This episode is highlighting the best of Ami James – his most interesting and memorable tattoos and clients. Ami is sitting, reviewing the episodes, and giving his personal thoughts and commentary on each one. The first is one of Ami’s friends – Mike Diamond. This is from the March 7 episode when Ami was in a really bad mood and cut Mike with the razor while shaving him. Even now Ami doesn’t apologize for his bad attitude. He just says that’s the way he is and his friends know not to mess with him when he’s in a bad mood. Then he says he really put a lot into this tattoo because when you really care about someone, you want to do your best. I think it’s a good thing for Ami that Mike is such a peaceful guy.
Jason – Jason’s grew up on the back of a Harley and still rides to this day. Riding to him is a feeling of total freedom, and he wants a full backpiece of an eagle with its wings spread across from shoulder to shoulder. Garver helps Ami draw this one up and they create a huge stencil transfer. Ami says he loves the power of a huge backpiece that can be seen from far away, and powerful is a good way to describe the finished product.
Jodi – Ami’s most annoying customer. Jodi is the girl from the March 14 episode who was on holiday from Canada with her sister. Jodi was not intimidated by Ami’s bad-ass ‘tude and gave him attitude right back, which Ami didn’t appreciate. He threatened to boot her out of the shop and says that she was like a garbage disposal that would not stop spitting out garbage. But all’s well that ends well – she was happy with her tattoo and Ami was happy to see her leave.
Gianmarco – The big screw up. This is the guy that wanted the graffiti style letters down his arm with the letters “per sempre”, and even drew it out for Ami. But when the tattoo was finished, it actually said “pre sempre”. Gianmarco was so freaked, Ami said he blanched and actually almost fainted. Ami wouldn’t let him leave with a misspelled tattoo, so he reworked it completely and fixed it so it would be spelled right. Apparently, Gianmarco was telling everyone at work that the misspelling was Ami’s fault, so Ami felt he needed to set the record straight.
Alyson – Alyson’s friend Danny passed away and as a tribute to him, she wanted a tattoo just like Danny had on his side – a rose with a skull in the center. But Ami has to break it to Alyson that Danny’s tattoo was actually very poorly done and he wanted her to have something that looks much nicer, so he creates a similar but better design. She admits Danny would want hers to look nice and she goes with it, which turns out just great.
Harlan – the guy who was also in IDS – the Israeli Army – just like Ami. This was from the January 24 episode, and Ami says it’s pretty cool (and rare) to meet another person from the U.S. that went over to volunteer for the IDS. Ami doesn’t have the insignia from his own platoon, but he says he will never forget where he came from or where he’s been.
Denise – She’s half Israeli and feeling a kindred spirit in Ami she tells him she wants “Hamas” hands, but what she actually wants is a Hamsa hand – the open hand with an evil eye in the middle. The purpose is that the hand wards off evil and “haters”, as Ami explains. He thinks it’s a cool idea and says that it has a lot of meaning in many cultures, not just Judaism. Ami confronts the issue that Jews are not supposed to be tattooed, saying that although he respects his faith, he doesn’t intend to stop doing things that he loves, such as tattooing and getting tattoos.
Alex – another friend of Ami’s. Alex wants a backpiece of a face, but doesn’t really have any specific requirements except that it have a feeling of serenity, something along the lines of Buddhism. Ami and the entire crew get together to create the design in marker on Alex’s back before tattooing it. It ends up being a very unique and interesting picture – another powerful full back tattoo.
Mark Zupan – an Olympic Quad rugby player. He became a quadriplegic after a vehicle accident that was actually caused by a friend (Christopher Igoe) of his after drinking too much. Not only did Mark forgive Igoe, but goes as far as to say that becoming a quadriplegic is the best thing that could have happened to him. He’s since become an Olympian, had a documentary made about him called Murderball, has done commercials and has gotten a lot of media attention. Mark is one of the most down-to-earth guys Ami has ever met and he’s really amazed by his spirit. Ami adds to a preexisting tribal tat on Mark’s arm and brings a Polynesian style tattoo around to his chest. This is the kind of story that really makes Miami Ink special.
