Miami Ink

If you live in the States, have cable or satellite and watch TLC, without a doubt you've seen the ads for Miami Ink, the show about a Miami Tattoo parlour doing, well, tattoos and stuff.

As a show, it's alright. I've been interested in tattoos since I was 4 or 5 (and amazingly I just have the one, though I might get more added to it soon) and have seen every form of documentary on TV about tattoos and tattooing. Needless to say, I was excited about the show.

But the excitement has faded. It's not a bad show, it's just, well, it's just sometimes a little too much on the "don't judge me because of my tats" bullshit. But that's just me, and in my opinion any time you do something kustom there's a risk, whether it's dropping your sled in the weeds or getting a monster back peice. People are going to look and have opinions. And people who don't want to be thought of a criminals by little white haired old ladies need to realize that tattooing, to a certain degree or another, has always been associated with the rougher elements of society, including criminals.

Anyways, enough of that rant. What makes the show interesting is seeing the apprentice, Yoji (sp?) try to earn is wings with the needle. Just watching these guys go from flash to ink is amazing and worth seeing.

But what makes it uninteresting are all the little stories about their client's tattoos. I mean, I know why they want to do that human interest type stuff, but really, it gets to be a bit much. Plus you always hear them say the same thing five or six times. Maybe if they showed more of the detail, the blood, tears, adrenaline, pain and joy and less of the talking, it would get the same success of American Hot Rod or American Choppers. It's seeing these guys work (especially Chris Garver) that's amazing. Personally, outside a brief statement from the client, and this'll make me sound like a real asshole, I could really give a damn about the stories. I mean, they have them repeat the same line over and over and over again, like we're all a bunch of ADD adled stoners or something that lack concentration.

Anyways, watch the show. It's good. But my suggestions would make it way better. It's on Tuesdays with a repeat on Wednesdays.