The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

6 - Orono Weekly Times 1937 - 2012 · Celebrating 75 Years Wednesday, August 29, 2012 Basic Black by Arthur Black Live free or d'oh! Show me a man with a tattoo and I'll show you a man with an interesting past. ~ Jack London Well, that may have been true in your day, Jack ­ you were swashbuckling your way around the world a century ago when the only tattooed humans you were likely to encounter were pirates, felons or circus freaks. Nowadays, everybody has tattoos. You see them on file clerks and bank managers, doctors and dental hygienists, soldiers and solicitors. The guy who stacks lettuce in my local supermarket has multicoloured swirls of ink that start at his wrists, undulate up his arms, disappear into his short sleeved shirt and end up God knows where. Back in Jack London's day a tattoo was a sign of rebellion. Today, sporting a tattoo is about as rebellious as wearing an Arnold Palmer golf shirt. I don't go as far back as Jack London, but I did get myself tattooed back in the `60's. My rebel credentials were pretty decent: I was a Canadian kid, working on an oil tanker that was dry-docked in New York. Simpler times. My tattoo was administered by an ancient guy with an equally ancient tattoo gun that hung down from the ceiling ­ it actually sparked as he worked. When it was over he slapped some rubbing alcohol on my bleeding arm, asked for five bucks and gave me the rest of the bottle to take with me. ("Don't drink it, kid ­ it'll blind ya".) I didn't know it at the time, but I was responding to a primeval human initiative. We've pretty much always redecorated the temples of our bodies. Remember Otzi the Iceman -- the mummified corpse spat out by a melting Alpine glacier about 20 years ago? He had tattoos on his back, behind the right knee and around both ankles. Experts reckon that Otzi froze to death while hiking through the mountains more than five thousand years ago. Otzi's tats were simple things ­ x's, dots, squiggly lines. To tell the truth, mine isn't much more complicated. It's a stylized anchor with a ribbon entwined around it, maybe three inches long top to bottom. Pretty tame stuff compared to the psychedelic landscapes and Technicolor panoramas kids are adorning themselves with these days. But when things get more complex they also become more error prone. There are no spelling mistakes in my tattoo because there are no words. Not like Marie Huckle of Nova Scotia who had the words "SEE YOU AT THE CROSSROADS" tattooed on her side. She thought. What she actually got was one letter shy. Marie's tattoo reads SEE YOU AT THE COSSROADS. Loses a certain something, don't you think? Marie thought so too. She sued and was awarded a $9,000 settlement. This may provide some hope to the California woman who had BEAUTIFUL TRADGEDY emblazoned on her chest. Or the guy who paid to have a slogan in letters six inches high across his back telling the world I'M AWSOME. Or the Chicago dude who wanted to salute his origins with a tattoo reading CHITOWN across his throat. Alas, he drew a tattooist who was something less than a spelling genius. His tattoo reads: CHI-TONW. The odd thing is, that last tattoo is so bad it's become a tattoo trend. People in the Windy City are actually paying to have the misspelled tattoo inked on their bodies. Maybe that's what you have to do to pass for a rebel now that tattoos have become as common as freckles. Or you could be a real outlaw like Michael J. Fox. When Esquire magazine asked him to describe his tattoos, the Canadian actor said: "My tattoo is that I don't have a tattoo." Outrageous! Classified Business Directory LARRY JACKSON PLUMBING & WATER CONDITIONING Automotive Specialties BRIAN COUVIER Licenced Technician 117 Mill St. Orono L0B 1M0 · Backhoe Work/Trenching · Pump Repairs & Installation · UV Lights · Water Softeners · Free Estimates For Friendly, Expert Service Orono Veterinary Hospital Dr. Derrek de Haan Dr. Mathew Stephenson 30 Cobbledick St., Orono L0B 1M0 Tel: 905-983-9010 Fax: 905-983-5308 Fine Finishes by T. Osmond COMPLETE LDR CONTRACTING * Snow Removal * * Bobcat & Minihoe Service * Dump Trailer Service * * Tree Planting & Stump Removal * 905-983-9919 Furniture Repair and Restoration Caning · Veneering · Carving French Polishes & Wicker Repair Luke or Lindsay Porter H. 905-983-9924 C. 905-914-6979 "Look to us for all your general repairs to most make & models" Rims · Tires · Brakes · Tune-Ups Custom Exhaust Systems Castrol Engine Oil & Filter Service Specials Car & Truck Accessories Professional Installation 905-786-2477 Experience You Can Trust 905-983-6214 ROBERT E. JACKSON Heating · Electrical Air Conditioning · ADDITIONS · RENOVATIONS · DECKS DOOR & WINDOW REPLACEMENTS · EXTERIORS · CABINETRY "We're here to serve you" I&T Carpenters · Licensed · 27 Years Experience · Custom Homes · General Contracting · Additions · House Trim · Stairs · Decks ·Windows ·Doors · Barns And all carpentry related work. · Marketing Materials · Websites · Logos Complete Residential Renovations, Additions and New Structures Windows · Soffit · Interlocking Waterproofing · Doors · Roofing Ceramic Tile · Siding Eavestroughing · Chimney Repair ~ Specializing in Stone Facing ~ Authorized Consumers Gas Dealer Independent Lennox Dealer Furnaces · Air Conditioners and Appliances Main Street, Orono 983-6221 Have an idea? We can make it happen! 905-410-0276 www.designontherox.com roxanne@designontherox.com DAN ZEGERS 905-983-9543 TYLER SMITH broker "KRACO" CARPENTRY & CONTRACTING Since 1976 · Custom Built Homes · Renovations/Additions · Designing IVAN JONES TONY FANARA Newcastle 905-987-5819 Hampton 905-263-9988 FREE ESTIMATES Call Mike Bonneau Mobile: 905-435-4181 Home: 905-983-9005 6495 Leskard Rd., Orono L0B 1M0 Nails & More By Becky... 905-983-9883 32 Mill St., Orono 905·697·1900 * Residential * Farms * Rural Properties * Investment Rudy Kraayvanger www.homesmiths.ca 905-623-1101 www.kraco.ca