Milo "Mr Lucky" Marcer

A while ago I watched a program on the TV about the WWII a British veteran spoke about the Blitz on London and how devastating it was and what people suffered through a how the British spirit kept them going through. Veteran RAF pilot now long gone spoke of how at 18 years old they fought the Hun in the skies above and so many died. I was reminded of another great hero of mine, Sir Earnest Shackleton and his voyage to Antartica with his “Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition” (1914-17) He and his team would be the first to traverse the continent from Vahsel Bay to McMurdo Sound on the opposite side, on the 19th of January 1915 their ship got trapped, frozen in an ice floe. Being forced to wait till spring the crew turned the ship into a winter station but in spring as the ice melted, the pressures of the moving ice finally sank the Endurance, forcing the men onto an ice floe, but to cut a long story short, they would march to Elephant Island dragging 3 life boats over the ice until they...

I have been alarmed, bemused and a little caught a little off guard by the actions of some friends, I won't mention who, but it seems that a need to belong has taken up residence in their psyche, and though I know it's common, I don't get it. As a tattooer, I have spent a lot of my time convincing people to do things that are tailor made for them, individual, something unique, as unique as they themselves are. I do need to now say that just because you chose not to do so does not lessen you or your experience, I just felt that when the time came for something as exciting as getting tattooed, you might want to consider something all your own, something that spoke of your individuality as a person. This in time unfortunately, early on in my career been misinterpreted as me being exclusive and given rise to rumor that I'm a self entitled ass, and in now what is a very competitive industry, I can see how this is easily believed by those that have chosen not to do justice ...

The Rand Easter Show, is a huge consumer exhibition, where thousands of exhibitors from all over the world would come to Johannesburg to trade, it was in fact the largest show of it’s kind in the world outside of the US for a long time through the 60's and 70's. I must have been six or seven years old, when my Dad and I went to the Rand Easter Show, I must have been that age because it was just the two of us, which meant my brother’s were still to young to come along. My farther had been sent by his boss to take a look at some German machinery that was on exhibition, or something like that, because my Dad wasn’t the kind of guy to go without having to be prodded with a stick, of course for me, it was going to be great, because as a kid the only attraction was the Fair Grounds. The Fair Ground was huge, with Rollercoaster, Octopus and all sorts of rides, there were games of skill where you could win stuff and candy vendors, and tucked away in a corner there it was thi...

Hey guys, you know we went to Kalahari Speedweek last year and our ultimate aim is to go to Bonneville in Utah the cathedral of speed. So we have just launched a fundraising campaign via Indigogo, and we really need your help, if you can please donate, but if not please share it on all your social media networks,with a little luck we will be sending you some sponsorship packs so take a look at the campaign and please help. Thank you.

At the urging of a friend I am going to get my shit together and blog more often. I don't write about stuff if there really isn't much to talk about, it's always the empty vessels that make the most noise, just take a look around you. Things have been a little weird of late, and I find myself out of sorts, so much so that even the wind tonight has me anxious, and it's keeping both Little Laika awake. Actually just me, as she has fallen asleep on my foot. A couple of rude awakenings have taken place in my life recently, one being finding out I'm diabetic, rather a great shock, but not unexpected, as I have lived my life to excess and I guess there has to be some cost. The other has been the realisation that in 5 years of living in this city, I have made very few friends, as beautiful as this city is, it also breeds a type of arrogance and self serving that I haven't seen in many places before. People who professed to be your friends but in truth really were o...

I been thinking about change this morning, and the old cliche comes to mind, "the only constant in life is change" and I think it probably is true, but I wonder if it is also true about the very essence of you, can you change after all you have seen, experienced and lived through, this sets patterns in your life, and I wonder if therapy could even change those ingrained patterns. Of course I will admit that all those things cause your growth, and that in essence is change, but after years of that growth there is a whole bunch of things that cause you to act, react, and feel, and that forms patterns of behaviour and I wonder if this can ever be truly changed or worst case scenario modified? All that, got me thinking about just what I let into my life, and how those things are going to change how I act, and worst of all, will I repeat the errors I made before in the handling of these things because I haven't actually changed at all. The truth for me I'm afraid is dark,...

I have been talking to my good friend Rob, a financial adviser, about money, and how we go about spending it, he drives a A5 wanted to own a coupe in his life, and on impulse went and did it. Now he's thinking of getting something smaller less expensive, but was feeling a little pressure to keep up appearances in his industry, that clients might not see him as successful. But what came to mind, especially in his circumstance is that he's advising people to spend wisely, not to spend on huge luxury items, and so the thinking was that by not bowing to this pressure you would show that you take your own advise. Now you're wondering, cool, good for you but what the fuck are you on about. Well last year I felt the financial pinch in a big way, and I had to make some really hard decisions, as I'm sure many have had to do in the last 3/4 years under the financial climate, but I found one thing, one solitary sentence that pulled me through. DO I REALLY NEED THIS? before any cu...

It’s Wednesday and I need to do some writing, It’s been an eventful weekend as Nicci a good friend arrived from Johannesburg for the weekend so we could begin her partial cover-up back piece, a geisha that will use some of the previous tattoo as well as cover parts I don’t think work. We started out Saturday with a quick spin into town to Mozart for breakfast then sat shooting the breeze with Carl at Deluxe Coffee, those guys are so funny, we were in hysterics, then of to the V&A, cause I spoiled myself with a Nespresso Machine, as endorsed by Mr George Clooney I might add… whatever….   but I needed more pods, or cartridges, they only give you 16 and I was half way through on day one, needles to say I had a few anxiety issues, but hey it’s a new toy and you just got to test the damn thing right???? Took a spin in the Ferris wheel they have, and I’m just not happy at heights, and besides the coffee anxiety the swinging gondola on the wheel was making me more than a l...

On Sunday I was visited by my long lost cousin and his partner, it must be about 16 years since I saw him, he had moved to Holland and due to typical Italian family bullshit some how we didn’t have much contact. After all that time it was fantastic to see him and see the man he has grown into, from that little guy we used to tease when they visited. He was very close to my Mum, and it was great talking about those days, and huge family lunches, with all my uncles and my Grandparents. The was sometimes 15 to 18 people at the dining room table and the conversation like the food, just kept on till late into the afternoon. Through rose tinted glasses, those were the best of days. He surprised me by asking me to tattoo him, something I never really thought he would get, I know my Uncle well, and so it did come as quiet a surprise but I never baulk at an opportunity to tattoo family, and piss the others off….lol I took enough condescending attitudes from some of my family, to really enjo...

I must have been six or seven years old, when my Dad and I went to the Rand Easter Show, I must have been that age because it was the two of us, which meant my brother’s were still to young. The Rand Easter Show, is a huge consumer exhibition, where thousands of exhibitors from all over the word come to Johannesburg to trade, it is in fact the largest show of it’s kind in the world outside of the US. My farther had been sent by his boss to take a look at some German machinery that was on exhibition, or something like that, because my Dad wasn’t the kind of guy to go with having to be prodded with a stick, of course for me, it was going to be great, because as a kid the only real attraction was the Carnival. The Carnival was huge, with Rollercoaster, Octopus and all sorts of rides, there were games of skill where you could win stuff and candy vendors, and tucked away in a corner there it was this thing that emitted a loud noise. The Wall Of Death the name did it, I was hooke...