It’s a shame to be cooped up on a pleasant, warm evening like this one, ModBloggers, so let’s call it a night with this fine portrait courtesy of Ellen Claire Photography. “I’ve had her for seven years now,” says the model of her vertical bridge. “I love this piercing.” Agreed! I’ve always liked the look of a person wearing only a septum or bridge (vertical or otherwise) piercing as one’s only facial piercing, and she wears it well. (And healthily, evidently.)
[Fox 61] Hey, and they say visibly tattooed and pierced folks can’t get regular jobs! The video up top is a special investigation by FOX television’s Connecticut affiliate looking into a local band of bounty hunters (or Bail Enforcement Agents, as their jackets say), and oh look, IAM’s own Jeff “Phish” Goldblatt is among the head-breakers! Jeff, as many of you likely know, was a long-time body piercer (and still does some occasional piercing now, I believe), but these days, largely goes around kicking in doors and picking up fools who’ve skipped out on court dates and whatnot (all while being heavily tattooed and sporting stretched nostril piercings and such). Anyway, this video teaches a few things. First of all, I always figured cop shows were bullshitting when they showed officers literally kicking down doors like they were nothing, but apparently I am just weak. And second, when you want to get some folks riled up about your line of work, there’s no better soundtrack than Tool’s “Vicarious.”
[Winona Daily News] So here’s a fun new trend: Articles about tattoo shops that treat them like any other business! This one focuses on the issue of state regulation of “body art” studios, which is certainly worth discussing, and actually collects cogent and thoughtful arguments and points of view from a variety of sources. Ha ha, what?
[Chad Gregerson] remembered the lack of state guidelines when he ran a shop in Brooklyn Park, Minn., and he followed the seemingly annual back-and-forth by Minnesota legislators pushing for increased regulation during the past eight years while he was tattooing in La Crosse, Wis. As an artist in Wisconsin, however, he became familiar with that state’s guidelines on tattoo and body piercing shops, and he made exceeding those standards a goal for Tatu Royale – even if the shop was in a county and state that did not require it follow any specific guidelines, he said.
The author goes on to provide a fairly comprehensive (and not uninteresting) history of body art regulation in Winona County, dating back over 20 years. The relationship between tattoo and piercing shops and society as a whole has changed dramatically, of course, and many are coming around to the idea that interaction between the two sides mustn’t be adversarial. Some, however, see this as an argument against statewide regulations, since it’s this change in attitude that’s leading many shops to follow more rigorous health guidelines as determined by local authorities.
Winona County has not received a complaint related to a local tattoo shop in years, said Jill Johnson, county environmental services director. County officials considered local regulation about 10 years ago and determined it wasn’t needed.
The proposal put before the Legislature this year would have required a license for each body art shop, as well as for each artist. License fees likely would provide the state with a sizable return, but Kevin Leque, owner of Red Wing Tattoo in Winona, wonders whether it would be enough to finance enforcement.
He says regulation would hurt shops and do little to stop amateurs from giving tattoos out of their homes or at tattoo parties.
Gregerson disagrees, saying the entire body art industry would benefit if shops across the state were held to the same standards. Regulation would weed out many of the amateurs who make the mistakes that give reputable artists and shops a bad name, he said.
Regardless of one’s opinion on the matter at hand, it’s difficult to not be encouraged by the fact that this is a discussion that can now be held in public in a civilized and professional manner, free from paranoid non sequiturs—besides, those are the domain of the commenters:
laurie wrote on May 16, 2009 10:36 PM:
“I don’t think the government should regulate anything anymore! They are the reason we are in the recession now.
Whenever I hear of an F.D.A regulation I run as fast as I can the other direction.”
[…]
COSTANZA wrote on May 17, 2009 9:58 AM:
“I think what Lauire is talking about is the government is becoming to much like big brother. It is not the government responsibility to insure clean needles it should be the people’s own responsibility to make sure the tattoo is safe. If I get a tattoo I am going check up on the parlor and make sure every thing is clean and safe.”
Sigh.
[Denver Post] Continuing today’s unprecedented string of positive mainstream articles about tattoos (?!), here’s a fine piece about the Denver Nuggets, who, as we’ve mentioned before, are just cold covered in tattoos, and are now facing the L.A. Lakers in the NBA’s Western Conference Finals. (Anyone see the game last night? How in the hell do you have Carter do the inbound with three seconds left with Odom guarding him? Guhhh.) Anyway, the author speaks to a number of the players about their tattoos, and does a fine job of demystifying and debunking the “thug” label that’s been foisted upon them by many:
“I think tattoos are a little bit from a culture of warriors,” said Nuggets coach George Karl, who has considered but not taken the plunge of getting tattoos that match what his adult daughter and son wear. “I’m not comparing basketball players to warriors, but there’s nature of competition that’s always been compared to warriors. And I like symbolism.”
[…]
This season, [Chris Andersen] said with a smirk, “We might not lead the league in stats, but we do in tats.” Indeed, the Nuggets are linked by ink. But asked if this is a special situation, guard Anthony Carter said: “I don’t know if it’s special, because a lot of people think it’s ‘thug’ — they have a different interpretation of tattoos. And it’s by how (physical) we play, too.”
[…]
[During] one timeout at the Mavericks’ arena, the big screen featured a phony television commercial, in the spirit of those, “Here’s to you, Mr. . . .” Bud Light ads. It was titled “Mr. Overly Tattooed NBA Player” and featured photos of the visitors fromDenver. It came across as cutesy, but there was veiled condemnation.
“A lot of players do have meaningful tattoos, and a lot of people don’t understand it,” Carter said. “They think it’s for fashion and trying to look tough and stuff like that. But everybody has meaningful tattoos.”
[…]
Smith proudly proclaims himself “Mama’s boy” with a tattoo on his chest; he said Ida Smith “is my best friend. I can say anything to her. She always gives me good advice. And that helps me on the basketball court, because then I’m more free at mind.”
Carter and Martin also have maternal marks. Martin has red lips on his neck, those being the smackers of his girlfriend, rap artist Trina.
And while we’re on the subject of sports…
[YouTube] Let’s conclude this fine news round-up with Jimmy Kimmel’s recent interview with famed boxer and occasional crazy-person Mike Tyson, who seems uncharacteristically calm and lucid (or maybe medicated?). It’s an interesting conversation, and Tyson spends some time discussing his facial tattoo and why he got it in the first place. Would you believe he initially wanted a smattering of hearts and stars before a friend convinced him to go the tribal route? Because I absolutely, unequivocally do. I don’t know if there’s anything I believe more than that fact.
And now here is some fine bio-mechanical work from Luis Aviles of Pain Addiction in San Salvador, El Salvador. Isn’t it amazing that that’s what we all look like under our skin? The human body is an wondrous creation. Another shot of our miraculous human hardware, after the jump.
So, further evidence seems to indicate that “Mark” (one entry below) is, in fact, a man, and not some sort of avian hell-beast. That up there, though? That’s a bird, alright, and one of the goddamn cutest scars I’ve seen in a while to boot, being sported by the lovely Zara.
Good afternoon, ModBlog. Above is a gift for anyone who placed the title quote from yesterday’s bird post, and below is for anyone curious about today’s. Tweet tweet.
(Scarification by Charles Finnie at Eye of the Lotus in Edmonton, Alberta.)
Let’s wrap things up today with this chilling shot of Jenya being attacked by some sort of carnivorous argyle bird (“Mark” is its name, apparently). Some reports indicate it may be more of a symbiotic relationship, as with the small birds that eat out of the teeth of hippopotami, but we prefer to believe it’s something far more…sinister. (Because we’re jerks.)
I have to say, I’m a big fan of this uncommonly angular Jesus-on-the-cross image by Gypy from Kustom-Ink in East Flanders, Belgium. The face is a little grislier than usual, but I also kind of feel like this is what Jesus would look like if he’d been a character on Clone High. And I like that.
You know what the big difference is between BME and the Star-Telegram? It’s that WE GET RESULTS, DAMN IT! Or something. Anyway! After we noted last week that your new world-record holder for “most piercings in one sitting” was Arlington’s Jeremy Stroud (who was pierced with 1,197 18-gauge needles), Mr. Stroud wrote in to provide your ModBlog with some exclusive-ish photos (by Chris Durbin) of the record-breaking attempt. Fancy! Much obliged, Jeremy.
As a person in the documentation and truthiness business, it’s always a source of great joy when a person diligently records the progress of his or her body modification work. Today’s hero? Vyky! Up above is a nicely healed 18-month-old sternum-area skin-removal by good ol’ whatshisname, Ryan Ouellette from Precision Body Arts in scenic Nashua, New Hampshire (though this piece was done at Scar Wars III in Philadelphia). After the jump, check out some photos from earlier on in the healing process.
Good morning, ModBloggers! Let’s start the day with Russia’s own split-tongued Katya, ready for some desert combat, apparently. Something about shacking up on a sand dunes that makes a girl want to lick her lips, am I right? Eh? No? Not even close, huh? Well…nuts.
One of the most commonly asked questions when we post pictures of procedures in which nullification (or a slightly less dramatic modification) is involved is, “Well, how does he pee now?” The answer, as many of you probably know, is that a urethral reroute is performed, which, as our handy wiki explains:
Many, including those who are DIY types, pierce through the urethra, creating a small hole to pee through. Others of us who have avoided the DIY mode, preferring instead to have someone who knows their anatomy and what they are doing, cut and stitch. Even though it is a relatively simple procedure, the success level for those who have tried DIY—piercing a hole through and hoping it would work—is poor…but those of us who have gone through the surgical procedure, which can be done as an out-patient in about an hour, [have been very successful].
[…]
[This is done by] tenting out the skin behind the scrotum, where a new urethral opening is created.
This sort of procedure, of course, isn’t only performed to augment genital modifications; it also essentially transforms the penis into a strictly sexual tool. Pictured above is Albert‘s recent reroute, which, as you can see, he’s had pierced with some simple CBRs. (Albert hasn’t undergone any sort of nullification, and the reroute is placed between his scrotum and anus.) The reroute itself was done professionally, though he wasn’t happy with the size of the hole and stretched it himself, which is likely why the ring of scar tissue looks a bit gnarly and blown-out here. Albert, however, says he’s finally happy with the results, and, hey, for something this intensely personal, that’s the important thing here. Another close-up, after the jump.
