Milo "Mr Lucky" Marcer

I am tired. I am tired of the very same people who bitch about crime in their neibourhood and the lack of the rule of law, but then drive through a red traffic light. Try obeying it yourself. I'm tired of people not listening, in this age of self promotion, it's all about you, but if you don't listen why the hell should anyone bother with listening to you. I'm tired of the "entitled" mentality I see, you are a useless waste and drain on all our resources go do something constructive with your hands instead of expecting other to give you shit. I'm tired of people knowing better than the professional, why is it that you think you know more than anyone else. You don't tell your dentist how to treat your teeth, yet you think you know better than your tattoo artist. I'm tired of cool thieves, if you can't come up with your own cool stuff, sink back into your own shit, stop trying to make what others have worked hard at creating your own. I...

I'm so fucking bored, I am tired and bored, so damn bored, I can't stand to be near myself with this boredom. A young girl in a rugby jersey shouts at a tv in a restaurant, the incessant natter of two men talking about absolutely nothing but talking loud enough so we all hear their unimportant importance. A blog berating men for using safety razors over multi-blade, stupid pictures over overpriced possessions, holy shit... boredom in hyperbole, sometimes life is just monotonous and boring as hell... Or is it? Perhaps I need to get off my ass and start doing something getting creative draw, write, craft, something, so with that I am, but I am telling you I am watching, you boring little fuckers that come slipping into my life like elves on luges, I'm putting you on notice. One of my favorite sayings is, "Idle hands are the devils workshop" and in all things I find this to be true for me, I need stimulation and gratification, I need to work, create move thing...

I am annoyed and bored, it's been 4 weeks and my lungs are still not cleared up yet, the constant coughing literally wakes me at night hence this blog. My girl is up to some things, and like any good man, I support her in any endeavor, I would do just about anything to see her succeed. I am just amazed at what is transpiring through the process though, it seems that the same politics and bullshit that exists in the tattoo industry is prevalent everywhere else. There seems to be a veiled anger at others success, and a need to be obstructive to ensure that they don't succeed, I just don't get it, then again, I just don't seem to get people at all, I am surrounded by some of the most awesome people and I feel loved and appreciated, hell even respected in some quarters, but there are always those few, the ones that smile in their lips but not their eyes. Then there are the down right assholes, and they know exactly who they are so the less said about them the better. So h...

I was talking to a client a few days ago, and we were just chatting on about perception and how skewed it can be when she blurted out, "I had heard that you were arrogant, but chatting with you, I see you aren't at all". This got me thinking, the first instinct was to retaliate and get really rude about what has been said about me, but I started entertaining the thought more and more and I found myself wondering who had said this and why? How could it be that the perception of me is nothing close to what is being said??? I then remembered my favourite saying "A wolf does not concern himself with the opinions of sheep" and that put paid to that bullshit then and there. The reason I brought this up is that we have a tendency to give a lot of our power away to people of no consequence, and that perception is nothing more than uninformed opinion, and we know how much opinion and an asshole have in common don't we. People use perception/opinion like they have...

It’s been a while since my last post, but I’m not going to bore you with bullshit post every second day. I have been meaning to get some stuff out, but have refrained, but some stuff just has to come out. Firstly, I have plugged a restaurant called “Orinoco” in Bree street, great value and authentic South American food, I’m afraid to say, no longer, I took Nicci for dinner and two ridiculous portions of poorly cooked food, cost over R480-00, I’m sorry, but that’s just retarded, and had the food been of an epic standard, it would not have pissed me off so much, but this is just fucked up. I complained to the owner, and the best she could do was shrug her shoulders, well that’s blown it for me, they certainly will not see me there again, and I would suggest you stay away too. It is just amazing how the odd little magazine article and a little plug here and there can give people such an attitude, Bob said it best, “Be good to the people you meet on the way up, cause you’re b...

As a tattooer, I find that our industry has become exactly that, Industry, and that the craft and it's roots and traditions is falling by the way side. As more artists market themselves well and reality shows aggrandise many, I feel that where we come from, and who we are? is easily forgotten. I was tattooing a paratrooper, here we call them "Parabats" and what I was tattooing to his chest was the "Bats" insignia, something they in their day were not allowed to do, something not new in many armed services. As I'm sitting tattooing, the fact that I'm carrying on a very long tradition in tattooing, and Sailor Jerry Collins came to mind. Tattooing in Hawaii through the 2nd World War, Sailor Jerry and those men and women in uniform that frequented his studio before leaving for the Pacific Sector, created such iconic images. Though unaware at the time, this is a body of work that has become such a large part of the strong tradition in western tattooing. I fe...

So I got back Monday evening from Johannesburg, knowing that Tuesday morning I had a doctors appointment to have my blood pressure checked out... as I get older these things, well you gotta keep an eye on them. So at 09H15, I'm on my Vespa, and into town, off to Chris Barnard hospital to see Dr Ramjee... mmmm I get there and believe me my Dr is a good guy, he listens and gets what I deal with, and my health, so I go to him here and that's it, even if it's out of the way. Tuesday however, he caught me by surprise, he checked my blood pressure, and all's good, then he said we need to chat, "how are you doing?", "how are you feeling?" "when last have you had an EKG stress test? and when last did you have your prostate checked?" to which I replied, well its been a few years, surely we can just do a blood test for the prostate and a quick EKG while I'm here.... "No Mr Marcer, you need a prostate exam, and as you said while you are here,...

At this time of year when everyone is reminded that being a human being is being kind and loving, forgiving and tolerant, I feel that it's all bullshit, this is not a state for the holidays, this should be a constant state and something we should strive towards in our everyday lives. I blogged about being a "mensch" and perhaps it's good to remind ourselves what it means to be one. what follows is that blog A while ago I mentioned being a “mensch” and I was not really clear on what it means. A good friend and client brought this in for me, it’s part of an article written by Charlotte Cohen, and it sums it up well. What is a honourable mensch It is a voice, and the understanding behind it. It is the eyes, and the intelligence behind them. It is the recognition that support is needed, and asked for, giving it And the kindness that lies behind all of that. It’s keeping quiet when one ought and speaking when one should and knowing the difference. It’s giving pr...