Up North

Nothing like taking a road trip up north. While guessing the flavor of the salt water taffy from MI, 80's marathon was on the radio.

The wide open landscape and the beautiful clear lake were all great, until a rat terrier size TICK was CRAWLING on my head....

I want to go home! (ITCHY, ITCHY!)

ha ha

RIP Dennis Hopper (Explicit Language)

We lost one of the original and a great actor today.

Say YES to the donuts!

It is Donuts Saturday! How can you say no to these?

Like Jello

Rachel and I are big followers of Robin and the guys in the shop are watching us every time we come out after a session (they are afraid of the needles ;0). We are like jello when we come out.

She is not just our acupuncturist, she is taking care of us in a holistic way and I think many of her clients will agree that she offers above grade service with a very reasonable price. You just can't spend enough on yourself. Flex pre-tax medical really helps if you have that to use. It is a tiny cost compare to the Western Medicine that works on one symptom with one pill at a time.

I actually had other acupuncturist before and I can tell you I will not go to another now. We are so happy that she is now working out of the private room in the back of the shop every Friday. I already booked my weekly appointment for months.

So if you come in on a Friday and I look like I am extremely relaxed, I am not stoned, I am just Robinized. :)

A thank you to the fallen

If not for the brave men and women fighting the Axis and gave their lives in World War II, likely I would be speaking Japanese right now.

Their sacrifice was transformational to the world, and still affecting the history.

Thank you.

P.S. A vet corrected me today, Memorial Day is for the fallen heroes.

this is why

The portrait on the right is of a brave girl. That is a reason to support the Children's Hospital here in Wisconsin.

A grieving father told me the story years ago of his young girl, battled her illness with grace and dignity, yet never lost her joy and smile. She lost her sight during the fight, so she learned braille. Her journey was short but it was full. Children's hospital was there for her and her family every step of the way.

It is an honor to participate in memorials like this and that is why it is so important to pay it forward and give back to the community. Be there for someone, it is good for the soul.

Do your good deed here!

Bid often and bid high! Due to limited slot, Rich and Barry will have their share of gift certificates auctioned off in July and August. It is for a very good cause!

Or you can just give here!

The auction item is a group of SIX $50 gift certificates!

Another Rambus LTL gone

I just found out on Rambus IV board that a long time member of the Ramboid family passed away unexpectedly.

I had been reading Watzman since Yahoo board and then as Rambiskit in IV board.

It is a brutal reality and I pray for peace for his family.

For Mr. H. Dumbell

Mayor Scrima was there to support us and downtown business. He was not the one holding the working big scissors. He also wore a tie.

Alderman Patton and Roger, the Waukesha BID president were there as well.

The clown is the one in the middle in red.

The bonus

Best thing about having a party is the leftovers. Barry and I barely made a dent with the leftover pig roast, Sprecher Root Beer and Waukesha Tattoo Pop popcorn. Even Rich can not resist the seductive swine song and had some pork.

I am bring in the BBQ sauce today, it is not going to be pretty.

(Btw, I recently told one of Waukesha's finest "Come and get some... Pork!" ) Good thing he did not taser me.

The next phase

As if we are not busy enough with our day jobs, but now the grand opening is over, we have to set our eyes on the next phase of the renovation.

The next to go is the outdoor sign (we were told they are being "laser" cut right now), and then we will replace the cedar shingles in the front with some copper color steel. Waukesha BID has a few matching grants for projects like this and we will sure look into them.

We are not shy about what we want, we want to win the next One Building At a Time award at the annual BID meeting! :) I hope we have a lot of competitions, because anything going toward bettering the downtown Waukesha community, we are all for it!

Speaking of Laser

A day to remember in the West End

All the people came together, inked or not inked, neighbors and friends, mayor and alderman, shared some nicely prepared pig by John and side dishes from Crazy Train.

Sprecher root beer was on tap inside and the Waukesha Tattoo Pop popcorn from Poppin on Broadway stole the show along with crazy cupcakes from Amy G, and some flan from La Estralla bakery.

It is a nice day in the beautiful West End. It is the beginning of something much much better.

We like to thank all the people whom came out and help us celebrate, we had a blast, and we hope you did too!


Iphone video by Kodiak Kid



A plug from a more famous blogger, he even have some photos. (The first four and last two were us, the the rest is Moxie's)

show is up!

There are some fine tuning left to do but the Katie and Andy show are up!

The space is constantly changing with each addition of elements.... I am sure that will continue to happen for a while...

Thanks to Popping on Broadway, we have the special Waukesha Tattoo Pop popcorn here. They will be served at the opening on Saturday from 7-10pm.

There will be certain amount of donuts for the open house from 10am to 5 pm as well, but if they are all gone, so sorry, you just have to come back on a different Donuts Saturday!

10:30 am should be a good photo op for any Waukesha historians. New Mayor Scrima and new alderman will be around for the ribbon cutting.

Crazy Train beef and dogs will also be out in the parking lot all day! If you missed their nacho cheese covered Italian beef and fried pickle last time, this is another chance!

Hope to see you all there!

Busy, busy, busy

Most of the elements are in place, just have to hope all come together...

If we build it...

On the way to IKEA

A large bottle of water, a large coffee and un-necessary traffic jam... (2 lines closed by an on ramp for a little patch job on the pavement in IL during middle of the day.)



Yeah, it is like that... ;)

Be respectful and thankful to a vet

A customer and I were talking, and he was talking about his military service years ago. The emotion was still raw as he talked about how he was spitted on when he returned home from Viet Nam. Imagine yourself in his shoes as a 20 something.

We will have a new generation of young soldiers carrying the scars of war, emotionally and physically. Does not matter what political sides you are on, please show some respect to them, it is the least we can do for their sacrifice.

No need to glorify war but please thank a vet when you meet one, it is the honorable and decent thing to do.

Retro night

Wife and I went to the Brewers game last night. Brewers were in the Seattle Pilot colors and The Phillies were in light blue and red. Yet the game were uglier than the uniform.

47 years old Jamie Moyer was pitching for the Phillies. I had him in my first fantasy league, when I had my first personal PC. That was a 486DX/2 machine, pre-Pentium. The modem was blazing 2400 and the service was Prodigy.

Yeah, them good old days...

Talk is cheap

How did this tattoo shop restriction issue went from this, and our known position, to this?

I am sure that George (Wang), who spent $400(,000) to open his new parlor, would love to help out with no parlors within 1,000 feet of each other, no more than two per street etc. Hello?

I guess I should first apologize for investing in downtown Waukesha.

Second, we are neutral, we were briefly asked about tattoo regulation during our busy renovation, and believe me, the 2 sinks are not even half of the strict state regulation. City of Waukesha has no health department to regulate tattoo shops, the county took a pass, and the state is in charge. We have a conditional permit from the city.

Third, we are not interested at other known or hidden political agenda or fighting, nor aligned with any camp. We are pro-Waukesha. We are trying to be good neighbors, and if you have any question for me or the other two co-owners, please come down to talk to us and check out our "$400(,000)" renovation and the impossible upscale tattoo parlor.

Fourth, the distance thing has nothing to do with us, that was suggested by city planners on the March meeting. Perhaps one should read the minutes first. We figure we have no say with that since we are on a "conditional" permit.

Gosh, any person can write whatever, that is the freedom of speech, but when does uninformed opinion become slanderous?

As artists, we are not competing with anyone but ourselves. Do you know how many shops are there in Milwaukee and West Allis? Do you know how other communities find ways to keep tattoo parlors out? We just want a chance to do what we do, and because of the conditional permit process we were able to open. To think we want to limit others while we were given a chance to pursuit our dream is kinda ridiculous.

Quoting Forrest Gump, that is all I have to say about that. :)

The dome lights

The new lights are so nice and bright, it is the best lit working space all three of us had ever seen!

When you are under these cloud, you are fully expected to be beamed up to the mother ship!

Still a lot to do with the Galleria but the elements are slowly put in place!

Come check it out at Waukesha Tattoo Company! Grand opening open house is on 5-22 10am-5pm.

Foodie

Save some gas money...

Dude...

I was just reading the Sound Off in Freeman. I just think that the election is over, and we should all get behind the leader the majority elected and give him a chance.

The problem of this country is that we are so divided through the election process and we just go on fighting and nothing get done.

Don't let the people at the far edge who makes the loudest sound take away our collective voice as a whole.

Talkers talk, doers do. That would be my advice to Mayor Scrima, action is louder than words.

Big cloud in the sky

The 8 ft clouds with 4 ft lights are going in as I am typing.... quite a sight.

The Flux team said next time the designers design something this big and heavy, they have to come out and lift it themselves.... :) I ask them the gears should spin like real gears, right? No one was laughing...

It takes a team of 5 to lift it and one to tie them to the ceiling. I think we will have plenty of light, we might even need sun tan lotion.

Sleeping in

I was able to sleep in for another 3-4 hours today. With most of the renovation done, and the tattooing schedule back in play, it is the most relaxing feeling.

It is nice to talk to customers and do art all day once again. There are little things to fine tune all over the place and many events to plan, but the team is back.

I can see clear again what is ahead and the steps needed to get there.

A full schedule awaits next week, but we love it. The floor for the back room is going in. Retro grade will be over by mid-week. It will be a great summer at the West End.

Happy Mother's Day

1700 FB fan giveaway

How to win it is in the Waukesha Tattoo Company Twitter... Today only and yes, you have to be present to collect.

It will be so kool if one really get into it and have a full out dresses up. If you come in with the same tired one liner, we'll judge you like a Russian figure skating judge. The best one in the end of the day will be notified for an even better prize.

Creativity, people! I will totally eat the Cinnabon if you have two on your head (as Princess Leia of course)! (I like them warmed up please...)


P.S. My lawyer just called to advice me that for safety purpose, it is not a good idea to have hot gooey sugar frosting on your head. It might be better in the Cinnabon box.


Sorry, no kids or fur kids. Adults only.

Hey, don't forget that we do have Tatooine Tuesday! 20% off Star War related tattoos on Tuesdays!

Oops

I guess three and half weeks of intense renovation left me little time to read the Freeman which we do subscribe. I did not read the whole controversy regard ribbon cutting. I just thought that is what the city leaders do. If I can have all the former mayors there for a photo op, I would.

My apology to Mayor Scrima that I was just blogging after I was told that he was not coming to the ribbon cutting after we were told he would, and I did not quite understand why not. I had no idea someone had made it into an issue before.

Once again, there is no doubt that he is supportive of us and downtown business. We are very happy that he will be at our ribbon cutting at 10:30am and at Moxie's at 11am. The nice gals at Moxie are very happy as well, I hope they will upgrade my pedi treatment from basic to deluxe now... hold the nail polish though, well, maybe a little color won't hurt.

We have the Mayor onboard!

I received a phone call out of the blue from Mayor Scrima. I guess it was a just a misunderstanding. He will indeed be at our ribbon cutting (10:30am )and at Moxie's ( 11:00am ) on May 22nd. He won't be holding the big scissors but he will be here to support the downtown business.

He asked me why don't I just call instead of blog...

I did not know I can just call him up. That is pretty refreshing.

Thank you, Mayor Scrima!

I know it is the nacho cheese covered Italian beef that did the trick... ;) We know how to party at the beautiful West End!

Don't disrepect the king!

I think this new "Revelation" is just full of poop!

The King is alive and Taking Care of Business.

Pretty Please, Mr. Mayor.

New Waukesha Mayor Scrima was telling us over a hot Italian beef sandwich from Crazy Train on May 1st that he wants to play a different role regarding ribbon cutting photo ops in the Freeman, as to break away from the previous Mayor Nelson.

Today we were told by the nice gals at Moxie that he will not be at their ribbon cutting. Does that mean he will not be in our ribbon cutting as well now? We were concerned and called BID. We were told that they will contact him to work out a better time if he is available. I thought we were all set for May 22nd.

Pretty please, Mr. Mayor, I know we are just a little tattoo parlor and a beauty salon in the beautiful West End, it will be very nice to have you here celebrating the grand openings with us. We will have donuts and coffee in the morning, and Crazy Train will be out here once again with delicious Italian Beef and Chicago style dogs. I think Moxie has RSVP for free gift certificate. ( I know I will need a facial and a pedi. )

We were asked what we need as a business, we need you, Mr. Mayor; photo op or not, we just like you to show that you are supporting the new downtown businesses publicly and continue the momentum to draw more people with a dream to come to Waukesha, I would even back off on my quest for the return of Scrima's Pizza, because Rosati's is pretty good in the West End.

I do know you have been here several times and have been supportive of us, but this is a big day for us and one for the tattooing history of downtown Waukesha, not mentioning some free press for Milwaukee's/Chicago's Chinese newspaper to promote Waukesha as the place to invest. Pretty please, how about if we throw in a nacho cheese covered Italian Beef and some fried pickles? :)

Fun with Time Warner Biz Class

An appointment was made a week ago for Time Warner Biz Class to restore our cable/internet/phone. The tech came out last Friday, took a look, ripped the phone lines off the modem, then said "I am a home tech, not a biz tech. You have to call them again, I do not know why they sent me." Then he was out chatting to another tech showed up out there in the beautiful weather for an hour.

After an hour of agonizing call with the customer service, another appointment was made for yesterday, the day we soft opened. Guess what, no tech.

Rich was on the cell phone for another agonizing hour, he was told that because the ticket said installing a phone line and they do not do that, they canceled us without telling us. Nice.

Then last night I receive a voicemail from customer service about how if they come out today, there will be a charge of $75.

Yeah, Time Warner sucks, even more for Business class because they are costing us money. Do I have it in me for another agonizing hour to talk to a supervisor?

On the positive note, check out our facebook fan site. Rich had some photos of the new shop up!

Construction of a painting

A painting is consist of elements in layers. How you arrange the elements is how you achieve harmony or chaos.

The galleria is a living, breathing painting in my mind, and the elements are slowly all finding their places. It is a group project and a lot of artistic input from all different artists and designers. The result is the hard work of a dedicated team of craftsman/ artists and some careful management.

It is a dream, a shared dream, a dream with a soul. Soon you will see this 3D collaborative"painting", this art in flux. (pun intended)

P.S. Katie Musolff and Andy Fletcher in May/June, Phil Krejcarek in July/Aug and William Lemke in late October/Nov/Dec planned for the galleria. I am in talk with several artists behind the scene yet. Stay tuned.

Hmmm

What can I say and what I can not say...

Some interesting development but I have to keep my mouth shut.

Beautiful West End, or Trendy West End, which slogan should we market?

Okay, I said too much.

No leaks.

The case of the missing mascot

Yes, not even my wife knows where the mascot was hidden as some concern citizens asking his whereabout.

We do have a spot for him in the shop, and we have plans.

We will have Chief of Security "Fred" designing a whole system of surveillance and sensors on top of ADT security to combat the growing threat of kidnapping.

Unless your name is Ethan Hunt, you are SOL.

(Good luck carrying him running down Main Street.)

Riverwalk for Breast Cancer and Art Crawl 2

The day started way too early, but it started even earlier for Crazy Train. Amy had her Caboose parked at the shop parking lot already! About half of the walk team actually made it, and we walked toward the meeting point and down to Frame Park.

Rich and her girls Ashley and Andrea were able to join us, and guess what, out of the sea of people, Ashley won the only prize of the raffle. Looks like we will get to have a luxury suite at a Brewers' game sometime in the future as a shop! Now, please don't call me yet, it is not my prize, and I have to fight for a spot on that guest list myself.

I do want to thank the team members who all came out, we can not have a more perfect day for it. I think the walk really showcase the beautiful Frame Park and Fox River. It is great to see all the people come out to support such a worthy cause. (Please do not schedule HAWS Pet Walk on the same day again! )

By the time we returned, Amy had the hot Italian Beef going and I can say I had the first one! Nacho cheese and Hot Beef, you can not get better than that! Just in case you missed her, she will be out here again on May 22nd for our Grand Opening! I had the hot beef and the Chicago style dogs, she also had the fried pickle for sale. People were raving about it up and down the street. I would like to thank the famous blog for the plug!

As the remodeling continues inside all day, I had a string of famous visitors. The list includes gallery owners, local blogger, Mayor Scrima, neighbors, and customers. I think we will have a nice grand opening as the words get out! (By the way, as the new mayor had promised, his family is working on bring back Scrima's Pizza, the rumor is confirmed once again.)

I do think people are getting excited about the possibilities for downtown Waukesha, especially the beautiful West End. Are you the next dreamer?

Can't say much

So much I want to say, but I can't say much.

It will be a surprise.