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Guest Blog by Dr. Matt Lodder *As an opening line for an article in a popular newspaper about tattoos, the suggestion that "tattoos are not just for sailors anymore" is a familiar one. We saw it last month in an... Marisa Kakoulas DiMattia http://www.needlesandsins.com/marisa.html

We wrote up Hori Smoku's first NYC appearance just over a year ago, but I can safely say that this weekend's screening at Rooftop Films will be a heck of a lot cooler than how Marisa and I originally watched... Brian Grosz http://www.needlesandsins.com/brian.html

VenomVyxen uploaded this piece entitled “Corvid Cluster” to BME the other day.  At first glance I didn’t think too much of it, but after getting a closer look at the crow’s head, and seeing the detail in it contrasted against the cluster of crows making up the body it really stood out.  Now I know some people may think that this particular style of image may be too “trendy” or “overused”, but does it matter?  It’s a wonderful piece of art that both the artist and recipient are happy with; and to me, that’s what matters most.

It’s Friday morning, only a few hours left in the week before the weekend gets into full swing.  So try to get through today as the crow flies: as quickly as possible, and in a straight line to the weekend.

This scarification piece by Ighlif got me thinking that this is a clever reference to a song, or I’m just reading too much into the imagery.

In either case, the fresh cutting combined with the text underneath was really eye-catching.  I’m always curious as to how a scar will turn out, but in this case I am doubly so, as the contrast between the two stands out so well.  Given how well the last scar of Ighlif’s we featured turned out, I think the recipient is in for a beautiful looking scar.

You can find the full sized image here, as well as other works by Ighlif in the scarification galleries.

Aesthetics can often play a large part in the appreciation of a mod.  Not always mind you, but often enough that it’s fair to say that it is quite commonplace.

The beauty of an aesthetic judgment is that it is subject to personal interpretation.  For example one person may love the look of multiple facial piercings, while another may not.  There is no right or wrong answer in this situation because human beings, as individuals aren’t locked into a single mindset as to what is pleasing to the eye.  Obviously in the case of animals, mate selection is a primary motivation, and many species have adapted/evolved to the point where mate selection comes down to which potential mate displays the proper requires traits the best.

Now I realize that a lot of this is pretty common knowledge, and I do have a reason for bringing all this up.  The Flower of Life is a geometric figure that has been linked to almost every culture ever known to man.  For different people, the image means different things, but most recognize the inherent power of the symbol.  One variation of the Flower of Life is that of Metatron’s Cube.  The cube is thought to be a visual representation of the basic building blocks of the universe, right down to a single atom.  So it was no wonder that while I was browsing the BME galleries my eye was drawn to this tattoo uploaded by Atrocity Exhibition.

If you look closely, you can see that not only is the image painstakingly geometric, but the spaces between the lines are filled in not with a solid color, but with very small black dots.  This symbol, combined with the flower atop it, really stood out to me as one of the finest examples of blackwork I’ve seen in a very long time.

The picture was taken the day after it was done, and I’m really curious as to see how it will look when it’s fully healed.

Well, it seems my last Guess What? went over pretty well, so lets give it another shot.  Although I’m not 100% I’ll ever be able to top it.

So without further ado..  Guess What?

Think you know?  The only way to find out is to read on.

Ok, so genitals was probably another easy one, but the anonymous submitter of this photo definitely put a lot of work into her labia ladder/stretching project.

The rest of the photos in the series can be found in the female genital stretching galleries.

I like to think that when it comes to video games, I was born in the perfect year.  You see, when I turned 8, the Nintendo Entertainment System hit stores in North America.  I was definitely the target audience the marketers had in mind.  Two years prior I had gotten hooked on G.I. JOE and Transformers, this year, Nintendo owned my soul.  As kids my age grew, so did the video games.  8-bit became 16-bit, then 32, 64, and so on.

Today there is an entire generation of people who were raised on Mario and Link.  They in turn are now raising their children in a world where owning multiple top of the line gaming systems is almost the norm.

So it should come as no surprise that when we feel nostalgic, we think back to our favorite NES games.  Personally, River City Ransom will always hold a special place in my heart.  Which probably explains why I’m so fired up to see the Scott Pilgrim film.

For those not familiar with Mr. Pilgrim.  The premise is simple, boy meets girl, boy falls in love with girl, boy must defeat girl’s seven evil exes to win girl’s heart.  Ok, so maybe a little more complicated.  What really drew me in (aside from the fact that it’s based in Toronto) was the entire series is jam-packed with NES references.

Now because I’m looking forward to the film, I decided to see what our geek tattoo galleries had in terms of 8 and 16 bit tattoos.  I was not disappointed at all.

So fess up.  What was your favorite Nintendo game?  I know you all have played with a Nintendo at least once before.

Austin has become ground zero for exceptional tattoo artists -- the city seems to be flooded with recent transplants from around the country. [Also home base of The Lizardman.] One such artist is Joey Ortega of Triple Crown Tattoo... Marisa Kakoulas DiMattia http://www.needlesandsins.com/marisa.html

“Grilling, broiling, barbecuing - whatever you want to call it - is an art, not just a matter of building a pyre and throwing on a piece of meat as a sacrifice to the gods of the stomach.” James Beard, ‘Beard on Food’ (1974)

So rumor has it that SoCal BME members have been getting together once a year for the past decade to enjoy an afternoon around the grill.  Another rumor floating around is that this year’s BBQ is happening THIS WEEKEND!

So whether you’re a long time BME vet, or brand new to the community, you’re more than welcome to stop by Presidio Park in San Diego this saturday and partake in the festivities.

If you have any questions, feel free to drop Midian2000 or Shaman a line on IAM, Facebook, or e-mail.

It’s too bad I won’t be in town.  I would have loved to have the chance to cook up another Bacon Explosion for people.

Well modified parents, it’s about that time of year when you can finally celebrate.  In a few short weeks, the youngsters will be heading back to school, letting you call in sick to work and enjoy a silent few hours at home before the bell rings.

But before the quiet can settle in, there still is the matter of the dreaded back to school shopping.  Things have changed over the years when it comes to shopping for the little (and not-so little) ones.  Many moons ago, parents would help the kids pick up supplies; pens, notebooks, backpacks, etc., and probably pick up a new outfit or two for the first day of school.  Nowadays, things are a little different.

In a recent American Express survey, notebooks and clothes are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to fall spending.

Clothing, shoes and school supplies were the top three categories, making the shopping lists of more than 80 percent of consumers. Other popular categories include books (43 percent), sports equipment (24 percent) and healthcare (23 percent).

But parents also had some more discretionary purchases in mind, with nearly half saying they planned to spend on cosmetic services for their kids. Of that group, respondents were divided among manicures and pedicures (24 percent), teeth whitening (18 percent), spa services (12 percent), waxing (11 percent) and tattoos (9 percent).

Yep, you read that right.  9 percent of the people polled in the survey had planned in their budget a new tattoo for their offspring.  I know that for years now body modifications have been becoming more and more acceptable in mainstream society, and you can call me old fashioned, but I think I would probably not give my kids money for a tattoo if the only justification was that it was to show off for the new school year.

So ModBlog reader, what are your thoughts?  Would you get your children a new mod for the first day of school, or would you rather spend the money on something banal, like spa services and teeth whitening?  Actually come to think of it, I’d probably be a little creeped out if my kids asked me for money to get waxed before hopping on the bus.

Browsing the newest images uploaded to BME is always a treat.  Especially when I get to see a new piece uploaded by Fabrizio Divari.

Looking through his gallery on BME you’ll find quite a few pieces like this.  The coloring of the sky and ocean looks painted on, rather than tattooed, and the detail in the ship’s rigging is incredible.  I’m actually at a bit of a loss for words when looking at it, it’s that beautiful.

Keep submitting those photos ModBlog readers, there’s a lot of wonderful work out there that I’d love to see shared with the world.

So let me tell you a little story.  I enjoy Star Wars, as a great many others do.  Now, I’m not exactly a poster child for fandom, but I enjoy the films and can geek out with the best of them when I see a Star Wars reference pop up unexpectedly in an image or film.  It should come as no surprise that I have friends who also enjoy the films, some of whom are a little more dedicated to the fandom than I am.

Now, with all that being said, something strange has been happening to me the past couple of weeks.  Artists that I know seemed to be focusing on Star Wars quite a bit.  Lots of images popping up, discussions being held, references being made, etc.  I don’t know if it was my subconscious picking up on things that always seemed to be there, or if it was something else.

It turns out it was something else.

I was visiting my artist, Rev. Matt Ellis, a few month ago and he mentioned that he was working on a Star Wars skateboard as a piece for a show.  I didn’t think too much of it, as he’s always working on something.  When he finally finished the board, he posted an image of it on facebook, and needless to say it was awesome.

After that, I also was hearing complaints from the lovely Lexci Million that her partner in crime was spending all his time drawing Star Wars images.  At the time they had just gotten a new TV so I figured he’d just been watching the movies a lot.

So this week, when I was looking for some upcoming events, I came across an article about Celebration V.  For those that aren’t at one with the force, the Celebration events are pretty much Mecca for hardcore Star Wars nerds.  It turns out this year, in addition to all the major events of the weekend, there will also be a tattoo pavilion featuring a skateboard art show.  Yep, while reading the article I found the exact same image that had appeared on my facebook page not 2 weeks ago.

The skateboard art is just one event going on in the pavilion.  Over the course of the weekend, there will be a tattoo competition, a gallery of Star Wars tattoo art, live art competitions between artists, and of course, a large number of tattoo artists on hand who will be available all weekend to get work done.

To find out more about the pavilion, as well as what artists will be featured there, head on over to theforce.net to get all the information.

Now if you live on the other side of the planet and can’t make it to California for the nerd gala, you may want to think about heading over to Doncaster in the UK.  This weekend is the annual Tattoo Jam, and the goal this year is to set the Guinness record for most people tattooed simultaneously.

Currently the record for the most people tattooed simultaneously stands at 178, set last year at The London Tattoo Convention.   But Tattoo Jam has lined up more than 300 artists from around the world who will all be in action at 2pm on Saturday in an attempt to set the new record for more than 300 people.
Organisers are appealing for 13 members of the public to act as stewards for the occasion and ensure the event runs smoothly.  Volunteers must be available to be at Doncaster Racecourse from noon on Saturday.  Everyone who helps out will receive a memorabilia T-shirt and certificate to mark the occasion.

There will also be the chance for Doncaster residents to become part of the record bid by going under the needle as part of the attempt.
Anyone interested must make a 2pm booking - either in advance of the event or early on the same day.

So if you’re in the neighborhood and you want to get your name in the big book of records, just swing by Doncaster and you’ll have the chance to do it.

Have any events coming up?  Send me an e-mail so I can put the word out.

I’m a big fan of my hometown.  Those of us that live in Toronto will probably tell you the same.  While the rest of the country gives us grief for calling ourselves the center of the universe, we just go on about day with the knowledge that if something awesome is going to happen, it will be in Toronto.

Last week, a Toronto Star photographer took a series of photos at the Vinaayager Chariot Festival.  An annual event at the Sri Varasiththi Vinaayagar Hindu Temple, located just north of the city.  While major events such as Pride and Caribana get a lot of press coverage, it’s great to see that our city has more than just the major events going for it.

Now you may be asking yourself, why is Rob talking about this on ModBlog?  Well the answer is fairly simple.  Part of the festivities include ritual piercings and suspensions.  I’ll let some of the photos explain for me.

You can see the rest of the images from the festival over at the Toronto Star

Samuel M. Steward, PhD was an English professor, a writer of esteemed literary works and gay porn. He was also "a furtive but exuberant erotic adventurer." [Put this on my own tombstone please].Sam Steward was also "Phil Sparrow," a... Marisa Kakoulas DiMattia http://www.needlesandsins.com/marisa.html

If you recall, last week’s news was fairly long, so this week will be just a short update.  I want to start off this week with an e-mail I received from Scott at Inkfliction Tattoo in Sioux City.  As you may recall, a few months ago I posted a story about Scott’s studio running a charity tattoo drive to raise money for cancer research.  Here’s what Scott had to say about it:

hey rob, this is scott magnetti, owner of inkfliction tattoo in sioux city iowa….1st of all i would like to say thanks for the article…we had an amazing amount of support not only from that article, but from the entire Siouxland community…we did that event as a way to raise awareness for cancer..its a disease that is non discriminatory..it affects women, men, children, etc…when we were approached to see if there was a way we could help, we new we could do something special. Kevin, ( my business partner) and myself were extremely busy that month…we set our goal at 1000.. not only did we hit our goal, we raised close to 8000…we did that at 25 dollar tattoos( cancer ribbons in any color), as well as a walk that we participated in at 35 dollars a person…we cannot say thank you enough to everyone that helped making this event a huge success…and the money raised went to some very worth while org….once again i would like to say thank you and from the crew here at Inkfliction, we deeply appreciate not only what you did for us but what everyone did…we look forward to 2011 so we can do this event again

So a big thanks to all the ModBlog readers who helped spread the word about this event to make it as successful as it was.  If you know of any mod-related charity events going on, please submit them, so we can get the word out to those who may not know about it. Speaking of charity events, Twiztid Ink in Alvarado TX is holding it’s quarterly clothing drive next month.

The shop owner, addressed only by Twiztid, said he is holding his quarterly gathering giving back to the community.  His latest event, Twiztid Ink Coverage, is a clothing drive that will be open to anyone who wants to join him bringing housecoat-style robes, slippers, socks or other clothing items on a trip to Alvarado’s Nursing Home. Twiztid said the facility is home to about 100 residents with about 60 being women and 40 men for whom he would like to offer the clothing. The Twiztid Ink Coverage clothing drive Saturday, September 4 begins at 9 a.m. with donuts and coffee at the meeting place. Patrons are invited to join in the ride at 10 a.m. and deliver new or gently used, cleaned clothing for Alvarado seniors at Alvarado Nursing Home 101 N. Parkway. Following the delivery, everyone is invited to spend a few minutes or a few hours sharing stories with seniors.

Not only is Twiztid helping out the nursing home by bringing the clothing, he’s encouraging participants to come along for the drop off and spend some time with the seniors.  My grandmother, before she passed, was in a nursing home for a couple of years, and I know the highlight of any day would be getting a visitor. Now, in something completely unrelated, take a look at this find sent in by quinnnchick:

To find out the rest of the story, continue reading The article above, and the rest of it which you can find right here, is from the LA Times in 1905.  It turns out a man had gotten a doctor to implant a bar into his scalp, to which he could affix horns, as well as replace two of his teeth with caps that allowed for tusks to be fitted in.  I’ve always thought that sideshow workers had an affinity with the modded community, I just didn’t realize that transdermals were an option back then. To go back even further in time, scientists are realizing that the Nacurrie skeleton, discovered in 1948, may very well be the first documented occurrence of skull manipulation.

The shape of his cranium suggests Aborigines practised body modification, manipulating the contour of the skull, he said.  The skeleton of Nacurrie suggests his skull shape was modified by subtle means, probably by massage from his mother’s hands. Several other skeletons found in the Murray-Darling area also had modified skulls.  Cranium manipulation has been common throughout different cultures. By some reports, it was the most popular type of body modification after circumcision, said Professor Brown, whose findings are published in the Journal of Human Evolution.

As interesting as this is, I wonder how accepted this practice would be in today’s westernized world.  I’m sure Conehead fanatics would be ecstatic about this.  There are still Conehead fans out there right? While we’re on the subject of fanatics, I happen to know a couple of people who are very dedicated to their LEGO collections.  I’m sure they’ll get a kick out of this next story.

A Lego person is a couple of inches tall on a good day, so it’s not exactly easy to draw a dragon, skull, or Harley Davidson logo on the arm of one. Seemingly, that’s just what Barcelona’s Grey advertising agency did to promote a line of Pilot’s extra-fine tipped pens.

Now I’m not a LEGO collector by any means, but if I saw these guys on the shelf, I’d be sure to pick them up.  Too bad they’re probably just a clever photoshop.

This next story was submitted by AmberLilith, and it surrounds a somewhat troubling situation in the UK.  I say troubling because I know that there is a community built around DIY modifications.  I would definitely be interested in hearing their thoughts on a potential ban on DIY tattoo kits being sold online.

“The sale of tattoo equipment online is not regulated in any way, and well known internet auction sites, who are not prepared to sell items such as knives, are prepared to ignore the welfare of people and the risk of spreading diseases.  These results are a big burden to those who do everything they can, to work in a safe and hygienic environment and in accordance with local health and safety laws.”

In addition to the kits being sold to unlicensed individuals (who go on to tattoo others), the kits don’t contain any form of instructions, or directions on proper sterilization.  There actually isn’t even any proof given that the materials have been sterilized prior to being shipped.  I’d like to believe that the people buying these kits will do research into safe practices, but with so much bad information floating around the internet, I’m a little worried that I’m going to be posting a story soon about an outbreak of hep from someone who didn’t bother to sterilize their equipment.

Well, that’s it for this week (I warned you it would be a short week), but I’ve got some great stories to feature later in the week so look forward to those.

When I was a kid, I used to love playing with erector sets, which I used to build all kinds of crazy contraptions. It appears this BME contributor, still enjoys making crazy contraptions with his custom   “erection set” that connects to his ampallang and makes for a custom penis stretching device.

For our readers with “real” jobs, I suppose I should put this behind a click through.

Is this tattoo related?  No.  No it's not (unless you consider the fact that Marisa and I have had this track blasting on a continuous loop at the Needles and Sins Compound today whilst much booty-shaking has taken place).  Regardless,... Brian Grosz http://www.needlesandsins.com/brian.html

While I was in the process of putting together this week’s news roundup, I came across a submission from Peter Mayaart about an artist from Palm Beach that combines piercings and body painting together to form a unique piece of art.

Georgette Pressler from Devious Body Art, has taken her preferred medium (paint on skin) and combined it with a corset piercing to create a really beautiful piece of art.

This piece was a collaboration between myself; Tara Hauck, who is our photographer; Shorty, who is a body piercer from Hellcat Tattoo; Melrose Telles, who is an amazing hairstylist; and Brittany Johns, who is our willing model.

Brittany had 22 piercings in her back. She is such a trooper. We had the piercings done first, and we stopped at 22, which is more than enough.

Shorty is an amazing piercer. He wanted to do something artistic, and he did this beautiful corseted lacework on her back, with chocolate satin ribbon. I came in and brought some vintage romance by doing copper paneling with gears, some tubing, a lot of metallic details and lacework.

This is something that we had been talking about for months. We started at 9 in the morning and worked until 9 or 10 at night. At the end of the day, we were all very happy with the work. It was what we had all really wanted: something reminiscent, something old and slightly mournful, but still beautiful and romantic at the same time.

The Palm Beach Post has a full interview with Georgette, as well as a gallery of the process involved in creating this work.

It’s amazing to think that a full team of people worked for 12 hours to create a beautiful work of art that was only going to last for a few hours at most.

If you’ve found a story that you think should be included in the ModBlog news, just click here to submit the link.

Well, maybe not two blue hands, but this branding piece by Quentin at Kalima Emporium in the UK, definitely has a blue tinge to it.

It’s interesting to see how the color from the tattoo ink is affected by the branding, really making the flower pop.

You can see more branding and scarification by artists from Kalima Emporium in their gallery.

If you have an image you’d like to share with ModBlog, send me an e-mail with the image or a link to it.

A lot of the posts on ModBlog feature images submitted to BMEzine by people from all over the world.  In addition to the image galleries, BME also has an entire section dedicated to the stories that our members share with everyone.

The following story was submitted by someone named Steph to the piercing section.

I will start off by saying before I got my triangle I did a lot of research. I read nearly every single experience on BME over a number of weeks, called up different studios to ask questions and joined various websites to get the opinions and experiences of professional piercers, as well as those few who already had a triangle piercing. It certainly is not that easy to find information (from my experience) and you really do have to dig for it. But once you know your stuff, you’ll feel much more comfortable about going to get the piercing.

Before I set my heart on getting it done I knew it would only be possible if my anatomy was suited to the piercing. I did a lot of poking around in the mirror to check if I had hood space just underneath my clitoris. Even though I felt I did, I knew the majority of women did not so I decided to email a piercer who does free consultations and is experienced in doing triangles, Elayne Angel. I sent her a couple of pictures and she said she thought I was suited to it. This is worth doing.

After a few days I had finally plucked up the courage to actually visit a studio. My research (particularly messaging people with triangles) had led me to Kalima Emporium. I had already spoken to four women who had their triangle pierced by Quentin at Kalima. All of them praised him and the welcoming atmosphere of the studio, it was also a nice little addition that Quentin is one of the most experienced body modification artists in the UK! To get there I had to travel from London, it felt like forever to get to the studio in Worthing. It is also right near the beach so before I got pierced I just sat with my friend on the pebbles by the sea, which relaxed me quite a bit and I would recommend that if you are nervous and go to Kalima.

Upon entering the studio my friend and I were warmly welcomed by Quentin and the other piercer, John (and even the customers were friendly!) The place was elaborately decorated and very unique looking, unlike some white wall studios I am used to which make you feel as if you are visiting the dentist! I explained what I wanted done to Quentin and was taken into the piercing room to have my anatomy checked. I didn’t feel rushed or at all uncomfortable. I was told that whilst I had space under my clitoris, my outer labias might affect how deeply I could be pierced because they would rub on the jewelry. He said that it was certainly possible for me to have it done but I had to be aware that because of this the piercing could migrate itself slightly into a more comfortable position. Armed with this knowledge and everything else he had told me, I got dressed and went to sit outside for a bit whilst he dealt with two other clients that wanted a scaffold and microdermals. Quentin said that he wanted a lot of time to mark me up and explain things in more detail, as what I wanted done was going to be ”intense.” I was happy to wait if it meant I would receive care and patience – which I did.

Back into the room I went. I felt surprisingly relaxed even though this was going to be my first genital piercing (I’ve only just turned 18) and is generally considered the most painful female genital piercing (other than the clitoris.) Quentin compared it to the ampallang on males. There was soothing music playing in the background and I was told to concentrate on my breathing and relaxing my muscles. It is worth mentioning Quentin in general has a calming effect and takes a very personal, spiritual approach. I’d read that before more than once in my research and it is true. I was marked up and for both the anatomy check before and the piercing itself I did not even need to lay in the birthing position, apparently it isn’t necessary and I think that helps in making you feel a little less on show. All I had to do was lay down with my legs straight out flat, about a shoulder width apart, whilst I was marked up. Numbing was not used with my triangle because whilst being clamped I had to say if it feels like my nerve bundle is being clamped. I didn’t mind this - I didn’t want a pierced nerve bundle! Quentin talked me through everything, telling me the odd story about his modifications, putting me at ease. I was clamped up (with septum clamps, which create a straight tube for the needle to pass through, eliminating the dangers of the nerve bundle being pierced) and then pierced.

Yes, it did hurt. It was INTENSE. But only for a couple of seconds. However, the next part was more painful. I was told after I was pierced with a needle exactly the same size as the jewelry (14g) to prevent unnecessary bleeding. This meant for the jewelry insertion the circular barbell had to be wiggled through with more pressure. I’m usually good with pain but with this I really scrunched my face up in agony. Although, this subsided once it was done and I spun around to admire my new piercing in the mirror – I fell in love instantly! The whole process must have taken about half an hour or more, certainly no pressure or rushing to get the next customer in. I was really relaxed throughout, apparently I was the most calm client he’s had so far for a triangle! Proud

Walking back to the train station was easy enough but I made the effort to walk slowly. It is now day two and I have had minor bleeding on and off, with little soreness. I’m still taking anti inflammatory tablets (not that I feel I am even swollen) as well as doing sea salt soaks in the bath twice a day. It was worth the travel, especially if you are in England and reading this because you want a triangle. It seems there are few piercers who can perform it properly whilst putting you so at ease.

I have had such a positive experience and I really do owe it ultimately to Kalima. Like someone said to me, the studio is a little ”hidden gem.” I felt considered as an individual, not just another piece of flesh to pierce. I couldn’t fault any part of my experience and will certainly be going back there for other heavier mods in the future.

Steph.

So, do you have a story to share with the world about your modifications?  Head on over to your account page and let us know something about one (or more) of your experiences.