We mentioned a little while ago that friend of BME Meg Barber was doing a short guest-spot tour before packing up for sunny Los Angeles, and as luck would have it, she decided to check in with this lovely plumeria blossom cutting she did while in scenic Cincinnati, Ohio. Great placement, clean design, crisp lines…I thought about giving it either an A or an A+, but I completely forgot that there’s an A++.
See more in “Misc. Cuttings“ (Scarification)
Look, we all knew it was only a matter of time until the deluge of Michael Jackson tribute tattoos came rolling in. Within a few hours of his death, astute readers had already sent me links to photos of memorial tattoos, and there have already been a handful of newspaper articles about the phenomenon. Naturally. But this one, up there? We have no way of verifying this, but based on what the wearer says, we believe this could be the very first post-death Michael Jackson memorial tattoo. Says he: “I got a call that he had died and 15 minutes later this was drawn up and being tattooed on my arm.” Fifteen minutes! Is your mind blown? Yes. Yes it is. You can admit it.
(Tattoo by Matt Lautar at Marlowe Ink in Fairfax, Virginia.)
See more in “Music Tattoos“ (Tattoos)
Good day, fair ModBloggers! Now, would you look at this: The lovely Natasha has taken quite a tumble! Whoever left out this ottoman in a dark room should be ashamed of themselves. She was just on her way to the kitchen, in the middle of the night, to pour herself a glass of ginger ale, and then bam, a nasty, avoidable spill. Granted, it’s a nice view for us, and hey, who doesn’t love the asymmetric back-piece? For a more direct view, take a gander after the jump.
See more in “Oriental-style Tattoos“ (Tattoos)
Well hey, it’s Kiba! Last time we saw her, she was…a little more colorful, to say the least, but now she’s sensibly shorn those rainbow locks for the summer. (Though truth be told, she could be wearing nothing but bird crap on her head and we’d still love to see pictures of her.)
See more in “Septum piercing“ (Nose Piercing)
Six weeks ago, the home/office of Matt Brawley, a member of suspension performance crew CoRE was devastated by a massive fire, causing thousands of dollars worth of damage both to Matt’s belongings as well as CoRE’s supplies. Steve Joyner and Patricia Cram have written the following piece detailing what happened and how you can help.
When Matt Brawley got the call from his landlord that told him his living/work space in downtown Los Angeles was on fire, he assumed, as many of us would, that the call was a joke. But his landlord abruptly hung up the phone and didn’t answer when Matt tried to call him back. Questions hammered at his head as he rushed out of the nightclub and raced home. What met his eyes, just after 3 a.m. on Saturday, May 16, eliminated all hope of it being a prank. The building in which he lived was, indeed, on fire.
The moments that followed were riddled with chaos as well as that silent reverence that comes from watching things burn and being helpless in the face of it all. He learned that the fire had started in his space, and that firefighters were working to contain it before it ravaged the homes of his neighbors (one of whom was a sound artist with a full recording studio, even). All production schedules and ideas for breakfast and plans for photo shoots and longing for sleep came to a screeching halt for Matt, the Director of the Los Angeles chapter of our performance art troupe, CoRE.
The fire spread quickly through the 2,000 square foot loft as firefighters cut a hole in the roof and worked to douse the flames. Unfortunately, the damage had already been done to Matt’s personal space, his business, and to CoRE, as all of our gear for the L.A. chapter was housed in his loft. Later, fire investigators determined that the fire was started by one of the surge protectors that ran some of the equipment for Matt’s personal computer business. (And we learned that surge protectors are not made to outlast a life of five years.)
In this inferno, Matt lost everything but some dishes and family photos. Fierce were those gods of fire who took the computing equipment that has been his work for many years, all of his clothing, his furniture, his paperwork, his books, his movies…. Though his business and sustenance were lost alongside the memories collected throughout a life, we have all been grateful that the devastation did not take any lives, or make ruins of any of his neighbors’ homes.
We placed hope in the thought that Matt’s wise investment in renters insurance would help recoup his, and our, losses. But we discovered that the policy covered Matt’s computer business only. Our Los Angeles chapter has been reduced to ashes. CoRE lost approximately $11,000 worth of equipment in this fire:
– Flight cases
– Rigging equipment (ropes, pulleys, daisy chains, gloves, hard hats, etc.)
– Piercing equipment (hooks, needles, nitrile gloves, masks, equipment carts, custom PVC trace receptacles, a gurney, etc.)
– Costuming (custom corseted wings, custom collars, dresses, etc.)
– Makeup
– Props
– Set pieces
– And, sadly, on and on…
Immediately after word of the fire reached us, we sent a letter to the suspension community in the hopes of raising funds, and have since been able to also host two benefit parties in Los Angeles. Donations have reached $1,700 for Matt and CoRE. Our emotions run deep with gratitude as we turn to you, our larger community and the industries therein, to ask for your help in rebuilding our L.A. chapter and to help get Matt back on his feet. He has endured a great loss, and it is because of the support of others that he has been able to move forward with as much staunch determination as he has. And it’s been a time of great mourning for more than just objects – we are having to start over now and work to cull the phoenix from the ashes of all the blood, sweat, and tears that our family in L.A. put into CoRE and the walls that held it. Thank you to all who have supported us in word and deed.
We have set up a Paypal account for donations HERE, and are enduringly grateful for any assistance you can spare in these skin-and-bones times.
For those who want to see some other media on the fire, there’s this report from an L.A. County news source.
We’ve featured some of Indy‘s handiwork lately (like these vertical lowbrets, for example), and, well, he’s just submitted this excellent furry photo of Roman in the middle of a heated pulling with their pal Alex. Nothing like a bright white background to really make the red of a blood trickle pop, eh?
See more in “Pulling and Trucking“ (Ritual)
Please excuse the late start, folks! I wish I could say I was out celebrating Canada Day, but alas, I’ve just been dealing with technical difficulties here at headquarters. (Read: There was a spider on my modem and I was too afraid to go turn it on.) At any rate, let’s ratchet up the tension and have a breakneck-speed afternoon, shall we? Let’s get going with this Thoroughly bad-ass Boondock Saints-themed sleeve by Ryan Schepp out of Wingnut Tattoo in Saint Cloud, Minnesota. I have to say, though, you know what my favorite thing about this tattoo is? It doesn’t have a poorly thought out sequel in production.
See more in “Miscellaneous Tattoos“ (Tattoos)
We’ve featured the work of the excellent Jason Stephan before, but past offerings have typically been of the cartoonish variety, tremendous as they were. Well, this time around, Jason checks in with this photo-realistic rendering of a few fish species native to Springfield, USA, embroiled in some sort of heated underwater battle. Just as it’s no secret that, around these parts, we love our hideous creatures and animal warfare, nor should it have been hard to guess that this sort of glorious combination of the two would make an appearance here. Early advantage to the purple and green monster notwithstanding, my money’s on the orange one. Let’s not make this a racial thing though, alright?
See more in “New Skool tattoos“ (Tattoos)
… as much as it may sorta look like one (minus the low-cut V-neck hipster tees and grey leggings, of course). What it is, however, is a couple of kids, very much in love, very much in Sweden, in various stages of undress. Hooray!
We share our love for funny tattoos and bright colours. That’s what keeps us together. We both have knuckle-tattoos, chestpieces, septum and smiley piercings. When one of us does something, the other one does the same thing! We both even have our screen-names tattooed on the other’s ankle. We know, we’re geeky.
Oh God yes, are you ever. But hey, you’re cute, so we’ll let it slide. More shots, post-jump.
It just occurred to me that it’s been an eternity since we featured anything by way of all-star BME photo submitter Kitano Karyuudo and the lovely Eva, pictured above; I really love the starkness of the pictures in this set (among other, more obvious things). More photos, all click-throughable, after the jump, but if that’s not enough, check BME/Hard for their extensive gallery.
See more in “Kitano Bonus Gallery“ (BME/HARD Bonus Galleries) (members only)