tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7052429.post1933696667200575150..comments2021-10-05T19:44:46.905+02:00Comments on BerlinBites: Rollo Banks, RIPJon Lebkowskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16248713335392018033noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7052429.post-46686114037428235332008-01-28T19:28:00.000+01:002008-01-28T19:28:00.000+01:00Thanks for the story. I have one I would like to ...Thanks for the story. I have one I would like to share. Time was 1990, I was stationed at Hickam AFB, HI, been in love with tattoos since I got the first in 1984 at Moses Malone's shop in Biloxi MS, Scott Sterling gave me my first ink, a traditional design of an Eagle carrying a banner in its beek, Scott Sterling will later work at China Sea in Hawaii when I get more ink in 1990. Ed Hardy's son was apprenticing at China Sea, he tattooed a tribal design on one arm and Mike tattooed another tribal design on the other, I didn't know at the time that I had been tattooed by such big name, historical figures like they are, I am currently completing a body suit that started in 1984 at Moses shop in Biloxi, sorry, still upset about Malone dieing, just found out yesterday from some local tattoo artist in Nashville TN. Anyways, back to the story, I'm getting tattooed by Malone at China Sea, I have rode my bicycle from the base to the shop, it is sitting just outside the front door of the shop, I can see the front wheel, the shop is small and crowded with 3 people in it. All of sudden I look up to see that someone has taken my bike, China Sea is in a bad part of town, to say the least. Anyways, tattoo is done, I tell Mike, Someone stole my bike, he doesn't really acknowledge me, I pay him and catch a cab home to the base, Next day, Mike calls me, I guess I gave him my number on the tattoo sales log or whatever, he says, I got your bike for you, come and get it, I do, I try to pay him for it, He won't accept money and says he shook the neighborhood down and got it back from the local hoods. ANyways, my Mike Malone story. God rest his soul. <BR/><BR/>BrianAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7052429.post-25586256025854160302007-05-13T23:30:00.000+02:002007-05-13T23:30:00.000+02:00Thank you for the story. I was a fan of the man. A...Thank you for the story. <BR/>I was a fan of the man. And he influenced many of the people that I have tattooed with. He will be missed.<BR/>Thanks again. <BR/>WesAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7052429.post-8105639185616062512007-05-13T23:29:00.000+02:002007-05-13T23:29:00.000+02:00Thank you for the story. I was a fan of the man. A...Thank you for the story. <BR/>I was a fan of the man. And he influenced many of the people that I have tattooed with. He will be missed.<BR/>Thanks again. <BR/>WesAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7052429.post-82734366650945462122007-05-05T08:51:00.000+02:002007-05-05T08:51:00.000+02:00About '71 when Mike started tatooing I lived acros...About '71 when Mike started tatooing I lived across the Hall from him in NYC. His girl friend was well breasted Mormon from Utah and had been used a lot as a surrogate for the baptisms of people buried in Utah who were not Mormons because she looked so good wet. Somehow from this she was afraid of blimps to the point that they had Goodyear (The only blimp around then) warn her when they would be flying over NYC.To prove this to me Mike had her cowering in the corner of the bed up against the wall kicking her feet and screaming with her eyes covered as he walked around the room holding a pillow over his head saying whirga-whirga-whirga.....I met Mike in 1963 in California and worked with him at the Electric Circus in NYC. A good friend for anyone to have...He was weighted by misery when he contacted me last year. Miss him. Bill SwardAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7052429.post-90099815640317315612007-04-20T23:40:00.000+02:002007-04-20T23:40:00.000+02:00Somebody dies, they'd be a fool to go to anybody b...Somebody dies, they'd be a fool to go to anybody but Ed Ward for the write-up.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7052429.post-13755733954509572942007-04-20T19:03:00.000+02:002007-04-20T19:03:00.000+02:00Great stuff, Ed. My boys have been egging me on to...Great stuff, Ed. My boys have been egging me on to get inked for two years now... I'm thinking without Rollo around, what's the point?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7052429.post-61611975190214026842007-04-20T18:13:00.000+02:002007-04-20T18:13:00.000+02:00what a wonderful remembrancewhat a wonderful remembranceAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7052429.post-55237224908698167252007-04-20T01:08:00.000+02:002007-04-20T01:08:00.000+02:00that's as nice a eulogy as a man can hope for. an...that's as nice a eulogy as a man can hope for. and the best piece of yours that i've read yet (not that i've read many more than those written over the past few months, but still...)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7052429.post-56594519855399208512007-04-19T23:27:00.000+02:002007-04-19T23:27:00.000+02:00"Now, you, you'd probably go to Hardy if you were ..."Now, you, you'd probably go to Hardy if you were gonna do it. But I don't think you're ever going to get a tattoo. And I just want you to know that that's ALL RIGHT WITH ME! I got enough work! I don't have to tattoo everyone in the world. So it's okay that you're not going to get a tattoo."<BR/>Thanks, Ed, I loved the guy, too. And I'm the sort who would get a tattoo, and ONLY from Rollo...<BR/>I used to hang out at the shop quite a bit because I had far too much time on my hands (and far too little work) and because the stories Rollo told rivaled those of anybody I've ever met. And I love a story more than just about anything. But I never really considered getting a tattoo because they're, um, permanent, and, um, you need to know what image to make a permanent part of your body.<BR/>One day Rollo told me, apropos of nothing as far as I can remember, that I reminded him of Clark Kent, specifically, a goyish Clark Kent. This puzzled me (and continues to) but Rollo on a roll is a man to listen to... he'll get somewhere.<BR/>"You look like a goyish Clark Kent. But when I look at your eyes, you look like a horse whose barn's on fire..."<BR/>I took this as a compliment. And it inspired me to ask him to recreate that image for my right arm. <BR/>Rollo went to town with the task and gave me a tattoo to be proud of (he later entered the design in some competitions). Now I have a touchstone for the memory of an artist who worked in the most impermanent of mediums. Thanks, Rollo.<BR/><BR/>And just to put an even bigger kiss on that memory, my son, 21 months old, finds it absolutely hilarious to point at my tattoo and proclaim: "Cow!"<BR/>He knows it isn't, but he wants to make me laugh. Just like Rollo did.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7052429.post-16636943941036211122007-04-19T14:49:00.000+02:002007-04-19T14:49:00.000+02:00Ed, sorry to hear it. You paint the picture loveli...Ed, sorry to hear it. You paint the picture lovelily, as ever.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com