MeaCulpa Rex

Feliz Ano Nuevo!

2009-12-31T20:05:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year EVERYONE!
"On the level and by the square!"

My friend KW

2009-11-06T18:44:00.001-08:00

It's been about a year or so since my younger sister married and ran off to Virginia with my friend K.W.Miller. I've had some time to reflect and decided to write about it. I knew K.W. since I moved here to Bremerton almost ten years ago, which was just after he moved here as well. Like me K.W. moved here to assert himself in his craft, away from home (in his case Virginia, mine, Alaska) trying to make it on the income earned doing that alone. For me it was the visual arts that made my bills, tattooing in particular. For him, it was music. Playing it, and teaching it via one on one guitar lessons. He played around town, either by himself or with a partner ( usually the very talented guitar player Jack Parker) or in his band the "Rocky Point Allstars", in seedy dives to classy joints. It didn't really matter to him, a gig was a gig and the show must go on.
So what is the point of all this? Simple. We blew it Bremerton! We blew it bad. During the time he was here, I had a chance to observe not just as a patron, but with the eyes of a former entertainment promoter, which I am. Sure, he had a self imposed ceiling of where he could go in the business, by steadfastly refusing to fly, and his record of being on time wasn't the best that could be hoped for ( believe it or not but he wasn't being a "screw off" but actually had a bit of stage fright every time, so now you know) but these are a small price to pay for the level of creativity and passion of playing that he had. For when he did show up at a gig and began to play, you knew you were going to hear something special. I say creativity because when you heard him play, alone or in a group, most if not all the material was his. I say passion of playing , because if you ever heard him play you could feel it. His lyrics told a story, often melancholy but always sung right to you, as though you were the only person in the room, and man could he play! From slide to blues to old mountain tunes, rock and roll or country twang , he could do it all, and better than a lot of what you could hear on the radio. Yet for all of this, Bremerton's bar goers, would actuall throw darts, play pool and yell right through one of his sets! I felt ashamed of our town when that happened, and it happened a lot. Through it all , he gave us all he had, never doing a bad show, even when he was dying on stage and wanted to be anywhere else, we couldn't tell, the music was just that good.
K.W. came thousands of miles and picked B Town as his adopted home, asking only that we come hear him play and give the same support we do all the time for crappy punk and comic tribute bands, while he gives us real soulful original material, and we couldn't even do that, let alone shut up through one of his sets. We blew it Bremerton. We lost someone special. My hopes go out to K.W. and my sister Di in Virgina, I wish them the classic "Happily ever after". I hope the people of Virginia, know who they have to play for them and how lucky they are. We never did. I just had to say it, and so it goes.

Book!

2009-10-07T17:26:00.000-07:00

I have finally started on that damn book! I've gotten enough details from Mom to start with the early years of southeastern Alaska and how Mom was born and Dad as well in Seattle in the early 1900's. Here's an exerpt from some fresh (unedited) material for your perusal....

It was cold outside.Cold and wet as usual this time of year this part of the world. Especially this time of day, just before sunrise and the morning sailing tide. Southeastern Alaska was beautiful and lush in the summer, but this was winter and it was snowing and damn cold.They hurried aboard, the two of them. A man, white and tall and a native woman, trying to keep warm under her blanket. After they showed the steward their tickets and went into the main cabin to sit by the fire, the steward shook his head in dissaproval and went directly to the Skipper's station on the bridge.
No one knows what they spoke of over the next two days sailing it took to get to Ketchikan. Maybe on what they would do once they reached Seattle, go on to England as Elmer wanted? Elmer Ellington was related to an Earl in England, and the family name is on a small town there. The town of Ellington. Elmer left England upon manhood and came to Canada. In his early thirties Elmer was a Royal Canadian Mounted Police trooper, then after being drawn in to Alaska,as Alaska will do to those with an "adventurous" spirit,he worked as a bookeeper for a fishing camp and cannery in the small town of Petersburg on the northen tip of Mitkof island in the Tongass rain forest. Which was all Tlinget country.

.....that's all I can show for now. Later all , Smitty

NYC Bound!

2009-08-17T16:08:00.000-07:00

I'm soo excited! I'm off to New York City on Sept.12th thru Sept.17th , next stop Manhatten! A busy travel season this fall, after NY comes Las Vegas in Oct. for the Mario Barth tattoo convention (we got free tickets for that for the whole shop, courtesy Ben of Lifetime Tattoo, thanks Ben!) Then the Pixies live at the Paramount in Seattle this Nov.! How cool is that? And so it goes........

Mayoral Debate

2009-08-06T15:37:00.000-07:00

I got to moderate the Mayoral debate at the Charleston Theater on Monday night! What a trip that was. It was unusual to say the least to see all those upper crust candidates in their suits and dresses coming in to the punk/hardcore big city styleing of the Charleston. They didn't know what to touch or where to sit...hilarious.
It was the usual format, 3 min. intro followed by crowd submitted questions that I read off with 2 mins. to answer them. After about an hour and twenty minutes of questions being answered then a final 3 mins. to close. Usual, but worked well. Will be on BKAT over the month repeating, check out their schedule and have a look!
Har...I'm "Guy Smiley"! Remember him? (Sesame Street for those who don't)
And so it goes......Smitty

"Learn to live with love and care, upon the level and by the square, do good unto others"
Masonic Saying
"Oh what the hell !?!"
Bonnie Saying

Lost Friends

2009-06-13T23:21:00.001-07:00

Buddy's Gone
Current mood: sad
Category: Friends

I'm sooo bummed. I just found out my friend in the wrestling business just died recently. His name was "Playboy Buddy Rose". Here's a pic of him from "back in the day..." by Buddy I'll miss you. Smitty

Book!

2009-03-23T19:44:00.000-07:00

Very cool, I found an old used copy of a very rare book called "Kawoo of Alaska" by Gano E. Senter. My mother used to have a copy of it long ago, it was first published in 1961, and is about a man who was shanghaid out of San Francisco at the age of 14, who jumped ship in the early 1900's off the coast of Alaska and was taken into slavery by the Tlinget of the village of Kake, my mother's family! I remember her telling me of our family's many slaves in the old ways of the Tlinget when I was about 7 years old. Later when I got to hang out with my grandmother Amy, she would tell me who they were, their names, how we got them and so on. Along with all the old legends and stories I had a good time listening and being with Amy back then, but it's even more powerful to have in your hand proof of it all in the form of a book once your an adult!
I looked at the early pictures of the Tlinget of Kake, the "Saa Quedi" which means "Seal People" in their traditional clothes. More like uniforms with elaborate layers of colored heavy cloth with buttons and tribal designs on them, Wrapped in tribal embroidered blankets with intricately carved knifes and long daggers (almost like roman short swords) spears and carved war helmets. Pretty Fierce! No wonder I love salmon so much.......

Concept of Loyalty

2009-01-22T18:09:00.000-08:00

Usually I try to keep my blog entries up beat (that's when I make entries at all )but I'm touching upon a serious subject with this one. The other day I was having dinner with a young lady (won't say who ,but she knows and she's a hottie) when the subject of loyalty came up. It's her position that it is possible to be friendly with everyone, even among people who don't like each other. I appreciate that she has a kind soul and genuinely wants to be friends with everyone, but I have learned that it's just not possible in life to do so while retaining a sense of honor.
Let me explain. We'll use simple math, imagine you have 2 very good friends that you know you can count on. That gives us a value of 2. Now imagine that one of those friends was offended by someone, possibly even harmful in nature. Now imagine that you befriend that person who committed the offense against your friend, for whatever reason (because they're socially popular , or maybe you hate confrontation and it's just easier that way) What happens to the math now? Your friend who was offended is no longer solid with you as they were before so subtract 1, and your other friend is watching this and wondering if you would be that fickle with your loyalties with them as well. Subtract at the least 1/2 or more probably another 1. Now where you once had 2 you now have 1/2 or 0. In anyone's book either is less than the solid 2 you started with and you probably ruffled a few feathers along the way, resulting in your reputation becoming watered down to that of a fair weathered friend without a sense of loyalty and commitment. Also don't be afraid of acquiring a few enemies along the path of life! It shows you had the fortitude to stand for something/someone! As my Tlinget ancestors would say we are judged by the caliber of our enemies as well as our friends, for both define what you have stood for (assuming that you stand for anything at all). If you try to be everyone's friend you'll end up an acquaintance to all and a friend to none!

Movie!

2008-10-08T17:30:00.001-07:00

Topic: Cool!

Movie!!

That's right, I said movie! We're excited as we can be as you can tell, a film student friend of Jesse's is doing a documentary short film on us here at the tattoo shop as his graduation project. The objectives of the movie was to pick an unusual profession and show a day in the life sort of thing. Very cool! The movie showing will be at a film festival in Tacoma, (Jazzbones on this one). It will be early next month, we will let you all know! Bye till then, Head's up and allways look em in the eye! Smitty

The South

2007-01-03T20:47:00.000-08:00

Here I sit late at night with a half a bottle of merlot in me in Fayetville North Carolina, "Rick Flair Country" to all you wrestling fans. It is definately a different place than the north. People are much more polite , yet there's still an undercurrent of slight racial tension here. You can feel it in their looks. The food is great, yet they roll the sidewalks up at sundown it seems. And the minimum wage here is very low, yet the prices are comparable to most places I've been, makes you wonder how people make it. It's pretty though , trees, old arcitecture and green. Yet no landmarks. No mountains , cliffs, big rivers or really anything else to tell the difference from area to another, you better be good at memorizing street and road names!
I never thought it would happen but...I actually miss Bremerton!
When I get home I have some painting to do, I got some great pics of old Confederate Soldiers graves in an incredibly old and visually interesting cemetary the other day. I know I can make at least a few good canvases out of that one.
Bye for now...the other half of that bottle bekons me....

A Doorway

2006-12-04T13:37:00.000-08:00

A doorway. That's how my grandomother Amy used to call death. It was the Tlinget way of thinking. Strange though, my mom who is a christian thinks of it the same way, as a doorway where our true selves pass through in our true form, a being of light and spirit. The stuff of presence alone. What got me thinking about such a morbid thought? Yesterday was the anniversary of the fire which destroyed my family and claimed the lives of my two beautiful daughters Crystal and Amanda. They will be forever 15 and 16. I still remember that night like now. I remember them (the firemen) taking too long. They had lost that sence of urgency you see when something can still be done. I think if I didn't truly believe that we are not our bodies but in our bodies I would go insane. The kind of insanity only a parent could understand. I will never again take for granted a simple breath of cool air . How many breaths would it have taken? You see the insanity thinking like that would lead? All that can be done is not to waste or dishonor the time left that they were denied. And remember that they are no longer limited by the senses of their bodies, but were released from them and can see and feel so much more than I yet. We are catapillars on a leaf, and one day we will all get our wings. But first you must pass through a door...

Just a note....

2006-09-11T19:12:00.000-07:00

I know I havn't been too consistant with this blog, but I'll try to do better in the future. First to acknowledge this tragic day, 9/11. What more can I say? All americans know how to feel in their own way, I'll leave your thoughts to yourself as I know how I feel.
On a lighter note..... Kudos to my friend and assoc. Playboy Buddy Rose for being featured in this months WWE Raw Magazine, in the "Where are they now?" article. It covered his early days as a WWF superstar up to his present day running of a wrestling school in Portland Ore. Very cool Buddy I'm happy for you.
I'm hanging out at my Mom's doing laundry picking her brain on growing up a Tlinget in Alaska, some early Alaskan Native rights activism on my militant grandmother's side, and a few interesting stories from those days of early Alaska. All will be useful when I finally write that darn book!
On the artistic side, my oil painting is starting to flow, maybe I can pick up the pace to produce more than one canvas every other month or so....(packing on the glazes and layers takes a hell of a lot of time with oils) and my daughter

Bonnie is starting her tattoo apprenticeship at Smitty's Place Tattoo, very cool, maybe the shop will stay in the family after all! We will see....and so it goes!

Where to start?

2006-06-03T18:40:00.000-07:00

Where to start indeed. Crap.I think about the so very different parts of my life, growing up in Alaska, wearing such differing hats....from the carefree white/native boy running through the woods and down rivers, to the rebellious teenage outlaw biker boy in the wild "Pipeline" years of rowdy Anchorage. Tattoo artist, restaurant cook,bartender,teamster driver, arch fiend criminal mobster, entertainment promoter (mostly live music) and finally Husband and Father . My greatest and happiest occupation by far, yet sadly that too is now over.
Where to start? I think I'll start my book by first laying a foundation of where I came from. Family. The strongest influence of family comes from my Mother's family. With the Tlinget/Norwegian fishing and hunting background and the fact that my Mother is of the generation that was on the cusp of going "civilized",it was a strong influence indeed. My Mother's first spoken words were in Tlinget, and she refused to even wear shoes or stop "talking to animals" for some time , but we'll get into that later.
Yup, that's where to start. My Mom. I'll interview her and ask all I can till she's had enough of my questions. Amazingly even at 82 her mind is sharp and luckily so is her memory.
I'll try to have that done by the next post...unless I just gotta write about something in the meantime. Head's up and always look em in the eye!

Book

2006-05-25T19:39:00.000-07:00

I dig my grandson, he's cool as hell. Cute too, the girls will notice in a few years. His name is Zephan, did I mention he rocks? The point to all of this, I remember listening to a radio talk show while I was cruising around Anchorage one cold winter night about the topic of time and generations through a family. The show guest recomended keeping a diary to be passed on so future generations of your own family will know who you were and how you lived your life. Cool idea, but what if more than half of your life is already over? A book! That's the answer. At the time of writing this, I'm reading Mick Foley's autobiography ( a pro-wrestler for those not in the know) he wrote it himself, no ghost writer, with only an editor for grammer, punctuation...that crap. I figure this is the best way to ensure I leave footprints in the snow of future generations of my bloodline. So it's off to do research. How the hell do you write a book anyway? Time to learn..(time..har). Only thing though, with the, let's just say "colorful" life I've led..I'm not sure I want the little Z man to read it till he's an adult and I'm long gone!

Mea Culpa Rex?

2006-05-23T15:17:00.000-07:00

Why Mea Culpa Rex? The name I settled upon for this blog...Mea Culpa, which is Latin and means "My Fault". I thought that appropriate, as everything that will be posted,text ,graphics the whole thing will be.....well my fault. As it should be. As for the "Rex". It too is latin, meaning "King" or "Royal". So it is Royally my fault!
In all the reading about blogs I have done , one of the pieces of advice I've gleaned was to keep on topic...whatever the topic of your blog might be. Problem....what if your topic was no topic, sort of like Seinfeld's "show about nothing". Hmm. Which leads me back to Mea Culpa. This blog is basically about all topics I am exposed to, through my eyes and brain as I experience them. Kind of an editorial, or propaganda from my grey matter...so be it "My Fault".