Getting your tat in Rolling Stone isn't as cool as it sounds

Journalistic Integrity gets thrown aside as Rolling Stone aims at the Tiger Beat scene with their latest issue. I was contacted about two weeks ago about having pictures of myself used in a magazine article. The request came from a guy, (I won't mention his name) that claimed to be Straight Edge, to print photos I had in my flickr.com account. The photos were of me getting tattooed by "Old School" Alex and one of me posing with an X on my hand. This guy claimed that the article was to be about Straight Edge and Hardcore. Well after sending him and his editor (I won't mention her name either) high-res versions of the photos I was pretty excited. This was to be the second time I was to be in Rolling Stone, I was involved with the IVAW as their first web master when they first started as an anti-war group, but that article never got published as Rolling Stone didn't want to deal with the anti-war movement at the time; So I didn't put a blog posting here about it at the time I was contacted as I just assumed this article wouldn't get published either knowing my luck.

I received two free copies of the magazine via courier on Friday, the cover looked like a sad attempt to target fifteen year old girls, and I flipped through to find my photo. The article centralized on FSU and gang violence, and a fight involving Alex that ended in the death of guy at a show that both attended. I was pretty upset to say the least that I was lied to by Rolling Stone just so that they could get a picture of Alex putting an X on someone; So that they could say that many FSU members get X tattoos. First of all I'm not part of FSU and I don't condone violence, Straight Edge to me is about keeping my self poison free. Second the article made it seem that the photo came from bmeink.com which as I mentioned is not the case. Third, I am very annoyed that they would go through all that trouble just for a photo that really had nothing to do with the article. I contacted the editor about the article and all she had to say was that the article was "fair and balanced."

Alex is a friend of mine and I'm very happy to have gotten my tattoo from him especially at a tattoo shop in my neighborhood in Brooklyn. No one beyond those at the fight knows what happened, and Alex has not even been charged with a crime yet. So I hope everything works out well for Alex, I am saddened that a death occurred at a hardcore show, and I hope Rolling Stone learns how to act more like a rock mag and less like Fox News for tweens.

XXX

July 1st I got my first tattoo. I've always wanted one, but I could never decide on what I wanted. Growing up I also knew that it was against my Jewish faith to get one, but since I've been SxE I'm more commited to the Edge than I am to archaic laws (anyways I want to be cremated so the whole burial in a jewish cemetary is already out the window) about things that have no reference in today's world.

So back to the tattoo. I wanted a dragon or the old style Japanese Kanji for dragon; I being born in the Year of the Dragon and all. But I never felt a true connection to these ideas. One day while standing on the edge of a mosh pit watching the kids and the crowd and just hearing the music I knew that was my connection. So I thought about it, talked with my friends and drew up three Xs in varsity style in Illustrator. I gave them a slightly different look that typical. My friend Charles had met this SxE tattoo artist a few years back at a show and he told me I should look for this guy to do my tattoo.

So I searched the net for a while, Charles had forgotten his name. But I finally found him and like fate, his shop Brooklyn Ink was only 5 streets from where I live now in Bay Ridge. I knew then that I had to get my first tattoo and "Old School" Alex was going to be the one to do it. Everyone always asks if it hurt, but to be honest it didn't. I was so pumped and excited and had so much positive energy and adrenaline that I actually loved the whole thing, It was unbelievable. I had Charles take photos and I put them on Flickr.