ModBlog News of the Week: June 3rd, 2011

Apologies for the late news post today.  I’m currently in northern Ontario on an island looking out over a beautiful lake, and as you can imagine, the internet is a little sketchy.  But even that won’t stop me from getting this week’s news to you.

Today’s first story is pretty old, but I don’t remember reporting on it, and given the recent attention to the woman giving her child botox, this seemed pretty relevant.

A Teenage girl who dreams of a show business career has undergone radical beauty treatment and had make-up tattooed on her face.

Sophie Watson has followed in the footsteps of popstar and model idols such as Jordan by having semi-permanent make-up applied.

The 14-year-old’s tattooed eyeliner, eyebrows, lip liner and fake beauty spot will last for up to five years.

I’m just wondering who convinced the mother that a tattoo would disappear in 5 years.  I know cosmetic inks are slightly different than traditional tattoo inks, but the last time I checked they still were permanent.

Still more news to come, so keep on reading.

With The Hangover Part 2 in theatres right now, a lot of people are thinking about taking a vacation in Thailand.  Of course with a lot of people going, there is bound to be a couple of people who want to get some kind of tattoo.  Well, the government is considering a law that will limit the options of tattoos that tourists can get.

Thailand has ordered a crackdown on foreign tourists having religious images tattooed on their bodies while visiting the kingdom.  Tattoos with images such as of the Buddha may offend Thai people, Culture Minister Nipit Intarasombat was quoted as telling reporters.  He said his ministry had asked regional governors, particularly in tourist hotspots, to inspect tattoo studios and ask them not to use religious patterns, according to the state-run National News Bureau.  It said he would push for a law banning people from etching sacred images onto their skin.

However, these laws would only apply to tourists, as Yantra tattooing will still be practiced.  If you’re not familiar with this form of sacred tattooing, Pattaya Daily News has a great article on the history and meanings behind this style of tattoos.

Yantra Tattooing or also known as Sak Yant is a form of sacred tattooing commonly practised in Thailand. The tattoos are associated with animist beliefs which were popular in Thailand before the arrival of Buddhism. Sak Yant dates back to Angkor times and the art is greatly influenced by Khmer culture. In fact the blessings are written in a Khmer script called Khom. Sak Yant designs are normally tattooed by Maw Pii or spiritual doctors and Buddhist monks.

Meanwhile, in South Korea, tattoos are steadily increasing in popularity and are becoming more acceptable by the mainstream.

More people in South Korea these days are not ashamed to show a little skin – and ink.  The country now has its own annual tattoo convention, which attracts artists from neighboring Japan and the United States.   But anyone using needles to penetrate the skin is supposed to be a licensed medical doctor – credentials in short supply at this event and in the thousands of tattoo parlors across the country.

One of the organizers of Ink Bomb 2011, who goes by the professional name of Sun Rat, acknowledges body artists here maintain a low profile to avoid possible fines of up to $10,000.   “Massage and tattoo parlors are illegal here, but our goal is to have the tattoo industry become something that is viewed a part of legitimate culture,” he said.

Moving on, we have a couple of stories out of Europe this week, including one that will potentially affect thousands of people.  First, a local councilman in Austria may be facing jail time based on a tattoo that someone glimpsed at a meeting.

The tattoo reads “Blut und Ehre” — translated into English as “Blood and Honor, the slogan and motto of the Hitler Youth — and is inked on Leitmann’s upper arm.   Local Ebenthal politicians first saw the tattoo at a council meeting last week when Leitmann wore a short-sleeved shirt, the Austrian Independent newspaper reported.  Even if he removes it, Leitmann could still face jail time or fines under Austria’s federal anti-Nazi mind-set law, regarded as one of the strictest in the world.

He’s now in a situation where he needs to convince people that he didn’t know the meaning of the tattoo.  I’m not sure of Austria’s stance on the swastika, which we all know was perverted into a Nazi symbol, but it appears that they are extremely strict on any other potential reference.

Over in Sweden, the rules for potential blood donors have changed, and with the new stricter rules, a large number of people may not be eligible to give blood.  (The following quote was translated via Google, so don’t blame me if there are any words wrong).

The rules for blood donors has been strengthened. Since last Wednesday, the blood donors, including not having sex with someone who pierced or tattooed themselves over the last year, reports the SVT’s Report.  It is an adaptation to EU rules on donations and regulations is to protect patients in need of blood, primarily from jaundice.  Blood centers fear that the new rules will lead to fewer blood donors and make it more difficult to recruit young people

The basic rule is that if you have had sex with someone who has been tattooed or pierced in the past 365, you become ineligible to donate blood.  While this does go along the lines with other EU countries, if you recall, Australia changed their rules in the past year to make it easier for tattooed individuals to donate.

Heading back stateside, survivors of the Joplin tornado have been having difficulties getting the remains of their loved ones released from authorities.  This week policies have been relaxed to allow for identification by tattoos and piercings, which will hopefully allow families to move forward.

A Newton County, Missouri, official said authorities would begin streamlining the process of identifying bodies Saturday in Joplin in the aftermath of a killer tornado.  “The decision was made that if a person can make a positive ID, let’s say for instance … piercings or tattoos,” said Mark Bridges of the Newton County, Missouri, coroner’s office, ”[Saturday] we’re gonna start the process of allowing those people to view the bodies of the loved ones.”

“We’re going to go ahead and start releasing those bodies,” he said.  Already frayed nerves reached a boiling point Friday in Joplin, Missouri, as families trying to retrieve their dead loved ones were stalled by cautious medical examiners meticulously trying to sort remains.

In more positive news, new metal detectors are starting to be installed in hospitals to reduce the number of MRI related injuries.

“If you have any jewelry or any piercings or anything on your body, that’s what they want you to take off,” said patient Gabriel Diaz who was having an MRI on his head.  If something metal were left on a person, “there’s a lot of tugging that would occur,” explained University Hospital’s director of radiology Rick Pena. “And it actually could come loose and becomes a projectile much like a bullet.”  University is the first hospital in Texas to install sophisticated new detectors with lights and sounds to indicate when a patient or staff member or visitor is approaching a restricted area with anything metal.

I personally haven’t had the pleasure of getting MRI’d with metal in my body, but I’m sure there are some readers out there with stories to share.

The Ohio State football team is currently under investigation regarding allegations of bribery and using team memorabilia to pay for tattoos.

A woman said on Monday that that she saw several Ohio State football players at a Columbus tattoo parlor at the center of an NCAA investigation that led to the resignation of coach Jim Tressel.

She claimed that she saw quarterback Terrelle Pryor and others getting their tattoos.  The woman took pictures, including a picture of an autographed football that she said somebody close to the tattoo shop told her that players had just traded for body art.  “They had (the autographed football) given to him (and) said they had given it to him earlier in the day,” the woman said.  “They got the football for tattoos.  I wish I had a football to give them.”  The deal allegedly came long after Tressel knew of the problem.  Columbus attorney and former Ohio State player Chris Cicero e-mailed Tressel about similar problems in April 2010.

he woman claimed that he told her the shop had even received tickets to Ohio State’s January Sugar Bowl game against Arkansas.  “I asked them, ‘Where did you guys get the tickets?  How did you get the tickets?’ she said.  “And he said, ‘It’s the family members of the players felt they couldn’t win the game and some of the family members couldn’t afford to travel there and stay there and so some of family had given the tickets to the people at the tattoo shop.’”

Note to self:  When engaging in activities that could potentially cost me my position on a football team, make sure that you don’t tell a stranger about it and allow them to take pictures.

Finally we’re going to end this week with an announcement that all those crazy kids in Vegas for APP should pay attention to.  SwingShift SideShow, CoRE, and cEvin Key will be performing June 8th at The House of Blues!  Even if you’re not in town, try to get yourself to Vegas as this is one show you won’t want to miss out on.  Having had the chance to meet the SwingShift gang at SusCon, and seeing them perform, I can tell you that if you ever get a chance to see them, do it!

On top of that, CoRE is celebrating their 10 year anniversary in the only way they know how, by hanging people from hooks!  Plus, they’ve got Hilary from Operafication performing with them, which means you’re in for a real treat.

You can check out the rest of the details on the event’s facebook page.

And with that, we’re done for the week.  Now if you’ll excuse me, the lake is calling me.

21 thoughts on “ModBlog News of the Week: June 3rd, 2011

  1. The Ohio State football team’s memorabilia wasn’t just payment for tattoos, it was also used to traffic drugs worldwide. The artist is being charged with drug trafficking and money laundering.

  2. Actually the CoRE / Swingshift / Cevin Key show has been cancelled, due to CoRE’s act being deemed “inappropriate”. They are currently working very hard to secure a new venue for the show. More info can be found on the event page linked above.

  3. Those “treatments” have just made that 14yo look old, and not in a good way.

  4. I fucking hate that blood donor rule.

    I get phone calls from them all the time asking me to donate again (I did multiple times when I was 17 and it first became an option for me). In Florida, I can’t donate if it hasn’t been a year since I’ve been tattooed or pierced. Doesn’t matter if I’m clean, doesn’t matter if the shop was clean, it’s all-or-nothing. I wish I could donate, but apparently my blood is dirty because it might be a little colorful.

    (yes, I understand why, I just dislike it).

  5. Re: MRI + piercings: I’ve had an MRI. I left all my jewelry in (except the stuff right near the area that they needed images of). And guess what happened: not a damn thing. If you have even remotely decent body jewelry, it will be unaffected by the magnetic field. See, 316L stainless is *non magnetic*, and so is 6Al/4V titanium. It is true that they need to worry about certain implanted devices (like pacemakers and cochlear implants), but not body jewelry. (OTOH, metal, even non-magnetic metal, near the area that they are trying to get images of may *possibly* distort the image or cause artifacts. Possibly.) Also, my black tattoos did not heat up and melt my skin off.

    You would think that doctors would know pretty basic shit like this, since it’s been covered in medical journals multiple times.

  6. 1) I’ve had an MRI and had to remove all my jewellery. Not because they were worried about damage, but because it was so near the site to be scanned that there was the risk it would distort/affect the imager.

    2) I’m not allowed to give blood EVER because I had a transfusion when my son was born. Which, to my mind, essentially translates into “you’re not allowed to give blood in case we gave you crap blood”. It makes me really cross since if you’ve ever needed a transfusion you totally appreciate the need for donated blood and want to give some back!

  7. Man, I’m glad that I received my Hah Taew last month. I just hope it doesn’t become a law that foreigners can’t receive these types of tattoos.

  8. i left my metal in while getting an MRI . it didnt rip out of my skin . it goes against my personal spiritual belief system to give or receive blood transfusions or organs – mostly because i am not healthy and donations would be wasted on me and my geneticly defected body tissue wouldnt be a good gift idea .

  9. i’m sure they did the piercing/MRI thing on mythbusters and it came out as a myth?! maybe i’m thinking of something else…

  10. i completely agree with Nyarlathotep, anything REMOTELY decent is non magnetic. people have known this for days. though granted if it were in the area, i could see how it could create some issues. hell i had xrays taken with glass in my side labrets when they were bigger and that caused some issues, i eventually had to take them out for the xrays. I just really wish Mythbusters would get on this one already. they already proved that nothing happens when they…. totally just drew a blank… shock people to revive them. and that doesnt cause any burning of the surrounding tissue.

    at first glance from the main page, i thought the little girl had horns and had to deal with that. but ya, she looks like shes had a hard life and is in her late 20s, ugh. though if that ink only last 5 years, i guess all those people that want white tattoos thatll go away in a few years should hop on that since, well, we all know how healthy it is to have foreign substances dissolving in your body can be.

  11. @saz/pharmacist: When they had Scotty (I think? She had full sleeves.), they tested the tattoo in an MRI myth. I think the results of that one was that there were spots of minor distortion, but the ink did not rip out of her skin/become painful. 🙂

  12. The Mythbusters episode was about tattoos in MRI’s. They tested regular tattoos and a tattoo done on a pig side with “jail-house” ink that had a significant concentration of iron.

    I believe the distortion that Kat mentioned was noticed on the “jail-house” tattoo.

  13. I kept everything in for the MRI of my neck except my septum barbell, because metal creates a void in the image. Nothing moved, and the MRI tech told me that even if I had ferrous metal in my body, I’d just feel a tugging. No … projectiles.

  14. I am not a tattoo expert. Actually, when it comes to permanent ink I’m a scaredy cat and I just like to admire them.

    However, I’m pretty sure her tattoed makeup will disappear. Micropigmented makeup seems a better way to describe it. I was told that the difference between a regular tattoo and a make-up one was that the latter was nearer to the skin’s surface than a tattoo. I think that’s what makes the make-up last up to five years instead of forever.

  15. cosmetic tattooing isn’t permanent, and never was, due to the difference in tissue structure in areas like the lips and eyelids, ,being that they regenerate very fast. what exactly qualifies this Rob guy to write this blog? It seems like everyday (when there are new posts) hes posting garbage tattoo work, screwing up references, and obviously knows very little if not anything about the practices and current common knowledge amongst the body modification community and most notably tattooing. I apologize for my arrogance but this blog continues to go down the crap shoot.

  16. @taye

    “what exactly qualifies this Rob guy to write this blog”

    nothing. I think he’s the only one left who’ll do it. There were a series of writers who were more qualified, and we commenters pushed them out one by one with heavy criticism. At least Rob learns from some of his, but his knowledge of modifications is still pretty limited.

  17. Korea tattoo convention INKBOOM photo! he is my friend!!!
    Hi is So Coooooooooooooool!!!
    his web site is “www.chuntattoo.com”
    Wow~

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