Seven reasons not to get a tattoo - tattoos when they meant something

Marking Portland: The Art of Tattoo opens June 20 at the Portland Art Museum. Anybody who lives in Portland with a tattoo or got one there could take a picture of it and be considered for inclusion. Because chief curator Bruce Guenther is himself solidly inked, I posted an advance here. (How many times do we get to look a semi-nude, buffed-out curator?)

Now that frat boys think nothing of covering their forearms in morning glories, however, tattoos don't necessarily have the edge they once did, which makes the Northwest Film Center's contributions vital.

On June 21, the center will screen A Scarred History of Great Britain; July 25, Hori Smoku Sailor Jerry, and Aug. 20 The Mark of Cain, tattoos from the Russian Gulag.

About Sailor Jerry. Not a lovable old salt. Here's his list of 7 Reasons Not To Get A Tattoo, via Cookie, which hung in Jerry's parlor. We can quibble over which is most offensive. (I'm going with #3. ) But for taking a trip down memory lane with a pure product of old-time, outcast America, his movie can't be beat.

 A few years ago in New York, riding the bus back downtown from the Studio Museum Harlem, I found myself sharing a seat with a lean wolf of a white guy.

Three permanent tears ran down his face, which I believe could have alluded to an unfortunate encounter in prison. His white shirt rolled up with a package of cigarettes in a sleeve revealed a text: Born to Lose.The song hung in my mind and surfaced a couple of blocks later. Yes, I broke into unconscious song.

Suffice to say he was not amused. I was happy he didn't belt me, as the don't-hit-a-woman rule seldom applies in his circles. Later that night, tucked up in bed, I realized that the oddest person on the bus that day had a press pass.