Where’s BME? Where are the posts? Are you guys okay? Have you frittered away the budget in strip clubs across the world? Those are the sorts of questions I’ve been getting. While I’d love to be on the perfect schedule of making at least one video a day, it’s going to take us a couple weeks to get to that point. Now bear with me while I try to get you caught up to where we are in the world tour. First I want to take a moment and thank H2Ocean.com and Industrial Strength for being our main BME world tour sponsors. They’re making this trip possible and I, as well as the rest of the crew, appreciate it!
I snapped some quick photos of our group. From Left to Right are Darah, Chez, Richard and Megan.
I have exactly 34 minutes of battery life on the flight between Sydney and Melbourne and I’m not sure I’ll be able to finish this post in that time. It simply isn’t possible to recount what we’ve done over such a short time. I’ll do my best to give you an over view and hopefully make you feel like you’re here with us. Some of you came out and showed us around town and for that I couldn’t be more grateful!
In order to get everyone up to speed without creating a massive tl;dr, I’ll try not to go over what Chez has already posted but it’s easy enough to say that the trip started off on a lame first step. We had one thing after another present itself, from drama to suitcases that wouldn’t zip shut, lost laptops to delayed flights, emptied pre-payed phones and more than I will waste any more time writing about. If it wasn’t complicated, it wouldn’t be fun and I wouldn’t trade it for the world on a silver platter.
Click through to read more of the story and what we’ve been up to since we arrived in the country of kangaroos!
After spending about two and a half days getting to know one another, we left Los Angeles on Wednesday April 7th, arriving in Sydney on Friday April 9th. We mastered time travel and now we’re a day ahead of most of the readers out there. As Chez mentioned, Nano was a great host and was fresh faced at 7am to meet us at the airport. We ate breakfast together in what has quickly become a tour tradition, got sorted out at our hostel and then headed out for a walk. We had one day to catch our breath before Chez took on the monstrous task of organizing our schedule for the week.
L to R: Chez, Richard, Megan, Rachel and Darah
As you remember, we took suggestions from readers and went to almost every shop that was suggested to us that we were able to make time for. Due to having hosted the amazing Trevor McStay back in the states, I was lucky to have a great source for info on the Australian tattoo/piercing/body modification scene. Trevor sent us an email with contact information for Rhys Gordon and a suggestion that I ask him to show me around town. I also want to give a quick shout out to Timothy and thank him for the massive list of contact information that he sent us after his trip to the Sydney tattoo convention.
I made plans to have dinner with Rhys on Friday night but canceled after sitting down on my bed in the hostel and passing out around 7pm. The next day was much better after waking up shortly after 6am. I didn’t realize until later that I’d actually woken up around 2am local time on the flight here and that we’d put in a pretty long day just getting organized.
On Saturday we stopped over at Josh Roelink‘s TatuDarhma to check out the shop and what we’d need to do lighting/interview wise. We were expecting that to take a while but honestly after walking into the space and seeing floor to ceiling warehouse style windows, beautiful natural lighting and art everywhere, we knew we were off to a great start. TatuDharma set the tone for what the rest of our stay in Sydney would bring. One beautiful shop after the next as well as a population of tattooers, piercers and clients who were warm and welcoming.
Rhys showed up shortly after and picked us all up in his ’66 Dodge Coronet and we piled in. The team has gotten used to tight quarters in the back of one car after the next. We headed off towards Inner Vision Tattoo to meet the locals over there but not before dropping BME’s tour crew off at The Illustrated Man to chat with the Tony Cohen and Heather Gee (link to the first article). I met Cliffe Clayton, the owner, as well as several tattooers and guest artist Marcus Kuhn. From that point on I knew this was going to be an awesome trip.
After a whirlwind trip around Sydney on a perfectly guided tour, I met up with the Prince of Bondi, Dane, and his awesome Staffy dog named Indie. She’s apparently one of the most photographed dogs in Australia and after meeting her, I can definitely understand why. The people watching from the patio of The Flying Squirrel Tapas Parlour was spectacular, not to mention meeting Miss Australia, who happens to be a regular.
After a few hours in the sun, getting to know Rhys and his local group of friends, I headed back to meet up with my own crew where we had dinner with Nano and HotBrad.
Sunday started off with a rushed morning after I cooked breakfast for the five of us. We took a cab to hang out with Rhys as he took us to Bondi Beach. It’s justifiably one of Australia’s most famous beaches and I’m sure that you can understand why. One thing they don’t put in the brochures about Australia is the lack of a proper ozone layer. We slathered on the sunscreen and laid out on our towels, soaking in the sun, splashing in the waves and generally getting to know each other better.
L-R: The crew at Bondi Beach, the beach itself and Rhys Gordon and Rachel
Our first interview of the trip belonged to Josh Roelink and took place in his studio TatuDharma. It was hard to peel off our bathing suits and dive in to “interview mode” but we were able to do it once the sun stroke wore off. Josh, having just had his first baby only 6 short weeks ago, was kind enough to come in on his day off so that we’d be able to speak with him. Josh is known around the world and has traveled doing guest spots and conventions. It was amazing to talk to each other and realize how many people that we both know. We exchanged stories about tattooing legends as well as conventions that we’ve both worked at, shops we’ve been to, being a new parent and so much more. While Josh and I got to know each other, Darah and Richard interviewed Alex and Megan shot photos of the whole thing.
After we finished up at TatuDharma, we split ways and I headed down to Inner Vision to get to know the staff over there. There is something to be said about walking into a tattoo shop in a country that you’ve never been to before. No matter where you are, there are comforting smells and sounds that will always make you feel like home. At Inner Vision I was made to feel incredibly welcome. I also tried to download as much email as I possibly could! The only downside to our trip so far has been one technical problem after the next. As I sit here writing (at our hostel in Melbourne) I’m unable to connect to the internet. When you’re trying to write for an online magazine, that can be a problem!
L-R: Marcus Kuhn, Rachel and Rhys Gordon
We made plans to go to Sydney’s tourist restaurant known as “360” which is at the top of the Sydney Tower. If you haven’t guessed already, it is one of those spinning restaurants which can make you very nauseous. Darah elected to sit that dinner out and I don’t blame her one bit. As Marcus was here, he decided to indulge in a little tourism and joined us. We have hours of video with him, going through his impressions and stories of his tattoo related travels. As someone who has seen the inside of Rikers Island several times to having tattooed with legends from all around the world, it was amazing to be fortunate enough to hear stories and meet someone with as much history and experience as he has. I look forward to getting a chance to interview him in the future.
L-R: Rhys Gordon, Rachel and Marcus Kuhn.
Rhys, Marcus, Chez, Richard, Megan and I basically closed down the restaurant. Marcus wanted to see “King’s Cross”, which is Sydney’s “Red Light District”. He spent an hour or so trying to solicit hookers to take their photo with him for $10 dollars but none of them would. Shortly after that we made our way into one of the fine establishments in the King’s Cross. I can’t remember what the name was but after negotiating down the entrance fee, we all had a bunch of “dancing bucks” and proceeded to have some fun. Unfortunately you can’t take photos in a strip club but that doesn’t mean we didn’t try!
L-R: Megan, Chez, Rhys Gordon, Richard, Rachel and Marcus
Marcus and Rhys tried to work the “birthday” angle, which as we were 3 girls and 3 guys, seemed to go over pretty well. At one point a stripper approached me and pulled off my top! As there wasn’t a single exotic dancer with a tattoo, I find it hard to believe that she confused me for one of the dancers! We were smart enough to cash in a set amount of money for the pre-purchased fake bills so that we didn’t blow our entire budget on strippers. It can happen when you’re in a new city and having a great time.
L-R: Marcus, Chez, Megan and Richard (PS. We’ve gotten very used to squeezing way too many people into one tiny car after the next!)
The next morning saw most of the crew sleeping in. I’m not sure if it was exhaustion from all the excitement, the many many rounds of drinks, jet lag or a combination of both but I let everyone sleep in as I still woke up around 7am. I went down and cooked breakfast for all of us again and we began to organize our day.
We tried to utilize public transportation but that wasn’t working as well as we’d hoped but we got ourselves to Kaleidoscope Tattoo in Bondi. Our main attraction there, aside from the owner Luciano, was Stevie Edge. Stevie has been on BME/IAM since at least 2001. He met his girlfriend via IAM some 8 years ago and she’s moved here from the USA. I always love meeting people who have met their significant others through BME because it shows that not only are we able to document a love affair with body modification but that we can also facilitate members of our community with finding love itself.
I’m not sure how many tattooers we ended up interviewing at Kaleidoscope but we also grabbed a quick interview with Kaleidoscope’s piercer, Brady. I stepped out throughout the day to buy massive amounts of candy and gorge myself silly. We all had a good laugh at my expense as my belly finally decided to object to the influx of sugar coated goodness. We wrapped up at Kaleidoscope and headed back to the hostel to decompress.
On Tuesday, the crew made their way to Industrial Strength Australia and met with Rob, the piercer there. I spent the day online working on my day to day work that I have to do for BME to keep things running smoothly. I was bummed that I didn’t get to make it back over there but I had work to do!
Throughout the week and time spent with Marcus, he continually brought up “Mr. Shuffles”, the miracle elephant newborn at the Taronga Zoo. We decided to switch our day off and make our way to the zoo on Wednesday. While waiting for the crew to catch up, Marcus and I met Pauly Shore by the ferry. It was a very bizarre meeting but a fun one at that. All work and no play makes the tour a dull one so we had a great time checking out the animals. By the end of the day we were beat.
L-R: Pauly Shore, Rachel and Marcus. The Sydney Opera House. Mr. Shuffles!
On Thursday, it was time to meet with Polymorph and work the interviewing magic that we’ve been developing at a sure and steady pace. While the crew spent the morning over there, I was at Inner Vision. I got the first of what I hope are many new tattoos while on this tour. Rhys drew up a skull and tattooed me for a few hours. I have almost all of the time lapse done. It took 2 hours but I’ve got the footage down to 8 minutes. I need to refine it a bit more so that it’s only about 5 minutes. I didn’t end up having enough time to interview Rhys but he was gracious enough to interview the other tattooers who wouldn’t be returning from Japan until after we were already departed.
L-R: Rhys Gordon. Rachel’s new skull tattoo by Rhys. Rachel getting tattooed.
The next morning we left from Sydney to fly to Melbourne, which is when I started writing this post. Work, sun and jet lag caught up with Richard, Darah and Chez who caught some sleep on the plane. Meanwhile Megan and I got some work done.
We grabbed our luggage and headed to get a “maxi taxi” to the Lord’s Lodge, where the crew is currently staying. I’m staying with Trevor and his family as I’ve hosted Trevor at my place in LA. Trevor not only opened up his home to me but also helped give us the keys to the city by calling around to the local shops and helping us set up interviews.
On Saturday I got the majority of the background on my right leg from knee to shin colored in. I’ll be getting one more sitting done to finish the back of my calf before we head out to Darwin for the weekend. That meant that we spent Saturday at Dynamic Tattoo and interviewed Trevor again as well as his daughter Tarlyn. Tarlyn started tattooing at the ripe old age of 12 and I hope that some day we can interview her again as she becomes a second generation tattooer. While we were there we also interviewed Matty and Rob who I would say that they are lucky enough to work with Trevor but because they do work at Dynamic, it just shows that they have incredible talent to be able to work with a great Australian tattooer and can pull their own weight.
While I was getting tattooed, the crew headed off to Third Eye Tattoo and I believe they interviewed somewhere around 8 or 9 tattooers. I stayed behind so that I could endure a couple of grueling hours of tattooing and then have dinner with Josh Roelink who was in town for a wedding. We had a great dinner with everyone from Dynamic and exchanged body art and tattoo related travel stories. By the time it was 10pm, I was ready to head home. Luckily so was everyone else.
I woke up Sunday morning and logged online to realize that it was that time. I had turned 30 years old! As I came out of the guest bedroom I started receiving the first of many “Happy Birthday!” wishes. It was a great way to start the day. Rhys had decided to fly in from Sydney to hang out and he arrived shortly after we’d all gotten ready to start the day. I headed out from the suburbs with Rhys to meet up with the crew. They had Sunday off which was hopefully a good break for them. Rhys and I tried to head over to the beach and Luna Park but I wasn’t up for walking as my calf was pretty swollen. We ended up coming back out to Trevor’s house and relaxing. We spent a few hours looking through various books, tracings, artwork drawn by tattooers from around the world that grace Trevor’s home and generally having a pretty chill day. Once a couple other people showed up, we headed out for a birthday dinner.
When a McStay fills your glass, you can’t say no. I believe they were trying to get me inebriated but after one drink I’d had enough! What can I say? I’m a light weight! The McStay’s surprised me with a beautiful birthday cake and they all sang “Happy Birthday” to me. I think that it was one of the best birthdays that I can remember having.
As I mentioned earlier, I hadn’t had time to interview Rhys so I decided to mix things up a bit and interview him while we drove from the ‘burbs back into the city. We talked about tattooing, traveling, learning more about your career and developing as an artist and what it truly means to live by the motto of “be kind to tattooing and it will be kind to you”.
Rhys dropped me off at Chapel Tattoo where I met up with the rest of the crew and we got started on our day. We interviewed Dave McAleese, Dez (the shop manager) and were supposed to interview Shane Gallager but we had to reschedule that for tomorrow.
I’ve tried to get caught up on recapping our trip so far but it hasn’t been easy. Trying to find the time has been one thing as well as just being able to get online. I hope this isn’t too disjointed as it was written on an airplane, on the patio of a hostel while french reggae is blasting and hippies are playing some form of dodgeball that looks both hilarious and painful and finally the last page or so written from the McStay’s porch.
The first 11 days on the road have been amazing. I’ve never felt so welcomed and met so many bright and talented individuals in such a short amount of time. The few IAM members that I’ve had the pleasure of meeting have been hospitable and caring as well as just great people. It reminds me why I love what I do and why I hope to continue doing it until the end of my days.
As I finish wrapping up this post, I’m happy to say that we’ve overcome our Final Cut Pro hurdle (apparently our camera won’t work with FCP 6!) and we should finally be able to move on and start editing video. The last technical hurdle we have is getting the lost but recovered laptop out to us here in Australia without having to pay $400 in ridiculous fedex charges so that Megan can start editing photos. We had to spend close to that to ship back our lighting kits because after they set themselves on fire, we decided that we didn’t want to drag the now useless but probably repairable gear around the rest of the world with us. Nothing says professional like turning on the lights and having a giant ball of smoke rise up in the middle of a busy tattoo studio!
I hope that you guys enjoyed the photos and feel like you’ve been caught up on what’s going on in the world of the BME tour. Thank you again to our sponsors H2Ocean.com and Industrial Strength. Without them, we would have already spent all our money on strippers and booze! An additional extra special thank you goes out to Nano, HotBrad, Rhys Gordon, Marcus Kuhn and Trevor and Deb McStay. These six people have made the beginning of the tour as stress free as possible. From opening up their hearts and their homes as well as showing us around town, I can’t thank them all enough. We’ve already met hundreds of people in the past 11 days and I can’t wait to meet even more. Remember, we’re totally into having BBQ’s or meet ups if anyone wants to organize one locally!
I’m off to bed now that it’s almost 3am my time and I have to be up in 6 hours but I wanted to finish this post and get it online while I still had a halfway decent internet connection!
BME/News and Modblog highlight only a small fraction of what 
Well shoot. Sounds like a good ole time.
Well shoot. Sounds like a good ole time.
megan is such a babe.
hodamn.
megan is such a babe.
hodamn.
Happy Birthday Rachel !!!
I wish you all the best.
You’re one of the most beautiful girls I’ve ever seen 🙂
Happy Birthday Rachel !!!
I wish you all the best.
You’re one of the most beautiful girls I’ve ever seen 🙂
Y’all are so foxy!
Y’all are so foxy!
Yay melbourne!
Great post
Yay melbourne!
Great post
Man, it looks like you guys are having a ridiculously awesome time. If this comes around again in like five years, I’m gonna be all over it.
Man, it looks like you guys are having a ridiculously awesome time. If this comes around again in like five years, I’m gonna be all over it.
I can’t believe you met Pauly Shore!?! I love Bio Dome!!
I can’t believe you met Pauly Shore!?! I love Bio Dome!!
Awesome post. Good to see you all are having a fucking blast! Keep ‘em coming.
Bio-Dome? Fucking Encino Man is where it’s at!
Awesome post. Good to see you all are having a fucking blast! Keep ‘em coming.
Bio-Dome? Fucking Encino Man is where it’s at!
Also! Is the volcano gonna affect your guys plans. Cause I know that a lot of airports are closed in Europe. I gotta friend in Africa that can’t even come home yet because of it.
Also! Is the volcano gonna affect your guys plans. Cause I know that a lot of airports are closed in Europe. I gotta friend in Africa that can’t even come home yet because of it.
This looks like an absolute blast! I’m looking forward to seeing all of Megan’s photos 😀
This looks like an absolute blast! I’m looking forward to seeing all of Megan’s photos 😀
Darah is fucking hot
Darah is fucking hot
Maybe I missed it, but shouldn’t there be a mention of the murder of “Blue Eyes” Josh?
He is after all, the first person to go through with a procedure that is on the forefront of body modification, and he is no longer with us.
Am I treading on thin ice? Is there some dramatic reason why Josh wouldn’t be mentioned here?
The body modification community lost someone important. He left behind a family. If not actual support, a shout out (at minimum) from the voice that should be THE voice of the body modification movement is deserved.
/vent.
Josh was awesome, and his presence is missed.
Maybe I missed it, but shouldn’t there be a mention of the murder of “Blue Eyes” Josh?
He is after all, the first person to go through with a procedure that is on the forefront of body modification, and he is no longer with us.
Am I treading on thin ice? Is there some dramatic reason why Josh wouldn’t be mentioned here?
The body modification community lost someone important. He left behind a family. If not actual support, a shout out (at minimum) from the voice that should be THE voice of the body modification movement is deserved.
/vent.
Josh was awesome, and his presence is missed.
I gotta ask the same question as Adrian, what’s up with that volcano shit?
I gotta ask the same question as Adrian, what’s up with that volcano shit?
luckyones
luckyones
AWESOME! too bad you guys missed out on the Tatto Expo.
Glad your getting around and getting some Aus Culture.
AWESOME! too bad you guys missed out on the Tatto Expo.
Glad your getting around and getting some Aus Culture.
Hey BME welcome to Australi, I’m visiting from the UK at the moment.
World tour crew might want to get in contact with 198 Tattoo in Brisbane if they’re visiting. I’m having some work done by Aureole (who has a nice portfolio on her website) within the next three weeks and looking forward to my first tattoo experience.
Good luck with the tour: it will be interesting to get see how much of an overall picture of worldwide tattoo culture can be dug up: go beyond your limits and seek out artists and modified folk who might not usually be the type that usually show up on the BME radar: the more the merrier!
Again,
Best of luck
R>
Hey BME welcome to Australi, I’m visiting from the UK at the moment.
World tour crew might want to get in contact with 198 Tattoo in Brisbane if they’re visiting. I’m having some work done by Aureole (who has a nice portfolio on her website) within the next three weeks and looking forward to my first tattoo experience.
Good luck with the tour: it will be interesting to get see how much of an overall picture of worldwide tattoo culture can be dug up: go beyond your limits and seek out artists and modified folk who might not usually be the type that usually show up on the BME radar: the more the merrier!
Again,
Best of luck
R>
you are absolutely right Ian…….Darah is really really hot
looks like everyone is having lots of fun
best of luck from a very jealous person in Barrie
you are absolutely right Ian…….Darah is really really hot
looks like everyone is having lots of fun
best of luck from a very jealous person in Barrie
krallice, it is mandatory that you and I hang out when I return to Barrie. I really miss Harvey’s, goddamit.
krallice, it is mandatory that you and I hang out when I return to Barrie. I really miss Harvey’s, goddamit.
Ryan: We are very fortunate that we have people like Trevor McStay and Rhys Gordon to guide us as far as pointing us towards the best and the brightest on this continent. We’re also taking suggestions from our readers and members. We’re trying to meet everyone from regular BME contributors to those who have never heard of us!
I think we’re doing a great mix of both. We’ve done dozens of interviews and I’m hoping we get rolling on editing video. It’s hard to spend 10 hours a day shooting video, photos and conducting interviews and then to come home at the end of the day and then create awesome videos.
We may end up spending the first week of May just editing video to get caught up. The volcano is definitely fucking up our plans because all of the flights are backed up (which will take a long time to resolve) but the other issue that happens is because of planes that were supposed to come in and then continue on to other points, aren’t able to make it here. We’ve only got 14 days before we’re done here in Australia and I’m not sure if we’re going to be able to move on immediately on schedule.
We are just going to have to wait and see. I’m hopeful that we should be able to get to Japan without issue but you never know. If our plans get delayed, we’ll just spend more time in Australia and hunker down somewhere and work on video editing.
Ryan: We are very fortunate that we have people like Trevor McStay and Rhys Gordon to guide us as far as pointing us towards the best and the brightest on this continent. We’re also taking suggestions from our readers and members. We’re trying to meet everyone from regular BME contributors to those who have never heard of us!
I think we’re doing a great mix of both. We’ve done dozens of interviews and I’m hoping we get rolling on editing video. It’s hard to spend 10 hours a day shooting video, photos and conducting interviews and then to come home at the end of the day and then create awesome videos.
We may end up spending the first week of May just editing video to get caught up. The volcano is definitely fucking up our plans because all of the flights are backed up (which will take a long time to resolve) but the other issue that happens is because of planes that were supposed to come in and then continue on to other points, aren’t able to make it here. We’ve only got 14 days before we’re done here in Australia and I’m not sure if we’re going to be able to move on immediately on schedule.
We are just going to have to wait and see. I’m hopeful that we should be able to get to Japan without issue but you never know. If our plans get delayed, we’ll just spend more time in Australia and hunker down somewhere and work on video editing.
CutThroat: “Am I treading on thin ice? Is there some dramatic reason why Josh wouldn’t be mentioned here? ”
I’m totally in the dark here. Why would the murder of Josh be posted in my Australian trip recap. I really don’t feel that it is appropriate to post about it or that it has anything to do with our first 12 days in Australia.
CutThroat: “Am I treading on thin ice? Is there some dramatic reason why Josh wouldn’t be mentioned here? ”
I’m totally in the dark here. Why would the murder of Josh be posted in my Australian trip recap. I really don’t feel that it is appropriate to post about it or that it has anything to do with our first 12 days in Australia.
Now new pictures in the gallery since: Mar 08: 850 new images
Cool site, bme turned into Rachel’s personal blog. Very boring pictures, looks like a bunch of myspace shit.
Now new pictures in the gallery since: Mar 08: 850 new images
Cool site, bme turned into Rachel’s personal blog. Very boring pictures, looks like a bunch of myspace shit.
No new*
No new*
well Darah, Harvey’s it is when you get back 🙂
are you planning on getting tattooed during your travels?
here is my email
[email protected]com
well Darah, Harvey’s it is when you get back 🙂
are you planning on getting tattooed during your travels?
here is my email
[email protected]
Are you guys coming to Perth? *fingers crossed*
Are you guys coming to Perth? *fingers crossed*
are you going to post videos of the lot at third eye? i love all of those guys (and girls) i get all my tattoos there 😀
are you going to post videos of the lot at third eye? i love all of those guys (and girls) i get all my tattoos there 😀
shit.the.bed,
you can’t please everyone. The majority of the people commenting on the world tour blogs so far have been quite supportive. Sorry you don’t agree!
shit.the.bed,
you can’t please everyone. The majority of the people commenting on the world tour blogs so far have been quite supportive. Sorry you don’t agree!
Soo…. no pictures of the dog? 😛
Soo…. no pictures of the dog? 😛
What brand of lighting kit and type of lights went up in flames in Austrailia? Just using a step-down transformer of proper wattage should have done the trick.
What brand of lighting kit and type of lights went up in flames in Austrailia? Just using a step-down transformer of proper wattage should have done the trick.
They were alien bees. Yeah, we figured that out but Rachel decided to test my skillz sans lighting kit.
But seriously Mark II’s are amazing and most shops are really well lit anyway…
Plus that’s just one more thing I could lose. I’m pretty good at losing shit.
They were alien bees. Yeah, we figured that out but Rachel decided to test my skillz sans lighting kit.
But seriously Mark II’s are amazing and most shops are really well lit anyway…
Plus that’s just one more thing I could lose. I’m pretty good at losing shit.
pretty sure cutthroat was asking the question on the most recent modblog post – seems pretty obvious to me that he wasn’t trying to cut in on your australia recap.
it’s a valid question. you may be busy partying in australia, on the continuous mission of getting to know each other via irritating people on planes by asking them to join im conversations, or spending money at strip clubs, but perhaps you could get one of your staff members (are there any left?) to cover relevant stories…
pretty sure cutthroat was asking the question on the most recent modblog post – seems pretty obvious to me that he wasn’t trying to cut in on your australia recap.
it’s a valid question. you may be busy partying in australia, on the continuous mission of getting to know each other via irritating people on planes by asking them to join im conversations, or spending money at strip clubs, but perhaps you could get one of your staff members (are there any left?) to cover relevant stories…
Rachel,
I’m not suggesting it be listed as part of your Australian adventures, but any mention at all on modblog would be nice/appropriate.
Rachel,
I’m not suggesting it be listed as part of your Australian adventures, but any mention at all on modblog would be nice/appropriate.
Ummm – so is the point of the tour for Rachel to get as many free tattoos as possible?
I also think that it would have been appropriate to have a post about Josh.
Ummm – so is the point of the tour for Rachel to get as many free tattoos as possible?
I also think that it would have been appropriate to have a post about Josh.
you sure like to type a lot of words on here don’t you
you sure like to type a lot of words on here don’t you
Toppy lighting doesn’t make for good cinematography. Even paper lanterns would be better.
Toppy lighting doesn’t make for good cinematography. Even paper lanterns would be better.
BABYYYYYY ELEPHANTT!!!! ^-^
BABYYYYYY ELEPHANTT!!!! ^-^
@cuthroat: I’m with you on that. Mod blog has posted past events that effect members of the community, I think since josh was a pioneer and just plain ballsy enough to do something many havent done before deserves recognition.
Although there is a lot of controversy over whether he was set up, or he really was commiting a crime.
@cuthroat: I’m with you on that. Mod blog has posted past events that effect members of the community, I think since josh was a pioneer and just plain ballsy enough to do something many havent done before deserves recognition.
Although there is a lot of controversy over whether he was set up, or he really was commiting a crime.
Will you guys be coming to New Zealand?
Will you guys be coming to New Zealand?
so rachel just fill us all in on her crazy adventure meeting everyone in her perspective, cut throat i agree.
this mod blog is just blog with no mod
so rachel just fill us all in on her crazy adventure meeting everyone in her perspective, cut throat i agree.
this mod blog is just blog with no mod
dont jsut meet everyone , pick an choose and place an interview i am concerned where are the interviews of just one shop artist? u talk about amazing interviewing and eating and drinking moving about, mod blog is definitely Rachels personal travel agenda blog
dont jsut meet everyone , pick an choose and place an interview i am concerned where are the interviews of just one shop artist? u talk about amazing interviewing and eating and drinking moving about, mod blog is definitely Rachels personal travel agenda blog
First, I don’t accept free tattoos. I pay for the tattoos that I get because I don’t think it’s appropriate to accept gifts as a journalist.
Second, I have asked and it has not been answered as to what you guys are talking about. If someone has been murdered, I would hope that someone would have sent one of us a message instead of just assuming we have ears in every corner of the world. I’m still confused as to what you’re all talking about. We have extremely limited internet access and we’re not able to get online that much.
We would definitely write about it on Modblog but I need to know what you guys are talking about because it sounds like this is something that has just happened?
Trip: What do you think we’ve been doing? This is a recap to let people know what we’ve been working on. We’ve interviewed dozens of artists over the past 2 weeks. You can call this my “personal travel agenda blog” but that is childish. If anyone else wrote an update then nobody would be whinging saying it’s a “travel blog”. We are modified people traveling around the world interviewing tattooers, piercers, body modification artists and clients from around the world. Every single photo posted in my recap has modifications in it (aside from Mr. Shuffles) but as BME is a LIFESTYLE magazine and we aren’t here just to microscopically cover modifications but also the big picture.
First, I don’t accept free tattoos. I pay for the tattoos that I get because I don’t think it’s appropriate to accept gifts as a journalist.
Second, I have asked and it has not been answered as to what you guys are talking about. If someone has been murdered, I would hope that someone would have sent one of us a message instead of just assuming we have ears in every corner of the world. I’m still confused as to what you’re all talking about. We have extremely limited internet access and we’re not able to get online that much.
We would definitely write about it on Modblog but I need to know what you guys are talking about because it sounds like this is something that has just happened?
Trip: What do you think we’ve been doing? This is a recap to let people know what we’ve been working on. We’ve interviewed dozens of artists over the past 2 weeks. You can call this my “personal travel agenda blog” but that is childish. If anyone else wrote an update then nobody would be whinging saying it’s a “travel blog”. We are modified people traveling around the world interviewing tattooers, piercers, body modification artists and clients from around the world. Every single photo posted in my recap has modifications in it (aside from Mr. Shuffles) but as BME is a LIFESTYLE magazine and we aren’t here just to microscopically cover modifications but also the big picture.
shit.the.bed: BME galleries have been updated daily with thousands of images. The old galleries, which we’ve posted repeatedly about are not updated anymore. Everything goes on the new site.
http://beta.BMEzine.com.
shit.the.bed: BME galleries have been updated daily with thousands of images. The old galleries, which we’ve posted repeatedly about are not updated anymore. Everything goes on the new site.
http://beta.BMEzine.com.
Rachel, keep doing what you’re doing 😉 Even when you’re writing about your travels, they’re obviously mod-related. This is a blog, not just a place to post pretty pictures.
Rachel, keep doing what you’re doing 😉 Even when you’re writing about your travels, they’re obviously mod-related. This is a blog, not just a place to post pretty pictures.
Rachel his name is josh rahn. I cant recall an IAM page of his, but he was fairly well known.
http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=213265
http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=213482
and theres a picture of him on S H A – N N – O N S blog
Rachel his name is josh rahn. I cant recall an IAM page of his, but he was fairly well known.
http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=213265
http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=213482
and theres a picture of him on S H A – N N – O N S blog
damn awaiting moderation again.
damn awaiting moderation again.
Nikk: Shannon’s name isn’t moderated. It’s the links in the post.
Thanks for letting me know. I haven’t been online very much and I don’t read Shannon’s blog. I’ll make a post about it right now.
Nikk: Shannon’s name isn’t moderated. It’s the links in the post.
Thanks for letting me know. I haven’t been online very much and I don’t read Shannon’s blog. I’ll make a post about it right now.
danke schon rachel. I also sent you a link to his IAM page, it was just updated by his fiance
danke schon rachel. I also sent you a link to his IAM page, it was just updated by his fiance
Sorry for the dig about the free tattoo’s – obviously I was mistaken.
Sorry for the dig about the free tattoo’s – obviously I was mistaken.
Sarah: It’s fine. I’ve made it a point in my life not to accept things like free tattoos because I truly believe the old saying of “good tattoos aren’t cheap and cheap tattoos aren’t good”.
As I had said before, we haven’t heard about what had happened. In the future though, if there is body modification related news, submitting the links to us makes it a lot easier for us to see it. As we haven’t been online, I have somewhere near 600 messages in my IAM inbox so I’m not sure if I’ve been messaged there about it. I am making these updates from my phone because I can’t get online properly.
I did make a video time lapse of my tattoo. I am trying to get tattooed a bit while I’m on the road because of the fact that I’ll get to interact with a lot of tattooers from around the world that I may not see again aside from in a convention setting. I’ve set aside a chunk of skin to get “1 hour tattoos” by various artists and I hope to make time lapses of all of them.
If you guys don’t want to read the “behind the scenes recaps” it’s less work for me to not post them but I think it’s interesting to read what other people do when they travel, especially when they’re on such a specific body modification related travel journey like we are on.
Sarah: It’s fine. I’ve made it a point in my life not to accept things like free tattoos because I truly believe the old saying of “good tattoos aren’t cheap and cheap tattoos aren’t good”.
As I had said before, we haven’t heard about what had happened. In the future though, if there is body modification related news, submitting the links to us makes it a lot easier for us to see it. As we haven’t been online, I have somewhere near 600 messages in my IAM inbox so I’m not sure if I’ve been messaged there about it. I am making these updates from my phone because I can’t get online properly.
I did make a video time lapse of my tattoo. I am trying to get tattooed a bit while I’m on the road because of the fact that I’ll get to interact with a lot of tattooers from around the world that I may not see again aside from in a convention setting. I’ve set aside a chunk of skin to get “1 hour tattoos” by various artists and I hope to make time lapses of all of them.
If you guys don’t want to read the “behind the scenes recaps” it’s less work for me to not post them but I think it’s interesting to read what other people do when they travel, especially when they’re on such a specific body modification related travel journey like we are on.
Rachel up at number 19: Good to hear 🙂 Thanks for the reply.
R>
Rachel up at number 19: Good to hear 🙂 Thanks for the reply.
R>
I really do hope that you all continue to post about what you all are up to. I know I enjoy reading and seeing all of the pictures, and I’m sure the majority of the other readers enjoy it too. And I think the 1 hour tattoos are a cool idea! Hope to see them!!
Have fun all!!
I really do hope that you all continue to post about what you all are up to. I know I enjoy reading and seeing all of the pictures, and I’m sure the majority of the other readers enjoy it too. And I think the 1 hour tattoos are a cool idea! Hope to see them!!
Have fun all!!
The one hour tattoo’s sound fun – it’ll be interesting to see what you end up with.
The one hour tattoo’s sound fun – it’ll be interesting to see what you end up with.
Ryan: No problem. Sorry for the delay. Like I said, it’s been really dodgy getting a good internet connection!
Sam & Sarah: I’m hoping to be able to continue to get them. A lot of the artists that we’re meeting with are booked up for years so I’m lucky if they’re able to squeeze me in!
Then comes a bit of an argument about paying and I usually end up leaving their pay hidden in their drawer or something! I feel though that if I accepted free work (though I do get a discount at times in order to fully disclose!) that I would be partial or biased and you can’t do that and report fairly on what is going on in the world if you do that.
I’ve got one video done already but we’re having a problem where modblog won’t let me upload the videos and I don’t want to put them on youtube because that’s a pain in the ass. I’d rather have them all on my server!
Ryan: No problem. Sorry for the delay. Like I said, it’s been really dodgy getting a good internet connection!
Sam & Sarah: I’m hoping to be able to continue to get them. A lot of the artists that we’re meeting with are booked up for years so I’m lucky if they’re able to squeeze me in!
Then comes a bit of an argument about paying and I usually end up leaving their pay hidden in their drawer or something! I feel though that if I accepted free work (though I do get a discount at times in order to fully disclose!) that I would be partial or biased and you can’t do that and report fairly on what is going on in the world if you do that.
I’ve got one video done already but we’re having a problem where modblog won’t let me upload the videos and I don’t want to put them on youtube because that’s a pain in the ass. I’d rather have them all on my server!
Awesome massive update! Thanks for taking the time to keep us posted. See you in Brisbane!
Awesome massive update! Thanks for taking the time to keep us posted. See you in Brisbane!
Awesome post! 😀
Fulled with controversy as always in the comment department, but it’s great to hear what’s going on.
Please come to Auckland New Zealand, you’d make my life!
Awesome post! 😀
Fulled with controversy as always in the comment department, but it’s great to hear what’s going on.
Please come to Auckland New Zealand, you’d make my life!
Rachel can you please comfirm the aroudn wich date your going to be in Amsterdam (I already emailed, and IAM you but still didnt hear back from you) So i can rtry to arrange a suspension group from holland, and probably even let you stay at our place for free for a couple nights. let me know.
Rachel can you please comfirm the aroudn wich date your going to be in Amsterdam (I already emailed, and IAM you but still didnt hear back from you) So i can rtry to arrange a suspension group from holland, and probably even let you stay at our place for free for a couple nights. let me know.
Ralex: I won’t be able to confirm the dates that we will be in Holland until at least closer to the end of May. We are adjusting our schedules as we go to take in mind things like emergencies, weather, volcanos, technical difficulties etc. Sorry!
Ralex: I won’t be able to confirm the dates that we will be in Holland until at least closer to the end of May. We are adjusting our schedules as we go to take in mind things like emergencies, weather, volcanos, technical difficulties etc. Sorry!
Are you at coming to adelaide. i heard a rumour that you were and that you were coming to visit us at modify.
Are you at coming to adelaide. i heard a rumour that you were and that you were coming to visit us at modify.
Interviews can be done over the Internet, I would loved to have seen a BME/IAM meetup in each city hosted by BME with events.
I’m not having a go, just stating that I agree with other members that it seems like more a personal holiday than anything else.
And visiting the most popular tattoo places in each city seems a little pointless when,
A. They already have great reputations and are well known
B. They are usually booked out for months in advance.
There are great studios and artists that need more recognition instead of established tattooists.
Interviews can be done over the Internet, I would loved to have seen a BME/IAM meetup in each city hosted by BME with events.
I’m not having a go, just stating that I agree with other members that it seems like more a personal holiday than anything else.
And visiting the most popular tattoo places in each city seems a little pointless when,
A. They already have great reputations and are well known
B. They are usually booked out for months in advance.
There are great studios and artists that need more recognition instead of established tattooists.
I’m being nosy, any chance the group of you will be turning the interviewing questions on each other?
I think it would be a fun read to see each person’s take on someone else they’d (likely) just met.
I’m being nosy, any chance the group of you will be turning the interviewing questions on each other?
I think it would be a fun read to see each person’s take on someone else they’d (likely) just met.
Wow everyone remains so opinionated in the comment section. Be thankful guys!
Come to Auckland, then if you head down to Wellington you can take a relazing train journey through some of the most beautiful parts of NZ. We have some top notch parlours here and some awesome people.
Wow everyone remains so opinionated in the comment section. Be thankful guys!
Come to Auckland, then if you head down to Wellington you can take a relazing train journey through some of the most beautiful parts of NZ. We have some top notch parlours here and some awesome people.
Plus you’re all so good looking.
Plus you’re all so good looking.
Dear Megan,
I wish I could’ve gone on this trip. I want to make babies/out with you.
-Jerry
Dear Megan,
I wish I could’ve gone on this trip. I want to make babies/out with you.
-Jerry
i know i’m a little late on this, but i cannot believe how many people are complaining about these recaps! i think they’re totally relevant in the context of an online lifestyle magazine and i for one am a big fan! i’m so sad you guys were at the cross and i didn’t get to meet you! i work at a bar there
i know i’m a little late on this, but i cannot believe how many people are complaining about these recaps! i think they’re totally relevant in the context of an online lifestyle magazine and i for one am a big fan! i’m so sad you guys were at the cross and i didn’t get to meet you! i work at a bar there