Now here’s the “Fright Night” pic-a-nic basket, the perfect complement to any outing in vampire country.

There’s the T-shirt and pre-ripped baseball cap. and tattoos. got to have temporary tattoos.

And holly stakes? Let’s assume they’re holly, but it would suck if we used them as such in a fix and they turned out to be, oh, hickory or something.

A couple of Budweisers, which vampires like Colin Farrell are ALWAYS trying to bum off their unsuspecting neighbors. Invite them in and they drink your Bud, and your blood.

An apple, because the toothy terrors do like their green apples.

And for DE-fense? There’s a bundle of garlic cloves (Niiiice), a flask for Holy Water, a mirror compact, so’s you can see if there’s a reflection (vampires cast no reflection), and of course, those holly stakes.

Yes, you provide your own mallet/hammer for pounding them in after you’ve pounded back a Bud.

They probably aren’t selling this vampire protection kit in stores. but they could. I could totally see one in every trunk. in Vegas. or Forks, Washington.

And the tchotkes to critics? Not necessary, in this case. This one got good reviews and sells itself.

What’s in the ‘Fright Night’ gift basket? – Frankly My Dear – Orlando Sentinel

I am interested in getting some tattoos and am trying to find places online to get ideas from. does anybody know any free sites that have large galleries?

Best tattoo gallery sites?

Dick Corn made a four-hour trip from Pinckneyville in his 1996 pickup truck Thursday to talk about a dozen people at Galesburg High School about the Illinois High School Basketball Hall of Fame. the former boys basketball coach for 32 years at Pinckneyville didn’t think it was such a bad trip.

now the museum’s executive director, Corn has to convince basketball fans across the state to make that drive, providing he can help raise the $2 million needed to make the facility a reality.

“We’ve got to prove to people we’re serious and moving forward,” said Corn, whose group began the project in 2008 and recently selected an inaugural class of 60 players to be inducted Nov. 5 in Champaign. “We’ve got to do more than just induct inductees next year. We’ve got to be closer to driving nails.”

Corn said the Pinckneyville group has raised about $700,000 of the Hall’s projected cost of $2 million and faces a formidable task in troubled economic times.

“It’s been tougher than I thought it would be,” the Monmouth College graduate admitted.

Part of the chore has been Pinckneyville’s location in the extreme southern part of the state and fan interest in high school basketball that tends to focus on their hometown teams.

“One of the first problems we encountered was the question, ‘Is this just a project to help Pinckneyville?’” said Corn. “‘why isn’t it more centrally located than a place like Pinckneyville?’ Most people want it in their hometown.

“the bigger issue was the perception that this was a southern Illinois project,” he added.

“But that’s not true. I hope I can convince people that this is a statewide, all-inclusive Hall of Fame.”

while Galesburg fans may have been upset there were no Silver Streaks named to the original 60 players selected to the Hall earlier this month, Corn pointed out that no Pinckneyville players made the list either.

“I wasn’t a very popular guy around Pinckneyville for a few days,” he said.

According to Corn, the Hall of Fame in Pinckneyville is intended to honor the rich heritage of Illinois high school basketball, contrary to another Hall of Fame in the works — this one allied with the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association — in Danville. that group is also touring the state seeking memorabilia and funds for its planned facility, which will also recognize college and professional achievements.

“I don’t want it to appear that our organization is in heated competition with another Hall of Fame,” said Corn. “I don’t know if that’s possible; probably not.

“I don’t want to fight with the IBCA; it’s a wonderful organization.

“There should be plenty of memorabilia, plenty of stories for both of us.”

even from Galesburg.

One way to do that, said Corn, could be to set up a rotation of exhibition areas for various schools which would be rented by the month by communities wanting a presence in the Hall of Fame.

Corn admitted plans were still vague on what or who would be included in the museum but noted, “You’ve got to appeal to several different age groups. You’ve got to appeal to everybody.

“We will have memorabilia. You’ve got to have it. But we will have levels of technology, too.”

And he knows the clock is ticking on getting the job done.

“the people with resources are not going to jump on board until they see you’re going to be a success,” he said.

Corn sows seeds for hoops Hall of Fame

A source sent us some images of the brand new Motorola Droid Bionic. It shows how thin, and how impressive the improvements are. these images are the first clear images of the brand new Motorola Droid Bionic sporting the Verizon Wireless logo, and the new DroidEye, although the images are “small” because our source said the images are intended for an “online store.” the rest of the images are embedded below.

The Motorola Droid Bionic is the first dual-core Android smartphone of Verizon Wireless packed with 4G LTE radio that can connect to the internet with “faster” data speed. the Motorola Droid Bionic features 4.3 inch qHD display, TI OMAP4 processor clocked at 1 GHz, an 8-megapixel back camera, a front facing 0.3-megapixel VGA camera and Android Gingerbread 2.3.4 out of the box with the more intuitive custom Motorola skin.

Our source also added that Verizon Wireless may launch a “promo” wherein they will bundle the Lapdock with a “cheaper” price tag if bought on launch date. Lapdock is the optional Droid Bionic accessory that can transform the phone into a conventional netbook computer packed with the internet browser and other helpful applications.

The Lapdock promo is still not final, our source added, so it should be taken with a grain of salt.

New Motorola Droid Bionic images leak [Exclusive]

The White House on Tuesday released the first-ever fuel efficiency standards for heavy trucks after abruptly canceling a public announcement by President Barack Obama.

Obama had been scheduled to announce the standards Tuesday morning during a trip to Interstate Moving Services in Springfield, Va. but the administration canceled the visit at the last minute, and instead he met with industry officials at the White House to discuss standards for work trucks, buses and other heavy-duty vehicles.

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Before Obama’s meeting with industry chiefs, the White House released the final EPA and Transportation Department rules, which will require heavy trucks manufactured between model years 2014 and 2018 to cut fuel consumption and emissions.

The rules are expected to reduce oil consumption by about 530 million barrels and cut greenhouse gas emissions by about 270 million metric tons, according to the White House.

The rules mark the latest step in the Obama administration’s effort to coordinate DOT fuel economy standards and EPA efforts to cut heat-trapping emissions from motor vehicles.

“while we were working to improve the efficiency of cars and light-duty trucks, something interesting happened. we started getting letters asking that we do the same for medium- and heavy-duty trucks,” Obama said in a statement.

“They were from the people who build, buy and drive these trucks. and today, I’m proud to have the support of these companies as we announce the first-ever national policy to increase fuel efficiency and decrease greenhouse gas pollution from medium- and heavy-duty trucks.”

Representatives expected at the White House meeting included officials from Cummins, Navistar, Daimler Trucks, Eaton Corp.’s Vehicle Group, Volvo, Chrysler, General Motors, Mack Trucks, Con-way and others.

“Today’s announcement by President Obama is welcome news to us in the trucking industry,” said American Trucking Associations President and CEO bill Graves. “our members have been pushing for the setting of fuel efficiency standards for some time and today marks the culmination of those efforts.”

This article first appeared on POLITICO Pro at 11:57 a.m. on August 9, 2011.

White House releases heavy-truck standards

Here is another monster machine I just have to build a model of. Many of the construction models I have built so far have been in the category of ( the World’s largest Machines Ever Built ). So this one would also be in that list. you can see the fellow standing by it and it is one AWESOME DOZER !! PLOWED SNOW THIS MORNING – the Tractor no longer has the front snow-scoop or the rear snowblower on it. they are tucked away in the shed for the summer. the motorhome is in front of them now. But luckily I did not put the truck plow away yet. it was still in the back of my garage. So it was easy to hook up to it last night and have it ready to go this morning. I opened the garage door and there was another 2 foot snow drift in front of the door. we had about 5 inches in the driveway. I took the truck and was careful not to dig up any lawns with the plow. it is very soft and muddy under the snow. it has been snowing again all morning today and the weatherman is saying up to 5 more inches tonight. So it looks like one last blast of cold air and a couple last snowstorms and we will be good to enjoy the spring. This is no surprise as last year we got 6 inches of snow on this date too and I plowed, but I put the front blade back on the tractor then. we got a bunch of errands to do today after being gone a week , and the roads are slippery around town. Komatsu SuperDozer- Mon. I will get back to working on it and will get it finished sanding and painted next week. TEREX TITAN- next week I will also get started on the Terex Titan Monster Haul Truck.

Don Campbell Models » ACCO DOZER; WORLD’S BIGGEST DOZER EVER BUILT. ANOTHER DON CAMPBELL ONE OF A KIND MODELS ON THE LIST FOR THIS YEAR TO BUILD. MORE SNOW IN GAYLORD AND I PLOWED TODAY ON GOOD FRIDAY.

NYC limousine services are all over new York, by just running a web search you will know what we mean. But some services stand out above all the rest by all the extra services and hospitality services they offer. Now some tourists will stay in hotels and purchase packaged bus tours, but some of the limo services also offer a guided tour service. and they can help you get around the city very well and you will have your own designated chauffeur. Most of these services also have a tour guide that travels with you.

Some of the guided tours follow certain themes depending upon some of the sights you might want to see while in new York. you might also want to go to a specific location like the Statue of Liberty, Central Park, the Rockefeller Center, etc. there are guided tours that take you to museums-and these are the museums of fine art-all in one tour, you can choose to go to them in one day or two days, have your pick. These are fine art museums like: Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Museum of Modern Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Whitney Museum of American Art.

You can take all sorts of guided tours with various limo services. some offer historical packages and some will take you for a ride to the financial district, or for a trip to upstate new York. some limo companies offer stretch limos, Jeep Wranglers, or a Classical Convertible. Others offer unique tours such as a tour of Greenwich Village and an afternoon discussing the lives of famous poets that had been there.

Testimonials are sometimes a mixed bag, and reading reviews about limo guided tours there is no exception to this rule. A review of some of the testimonials show that most tourists like the guided tours. The main difference was going with an experienced tour guide who knew a lot about new York history, architecture, and neighborhoods versus someone who did not seem knowledgeable. there are many guided tour limo services in new York, so a careful review and shopping around is a good idea. one suggestion was to make your reservations well in advance, because the better companies that offer these services are often booked well ahead.

Whatever your choice, whether you are using NYC limousine services for just a ride to or from the airport, out for an evening on the town, or for a guided tour of the Big Apple, you will surely find a good service, if you shop carefully and wisely.

NYC Limo Services and Your Next Guided Tour in the Big Apple

Animals together with a singular of God’s creation. When people opt out of a healthy sequence as good as put themselves upon top of all alternative species. however, still hold which a information exchnage from animals to humans still exist in a form of penetrating telepathy as good as by spirit.

In a little normal cultures still have a idea which animal intoxicating beverage can come in during bieing born as good as serves as a beam which person’s life. a suggestion beam might crop up during vicious moments.

Nature has supposing hundreds of animals as good as any animal carrying sure traits. And in a universe of permanent skin stain black animals most at large used as good as any has a own meaning, as good as not intermittently to select a pitch which is befitting for we would be an critical care prior to we mentattoo yourself with a pattern / pitch animals.

Here have been a little examples of animal permanent skin stain pitch means:

Eagle permanent skin stain pitch meaningCruel as good as magnificent, with a distressing roar as good as scratch eagle became a clever a a singular preferred in a strange pattern of American tribe. the suggestion of a eagle is a singular of truth, consciousness, as good as perceptiveness.

Owl permanent skin stain pitch meaningThe owl is a a a singular preferred of both immature as good as old. Owls have been a suggestion of a vision, believe as good as insights.

Meaning of permanent skin stain black crowCrow symbolizes a tour of a different citation as good as purpose. Crow is a executive figure in a origination myth.

Meaning of moth permanent skin stain symbolsA smashing approach to constraint a implausible appetite of personal change. Energy moth is compared with balance, mutation as good as grace.

Meaning of permanent skin stain black bearBear is a categorical declare strength, as good as believe of self preservation.

Wolf permanent skin stain pitch meaningThe wolf appears often in permanent skin stain designs since a captivating captivate for humanity, a wolf is a training skills, faithfulness as good as cooperation.

Meaning of permanent skin stain black coyotesOften referred to as a “Trickster”, mischievous quadruped serves as a suggestion (in a clarity of a good joke) funny. Coyote spoke about a annulment of fitness (for improved or worse), deceit as good as humor.

Fox permanent skin stain pitch meaningFox has been called a lot of animal metaphors as good as similes. Not surprisingly, a summary is a singular of a fox intelligence, wisdom, as good as cunning.

Dog permanent skin stain pitch meaningCompanion (man’s most appropriate friend), a dog has connected with humans. By their really nature, a suggestion of a dog is a singular of faithfulness as good as friendship.

Cougar permanent skin stain pitch meaningCougar speak about leadership, faithfulness & courage.

Tattoo pitch definition deerQuiet, peaceful, pleasing as good as graceful. the suggestion of a deer is a singular of peace, attraction as good as tenderness.

Horse permanent skin stain pitch meaningFree suggestion of good strength as good as appetite which chose to enter into ourselves with humanity. Tattoo equine articulate about freedom, strength as good as transformation as good as spoke of appetite as good as amicable rank.

Turtle permanent skin stain definition of symbolsBeing means to equivocate a universe with a preference of a shell, there have been most people who brand good with H2O creatures. the suggestion of a turtle is a singular of protection, recovering as good as middle knowledge.

Frog permanent skin stain pitch meaningAble to cover good distances in each leap. Frogs have prolonged been reputable for a appetite of healing, as an denote of pacific shift as good as instrumentation as a witness.

Meaning of pitch dolphin tattooA sea mammals, dolphins have prolonged been preoccupied with tellurian comprehension as good as amicable nature. is a pointer of harmony, information exchnage as good as intelligence.

Meaning of permanent skin stain black SalmonAlways fighting opposite a current, a salmon has prolonged been a pitch of determination. the same binds loyal inlet totem animal, which tells about fortitude as good as singular disposed dedication.

Meaning of permanent skin stain black craneNorth American local convention of land a blue heron as a follower who teaches about self-determination as good as independence. Skinny leg reminds us which a feet have been not required for a fortitude of athletics, though it stands upon a own ‘is a key. Iroquois Nation as a pointer of a blue heron treated with colour really well.

Tattoo pitch definition crocodileCrocodile is a absolute pitch of stealth, patience, as good as ‘hidden dangers’. Prominent, a eyes drawn similar to binoculars, lazy upon top of a H2O surface, whilst a infancy of reptiles have been still manifest underneath water.

Meaning of pitch permanent skin stain beaverNative Americans have prolonged dignified a beaver as a clever guardian of a family. Otters have been additionally a absolute pitch of womanlike healing as good as womanlike energy.

Tattoo pitch definition whaleNative American enlightenment has emphasized a significance of family with a ‘Great Spirit’. All forms of hold up – from whales to be called rocks, plants, planets, as good as a elements – is believed to be filled with energy.

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Animal Tattoo Symbols Meaning

I have 2 tattoos, both on my back on my shoulder blades. Am I allowed to have two tattoos when enlisting in the Marine Corps? They are just tattoos for my parents. I need someone to tell me that is in the Marine Corps, not a civilian, unless you honestly know.

Those particular tattoos shouldn't be an issue for you. For the most part, the Marines don't want tattoos that can be seen in uniform.

@ da1nonly2008: when you go to MEPS to get your physical you go down to your bra and panties if female, or your underwear if male. the doctors will see any tattoos you have and there won't be any hiding anything unless they put on tattoo covering makeup on, they do a good job of applying it, and the docs aren't paying close attention.

my dad is the recruiting operations officer and a Colonel in the Marine Corps.. he approves tattoos, and it all depends on whether or not he likes them; if they are stupid, profane, etc. then you most likely wont get it. if they are for your parents (and can be covered by your uniform), then they will probably be approved, but it's not a guarantee

good luck and i hope i helped!

when i was in bootcamp back in 93 another recruit in my platoon got a USMC tatto on the back of his arm on his tricep the day before he shipped out to bootcamp. our drill instuctors made him keep it covered with medical tape until we graduated. every night before lights out the drill instructors would peel off the tape. alot of the tatto came off in the first few days because it hadnt heeled yet. after graduation he went and got the tatoo fixed.

You can have tattos, yes. but if the tattoos are not self explanitory you will have to fill out a form explaining your tattoo. the one on the shoulder blades is allowed as for the one on the neck im not sure. I know the navy does not allow neck tattoos.

Yes, you are fine. as long as they are what you described, then the USMC will not care.

If you are serious about enlisting into the Marine Corps, read through this website for Future Marines.
http://futurejarheads.webs.com/

As long as it's covered when you wear your uniform, it's OK!

Do you have a tattoo on your labia or vulva, too???!!!

both of my friends joined the marine corps about 6 months ago at camp peddleton in san diego and they both said that you cannot have any tattoos. still, they said there were a few that got in with tattoos so I guess if they are well hidden you can get. they won't check you for tattoos physically but they will ask you about it though.

How many tattoos can i have when enlisting in the Marine Corps?

As the UK’s biggest convention begins, John Walsh explains how they got under their skin

Thursday, 4 August 2011

Helen Mirren’s had one for years. Daniel Craig has a Peruvian condor on his right shoulder. Samantha Cameron’s got a dolphin just below her shapely ankle. Jude Law has a circle of ants on his inside right arm. Anna Kournikova’s got a lovely sun symbol on her back, just above the knicker line (though, when asked about it, she told the press it was “a heat patch”.) Felicity Kendal, aged 64, recently upset a Spectator writer when she announced she’d had a moon and two feathers emblazoned on her leg (he hinted darkly that this indicated “a desire to hold desperately on to youth”).

Tattoos. They’re everywhere. Hardly a day goes by without someone in the public eye proudly revealing the Hindu love chant inscribed on their upper thigh or a Masonic symbol circling their navel. The coolest model around, Freja Beha Erichsen (she’s had three Vogue covers already this year) sports 15 tattoos on her lissom six-foot frame – including a lightning bolt that starts around her fifth rib and heads south. last week Daniel Radcliffe voiced his relief that, now he’s finished filming Harry Potter and is released from contractual restraints, he can go out and get tattoos all over his body. last month Jennifer Aniston, America’s perennial girl-next-door (now 42) had the name of her deceased Welsh corgi-terrier, Norman, scratched onto her right foot.

At civilian level too, we could be forgiven for wondering what’s going on. Why have both my lawyer friend Dan’s two sons (18 and 20) suddenly gone in for those spikily tribal tattoos you associate with Tahiti and Mike Tyson’s face? How come the bloke in the bank, advising me about buildings insurance, has a purple gecko crawling under his Tissot wristwatch? and what’s the story behind the lady in the Dulwich sweetshop who has a brace of angel’s wings and the word REDEMPTION tattooed in Gothic script across her upper sternum?

“Tattooing is definitely getting more middle-class,” says Sion Smith, editor of Skin Deep, Britain’s best-selling tattoo magazine, which sells 20,000 in the UK and 46,000 internationally every month. “Yes, it’s mostly bought by people who drive forklift trucks and say, ‘Hey look at my tattoo.’ But the most interesting letters we get are from surgeons who say, ‘I’ve been living for five years with this huge tattoo on my back and no one knows, I’d like to show it to you.’ I was at a wedding last month at which the vicar had a tattoo. As for the full-arm tattoos, we get pictures coming in on headed paper from Barclays and HSBC. Bank officials – they’re the kind of people who are getting them done now.”

The shift in the cultural apprehension of tattoos is a relatively recent phenomenon. Tattoos were known as “chav stamps” – ineradicable physical evidence that the wearer was a member of the no-taste working classes. Tattoos worn by ladies are called “tramp stamps” in America, and “slag-tags” by censorious folk over here. It’s as though the simple act of having a mark on your skin – any mark – makes you a vulgarian. When heroic British males such as Robbie Williams and David Beckham began to acquire multiple inkings on their arms and backs in the 1990s, you could hear middle-class mutterings of “Breeding will out”.

Footballers, cricketers, singers, actors and TV stars all started to adopt biker-chic illustrations on their flesh. it didn’t make tattoos seem classy; but it made them seem cool. When Amy Winehouse appeared, the trashy girls tattooed on her arms were the quintessence of British proletarian sauciness, like Donald McGill’s bathing beauties. When Vogue published an article in 2008 suggesting that tattoos were becoming ubiquitous and unstoppable among the posher classes – revealing, inter alia, that Emma Parker Bowles has a kitten tattooed on her bottom, and the artist Rachel Feinstein has a vagina snugly inked into her armpit – you just knew the phenomenon was starting to move upmarket. and when in 2010 the new British prime minister’s wife started showing off her epidermal porpoise, it became hard to convince the world that tattoos are still the province of criminals, sailors and white van drivers.

The history of the tattoo is more complex and polycultural than you’d think, however.

From Siberia to Italy, from Egypt to Japan, as much as 5,000 years ago, mummified corpses have been found with dots, dashes and geometric patterns inked on their skin (but no rudimentary hearts or anchors, sadly, nor banners carrying the words “Mum” or “Born to Raise Hell”.)

It’s generally held that the Polynesians perfected the most complex and accomplished tattoos of the ancient world. The word tattoo comes from Tahiti and entered the English language in the captain’s log on Captain Cook’s ship, Endeavour: “Both sexes paint their Bodys, Tattow as it is called in their Language. This is done by inlaying the Colour of Black under their skins, in such a manner as to be indelible… As this is a painful operation, especially the Tattowing of their Buttocks, it is performed but once in their lifetimes.”

If only. But so many sailors returned to England bearing tattoos, so many explorers came home with Polynesian tribesmen, to exhibit them at fairs as “painted savages”, that a counter-Enlightenment vogue for self-inked adornment began. by the 1860s, most British ports could boast at least one professional tattooist. it was a vogue to which even royalty became attracted. In 1862, the Prince of Wales, later to ascend the throne as Edward VII, extended his brawny arm and allowed a lowly commoner with needles and black ink to print a Jerusalem Cross on his right arm. soon everyone was showing off their tats. His sons, the Dukes of Clarence and York, got themselves tattooed, 20 years later, by the Japanese maestro Hori Chiyo.

Winston Churchill is reputed to have had an anchor tattooed on his arm, and his mother a snake tattoo around her wrist (but concealed by a special bracelet); but for most of the 20th century, the tattoo was mostly the mark of lowlifes, footpads, sentimental matelots, circus sideshow folk, prisoners anxious to assert their identity, and gangsters avid to announce their loyalty.

“There’s two types of tattooed people,” says Smith. “The people who’ve got one small one, and that’s enough for them, and it lasts for ever and they pretty much forget about it. and the other people, those of us who think, ‘I like this, I’ll build on it,’ and become serious collectors. you get into the artists and know who they are, and you want to be tattooed by a certain person, as opposed to whatever’s near you.”

Aficionados will get the chance to be inked by the stars when Tattoo Jam 2011, the fourth annual convention of the inking fraternity, opens its doors tomorrow. From Friday to Sunday, 300 internationally renowned tattoo artistes will bring their inks, brushes, buzzing needles and blood-stanchers to set up for business in the Lazarus Exhibition Hall at Doncaster Racetrack.

Serious tattoo fans can book a session with their favourite – with Brendan Mudd, for instance, who specialises in alarmingly vivid faces, from Hannibal Lecter to the Virgin Mary, or Boff Konkerz, who does terrific roses, conch shells and flames. “Half the artists are flown in from Europe and the States,” says Smith, “and the other half are British. it gives people a chance to meet these artists, instead of saving up to visit them in Las Vegas or Stockholm. Each artist has their own booth, and is vetted for health and safety standards. then on Saturday morning, the doors open and the public streams in. either you’ll have looked at the artists list, got in touch with them and booked your appointment, or” [his voice takes on a hint of sarcasm] “you’ll just swan in there, looking for someone at a stall who’s not doing anything…”

Smith has had four tattoos done (upper arms, back and shoulders) and is very keen on a Montreal-based artist called Yann Black, who works under the appealing nom de guerre of Your Meat Is Mine. mr Black’s designs resemble, at their best, drawings by Miro and Picasso; and at their worst, psychotic scribbles (look at www.yourmeatismine.com).

Tattoo parlours used to be dingy, badly-lit establishments, populated by scary-looking bikers and friends of the management with bald heads and criminal records. Now they’re much more up-scale. “There’ve been TV shows in America called LA Ink and Miami Ink which showed tattooing in very posh studios,” says Smith. “Once the public saw they were nice, friendly places, not dark hideouts, they felt that getting a tattoo was suddenly a possibility. British parlours are now much nicer places – they’ve cleaned up much the same as high-street bookmakers. It’s just better for business.”

Everyone will tell you how ill-advised it is to have your beloved’s name inscribed on your body. it means the relationship will almost certainly go wrong, leaving you with an indelible memento which could easily disillusion future partners. Jude Law must regret the time and pain he spent having “You came along to turn on everything, Sexy Sadie” tattooed on his left arm. (And the English actor Tom Hardy has the words “Till I die SW” on his abdomen, just above the waistband. SW was his wife Sarah Ward. He’s now engaged to the actress Charlotte Riley. Whoops.) But otherwise, the only thing for the newly tattoo-bound to avoid is being a cheapskate. if you’re going to do it, do it properly.

“If you turned up at work tomorrow with a tattoo,” says Smith, “some of your colleagues might be shocked. But if you went swimming tomorrow and showed one off, I don’t think anyone would say anything. it will come down to how good your tattoo is.” you have to choose your parlour, choose your artist carefully from close perusal of his, or her, “flash racks” or displays of work. and be prepared to shell out. “You’re looking at between £60 and £100 an hour, that’s a rough ball-park.” if you get a design that’s the size and shape of your upper arm, it could take between three and seven hours. That’s up to £700 for a full-arm tattoo. a middle-class fee for a newly middle-class affectation. I’m surprised it’s not in guineas.

“Put it this way,” says Smith. “If you’ve got a tiny horseshoe the size of a 50p piece on your ankle, then people may label you, unfairly, as cheap. But if you have a back piece done, which has obviously taken someone days and cost you hundreds or thousands of pounds, people will be awestruck. They’ll say, ‘I think I’ll get one of them, because it’s a perfectly formed piece of art.’” indeed. go for it, chaps. Don’t think – get some ink.

Bourgeois body art: Tattoos have become a must-have for the middle-classes