OMG LOOK AT THIS GUY

[Todd]

sorry but this is random and i thought id put it out there

[ttjoon]

Ummmm....I'm all for individualism and self expression.....but something tells me he has.....issues.  He doesn't look like the picture of happiness, now does he?

[PPI Karl]

That's the best he could do for reading glasses?!   Loser.

[ttjoon]

I wonder where this fashion icon will be working in 10 or 20 years looking like that.

Somehow I cannot picture him as an executive with eyebrows like that.

BTW....WTF happened to his nose?  Where ARE his nostrils??  Oh doooood.

(Karl - YOUR glasses are stylish)

[PPI Karl]

I wonder where this fashion icon will be working in 10 or 20 years looking like that. . . . (Karl - YOUR glasses are stylish)

That's my complaint in general about a lot of the tattoo fad currently afoot.  Yes, it's all very fun and impressive to know you've "committed" to a major tat across your forehead, but what happens when the bloom wears off and you're no longer a member of a subculture?  I know it's the prerogative of youth to imagine themselves growing youthfully older together, but that isn't the way it works.  The older you get, the less connected you become to "the group", so the people who hang with you and reinforce your belief that you're cool and sexy and individualistic and such . . . they're off in their own lives, and you live your own more and more isolated from the culture at large.   When you surround yourself with people who think the same way, it's easy to say, "I don't give a f*ck what people think.  This is who I am," but that's only because you have the luxury of participating in a youth subculture at the moment, amid others who are trying, not to "find themselves," but to distinguish themselves in any way that gets them laid.  At the end of the day, it's still a calculated form of drag: a costume that's a means to an end.

I'm not a conformist, by any stretch of the imagination, but there are some forms of nonconformity that are worth the risk in the broader scheme of things:  social issues, ideologies, politics, etc.  A fashion statement of this magnitude is not something to which one should commit for a lifetime; that's just shortsighted.  Now, if it were part of one's cultural identity, that's a lifetime ideology.  (I'm thinking of the urban Maori, who commits to their cultural roots by covering their faces and bodies in extreme tattoos.)   But that's just not the truth of it for most.  Again, I'm not against body art, or even large works of body art.  Just ask yourself, who is it you're trying to impress, will you still want their good opinion in another twenty years, and will this honestly get it from them?

Jesus christ, I've never sounded older.  But, there you go.  Just imagine how you'd react now if I had somehow made my look in 1983 a lifetime commitment through some surgical procedure:  a Flock Of Seagulls hairdo and clear plastic, preppy glasses with Photogray lenses.  Not even my peers from that time would look now upon my hideous and twisted form.  ("Sanctuary!")

P.S.:  Don't even ask.  Not in a million years.

[MichaelF (FPIE)]

Good post Karl, I totally agree.  I always found it odd that people who "don't care what others think," make such an extreme showing of it that they obviously DO care what others think.

[ttjoon]

I wonder where this fashion icon will be working in 10 or 20 years looking like that. . . . (Karl - YOUR glasses are stylish)

Just imagine how you'd react now if I had somehow made my look in 1983 a lifetime commitment through some surgical procedure:  a Flock Of Seagulls hairdo and clear plastic, preppy glasses with Photogray lenses.  Not even my peers from that time would look now upon my hideous and twisted form.  ("Sanctuary!")

I'd pay 20 bucks just to see that!  Couldn't have been any more ridiculous than my red bi-level hair + gold boots - circa 1983 or feathered Farrah look w/ surfer dress and white van slip on's - circa 1979 (ah the Farrah days....a time before young girls realized they actually had hair in the back of their head, not just in front and on the sides) 

Oh God, if I could only push rewind......Major "Do-Over"!   :

[MichaelF (FPIE)]

Lol I bet we all had crazy phases like that.  I can't believe I actually thought I looked good with long hair 

Boy if I could go back in time, knowing what I do now.....

[ttjoon]

Talking about long hair - My brother Andy had long hair ever since I can remember.  He got the good hair in the family.  His was long, thick and blond.  (bastard)  Anyway, his hair was always down to his butt.  He wore it that way for 10+ years. Being in a band only helped his case, as far as he and my parents were concerend.  Anyway, he started his own construction company that he still has today.  When he first got into the business, he had to do drywall.  Back breaking work. He would put his hair into a ponytail and once he even tried braids.  Nothing would keep it out of the mud.  I went over to his house one day to baby sit my nephew as Andy was getting ready to do a show out in Riverside.  He comes down the stairs with a towel wrapped around his head and just stood there with a huge grin on his face.  Then...he took the towel off.  He had TOTALLY buzzed his head!!!  Talk about a shock.  OMG.  He said the last straw is when every single braid fell into the wet concrete earlier that day.  He had had it.  His hair has been short ever since.  Gone are the John Bon Jovi days.  I think he looks better with short hair anyway.  (Both my brother AND John Bon Jovi.....or as Taylor's Great Grandma likes to call him, "That hunk, Bon John Bovi".

Wow.  I sure got off track.

A.D.D. Woman, Out!

[TAPS Jen]

Girls have hair in back?!?!?!  :o  I remember using aquanet to get my bangs to stand as high as they could and the sides to go out as far - and then teasing the entire thing - shoulder pads in EVERYTHING and short, slouchy boots (when I wasn't wearing leg warmers or 4 pairs of mismatching neon colored socks)

SO many pictures that need to be burned... :

[donaldhicks]

Jen - thats still fashion in NJ !!!

[ttjoon]

SO many pictures that need to be burned... :

...or brought with you on Saturday......

[TAPS Jen]

Yeah, I know.    My hair feels so flat now when I go back to visit! Damn, I love Jersey!!!

[Todd]

another pic of that same guy LOL

[ttjoon]

whatever floats your boat, i guess.....

[ellie]

I think these guys should run in the bird man competition on easter island. Go long ear!

[Todd]

dude that guy is creepy lol

[PPI Glenn]

Can you imagine this guy as a 50 year old grandparent and his 2 yo grandkid is trying to hang off his earlobes??

I wonder where this fashion icon will be working in 10 or 20 years looking like that. . . . (Karl - YOUR glasses are stylish)

That's my complaint in general about a lot of the tattoo fad currently afoot.  Yes, it's all very fun and impressive to know you've "committed" to a major tat across your forehead, but what happens when the bloom wears off and you're no longer a member of a subculture?  I know it's the prerogative of youth to imagine themselves growing youthfully older together, but that isn't the way it works.  The older you get, the less connected you become to "the group", so the people who hang with you and reinforce your belief that you're cool and sexy and individualistic and such . . . they're off in their own lives, and you live your own more and more isolated from the culture at large.   When you surround yourself with people who think the same way, it's easy to say, "I don't give a f*ck what people think.  This is who I am," but that's only because you have the luxury of participating in a youth subculture at the moment, amid others who are trying, not to "find themselves," but to distinguish themselves in any way that gets them laid.  At the end of the day, it's still a calculated form of drag: a costume that's a means to an end.

I'm not a conformist, by any stretch of the imagination, but there are some forms of nonconformity that are worth the risk in the broader scheme of things:  social issues, ideologies, politics, etc.  A fashion statement of this magnitude is not something to which one should commit for a lifetime; that's just shortsighted.  Now, if it were part of one's cultural identity, that's a lifetime ideology.  (I'm thinking of the urban Maori, who commits to their cultural roots by covering their faces and bodies in extreme tattoos.)   But that's just not the truth of it for most.  Again, I'm not against body art, or even large works of body art.  Just ask yourself, who is it you're trying to impress, will you still want their good opinion in another twenty years, and will this honestly get it from them?

Jesus christ, I've never sounded older.  But, there you go.  Just imagine how you'd react now if I had somehow made my look in 1983 a lifetime commitment through some surgical procedure:  a Flock Of Seagulls hairdo and clear plastic, preppy glasses with Photogray lenses.  Not even my peers from that time would look now upon my hideous and twisted form.  ("Sanctuary!")

P.S.:  Don't even ask.  Not in a million years.

[leslie]

As scary as the girl with all the plastic surgery. Although, he was going for and paid  for this affect.  I bet you would see him swinging from hooks stuck in his back. You know, they do try so hard to be different, but yet they end up all looking the similar

[ellie]

Brian Miller, is my reference to easter island correct? History question.......... OOOOhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

[PPI Brian]

Hi Ellie,

Yes, you are correct.  Easter Island was populated by two distinctly different cultures; the Hanau eepe (long ears) and the Hanau momoko (short ears). Here's a wikipedia link with pictures of the moai (the infamous statues) that resemble this poor lost soul: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter_Island

I have always been fascinated by these cultures. Recent articles in the science mags have established theories that these people colonized the islands and then stripped them of all their natural resources. In the process of destroying their environment, they doomed themselves to a life of isolation, as they didn't have any trees left to make boats. As their culture declined, the remaining people resorted to canibalism in order to survive. In effect, it serves as a model of what could happen to our planet if we don't start taking better care it.

I can't help but wonder how this guy blows his nose when he gets a cold... I see this guy spending a small fortune in the laser tatoo removal in the future. Can you imagine what this guy is going to look like when he's 70?

[ellie]

I learned about this from a movie called rapa niu. My parents made me watch it when I was about 12 years old. I would watch it over and over because I just didn't understand why or how any culture would feel a giant statue would satisfie the gods. Also why the long ear? I love the history behind it. It's so interesting.

[jp3white]

I was on the boardwalk in Santa Cruz and a lady w/a
leapord print bikini walked by showing off her pussycat
*IF YA know what I mean*!  very over grown. 
I practically fell over.  This guy...same reaction.  Wow
I wouldn't be smiling either if I were him! ouchy!

[Todd]

haha wow