606609: Volume Two the Self Tattooing of Nick Armbrister

http://www.lulu.com/shop/nick-armbrister/606609-volume-two-the-self-tattooing-of-nick-armbrister/ebook/product-23583823.html

Book 2. I like tattoos. Over the years I’ve added to my collection till I’m now 75% covered. Only my face and neck, hands and feet aren’t inked. I’m filling in the remaining gaps with varied artwork. This includes doing my own tattoos either by electric gun or by hand. I thought doing it by hand would be easy; how wrong I was! I learned by trial and error. I got advice from some of my artists. My first series of tattoos were done by hand and using ball point pen ink. This works for some people but not me! Ink went all over the bed sheets. More dangerously, my body reacted against the ink and it all lifted out leaving bad scars. There’s a lesson there: DO NOT USE PEN INK! I got proper ink from my artist and tattooed a way. I did two sessions a week for months. Dozens of small tattoos filled in the gaps on my legs and other places. I slowly got better. Being good at art, I found drawing out the designs no problem. The quality of my hand done tats improved. See for yourself... Did I succeed or fail or...?

FLY

FLY

From my plane I see people far and distant from me.

They are like me but the higher I climb

the more I’m separated, withdrawn into my own little world.

Obstacles in my way, quick pull up!

Or I’ll crash headlong into them and destroy

my plane and die myself.

Just like real life, walk down the wrong street,

sleep with the wrong girl, choose the wrong job.

Each could end in a death sentence

with a black void that is your tomb.

I circle my plane now, watching.

There is no rush, where next in life?

What direction shall I fly?

Wow! Tattoo My Butt - More Mad Poems And Verse By Nick

https://www.amazon.com/Wow-Tattoo-My-Butt-Poems/dp/1291432779/ref=la_B003NPHFBQ_1_50?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1521947109&sr=1-50&refinements=p_82%3AB003NPHFBQ

Reasonsonal

Reasonsonal

You had to see it to believe it in the call centre

How you had to queue up twice in the lines

To hand in your bag and phone

Mard arse fucking security guards thinking they're God

Elevated to a lofty status beyond you and me

Who the fuck do these twoddles think they are?

Donald Damn Fucking Trump?

At least he's a really rich arsehole

The fake guards bellow and strut and act all important

'Put your cellphones, ifones, laptops, computers and TVs here!' 

Another plastic guard joins the litany:

'And form a separate line and place your bags here!'

Well fuck me six times with three hookers

I don't wanna queue up two fucking times!

I wanna go home and drink my warm bloody English beer!

'You there! Don't put your gadget in your bag. You must queue up twice. You can't buck the system. We're smart and know all the tricks!'

Off to the back of the second flaming line

I will never ever queue up here again

Nor ever give the smarmy guards another chance to feel like God

Bossing me about and being damn wannabes

They're manning the desk in Reasons Call Centre and are all plonkers

Screw their little mind games and rules

I'm resigning from my crap job to be a tank driver

Then I'll bloody show them who's boss...

eerie pussycat sound in tower block

on the manila bus home from work hehe

mt batolusong 7

mt batolusong 6

mt batolusong 5

mt batolusong 4

mt batolusong 3

mt batolusong 2

mt batolusong

Tarac Ridge Warplane crashes February 8-10 2018 write up by Nick Armbrister

Tarac Ridge Warplane crashes February 8-10 2018 write up by Nick Armbrister

I have had an interest in aeroplanes and history ever since my dad got me into planes back in 1980. He took me up to air crashes on the Pennines/Peak District/Manchester/Yorkshire/Lancashire area of England in the early 80s. There are over fifty crashes alone here ranging from the war years and later. We also went to wrecks in the Lake District and Wales.

In 2014 in the Philippines I went to more wrecks. I Googled Bataan warplane crashes and found out about the LT Stone P-40 Warhawk and Sgt Kurosawa Ki-27 Nate dog fight and subsequent crashes. This read like something from a Battle or Warlord comic.

Over the coming weeks I put together an expedition there. I talked to Kevin Hamdorf who was one of the group who found the P-40 wreck. He gave me much info and introduced me to the guide, Noel. Without his help the trip wouldn’t have been possible.

We went to the crash area at Tarac Ridge on February 8-10 2018. This was the 76^th anniversary of it. We went to the P-40 on Feb 9 and the Ki-27 on the 10^th.

The crashes are over a kilometer up altitude wise. We had to hike many hours through the forest/jungle and mountain to the area. We camped at the lower campsite. There is an easier site at the top of the mountain near Kurosawa’s Nate which is less than a hundred feet below the area. Because we never camped there we had to ascend the final hour to the summit each day.

The Warhawk site of Stone is hundreds of feet below Kurosawa’s in the forest on the mountain side. Little remains today but bits of alloy, Perspex, glass and other small fragments. We found these. Lt Stone is still listed as MIA Missing In Action. One of our group, Mike, searches for MIAs. We took hundreds of photos of the area and of our search.

I ventured up to the Nate site of Sgt Kurosawa on the last day of our three day stay. It was at the summit. We had to go through thick brush/jungle to the location. Kurosawa hit a rock face and his plane was fragmented. The engine used to be there but has since been removed. There is less at this site than at Stone’s P-40. We found bits of metal, Perspex and bits. Looking at the closeness to the summit, I realized that Kurosawa almost made it.

Nobody but God and the pilots know who shot down whom and who was on the other’s tail that day. The result is the same: two warplanes wrecked and two pilots dead. Maybe more answers will be found on future expeditions. It was a great experience to go there to Tarac Ridge, Mariveles, Bataan. In time I hope to return. This was my first international warplane trip. I want to go to a Grumman F-6F Hellcat at Capas next.