Kidlock

Balloon Juice points us to an article in the WSJ (paywall) about how kids are not allowed to walk to school. Yaaaay, Culture of Fear. I would note that I once did the math for another blog post, and based on current crime figures your child is literally more likely to be struck by lightning than abducted by a stranger and murdered. But, hey, statistics is for weenies.

Peripherally interesting was this article on how late start times for high school produces better results. I've been digging a bunch of the recent TEDtalks on education (on of the shining uses of the iPads is video podcasting), and I think (or, hope) that we're on the verge of some serious rethinking about how we train kids for the 21st Century by preparing them for 19th century factory-work.

Orphans: A Native-American Sleeve on Seventh Avenue

A few weeks ago, I was walking up Seventh Avenue between 33rd and 34th Streets, when I spotted this peeking out of a guy's shirt sleeve:

I stopped to ask him about the tattoo. Or rather, asked him if I could take a picture, when he revealed that it was much larger than it appeared poking out of the sleeve on his left arm:

Sadly, I gave him the Tattoosday flier and asked him to e-mail me so we could discuss it further and he a) lost the flier or b) decided to forgo contacting me. So, I have no idea who he is, nor can I credit the artist, whose work is pretty darn impressive.

When this happens, I dub it an "orphan" post, but obviously, despite the lack of details, it's still worth sharing.

Thanks to the anonymous contributor who allowed me to take photos of this great tattoo and share it with us here on Tattoosday!

The Fashion of DJ Wildlife

I'm smoking a blunt with 2 of my homeboys... I get a call.. it's, DJ Wildlife "Miya you at the studio? I want to drop by." I opened the door.... And Wildlife is all dressed up.... The way he dresses up... He went to court for a traffic ticket....one thing I can say about him....he is 100% artist.....I own one of his painting and I have a lot of love for this brother...anytime I needed him he's been there for me....so I'm there for him... I have never seen anyone dress like Wildlife...fashion is a major part of a lot of artists lives... It's a form of expression...I respect anyone with their own style.... So many of us are walking about looking like clones.....this is a random ass blog...I think i'm going to finish blunt and work on my book... Wildlife, you inspired me today... Thanks bruh








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The Return of OLD Atlanta

Sunday felt like Atlanta again.... I miss old Atlanta...the vibe, the beautiful people, the love for southern culture, real music and art....Atlanta lose it's "soul" once Black Hollywood took over the city....without Outkast, Goodie Mob, and others feeding the city that soul food we need, Atlanta is only a shell of what it use to be....one thing I can see is the hustler spirit didn't die with the soul... Sunday me and my family went to "House in the Park" an event where DJ's come spin house music in the park... It felt like Club Kaya again.... People were dancing and enjoying Atlanta again.... It was a good positive vibe.... Even the police was in a good mood....no matter how many changes Atlanta go though.... This city has been very good to me... I love Atlanta and I thank y'all for havin "House in the Park" again....it's felt perfect... Lots of love!!












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Art Mondays @ Apache Cafe

I been going to the Apache on mondays for years... But lastnight was different... It was really good seeing young people there this week...so many young people are into sports, rap music, models, TV, etc.. That it's rare to see the youth at art shows & events like art Mondays....but lastnight those young people who are into art or at less inspired by other artists & creative souls were out lastnight.... Young minds hungry to learn more... Rebels of the norm.... The leaders of tomorrow...these artists will change the world... And I hope I can inspire and help as many as I can reach their dreams.... I have a soft spot in my heart for young artists.... I want to see them run the world and rebel in their art against all the wrongs of America......expression or death, real artist live by that.... It's now your turn young world.... Cover this city in ART!!

















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Lastnight @Apache Cafe Cafe "Paper Frank"

Lastnight I needed to be inspired so I went to the Apache cafe for "Art Mondays" to support the 19 year old artist (rooted from Asheville) Paper Frank....a young, fresh, comic style vibe that reminds of me the earlier works of Dosa & Corey Davis with a twist of Japanese anime...what I like most about this young man is his drive...he came to me months ago and I gave him all the advice I had in how to create a buzz in the Atlanta art scene.... And he is following the blue print...knowing business is just as important as the art you create...If he keeps going hard you will see a lot more from this young man... Much respect... Let's support young artists... let's help keep these kids off the street.... Being an artist is a CAREER.





























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Location:Apache Cafe

Gina Shares Two Works of Art by Mark Ryden

I wanted to start off the new week after the holiday by showing off some amazing tattoos that I was fortunate enough to encounter last week.

I met Gina in Penn Station and she offered up these beauties, which are tattooed in her ditches (inside of her elbows), in what many consider to be one of the more painful places to be inked:

There are two artists behind these tattoos. First is the painter Mark Ryden, upon whose work these tattoos were based. Next is the master craftsman Tim Kern, from Tribulation Tattoo, whose work appeared last on Tattoosday here.

No big story, just incredible body art.

Thanks to Gina for sharing these incredible tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

Snake Robot

I cannot say this enough:"I HAVE ALWAYS SUPPORTED ROBOT MARRIAGE RIGHTS! PLEASE REMEMBER THAT IN YOUR CYBERBRAINS!"

I'm just trying to stay off my Dyson's list of six.



(h/t BoingBoing)

Tonight @ the Apache Cafe

I missed this young man's last art show at the Nu era store because I had tattoo appointments....but today I'm off work... So I will be supporting this brother tonight at Apache Cafe...it's only $5 to enter .. Plus they always have figure models for artists to draw there...this will be a needed break I need from working on my book.. Hope to see y'all there.


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Location:Apache Cafe

Sarah's Chrysanthemum

I spotted this lovely flower on Sarah while she was waiting for her train in Penn Station:

This chrysanthemum is her first tattoo and sits on her upper left arm. Sarah is a big fan of Eastern art and understands that chrysanthemums are symbols of joy (except in Germany, she noted). She feels that Russell Kelley at Silk City Tattoo in Hawthorne, New Jersey did a nice job of merging Eastern and Old School styles on this beautiful flower. Work from Silk City has appeared multiple times before and can all be seen under Silk City's Tattoosday label here.

Thanks to Sarah for sharing her tattoo with us, and Happy Labor Day from us here at Tattoosday!

LEVERAGE #313 'The Morning After Job" Question Post

And sure, we'll slip a spoiler or two in about the winter eps if you're clever. Go for it.

Hawai'i and Germany Meet Halfway in Manhattan

Last Sunday, I found myself unexpectedly in my weekday stomping grounds, outside of Penn Station. I saw a couple sitting on the steps in Penn Plaza and noticed the gentleman had a remarkable tattoo on his outer left calf.

We had a slight language barrier, as they were tourists from Europe. But Rico agreed to let me take the photo:

The tattoo was done by Tom at Stechwerk Tattoo Studio in Kempten, Germany.

Rico said he just liked the design and that Hawai'i is somewhere he hopes to visit one day. The surfboard and the archipelago outline are symbolic of our fiftieth state, and the yellow hibiscus is the state flower.

Danke schön to Rico for sharing this cool Hawai'i-themed tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Gretchen's Shrine for Federico

I spotted Gretchen in the Penn Plaza Borders and asked if she'd share the tattoo on her upper left arm. She gladly agreed:

This piece is an homage to grandfather Federico. She remembers that he introduced her to nature, so she included natural elements like plants and butterflies. Gretchen also added a replica of her grandfather's tattoo, which was inked with the name of her grandmother, Hermes.

This is one of about  ten tattoos Gretchen has, and she had this done at Liquid Skin Studio, in Inwood, on the north end of Manhattan.

Gretchen is an artist that works with craft and jewelery. You can see her website here.

Thanks to Gretchen for sharing her tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Made Rich & B.Girard: PHOTO

The young homie, Made Rich dropped this dope photo yesterday of him & the other homie, Ms. B. Girard all inked up...I love seeing a young man who understands business, marketing and BRANDING yourself....so many artists are talented but never truely understand what it takes for promotion & business... This brother is not one of those type artist..he has a real businessman spirit and he understands the game.... look out for "Made Rich" this is one of the young artists who will be a key player in this new generation of "professional" tattoo artists.... Rich is also one of the artist featured in my film releasing next year....he is a raising star... I see a very bright future for him





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Dave's Portrait of His Great-Grandfather

I spotted Dave at the end of July while picking something up at the 34th Street K-Mart.

He kindly shared this wonderful portrait of his Great-Grandfather, tattooed on his forearm:

His grandfather was originally from Cuba, immigrating to the United States in the 1930s.

And although he passed in 1994, Dave recalls something his grandfather always said: "it's never too late, until you're dead".

Tattooed by Lalo Yunda at Sacred Tattoo NYC, Dave has the pleasure of carrying his very important ancestor with him, wherever he goes.

Thanks to Dave for sharing his inked family heritage with us here on Tattoosday!

Netflix Friday #13: STRANGERS WITH CANDY

"... lather."

Oh, yes, you all know David Sedaris. Meet his funnier sister.

Amy Sedaris co-wrote a clutch of plays with her brother, did the hip improv circuit for a while, then transitioned to television. As the story goes, one night her friends Stephen Colbert and Paul Dinello ...

... yeah, sure, I'll let that sink in for a bit.

... Stephen Colbert and Paul Dinello showed her a tape of an inspirational speaker, one of those women recounting a life of prostitution, drug addiction, alcoholism and sexual antics far beyond the safe paths walked by men such as Keith Richards. They dreamed up the idea of such a woman -- the hyper-addicted, racist, omniverously sexual Jerri Blank -- returning to high school.

Strangers With Candy was born.

Each episode of Strangers is framed like an Afterschool Special or ABC Family show gone horribly, horribly wrong. You know the episode of your standard family sitcom, where the high school student is given an egg to care for, to teach them the responsibility of caring for a baby? Hijinks ensue!

On Strangers, they run out of eggs. So Jerri and her female best friend get a real baby. Which, at one point, Jerri attempts to sell, all as her relationship with her female best friend spirals into an abusive white trash sexual burn. She makes drugs so she can be friends with the cheerleaders. She tries to seduce her study partners, male and female, using her ... ugh ... "Liberty Bell." She puts on a puppet show for a "crippled boy" that ends in a bloody apocalypse. She joins a cult that ultimately rejects her after she urges them on to mass suicide. Her father's in a coma; her stepmother's a raging alcoholic; Stephen Colbert and Paul Dinello play teachers who share both a forbidden love and a deep hatred of their students.

Sedaris is remarkable in this show. Her Jerri is over the top and also logically consistent within the perverse alternate reality of the show. The physical transformation is amazing; Sedaris really stands out as a comedian willing to toss away her own good looks and join the British tradition of homely self-mockery.

All the episodes end in tragedy, a fair number in death.

Oh, and in dance. They all end in a dance number.



The show is monstrously politically incorrect, but for a point. The real versions of these shows, even the modern iterations, are part of the Agnewization of television (hello, Glass Teat). They all end with messages that reinforce conforming to the existing social order. (And yes, I'm looking at you supposedly subversive Glee on supposedly risky Fox)

The beauty of each Stranger episode is that, in theory, the plot is played straight. Despite the bizarre characters moving within the world, the events arrange themselves to impart a valuable lesson. And, wonderfully, Jerri manages to come to exactly the wrong conclusion at the end of every episode. Because she is horrible.

Strangers with Candy, Seasons 1-3, are your Netflix Streaming recommendation for this weekend.

Edward Gorey's Insect God Graces Katie's Arm

So yesterday I met someone with two lovely tattoos based on the art of Edward Gorey, but you're going to have to wait to see them.

Rather, meeting those tattoos reminded me I had another Gorey tattoo to share, one that I met a month ago today in Penn Station.

Katie has seven tattoos and is a fan of Mr. Gorey. It was this piece on her right bicep that caught my attention:

From the Gorey book of the same name, this is the "Insect God". This cool tattoo was inked by Chrys Goldberg at Bushido Tattoo Studio, in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Thanks again to Katie for sharing her insect deity with us here on Tattoosday!

LEVERAGE #308 "The Boost Job" Post-Game

Before we start, I'd like to note that the snark levels are getting a little spiky in the Comments. Keep it even, people.

This episode was actually written fairly early in the season. Albert Kim came in with the story of how stolen cars are being cloned and stolen interstate, along with a ton of research about car theft rings. It was a great Leverage pitch. Clear bad guy plot set in an interesting location with naturally dangerous threats. We'd actually scouted the speedway the year before, and had it up on the board in the "To Do" column of cards. Once written, though, its scope demanded that it be moved back, to where we'd built up a little safety room before tackling something this big.

Every writer breaks story different ways. Downey has the high concept premise in his head. I pitch plot. Boylan comes at it purely from charactery goodness. Veach also likes high-concept, while Geoff comes at it almost from a wish-fulfillment "what would be fin to watch the Leverage team do?". The Wonder Twins and Albert are both research hounds. Both pitch up so much solid info about the real-life crimes that story and character fall out of reality. It's worth noting these different styles because it's worth reinforcing that there is no one right way to break a story (except mine) or be a television writer. Know your toolbox. Work to expand it. But at the end of the day, as my grandfather said -- "A man's got to know his swing."

This story allowed us to homage our favorite Rockford Files episode "Never Send a Boy King to Do A Man's Job." This one is the ur-Rockford. Richie Brocklemaan. Rockford saying "I'm not going to get involved"... and then laying out the whole con in a "if you were gonna do it" scene. Multiple long cons, shady characters from Rockford's past, Downey's favorite scene -- the "audition" of con men, like a casting call -- and the infamous "Get Hittite pot" on Rockford's "con to-do" list.

He has a to-do list. It's hilarious.

And Rockford hooks the bad guy by out-racing him. Seriously, all that's missing is the silver racing suit.

We were very pleased to have Bill Engvall for a bad guy. We'd been talking about having him on for ages, and his schedule finally worked out for us on this episode. I used to do stand-up with Bill back in the day -- never hung together, but bumped into each other often enough that we recognized each other at the upfronts. There, among the professionally pretty people and powerbrokers in suits, I asked him "You ever think you'd be standing here?" He shook his head and said "No way." He's a good, honest, hard-working funny son of a bitch. Pleasure to see him doing so well, and beginning to stretch into one hours. I think his performance on Leverage shows he's going to have a great career doing dramas.

Also ridiculously lucky to have Malese Jow. Because I am a cranky forty-year old, I had no idea who she was. On the first day of dailies, I emailed Albert and said "Good GOD, does she have a development deal?" He then had to explain to me that Malese was ridiculously famous and was doing far better in her career than I ever will. Ah, obsolescence, I welcome your sweet embrace.

The EMP car-killer is, of course a lot bigger than what we built, but it's real enough. As are the "cheat codes" and about 90% of the tech we throw around in this one. It really is amazing how little we know about cars now, and how high-tech they are.

This is also one of the places where we establish the limits of the earbuds. Not that the limits are consistent, of course, but that sometimes they don't work. They were getting a little too reliable, and we really need to make sure not everything works for the team all the time.

Other than that it was a pretty straight-up Leverage episode. Oh, and Hutton really drove the racecar. And Kane did his own car hit. So other than the cast trying to kill me with stress, very ordinary episode. Let's jump into the questions.

@Jennifer: Was the Shelby Cobra on tonight's episode an original or a kit built?

Kit built, but for legal reasons we couldn't name it in the episode. Which meant we had to come up with another name; we chose "Veronica". In theory that was a pain in the ass, but serendipitously led to one of the best jokes of the night: "Who knew Betty was the fast one?" Always something good in the barrel.

@Anonymous: My question - what are we seeing exactly between Parker and the teen - mentor, older sister, seeing "herself"?

Seeing herself, and acting on her nascent sense of family. Hell, five years ago she probably wouldn't have been self aware enough to see the resemblance.

@Sherri: What's with the humanizing of Parker? Seriously, I love the development, but it's playing with my head.

I think it's just the natural reaction to having people in her life that care about her. Don't worry, she'll never be quite right.

@Anonymous: Have we ever seen Eliot kill someone? I don't really recall we did, but it seems like we are going to, real soon.

No, you have not seen him kill anyone while working with the Leverage team. Yet. Considering his headspace, they would have to be in real, real trouble before he'd kill anyone again.

Very, very bad trouble.

@Andy: "They hit me with a car!" If I remember my Venture Brothers dialog correctly, there was a line from the first episode (not pilot) that went, "They hit me with A TRUCK!" Has Eliot entered Brock Sampson levels of resilience?

He is the Leverage-verse Brock Samson.

@Whimseyrhodes: when Eliot zapped the cars on the big rig, how did he avoid hitting the rig itself? Are we to assume it was a very-super-ultra-uber localized beam like a bullet, and wouldn't stray from it's trajectory?

It is indeed a tight linear beam, just like the real one.

@Rick: The EMP Cannon; Ledger or Black Box?

See above.

@Oona: 1.) Nate has been fairly easy on Parker, both in the Inside Job and here, when she made rash decisions that turned out badly. Is Parker sort of the "favored" baby of the family to him or is he just feeling the most protective of her because he knows she (seemingly) has had the toughest time of it or something else? The ending with the big dinner was awesome - such a nice throwback to the Wedding Job. 2.) Was that scene fully scripted or did the cast just riff?

I don't think he's gone easy on her. I think being a good manager is knowing when to let the horse run. And he is much, much more cognizant of his own failings this year than last. 2.) As Albert notes in his Twitter feed, the final scene was a Gina pitch. We're now at the point where the actors have very canny senses of who these people are and what we need to see them do. Making the show is far more interesting at this point in a show's arc.

@Bethia: At the beginnning, the guy in the truck was said to be a school teacher on the "newscast". At the end, Nate said something about the client's landscaping business. I'm confused. Thanks!

He does landscaping part-time to pay the bills, as we criminally underpay our schoolteachers. The victim was named Mantlo, btw, after ROM writer Bill Mantlo. We have a bit of a ROM thing int he room. I will torture the writer's room for hours with my "Rom-com".

@SueN: 1) Why didn't Eliot zap his truck's system when he zapped the cars? (Oh, and much love for Eliot with a raygun! *g*) 2) The Challenger was Eliot's. So, did he trade in his truck from last season, or does he collect vehicles? (And will he get the Challenger back from Nate? *g*) 3.) For two and a half seasons now, we've heard Eliot bitch and bark at Parker and call her crazy (and tonight threaten to kill her). And, granted, annoyed!Eliot is funny!Eliot. To us. But what about Parker? Does she take his barking and bitching and "there's somethin' wrong with you" seriously, or does she understand that anger is Eliot's particular kind of craziness?

1.) Noted above. 2) He collects vehicles. Which he occasionally gives away, to prove he is not attached to them. 3.) She both takes him literally and interprets him differently than normal people. There is something wrong with her.

Ian: I just wanted to say that the decision to make the EMP gun have the same warm-up sound as the Ghostbusters' proton packs -- and then have Hardison say "this chick is toast" -- was pure genius.

I believe that was our creative post humans riffing off the dialogue line. They're like little comedy elves. We show up for the first cut, and there are the bonus jokes, under the tree, utterly unexpected.

@Marquis: I'd like to ask if the Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right B A Start for cars really exists but I'm kind of afraid of the answer.

Not quite that combo, but yes, those cheat codes exist.

@Courtney: Gonna take a guess here and say that Eliot has had dive training at some point? I'm starting to wonder if he wasn't a Navy SEAL in another life.

Army boy. But yeah, he can handle himself in a variety of settings.

@MacSTL: One question for now - We have seen the team use the bar much more for the con. We know Hardison owns the building. Did the team work out some special deal with Cora? What is the relationship now?

Cora still owns the bar, but the Leverage team are trusted friends. Family, practically. If no one's using the place, it's theirs to use how they will.

@USRaider: My question is: you probably write at least a half an episode more than what we see on the screen. What are the decisions that go into what actually makes an episode and what happens to the material you don't use?

Good Lord, we're too lazy to do more work than necessary. Now, although we often wind up with more story than we need when breaking an episode, we are writing to a specific production budget, which means a certain number of shooting days and certain number of pages per shooting day. Our scripts run from 50-55 pages, generally. 56 if they're dialogue-heavy. When shooting, we're rarely more than a few minutes long on the first cut.

@USRaider: Noticed that, after the job was finished and Nate and Sophie were discussing Parker's "punishment," when Nate called Parker over, she seemed to have that "revering" look that she had with Archie at the end of "The Inside Job." Does this mean that Parker has accepted Nate as her new tutor or is it more of the familial dynamic that the team has created?

I think it's more that Beth Riesgraf admires Tim Hutton for his magnificent leadership and ... oh, never mind. I think it read more as a reserved attitude, sort of an emotional waiting space you can read a lot into.

@Joe Helfrich: "You can hack anything with a battery, right? ... You now have 1 minute thirty seconds." This is how Parker flirts, isn't it?

The poor boy is doomed.

@LawMonkey: Interesting to see the 360 on the evil duo of evil (plus potential proto-Parker). Was that a first, or did we have a 360 on the 2 Live Crew Job?

... you know what? Great catch. I think that was a first.

@Rebecca: Parker told Eliot she'd been a thief since she was 9. Now we find out she was boosting cars at 12 and was a getaway driver before that (sometime between ages 9 and 12). She was a pickpocket when she met Archie. How old was she when she met up with Archie? We know she lost a brother as a child, will we ever see what happened to her real parents and why she was in the foster system? In the pilot, did she blow up her real parents' home or her foster parents'?

Remember, on Leverage you will never see Wolverine run into the woods in a poncey nightshirt. Or, for those of you who have lives, we will never nail down their backgrounds in one linear narrative. Although I will say those were (one set of) her foster parents she blew up in the pilot, I'm not going to confirm or deny that the boy who died was her real brother or one of her foster brothers.

@Odie: I also enjoyed the final scene with the team eating together. Which leads to questions: 1.) why wasn't Eliot eating? 2.) In scenes like that, where they're all talking at once, or like the one where Nate told Sophie to stall, are their lines scripted, or do they just improvise? 3.) Who hit Eliot with the car?

1.) He had his 500 calories for the day. 2.) It depends. They usually improv when so many of them are talking, it's very hard to script that. 3.) A drunken pensioner who then raced off to hider her sin.

@Moxie: If Hardison's EMP gun was directionalized enough that it could disable the cars without disabling the auto-carrier, how is it that it knocked out Eliot's earbud (which was in the opposite direction)?

The earbuds are more sensitive, and were closer to the gun. EM bleed. If he wore a watch, he would've noticed that it stopped. (And no, he doesn't ever wear a watch.)

@BobRoland: John, First I wanted to thank you both for Leverage and the comic Blue Beetle. I took my son to a comic book store last week (he just caught the bug) and found back issues of the book. I bought them all, and both my son and I loved him. The humanity you brought to the character was refreshing.1.) I recall reading some talk about a live action Blue Beetle show. If there was such a show, would you ever have an interest in writing for Jamie again? 2.) About the episode, I loved it, but I had some concerns about the EMP gun. I get that technology in the Leverage universe is a bit more magical than in ours, but are you worried about having to explain away in future episodes why they just don't use this device on a regular basis? It seems to me that having access to a magic "make electronics not work for a half hour" device would we too easy a way out for many stories.

1.) I'd love to write for Jaime again. We'll see what happens if the show goes forward. 2) The EMP gun has very specific uses -- and you will actually see it again.

@jimbo: Brief question - was Gina saying "nicking" in the script, or her addition? On a similar note, do you have anyone in-house to help with the English slang or is it just Gina?

"Nicking" was in the script, but we've had Sophie use the word before. There's probably a reason she prefers that word. Although our amazing Mary Mac helps with accents, we write the slang and Gina tells us if it's off or not.

@Lily: I've noticed in all the episodes Eliot always gives Parker the fed up look or just the I can't stand you look. Eliot gave Hardison the high five for morale in the last episode so will there ever be a time when he actually supports/tolerates Parker?

He and Parker have a very different, very professional relationship. if anything, he gets along with her better 80% of the time. Watch the pairing scenes when we break them off in episodes. Eliot always feels he has to keep an eye on Hardison. He relies on Parker.

@Nina May: (question about Sophie's rings that is incredibly complex and well though out)

Although Gina has Sophie wear different rings for different personas, I'm not sure it's as codified as you think it is. Kind of a halfway point between the methodology you posit and Gina and Nadine Haders coming up with what feels right for the persona.

@jenks: I know this question should have come with the Inside Job, but we've now met at least one person from everyone's past except Hardison. Is that ever going to happen? (Please say yes. . . )

Season 4

@Katie: I'd like to chime in about when the heck we're going to get to see more of Sophie's background. In my head she's actually a girl from a very small, very poor mid-western town that chose an English accent and a French name to make herself feel more sophisticated. Far fetched I know, but I'm just throwing it out there, would explain a few things, most specifically how well she understands the American high school system. And also it makes me giggle a little. 1.) But for serious, when do we get to see her background story? 2.) Will we ever get to see more flashbacks of Nate chasing the team. If my memory serves we've only seen him actually chasing/catching Sophie, but it could be fun to see more of their past that led them together.

1.) You got big hints of it in "The King George Job" as you know know. And she is, indeed, British. 2.) I think "Rashomon" counts, but we'll see what else comes up in S4.

@babysmoke: Come to think of it, maybe I do have a question for Mr. Rogers. Has a crossover ever been tabled or carded for future shows/seasons? If yes, which shows have been tossed around?

Well, the main problem is that all the other shows on TNT are made by giant studios, who may or may not want to play nice with our little indie studio, by which I mean the crazy guy financing the show. But yes, we've discussed it, and I'm not going to name names because I don't want to queer the deal if we try to do one for S4.

@Katie: One more question, how much of Nate and Sophie's stalling fight (kneeing him was brilliant btw) was Sophie legitimately being pissed at him and airing her grievances while she had the chance? The comments about him being drunk and her paying made me think she was being serious. And what's with Sophie being violent with Nate lately? There's been a couple slaps and now a junk-shot. Oh, and was Sophie honestly pissed about him slapping her ass? Did Nate do it just to cop a feel? He seemed pretty unashamed about it...

Sophie works Method.

@Sullivan: Your twitter tease re. the "Saint" story is tantalizing. But, now I'm wondering if I can reread all of my Saint collection before the finale airs. Do you realize that there were over a hundred "Saint" stories? So can you narrow it down a bit? Was it post-Patricia Holm? Pre- or post-WW2? Was Teal or Fernack involved? Please don't keep us in suspense forever - as the bishop said to the actress.

For those who don't know, I mentioned on Twitter that my half of the season finale is inspired by an old Simon Templar story -- hell, I think you can point to the Saint as a direct influence on the birth of Leverage. I will say the story is from later in the series.

@Dawn?StL-MO" Has there ever been a scene you wrote that ended up being totally unworkable - one or two you would have loved to have pulled off?

Most of the time we find ways to do at least SOME version of the scene. There are a few times where physical production stops us -- there was a zipline beat in the Christmas episode that was cut. But generally, no, we find a way to do almost everything, just to scale.

@AMY:This is a more general question, but will we ever see how people come to find the Leverage team? You have episodes w/ victims from all over the place and I've always wanted to see at least one of them show how they found the crew.

The Leverage team tends to find them, as mentioned in "The Homecoming Job". Hardison has trackers set up with both the news feeds and with legal aid departments, etc, that help them find clients.

@Anna: 1. A 12-year-old as a getaway driver? Was that like the world's worst foster father (and most definitely the stupidest)? 2. Those laser transponder car thingies don't seem like they should've been around during Parker's stint as a car thief. I thought she was exclusively a diamond thief when she joined up, so does that mean she had a 'thief' relapse during her time with the crew? Or did she just steal cars and tell no one? 3. NLP again! Yay! Will we see other characters using this technique as well?

1.) There have been dumber criminals. 2.) Parker stays up on her thief tech. She's a hobbyist at least in that stuff. 3.) That tends to be Sophie's territory. The rest lack the subtlety to use it.

@Heather: what happens to the employees of the big corporations that the team takes down? Like the sexting dude from the wheat company or the receptionist that Eliot flirted with in the pilot. They were able to send the rival mom and pop salespeople to Tahiti or Hawaii or whatever, but they can't do that for everyone. Is this ever going to come back to bite them in the ass? Are they going to be contacted by someone who's been unemployed and gotten in debt and then find out the client lost their job because of something the team did?

As I noted a while ago, they usually take down individuals. The times they've dinged a whole company is when the company itself has been based on a lie, and so is hurting the integrity of the free market system. (Don't snicker, I take that seriously). Sexting dude from the wheat company didn't lose his job, and even if he did, it was because of the layoffs already coming, not ones that the team initiated. Our guys drifted in behind those facts on the ground, using them for cover.

That said, they've definitely left some collateral damage around them. They just see it as acceptable when considering the damage done by the bad guys. They may be wrong. They are not always very nice people.

@mad: While I love happy endings the teacher just taking Josie on as a landscaping assistant was a little too neat...and somehow a little creepy. He just took the race car and the girl and was going back home to his family?? And Josie just blithely went along with him? There must have been a long conversation we weren't in on!

Yes. A long, boring conversation devoid of drama, and hence unworthy of your valuable entertainment minutes.

@Codger: And I just thought of a question from the way-back machine. In the pilot Nate was about to fly out of Chicago, which happened to be where Sophie was living and Nate knew where she was working. Was Nate in Chicago to try to work up the nerve to go see Sophie and chickened out before Dubenich came to hire him?

No, but he certainly knew she was there. And if he got the job, well, no harm in calling...

@lily: (1) to what extent was the emp gun based on feasible technology? and (2) was Eliot truly upset with Parker? i wasn't sure how much was him deciding that he was sick and tired of her being crazy and untrustworthy as opposed to him just being understandably pissed about getting hit by a car and giving her shit because it *was* her fault. and (3) did Sophie's talk with Nate actually influence his decision to give Parker a break? or did he appreciate for himself how significant Parker's screwup was in terms of her interpersonal skills?

1.) See above. 2.) See above 3.) Sophie has a huge influence on Nate.

@RevTrask: Wasn't there a big risk of another "Cousin Jimmy" complication cropping up? With Penzer's history as a race driver, it would seem as though he'd have had the sources and connections to check out Nate's cover.

There's always that risk. But he did check out Nate, and this time Hardison's cover held.

Crescent: Twice Parker says "Outta my way, you old bat!" and in the Gone Fishing Job the wallpaper on one of the computers Parker is using is a cat saying "Outta my way, you old bat!" Is this an in-joke with the writers?

Nope, that's the computer guys having a bit of fun, having seen the upcoming script.

@ACK: 1) Why did the car alarms not ring when the cars were initially stolen at the parking lot? 2) If they had the keys to begin with, why go through the scene of them breaking in and hotwiring the cars? 3) Why didn't the gun kill the big rig?

1.) Because those were very ordinary alarms, and so easily circumvented by Parker. 2.) They didn't have all the keys. We just shortened the sequence/montage in the edit. 3.) Answered above.

@Anonymous: Can Hardison hack a PS3? The whole "hack anything with a battery thing" got me thinking of the deemed unhackable device.

Sure, but why?

@Heather: 1-Hardison hacked Sterling's car in the Two Horse Job, so why was he so freaked out when Parker asked him to do his thing on the one in the Boost Job?
2-If they had the keys, why did they have to break into all of those cars? Did they make the keys later, or yoink them from a valet board?

1.) Sterling's hack wasn't that difficult, or carrying a death sentence 2.) answered above.

@ChelseaNH: At the race track, Hardison reacts to Penzer's protest that no one could be his record by 15 seconds. Did the team put the bug on Penzer or his pit crew?

Nope, the track guy.

@Kris: Random question: That accent Sophie used when she was getting the dealership owners out of town--I guess I'd call it her go-to American accent? Is it supposed to be region-specific? Just curious. I don't have a great grasp on that sort of thing, and that's just one of my favorite Sophie voices. Something about it is very... not exactly calming or soothing, but reassuring, I guess? Definitely a voice you want to trust.

No, not region-specific. Generic newscaster American. You'll see that when she's not doing a specific regional accent, she has about three she cycles through depending on the social status/con role of the person she's doing.

Right, let's see if I can blow through another one of these tomorrow and at least get into double-digit episodes before the summer finale. As always, thanks for your time and attention.

BOOTLEG MB Original

Scratcher: a person who finds a way to buy a "tattoo kit" and begins trying to tattoo people without any health training or professional tattoo training...they are not safe and usally just copy other peoples art for money. Since they have no training the work leaks quality and may cause the person major problems later.

I was on facebook this morning and someone tagged me in a photo... When I saw the pic it was a bootleg version of one of my drawings from 2005 turned into a VERY WACK tattoo...I don't understand why this person went to a scratcher... If they were a fan of my art then they should've known how I feel scratchers and bootleg art....I wouldn't mind if a professional tattooist use my art are tattoos as long as I'm given credit for my work art but this tattoo is 100% low in quality....whoever did this so-called "tattoo" didn't do justice to my artwork and it's a disappointment.... But I don't feel sorry for the person who let them put this bootleg trash on them... We have to love ourselves more....this is your skin! Invest in your body you only have one of them...


The drawing I did in 2005... It was actually a tattoo design for a client I lose in touch with when I moved shop locations


Here is the bootleg tattoo.. They tried to copy the style but wasn't trained so they fell short on linework, shading, color, & quality... I just hope this young lady is safe now and didn't catch anything from a unsafe untrained scratcher with no respect for professional tattooing

Posted from my iPhone

Tony's Celtic Fish, Swimming Up His Calf

Last month, I spotted Tony on the R train after leaving the 14th Street/Union Square station.

About thirteen years ago, his girlfriend was getting a Celtic dog tattoo, and he decided to get inked as well:

These works of art on his left leg derive, he told me, were inspired by illustrations from the Book of Kells.

Book/Manuscript: Book of Kells
VII Century, Ireland / ScotlandPage (Folio): 188v
initial letter I with lion and fish
(from http://www.art-imagery.com/)

Tony explained that he is a SCUBA instructor, so these fish from the mackerel family are a nice link to that vocation.

Not only have these tattoos held up over the years, they are noteworthy because they were inked by Pat Fish in Santa Barbara, who is regarded as one of the premiere artists working with Celtic designs.

I also love the coincidental nature of Fish by Fish.

Thanks to Tony for sharing these amazing tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!