We’re told there’s this new TV show called Tattoo Wives. It’s a reality show that’ll be something of a cross between L.A. Ink and Mob Wives, the latter of which one of my friends is really into, he says, because of the character “Big Ang.” Tattoo Wives is filming its pilot in three cities: Las Vegas, New York and Philly. And on Friday, the Raven Lounge is hosting a party at 10 p.m. in which, according to a press release for the show, “decorated divas will step and repeat shaking glitter from their 5-inch stilettos at the Raven Lounge in the heart of Philadelphia.”

Take that as you will. It sounds like the Raven Lounge, which made headlines this week when we found out teachers get discounts, will be heavily featured on the show, at least in the pilot. Here’s some more of the press release:

In a city that is rapidly growing and holds nature’s graces to be placed in equal proximity to the financial (NY) and political (DC) capitals of our nation- it is no question why it is the perfect location to debut Miss Scorpion’s break through reality show and online talk show “Tattoo View”, especially given her business and activist history. Her long struggle with identity and what it means to be a woman in a boys club is nothing new. However, her refusal to keep her place, or the place of a stereotyped industry has resulted in a movement that has not only helped to change how the women of the tattoo world are seen, her voice has also given them power.

Miss Scorpion was the founder and president of the first tattoo sisterhood in the history of the trade, the Gypsy Queens. She was able to secure over 10,000 members, cultivated participation in over 2000 charity events across the nation and in the UK, as well as raise “green” and tattoo safety awareness- her South Carolina Chapter even adopted a highway. After the dismantling of the group, she was able to transform the following into a successful forward thinking marketing company specializing in entertainment and art.

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Owner of the Raven Lounge, Jonathan Hunter, a native Philadelphian, also understands exactly what is born from giving otherwise unnoticed characters a reading on the grid. Former English teacher, keen entrepreneur, and dedicated family man, Hunter is no stranger to fostering the growth of underground lifestyles and eager eccentrics ready to give that in-your-face edge everyone’s afraid to begin but ready to embrace.

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Think the millennium’s answer to the 80s CBGB’s when the Raven comes to mind. With the unexpected advantages of global economics and the information highway that has widened communication while shrinking the world, the former proprietor’s would be green with envy had they known then that the cross-over did not have to be isolated within one genre. Hunter, an open-minded and creative impresario, is setting his own path to international notoriety.

The momentum of this combined movement between the forces of the Raven and Frankie Scorpion will open the gate for those searching to break free from that which binds and encourage more expectation of the unexpected. It’s safe to say that even Edgar Allen Poe would have never thought his modern-day man-cave would be silhouetted by bright lights, body art, and reality TV,  omehow though I don’t suppose he’d mind “the rapping at [his] chamber door.”