Roothless and Toothless
Friday, July 25 2008 | Comments (0)
In this M.I. episode, Yoji and Darren go into business for themselves; Garver gets up and personal with Big Beautiful Women; Ami has a new appreciation for cherries; Nunez is "on it" for Kryptonite and Tim gets a lesson on headlocks and high kicks!
The show opens with Yoji’s scenario of struggling to meet the financial demands of his wife and daughter. He is unable to tattoo full-time, so he took some time out to talk to Darren, who is expecting a baby himself. Yoji had an idea about making baby clothes but with a tattoo motif edge to it. Darren was very interested in the idea and they decided to see if they could make a business out of it.
“You can’t find really cool baby clothing”, said Yoji in his interview.
“I buy cool gear. I want my baby to wear cool gear”, said Darren to Yoji. “Let’s get on this. Let’s make this happen”. With that said, the deal was made.
In the next scene, Vanessa, a student, walked up to the tattoo shop where Ami and Dre stood enjoying the sunny weather. She said hello and mentioned that she wanted a cherry blossom tattoo. “The cherry blossom represents rebirth”, she said during her interview. She told Ami that she wanted it on her lower back and he told her to come back in an hour. Dre, who was previously silent turned to Ami when Vanessa left. “Put the tattoo on her hips so when she moves it shakes”, she said.
Marsha, an administrative assistant came into the shop and was greeted by Chris Garver. She told him that she wanted to have a pin-up tattoo of herself on the inside of her forearm. “You want yourself tattooed on yourself?” he asked surprised. “Yes I do”, Marsha replied. “I am getting just to tell myself that ‘you’re beautiful and you are gorgeous don’t let any tell you that you are different’”. After showing him some pictures of her, Garver had an idea of what she wanted and the deal was made. “Let me get it set up for you”, he said and Marsha was pleased.
Ami was ready for Vanessa who was waiting for him to do her cherry blossom tattoo. She showed him where she wanted it, a little below her pelvic bone. He then sketched some blossom designs and she approved of what he did. Ami then had her lay down so he could do the tattoo.
“You know tattooing cherry blossoms”, said Ami while he was working. “Represents how short and sweet life is”. Vanessa concurred with his statement. She mentioned that the tattoo was for a controlling ex boyfriend that she had and how she was enjoying her life after him. “It’s like a big elephant off my chest she said happily. I am on top of the world. This tattoo will remind me to never be in that situation again.”
After Ami was done, Vanessa checked it out in the mirror. “It’s beautiful, I love it”, she said smiling.
Marsha returned to the shop and Garver was ready with a design that she was happy with. “So this tattoo must be all about you loving yourself”, said Garver as he worked. “Yes it is”, Marsha said laughing. She then spoke about how her parents didn’t accept her being big because they kept comparing Marsha to her thinner sister. “They used to call me ‘butter’ for butterball. So it was a little difficult.” She then mentioned that she grew more confident as she got older, thanks to the Big Beautiful Women community (BBW) in Florida. “I may be a little vain”, she said.
“Well ‘a little vain’ is probably good,” Garver offered. “Or else everyone would be a slob”. They laughed together after he said that. When he was done, Marsha looked at her tattoo and was very pleased.
“Wow!” she mused. “She looks just like me”
“She’s your Mini-Me”, said Garver smiling.
At Yoji’s apartment, Darren comes by for an appointment to further discuss the artistic plans for their baby clothing line. He brought a mutual friend an tattoo artist, Jimmy on aboard to get another perspective from someone who didn’t work in the shop. The three men went over designs for the clothing, which primarily consisted of onesies and little t-shirts.
During the meeting, Jimmy turned to Darren. “One thing I can’t do and I will need you to do is a logo”, he said. Darren mentioned that he had in mind a logo called “Roothless and Toothless”. The men were happy with that idea and assigned Darren to handle the logo design.
“I am excited!” Yoji said.
A student named Christelle walked into the shop where Tim and Chris Nunez sat. She went over to Nunez and showed her a picture of what tattoo she wanted. “I want a kryptonite rock”, she said to him. She wanted it on her back right below her neck with her brother’s name underneath. “I chose the kryptonite rock because my brother loves Superman”, she said in her interview. Nunez agreed and told her to return to the shop later so he could get set up.
In addition to working at the shop, Tim has a tattoo-machine business on the west coast and he hasn’t had much time to help his business partner with the orders he gets. Ami gave Tim some time off so he could fly to California to finish up the work for his business there. “It is one of my most favorite things to do”, said Tim of his business.
Once he arrived in Los Angeles, he immediately went to alleviate the pressure his business partner Sam had experienced while Tim was away. “It’s a two-man operation”, said Tim. “Sam has been out here all alone handling all the business.”
“I have so much work to do”, said Sam to Tim. “People have been coming out of the woodwork asking for machines lately”.
As they worked, the men decided to do some surfing and to throw a BBQ for their family and friends. “As much as I love Miami”, said Tim. “I do miss my family”.
At Jimmy’s apartment, Darren and Yoji brought in all of their designs to see what would work for the baby clothing line. The all decided that they would have to resize the pictures so it would fit on a little baby outfit.
“It’s just the beginning”, said Darren. “I haven’t even got the logo done yet”. Yoji and Jimmy were not impressed to hear that the logo was still incomplete.
Jeff, who was a pastor walked in the shop and greeted both Ami and Dre who sat behind the counter. “I want to get something on my chest and down my arm”, he told Ami. “Like a Phoenix bird with a Dragon twist.” Ami didn’t understand Jeff’s desire and told him that to do a full color tattoo of a dragon would be 18 hours and he did not have that type of time. But once Jeff said that he would take it in grey and black, Ami changed his mind. “It definitely cuts like 6 hours off”. Ami told him that he would do a sketch and for him to come back later. Jeff agreed.
Christelle returned to the shop and Nunez showed her the design that he came up with. She approved and he quickly went to work. “This is not a common tattoo to see on the back of a girl’s neck”, said Nunez. She told him that it was for her brother who is a big Superman fan. “My brother is like my role model, someone I look up to”, she said. As Nunez worked, she told him that her brother was sick and that he didn’t have a whole lot of time left. So she made sure to spend as much time as she could with him while he was alive. “It is a miracle that he is still here today”, said Christelle with tears in her eyes. “I am sure this will mean a lot to him”, said Nunez finishing up. When he was done, she went to the mirror and checked it out. “That looks awesome!” she said crying. “Let me know how he likes it”, said Nunez giving her a big hug.
Jimmy and Yoji were waiting at the shop for Darren who was nearly an hour late and they had an appointment to see the printer in an hour. He was supposed to bring the finished logo and the men were afraid that he might arrive without the logo.
“I just hope for his sake he did it”, said Jimmy.
Darren finally came into the shop and the men were relieved to see him. “There you go!” said Yoji. After pulling the men’s leg into believing that the logo wasn’t completed, Darren pulled out a sketchpad and showed them the Ruthless and Toothless logo. The men loved it and then they hurried to go to meet the appointment with the printer.
After working hard on doing the sketch for the Phoenix tattoo, Jeff walked in and Ami was ready to get started. “It is so detailed and there is so much go into it”, said Ami in his interview. “It is definitely a beautiful tattoo to do.”
“What made you want to get a Phoenix?” he asked James while working. He told Ami that several years ago, he was diagnosed with Addison’s disease. “Your adrenal glands kinda shut down and they don’t work”, he said. “I got so run down and so exhausted that my body just completely shut down.” The doctor, he then said, had put him on some medicine for six years but his situation got progressively worse. “They said that a third of my heart had stopped working”.
“That’s crazy!” said Ami. Jeff told him the medical professionals recommended that he have open-heart surgery and that his life span would be reduced considerably. They had to take him off of the medication and within a week, he began to feel better. The doctors then told him that he was misdiagnosed and never had Addison’s disease. In addition, because he didn’t have the disease, the medicine that he was on for six years was killing him from the inside out.
“This was a long day”, said Ami in his interview. “I think that I had spent about five or six hours and I was just really happy with it.”
When Jeff looked at his tattoo after Ami was done, he was very amazed. “That is phenomenal! Unbelievable. I love it!”
Tim returned to shop in Miami after finishing up his project and hanging out with his loved ones in Los Angeles. He had a customer scheduled for today so he began to prepare himself for it.
It was nighttime in Miami and Jimmy came in the shop with boxes of baby clothes fresh from the printer. The moment he pulled the clothes out of the boxes, Darren and Yoji oohed and aahed with excitement.
“I think it is gonna go well”, said Yoji.
Even though Darren thought that they should wait to market it, he was outvoted by Yoji and Jimmy who argued that the only way to know if it will sell is to try to put it in stores now. “Trust us”, said Jimmy. “I really feel that this is the right way to do this. It is kinda ‘sink or swim’ at this point.”
A group called The Ringers was on tour and playing at a club next to the shop. The lead singer, Joe, was Tim’s client for the afternoon. “What kind of music do you play?” asked Tim. “Sweat Rock n Roll”, answered Joe. He told Tim that he wanted a tattoo of the title of the band’s new CD, “Headlocks and Highkicks” on the back of his calves. “I would be honored man,” said Tim.
When the band returned, Tim showed them the punk rock lettering that he designed and Joe approved. As Tim worked, the band was horse playing around, but Tim was such a professional that he was able to horseplay back and then get back to work. He asked Joe what the “Headlocks” referred to. “It is about embracing and grabbing hold of whatever you want on this planet”, said Joe.
“I am getting this tattoo to mark where I am in life”, said Joe in his interview. “I just want to continue doing what I love. I couldn’t imagine doing anything else with my life.”
When Tim was done, Joe looks at his legs and loved the artwork. It was flashy and punk, just like him. “I try as hard as I can to make the tattoo go with the person”, Tim said in his interview. “I can be so bold as to say that it goes exactly with Joe’s personality.” Joe and the band then invited Tim and the Miami Ink crew to check out their gig next door and everyone really had a good time.
Armed with boxes of Ruthless and Toothless wear, a winning attitude and Yoji’s daughter modeling their wear, Jimmy, Darren and Yoji went into a high-end boutique to see if they could have their creation in the store. Mark, the owner of the store, came to greet the gentlemen. Even though the store caters to men and women, Mark agreed to take a chance on the merch to see what the response would be. The men were pleased with that answered and they thanked him.
Outside of the establishment, the men smiled broadly. “We’re gonna be rich!” Yoji exclaimed. “Hope so”, replied Darren.
“I think this is a great day for our company Ruthless/Toothless”, Yoji said happily in his interview.
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