Ongoing History Daily: Josh Homme’s shame tattoo
If you’ve ever seen Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age with his shirt off–and before you ask, no, I haven’t–he has a tattoo on his rib cage. If you’re at all familiar with getting inked, you’re probably thinking “Wow. That must have hurt. Why did he get it there?”
The answer: to remind himself of the worst Queens gig in their existence.
It was April 15, 2001, at the Rock am Ring Festival in Germany. The show was a complete disaster with a ton of technical problems including unplugged mics and guitars that weren’t tuned properly. Meanwhile, Josh had to hop around because three days earlier, he had dislocated his ankle and was actually on crutches at the time. Then he slipped and fell down leaving the stage, hurting himself again.
To remind himself that this should never happen again to his band, he got the tattoo.
I got inked after finishing my radiation treatment for prostate cancer: the blue and white tie from Prostate Canada and a firefly. I wanted somethig to remember the experience.
Ah, yes. Scars.
They come in all shapes, colours, sizes. For all kinds of reasons on all walks of life. Some so ugly, they’re beautiful. Others so well hidden, they are plain to see. Yet the deepest, most impressive, are the ones we give ourselves.
If your body as a temple, don’t be surprised when you find cracks in the plaster.