maybe Mexintinan. Anyways good for you Kat, my Latina sister. I love the next story. A mom comes into the shop to get a tattoo of her kids on her arm. Her son is a special needs child and it is great to see her tat with her kids immortalized forever on her arm in ink: Very cool!. As I have stated before, I do not have a tattoo, but if I were to get one, it would be of my children. I love them so much and would love to capture their youth in ink. I’m not sure if I will ever do it, but the thought does cross my mind. Kim gets to tattoo a skull with a clown nose and top hat on a circus clown. The tat actually looked really cool. And go figure, two weeks in a row and we’ve got skulls with red noses and reading neuroscience books, way out. Lastly, Kat does, what Kat does best and she does a portrait of Elvira “Mistress of the Dark” on a special effects make-up artist. Remember monsters are your friends : )

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LA Ink: A Motley Show

I like Kat, but here is the proverbial ‘BUT”. She needs to stop talking about her undying love for her mate and how she misses him. I think heard all of this last season. Can you say Orby? OK, enough of Kat love and on to the fury felines. A forty something mom gets a pretty cool piece that honors her 3 boys by placing a tiger, a lion and a cheetah on her back. Kat did this one and it looked pretty good. Not my favorite of the night, but the mom seemed really excited! Next Kim places a tattoo of a frog on woman that had her sister almost die in a crash, where she ended up at the bottom of a lake. The frog represents her sister almost being taking away from her and always wants to make sure that she appreciates here sister forever, sweet : ) Corey has two passions, tattooing and drumming and the two are now forever tied together. He had his name placed on specially designed Ludwig drums with his flash art predominately displayed. Onto to Stella the granny. She came in with the idea of getting a biker chick done on her back and it turned out pretty nice. When is it to old to get a tattoo? I guess granny says never! Ready, set Nikki. So, Kat’s new I can’t live without you, your the love of my life and I miss you so much boyfriend, Nikki Sixx hits the LA ink small screen. Nikki comes in to get a tribute portrait of is longtime band mate Mick Mars. On that note the tattoo crew rocks out at a Crue concert with limos and the whole all-access backstage thing. Looked like fun! Until next week.

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