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Please note this is an archived topic, so it is locked and unable to be replied to. You may, however, start a new topic and refer to this topic with a link: http://www.banjohangout.org/archive/408750
1935tb-11 - Posted - 05/25/2026: 07:12:06
at the student teacher night at school i can just hear little sally say to little susie " i bet my mom has more tattoos then your mom".
i go to the drive thru and the girl taking my money has some kind of creature crawling up her neck out of her top.... scary
what is it with women and tattoos .... the female body is beautiful like it is ... it don't need more art work to cover it up !!!!!!!
ok this is my old fogey rant for the day .... back to your normal broadcasting.
Edited by - 1935tb-11 on 05/25/2026 07:14:15
RB3 - Posted - 05/25/2026: 07:39:03
I think the slow dystopian cultural decline we're experiencing began when seemingly normal people started getting tattoos. It was about the same time that men started wearing their bill caps at the dinner table.
slammer - Posted - 05/25/2026: 07:52:43
My old fogey pet peeve is the nasal septum piercing hoop or nose ring or facial piercings in general. Nothing attractive about it to me and does NOT enhance any feature. Wild colored hair doesn’t do it for me either. I associate it with a certain socioeconomic status. I know……my bad, but probably true more often than not.
Slammer!!!
Nopix - Posted - 05/25/2026: 07:56:55
quote:
Originally posted by slammerMy old fogey pet peeve is the nasal septum piercing hoop or nose ring or facial piercings in general. Nothing attractive about it to me and does NOT enhance any feature. Wild colored hair doesn’t do it for me either. I associate it with a certain socioeconomic status. I know……my bad, but probably true more often than not.
Slammer!!!
Preach!
Edited by - Nopix on 05/25/2026 07:57:35
chuckv97 - Posted - 05/25/2026: 08:02:52
Other than on sailors or ex-convicts, I can do without all the ink. Guys’ earrings and man buns too. Harumph…. now where’d I put my chewing tobacco…?
Texasbanjo - Posted - 05/25/2026: 08:09:00
I'm a lady that thinks tattoos on women are not pretty. In fact, I think they detract from the normal beauty of any woman.
Having said that.... both my girls and my son all have tattoos. I don't like them, but I wasn't asked my opinion of them.
I also don't like any kind of piercings. Luckily, neither do my kids.
Wild hair color is definitely for the wild and free types. However, there is a lady at the senior center who has pink hair. I think it looks awful, but again, I wasn't asked my opinion.
Dean T - Posted - 05/25/2026: 10:25:52
I’m just glad people are starting to pull their pants up more these days. In my short 65 years on this planet, walking around with your pants down was the dorkiest and longest lasting fad ever. Tattoos and piercings don’t bother me as much as seeing butts and drawers all over the place. Just don’t get me started about idiots at the gym, who are sitting on the equipment I want to use, on their stupid phones.
Paul R - Posted - 05/25/2026: 11:02:09
As the comedian noted, why put a piece of jewelry where a kleenex should go?
I was wondering what self-image people have who cover themselves with tattoos. Self-loving? Self-loathing? It's their right to cover themselves, but I just don't see it. It's as though the image is more important than the person.
banjo bill-e - Posted - 05/25/2026: 12:47:11
Paul, the vibe I get is a blend of narcissism and a deliberate desire to offend the people (like most of us) who find it unattractive. Also, ugly women are being celebrated like never before in history, and that's a very easy in-group to join.
1935tb-11 - Posted - 05/25/2026: 13:24:05
quote:
Originally posted by Dean TI’m just glad people are starting to pull their pants up more these days. In my short 65 years on this planet, walking around with your pants down was the dorkiest and longest lasting fad ever. Tattoos and piercings don’t bother me as much as seeing butts and drawers all over the place. Just don’t get me started about idiots at the gym, who are sitting on the equipment I want to use, on their stupid phones.
the funny thing about that was the vast majority didn't know where it came from.. in prison it meant you were avalible for ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, well you know
Owen - Posted - 05/25/2026: 13:52:15
... ^^ dorkiest /longest lasting???
I dunno .... this can't be far behind:

As for piercings and tattoos, I figues there's mucho "gray" between the extremes. Pierced ears are so ubiquitous that I suspect many disregard them when considering body "piercings." Though a small, discrete tattoo can look "okay" on it's own, off the top of my noggin I can't think of anybody whose appearance was improved by a tattoo, but I can think of several that have detracted from it. C'est la vie??
[All ^^ IMNSHumnbleO.]
Owen - Posted - 05/25/2026: 15:43:52
Our man Wab [I-never-met-a-camera-I-didn't-like] Kinew apparently has* the highest "approval rating" [whatever that means] among Canadian premiers.

* or did have at some point not too far back.
STUD figmo Al - Posted - 05/25/2026: 16:51:23
I tease the guys with a man bun...( well the ones I know..)
I offer them hoop earrings..
To go with thier ...saddle horn...
Rid'em Cowboy... !) ;0)
rvrose - Posted - 05/26/2026: 21:56:11
What about the purple hair tattooed waitress who looks like she fell face first into your tackle box?
Texican65 - Posted - 05/26/2026: 21:57:50
I agree Terry…I think tattoos are so tacky, and look really trashy…especially on women. I also think that government, military, police, and fire department with tattoos that can’t be covered up by their uniforms look very unprofessional.
Now…I was in the Navy…and got all of mine while I was drunk and overseas in foreign ports. But they look like homemade prison tattoos…not the full sleeves depicting a story like in today’s age. One day, I’ll have mine removed.
Laurence Diehl - Posted - 05/26/2026: 22:26:03
I thought tattoos were a fad that was going to blow over. Wrong. My kids have a few. In my head I'm thinking - how's that going to look when you're 70?
csrat - Posted - 05/26/2026: 23:26:36
My son got his first when he was 19. HIs last when he was 23. He's now 31, and he will admit he regrets most of them
These kids were told they had no control, that their future was an inevitable slide into suffering and that they weren't able to resist their own degradation. They were told that all the bad things that they and the world would experience in their future was someone else's fault and they didn't have the will to choose strength for themselves instead of victimhood. Tattoos and piercings were their juvenile expressions of something they could control.
I have noticed that many teens and early twenties kids are not getting the ink and steel.
csrat - Posted - 05/26/2026: 23:28:25
quote:
Originally posted by banjo bill-ePaul, the vibe I get is a blend of narcissism and a deliberate desire to offend the people (like most of us) who find it unattractive. Also, ugly women are being celebrated like never before in history, and that's a very easy in-group to join.
Uh oh, he done said the quiet part out loud.
1935tb-11 - Posted - 05/27/2026: 07:19:22
pierced ears is ok to me and the occasional belly button (women) but the nose,, cheek ,, eyebrow ,, now i know in some tribes in parts of the world it is part of identification and culture and in a few some native american tribes it was used but in the usa today i don't think it is ,,, yet,,,, more of a fashion statement i suppose.
rinemb - Posted - 05/27/2026: 08:59:03
My dad, as most of you know by now, was a Marine that served on a battleship WWII. He was 18. In the Pacific he had the opportunity to get a tattoo as many were doing that time at port. His buddy was an older marine and discouraged him from doing it, so my dad never got his tattoo before getting blown up. Growing up, I thought those sailors and marines tattoos of their service were cool. Fast forward to when I was near graduating when the Vietnam Conflict was going strong, I mentioned to dad that I wanted to get a tatoo. He said, fine, but only if you join the Marines or the Navy and earn it. I remain tattoo free, but when I started playing banjo in the early 2000s, the urge returned. It was my wife this time-that discouraged me. Brad
Owen - Posted - 05/27/2026: 09:08:05
Back in the day I did a couple of nasal septum piercings:

And tbt, I did pierce one of my oldest daughter's ears. My wife had taken her to a place in town [with supposedly qualified personnel] but when she/they got home it was obvious that the placement on one ear was considerably "off." So it was decided that I could do better ...... and I did!! Let the one heal over and then with an ice cube for numbness I used a small hypodermic needle to install (?) the sleeper (?). Fwiw, my daughter reported that there was less discomfort than with the gun/tool/?? the technician (?) had used .... and there have been no complaints or second-guessing in the subsequent 44ish years. ![]()
Edited by - Owen on 05/27/2026 09:18:10
STUD figmo Al - Posted - 05/27/2026: 09:46:53
quote:
Originally posted by Jon BorcherdingSometimes music just sounds better with your eyes closed.
Me eyes... ! Me eyes... !
Annabody got eye soap..?!
Jon Borcherding - Posted - 05/27/2026: 09:48:31
quote:
Originally posted by STUD figmo Alquote:
Originally posted by Jon BorcherdingSometimes music just sounds better with your eyes closed.
Me eyes... ! Me eyes... !
Annabody got eye soap..?!
You were warned! :-)
Pretty darn good pickin' though, huh?
Edited by - Jon Borcherding on 05/27/2026 09:49:32
A Drum On A Stick - Posted - 05/27/2026: 11:13:40
This thread is pretty mean-spirited, but IMO posting videos of a fellow banjo player in order to mock their appearance is stepping over the line.
Ya'll should worry more about treating people kindly, and less about sharing your opinions about how others look with the world.
Jon Borcherding - Posted - 05/27/2026: 11:33:00
quote:
Originally posted by A Drum On A StickThis thread is pretty mean-spirited, but IMO posting videos of a fellow banjo player in order to mock their appearance is stepping over the line.
Ya'll should worry more about treating people kindly, and less about sharing your opinions about how others look with the world.
When a person has gone to great lengths, discomfort and expense to modify their appearance is it so wrong to notice?
This line we supposedly stepped over, where does it go? Am I expected to appreciate absolutely any form of body modification in order to be "kind"?
For what it's worth, I think Mossy Bones is a great banjo player but he looks outlandish and he looks outlandish because he wants to look outlandish.
Owen - Posted - 05/27/2026: 12:51:25
Fwiw, I doubt that one is expected to appreciate body modification/art/??/* any more than one is expected to denounce it.
I realize "no man is an island" but I find that, generally speaking, "It's his/her business, not mine." meets the kindness requirement.
* ... make-up? [I.e. Just where is the line, let alone where does it go??]
BanjoLink - Posted - 05/27/2026: 15:17:14
quote:
Originally posted by A Drum On A StickThis thread is pretty mean-spirited, but IMO posting videos of a fellow banjo player in order to mock their appearance is stepping over the line.
Ya'll should worry more about treating people kindly, and less about sharing your opinions about how others look with the world.
I think, as per Bill-e's post, many, if not most, of these heavily tatooed people are getting just the reaction that they are asking for. It is not a condition that they were born with or some malady that they can't help. It is one of their choosing, so I think they are inviting and in many cases pleased to get a reaction from others.
Many yeras ago, maybe thirty, I was having dinner in the Palmer House, a very fine restaurant in Chicago. Tis was well before the tatoo craze that we see now. A gentleman several tables over was bald (or shaved head) and was tatooed over every square inch of his head and face. I had never seen anything like that beofre, and not sure since. If he was trying to shock people, he sure succeeded.
STUD figmo Al - Posted - 05/27/2026: 15:32:55
He dose get credit for good playing..
Not every banjo player gets that... :0)
His best milue might be...Radio...... ;0)
chuckv97 - Posted - 05/27/2026: 15:49:01
Ok, maybe glass half full ,,,, he might be attracting others of his ink,,, err, ilk, you know, young rebellious types (not that I ever was one, in other ways) to our beloved instrument. Remember when the hippie-type longhairs (Sam Bush, Courtney Johnson, John Hartford, Butch Robins, etal) “invaded”.
Edited by - chuckv97 on 05/27/2026 16:03:29
Jon Borcherding - Posted - 05/27/2026: 17:28:40
quote:
Originally posted by chuckv97Ok, maybe glass half full ,,,, he might be attracting others of his ink,,, err, ilk, you know, young rebellious types (not that I ever was one, in other ways) to our beloved instrument. Remember when the hippie-type longhairs (Sam Bush, Courtney Johnson, John Hartford, Butch Robins, etal) “invaded”.
Poor kids nowadays gotta go alot farther than growing a little hair in order "let their freak flag fly".
I mean... it's gottta be tough being a rebellious teen and you can't get a reaction out of your grandparents without undergoing permanent body modification.
banjo bill-e - Posted - 05/28/2026: 05:59:38
"What's the difference being different, when it's difference now that looks the same--"
John Hartford from long ago yet right on target.
SatCotM - Posted - 05/28/2026: 09:45:47
quote:
Originally posted by banjo bill-ePaul, the vibe I get is a blend of narcissism and a deliberate desire to offend the people (like most of us) who find it unattractive. Also, ugly women are being celebrated like never before in history, and that's a very easy in-group to join.
I would be rightly surprised if adults across America were making permanent alterations to their body to get a reaction from you or me. Seems unlikely that folks are hinging their decisions on some banjo-picking Joe Shmoe's perception of them. Unless they're trying to court one of us, which seems even less likely!
Edited by - SatCotM on 05/28/2026 09:46:13
BanjoLink - Posted - 05/28/2026: 11:51:08
quote:
Originally posted by SatCotMquote:
Originally posted by banjo bill-ePaul, the vibe I get is a blend of narcissism and a deliberate desire to offend the people (like most of us) who find it unattractive. Also, ugly women are being celebrated like never before in history, and that's a very easy in-group to join.
I would be rightly surprised if adults across America were making permanent alterations to their body to get a reaction from you or me. Seems unlikely that folks are hinging their decisions on some banjo-picking Joe Shmoe's perception of them. Unless they're trying to court one of us, which seems even less likely!
I'll buy that. Let's just go with Narcissism!![]()
Owen - Posted - 05/28/2026: 12:28:19
I only know a few people well enough to even attempt to link their having tattoos with their personalities. However not one of them exhibits any of the common signs of narcissistic personality disorder [at least the ones that popped up on a cursory Google search]. Go figure!!
P.S. I'm no psychologist. ![]()
Edit: But, but, but I did get either 50 or 51% in Psych. 120 ................ it was a l-o-n-g time ago.
Edited by - Owen on 05/28/2026 12:30:33
banjo bill-e - Posted - 05/28/2026: 13:17:09
----"I would be rightly surprised if adults across America were making permanent alterations to their body to get a reaction from you or me"
No, reactions from us are just a bonus. The purpose is identify as part of an in-group, and one of the characteristics of that group is to show disdain to the "straight world" at every opportunity. And I would bet big money that I could guess this person's take on politics, gender issues, climate change, etc., as it's all part of the same package. They are saying "NOT", as in, not your religion, not your patriotism, not your Freedom of Speech, not your standards of beauty, not your anything!"
The difference between these folks and the Bluegrass hippies is that the hippies liked the music and just wanted to take part and join the scene. That is very much not the case here.
SatCotM - Posted - 05/28/2026: 14:13:43
"They are saying "NOT""
To be frank, that all sounds like some wide-eyed crazy talk to me. I've known a few people with the tattoos all up and down, or a face full of piercings. Not too uncommon where I'm at. Those that I've met are pretty bog-standard human beings. Far as I know, they got em because they liked em. Definitely some cultural differences as well.
It does sound terribly conceited to me, imagining that someone's expression or beliefs must be a reaction to your own, or those of your cultural bubble. Our own experiences are not the "normal" baseline from which everything else is a deviation. People have been tattooing each other and piercing all manner of frightening places on the body since the year dot. I don't see the appeal of having big spike stuck through my septum, but clearly more than a couple do if they've been doing it across the world all this time.
rvrose - Posted - 05/28/2026: 22:47:23
On the plus side, if your teen looks like the fella in the video.... it is easier to get them out of bed in the morning...
chuckv97 - Posted - 05/28/2026: 23:06:18
I’m not so sure the “Bluegrass hippies” just wanted to join the scene ,, methinks they wanted to kick over some of the music’s sacred cows, never mind the traditional conservative mindset of some of the music’s culture.
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