Texan gets Frankie MacDonald tattoo after dare

A Texas man's online dare resulted in him getting a tattoo of a Nova Scotia celebrity.

ErnestAcostaof Odessa, Texas, gota Frankie MacDonald tattoo on his legfollowing an online challenge and the video is going viral.

The tattoo is a Frankie MacDonald caricature, drawn by Halifax cartoonist Bruce MacKinnon, who works as an editorial cartoonist for the Chronicle Herald.

Acostasays he's never met MacDonald,Whitney Pier's most famous amateur weather forecaster, N.S., but he watches MacDonald'svideos on the website LiveLeak.com. MacDonald, who hasautism, has gained international attention for his enthusiastic forecasts.

"I'm a Frankie fan myself," Acosta says. "It ain't too weird because I have over 300 tattoos. I do get a lot of challenges and I don't do them all but when someone mentioned the Frankie tattoo, I thought of yeah, I'll get a Frankie tattoo. I love watching his videos. I love the way he does the weather. I'm a supporter of him. I didn't even have to think about it."

Acosta posted a video Tuesday, hours after getting the tattoo. It's now been viewed more than 20,000 times and generated about 700 comments. He says he's never met the person who challenged him, but like MacDonald, they're part of the same online community.

Acosta already had tattoos of three other people due to online challenges but says this one is a little different.

"It's more of a 'I support Frankie' tattoo. He has a passion of the weather and I can relate to him I like to make people laugh and he likes to do the weather."

MacDonaldsays he was surprised to see a tattoo of himself but flattered.

"I was excited when some guy all the way from Texas got a tattoo and it was great and a lot of my fans like that," he says. "I have been doing a lot of weather reports like severe weather hitting Dallas, Texas. I'm helping a lot of people in Dallas and those places."

One local clothing company already sells "Frankiesays be prepared" T-shirts. He says he'd like to see hats and coffee mugs too.

Watch Acostaget histattoo here.