Needle Point

The barbed wire tattoo on your bicep was the result of too many kamikazes in Cancun. That ruby-red puckered pout on your neck was a gift to yourself February 14, 1998. And the teardrop on your cheek — well, if we said it, we’d be considered an accessory to the crime. No matter how corny or creepy, each inch of ink has a story. Once you’ve gone under the needle once, it’s hard to stop. This Friday through Sunday, tat addicts will converge on TattooLaPaloozato show off their body art, shop for more of it, and scare the tourists who happened upon the Miami Beach Convention Center on, perhaps, the wrong day.

This weekend is about tattoos, motorcycles, art, and how the three can coexist under one roof — the point is not to terrify you with the dude whose scalp is pierced with studs and colored like a rainbow. It’s to help you appreciate the artistic side of an otherwise marginalized group of misfits. Hell, your grandma has a smiley face tattooed behind her ear — it’s time you embrace the fully inked among us. There’ll be a strolling sideshow, tattoo contests, and an appearance by the original Michael Myers in the film Halloween, Tony Moran. Doors open at noon and close at midnight each day except Sunday, when the fun ends at 9 p.m.
Fri., July 10, noon; Sat., July 11, noon; Sun., July 12, noon, 2009