And finally, dear ModBloggers, let’s conclude our broadcast day with Marcus Boykin (a.k.a The Creature), an Encino-based body piercer and tattoo artist (at In The Pain Tattoo in Echo Park and Youruba Tattoos in East L.A.) and budding sideshow performer with the Venice Beach Freak Show, where he plays the role, fittingly, of “the tattooed man” under the name Dark Harmony Tattoo. Now, obviously, some of his work may be less than ideal compared to a lot of what we feature on here—we can’t really recommend the depth and placement of many of those piercings, for example—so…what’s the deal, then?

Well, imperfect as some of his body modifications may be, what you see here is almost entirely do-it-yourself—not only in terms of piercings, but Marcus estimates that at least 85-percent of his tattoo work was also done by himself. “The mirror was my best friend,” he says. When asked what the hardest parts to get to were, he responds with a litany: “My face, backs of my arms, chest, insides of my legs, neck, torso and sides, feet, head…pretty much everything. Even my eyelids and nose were super hard to do.” That…is not particularly surprising. He’s been piercing himself for eight years and tattooing himself for six, and, ostensibly, has no plans to stop. Body modification can be pleasant when it’s at its most pristine, but for some people, there’s a drive that goes beyond aesthetics, and that certainly seems to be the case here. Whether or not it appeals to you personally, the man has a vision, and he’s sticking to it. It’s pretty damn interesting at the very least. More after the jump.

And here we have the alleged “Pikku,” clearly disobeying doctors’ orders and making some silly face that will probably stick like this, but hey, at least we get to see—among many fine-lookin’ upper and lower lip piercings, of course—a nicely healed DIY tongue split, done over the course of a month and a half with nothing more than a piece of yarn. Somewhere in the distance, Richard Dean Anderson is standing on top of a mountain, staring blissfully into a glorious sunset, gently nodding his approval.

If you’ve been around BME for a while…you almost surely know where this is going. A small, DIY, heart-shaped brand? C’mon…take a guess.

A couple of click-throughs, after the jump.

Here’s another handsome Swedish fellow, in the shower, apparently? What’s his story?

I was sitting at home, watching my cat licking its own ass when I realized I have to do something fun. Well, I saw this knife, and for some reason … I can only remember me standing in front of the mirror with a huge smile on my face watching the blood flow. Hmm, guess i have to get a hobby …

What can we take from this?

1. Watch cat lick its own ass.
2. …
3. Profit!

(Self-done BME logo cutting by Jon Underwood — his first, no less!)

As if John Joyce, John Durante, Brian Decker and Ryan Ouellette weren’t enough to get you to the upcoming Philadelphia Tattoo Arts convention, running in scenic Philadelphia from February 27 to March 1, hold onto your butts, because BME will be there too! And not just walking around fondling people, either — we’ll have a booth and everything! The ever-lovely MissMeg will be on hand to pierce, and Rachel will be there holding down the fort, filming, taking photos, selling T-shirts [Note: buy T-shirts, lots of them] and doing all sorts of fun giveaways. This is shaping up to be one hell of a weekend, friends — get there.

Also, there is still space available for people/shops/etc. looking for booths. Visiting the convention’s web site for details, or call Troy at 215-882-1362.

Globetrotter and international bon vivant Girl Scout sends in the above photo, with the following story:

During a trip to Cuba to celebrate my and my mother’s birthdays, we took an excursion outside of Varadero (where we were) on a day-walk through both old and new Havana City. During the walk I saw this man and forked up the peso he asked for to have my picture taken with him. Later during the walk, our tour guide explained to the group that he had lost his leg to diabetes.