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Full Coverage: Links From All Over (June 19, 2009)

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[Animal NY] Hoo boy, is this not just the most irritating story ever or what? OK, so, as we (and everybody) mentioned previously, 18-year-old Kimberley Vlaeminck allegedly went to Romanian tattoo artist Rouslan Toumaniantz and ended up with 56 stars tattooed all over her face. She claims she only asked for three and then fell asleep, which is just a preposterously stupid lie, while Toumaniantz says that she knew full well what was happening and only freaked out once her father or boyfriend or whoever lost their respective shit. Now she is suing the tattoo artist, because she wants the stars removed, of course. Is your brain leaking out of your ears yet? Mine is!

Anyway, my initial response to this mess of foolishness was that it was a hoax, because, come on: Nobody involved in this situation could be deranged/myopic enough for any of this to be real, right? Well, Toumaniantz is apparently a member over at BodyMod.org and posted this response, saying he did, in fact, tattoo this crazy person. Hooray.

Then, the girl said she felt asleep during the tattoo session. But :

1) Tattoo hurts,
2) Tattoo hurts more on face than on most other places,
3) Tattoo hurts even more on the nose than on the face,
4) Apart from the pain factor, the emotional impact of a first tattoo is huge, which makes it even less likely to sleep during such a session,
5) During this tattoo I had to ask Kimberley to change quite often her position, because the face isn’t flat and you need to always adjust the persons position and yours to be able to tattoo,
6) Kimberley did stand up many times during the session and did check up the work in a mirror,
7) We spoke during a part of the session,
8) The call log of her mobile phone and SMS activity could easily show that from the start of the session to its end she wasn’t sleeping,
9) And most importantly, a witness, being totally independent from both sides saw all the session from its start to the end, and confirms every word above. Kortrijk police made an inquiry, and both of us (me and the witness) were conducted shortly after Kimberley tattoo was finished to the police station, and both of us said exactly what did happen, and therefore gave exactly the same version of the events. Copies of minutes (in Flemish) we can provide.

So Kimberly was absolutely aware of what was happening during all the tattoo session and got what she asked, no more no less.

So that’s the end of it, right? Poor judgment on his part for tattooing an unstable teenager’s face, maybe, but she’s still a dirty rotten liar…right? Well, except for the fact that there is now some dumb Internet toy called The Kimberlizer, which allows people to decorate photos of themselves with the same star pattern as our young heroine, and…you see where this is going, don’t you? From Animal NY:

Among the few media outlets to interview the starlet is Belgian radio station MNM, who’s advertising agency, Famous, is behind the Kimberlizer. A French newspaper says the website, which allows visitors to digitally place 56 stars on their face via webcam, was opened in April, well before the story happened. Additionally, theorists point out that MNM’s logo is a star, just like the ones covering Kimberley Vlaeminck.

In conclusion, no matter what the truth ends up being, there will almost surely not be a more aggravating tattoo-related story all year. BME extends hearty congratulations to everybody involved. Let’s all take turns punching each other in the brains, forever.

[CBS 42] At last, our long national nightmare is over! Megan Fox, the most famous tattooed person since, I don’t know, the Memento guy, has decided to heed her mother’s advice and stop mucking up her body with the devil’s ink. Let us pray.

Fox recently announced plans to cover her entire right arm with ink – but she’s now backed out of the scheme insisting she won’t be heading to the tattoo parlor again any time soon.

She says, “They’re definitely addictive. I don’t have any that I truly regret yet, but I’m sure I will at some point.”

“I’m trying to refrain from going forward for that reason. I don’t want to be 40, looking at my arm in the mirror and going, ‘Oh my God – what did I do?’”

In exchange for this promise, Fox’s mom will now let her wear make-up to school and have sleepovers every Saturday night.

[Vancouver Sun] And finally, let’s finish this wretchedly awful news week with reports that yet another Canadian tattoo and piercing shop is giving all of its customers HIV and every type of hepatitis, except this time it’s not just a matter of lazy paperwork: The clown at the centre of this story is “Zipp,” the proprietor of Edmonton, Alberta’s Zipp’s Tattoo and Museum, who, well…

On a spur-of-the-moment whim and fuelled with a bit of liquid courage, Corinda got a tattoo of a Playboy bunny on her left hip two months ago.

Now, the 26-year-old is stepping forward to be tested for HIV and hepatitis B and C after the health authority closed Zipp’s Tattoo and Museum shop at Whyte Avenue and 100th Street because of unsanitary practices and sterilization concerns over reusable piercing and tattooing equipment.

The owner told health inspectors he had been recently tattooing animals in his studio, but denied tattooing people.

The health authority is now asking people to come forward for testing.

Hey, come on! The guy is just trying to run your average illegal animal-tattooing dungeon. What’s the big deal? Prudes.

Charges are being considered by the health authority since Zipp’s –in business at another Whyte Avenue location since 1978–was also closed in 2007 because of unsanitary conditions and infection control. At that time, the health inspector said the risk of contracting blood-borne pathogens was considered low because the proprietor used single-use, disposable needles.

[…]

Health inspectors closed the tattoo parlour June 5 after noting the owner didn’t wash his hands before performing procedures and didn’t wear gloves.

Dirty and unsterile instruments were being used on clients, and the ultrasonic cleaning device was not being operated in a sanitary way. Ink went unlabelled and instruments, including needles, were improperly stored and handled.

In all fairness, the child laborers Zipp had “hired” to oversee the cleanliness of the shop totally dropped the ball. “Wah, my fingers hurt, wah, I’m hungry,” they would cry, long into the night, while Zipp tattooed pig after pig, laughing his terrible laugh, the end.

The Body Drags the Mind

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Apologies, folks: Technical difficulties today, but I’ll try to get caught up this evening. Until then, how about this wild electrocautery branding piece by Brenno at Body Factory in Trieste, Italy. My Latin is more than a little rusty, but the Internets lead me to believe this is a Horace quote that translates to, “Unless it obeys, it commands.” That said, I’ve been bested by information online before, so if this is actually a line from an Eagles songs or something, hey, don’t shoot the messenger.

A close-up of the fresh brand, after the jump.

See more in “Misc. Modern Branding“ (Scarification)

Evil Urges

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You know, when you’re a frequent reader of BME or any other body modification resource or otherwise immersed in body modification, it can sometimes be easy to become jaded and unnecessarily critical of work that doesn’t really deserve it. You look at this piece and maybe you think it’s a bit corny or trite, but the fact remains, as far as tattoo work goes? The script is great, the drop-shadow is executed damn near perfectly, and the microphone is about as well rendered as you could ask for. And, hey, the sentiment isn’t half-bad, either. A little simplicity goes a long way sometimes. And on that note, ModBloggers, we’ll see you tomorrow, provided you’re not on one big holiday.

(Tattoo by Roman at Rock N Ink in Cracow, Poland.)

That Whooshing Sound

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So as you’re all probably aware, since it was so important that it was broadcast into space for all to see, the esteemed President Bad-Ass murdered a fly yesterday, as it was buzzing around and bothering him during an important television interview. Luckily, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs was on hand to stomp the little bastard into oblivion afterward, just to make sure any weaponry or eggs or whatever were summarily destroyed, as you can see above. This is by far the greatest perk of being the Commander-in-Chief.

(Ha ha, we’re kidding! This is just a harmless tattoo, done on some non-governmental chap’s foot by Arthur Rose in Savanna, Illinois.)

See more in “Wildlife and Nature Tattoos“ (Tattoos)

A Revealing Spear

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Hey, it’s not a worm in the schnozz, but this cutting of a harp by young master Ryan Ouellette at Precision Body Arts in Nashua, New Hampshire, is one hell of a nice piece, is it not? The strings probably jump out initially, but man alive, the intricacy over on the right side? Outstanding work. Unless, of course, the wearer is 12 feet tall. In which case, you know, still very nice, but maybe a bit easier to pull off. Yeah, I’ll just show myself out.

See more in “Ryan / Precision Body Arts“ (Scarification)

PromoBlog: Meg Is Coming To A City Near You (Hopefully)!

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20090616-meg-scar

Hey folks! Friend and BME Roundtable contributor Meg is on the move! Yep, she’s packing up and leaving the dreary, wintry east coast for sunny California, and, as luck would have it, is going to be working along the way. She’s one hell of a piercer and scarification artist (See: the lily up top), so if you’re going to be in the same place as she is on the following dates, there’ll be no time like then to get some world-class work done:

Cincinnati, OH: June 19-21
Medina, OH: June 22-24
Philadelphia, PA: June 26-28 (at Infinite)

To book an appointment, message her on IAM or shoot her an e-mail HERE. Don’t miss out!

Full Coverage: Links From All Over (June 16, 2009)

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[Toronto Star] Well, it was probably only a matter of time before the Moonshin Tattoo business found its way back into the news. To recap: Earlier this year, it was revealed that local health departments in Ontario, Canada, were neglecting their duties with regard to regularly inspecting tattoo shops and, as a result, some shops were found to have been neglecting their own record-keeping (and other) practices, throwing into question their sterility and safety. Mississauga’s Moonshin Tattoo in particular caught fire because of this, and both the shop and Peel Region found themselves the subjects of a $20 million class-action lawsuit by customers who may have been exposed to HIV and hepatitis B and C. In light of this, the Toronto Star launched their own investigation, and the results are pretty hit-and-miss:

Every public health unit in the [Greater Toronto Area] has failed to enforce provincial standards that require tattoo and piercing studios to be inspected at least once a year, a Star investigation has found.

[…]

Peel, with the worst record of tattoo parlour inspections for both years in the Star study, checked on only seven of its 20 establishments in 2007 and only five in 2008.

[…]

Halton Region also fared poorly in the study, with only 47 per cent of its 15 establishments inspected both years. Toronto inspected only 65 per cent of its 23 parlours in ’07 but had a perfect year, in ’08, when there were 41 parlours.

The most diligent were Durham, which managed to inspect all tattoo parlours under its jurisdiction in one year and 95 per cent the next, and York, which inspected 84 per cent one year and 97 per cent the next.

A variety of reasons were offered for missed inspections, but most common was a lack of funding after the province made regional health authorities responsible for such inspections a decade ago.

Allison Stuart, Ontario’s assistant deputy minister of public health, doesn’t buy that excuse.

“We’re talking about guidelines that have been in place since 1997, so this is not something that’s been sprung upon the health units,” she said.

While it’s heartening to see a few regions taking their responsibilities seriously, there are some egregious stats mentioned there. The logical extension of this investigation, it seems, would be to determine if these inspectors are dropping the ball in all areas of their work—as the article mentions, at least as far as Peel is concerned, their inspectors are also responsible for “more than 5,000 food premises, 500 recreational water facilities and 150 child-care centres”—or if their neglect has been limited to premises offering body modification procedures? (It’s also addressed that inspectors failed to visit “ear-piercing establishments” with regularity.) It’s paranoid to assume there’s some insidious blueprint being followed here, but if these failures are largely occurring at the expense of body artists, that seems worthy of some attention, no?

(Of course, if Ontario artists want to keep on top of things without prompting from the government, they can always get their Health Educators certification when David Vidra comes to Toronto next week, here and here.)

[Daily Mail] Several thousand astute readers have sent in this article today, so, yeah, we figured it was worth some attention, as unbelievable as it is. Anyway, as the story goes, Kimberley Vlaminck, an 18-year-old living in lawless Courtrai, Belgium, went in to get three harmless stars tattooed on her face by Rouslan Toumaniantz at The Tattoo Box, but, uh, fell asleep? Or was drugged? And somehow woke up with 56 goddamned stars covering half her face? What?

She claims she fell asleep while he was doing his work… and awoke to ‘this nightmare’.

‘It is terrible for me,’ said Kimberley. ‘I cannot go out on to the street, I am so embarrassed. I just look horrible.’

‘I think he didn’t understand what I wanted. He spoke only fractured English and French.

‘But I explicitly said in my native tongue, French, and also in a little bit of English when he looked confused, that I wanted three little stars only near my left eye.’

Rouslan Toumaniantz, who runs the tattoo parlour called The Tattoo Box in Courtrai, denies her claim, saying she knew ‘exactly what she wanted’.

He added: ‘She was awake and looked into the mirror several times as the procedure was taking place. The trouble all started when she went home and her father and boyfriend threw a fit.

First things first: I have a hard time believing any of this is true. I don’t know what the game is, but I want to go on record as saying I won’t be surprised when and if this is exposed as a hoax. However, if any of it is true, I’ll gladly adjust my verdict to say that I think young Kimberley is full of it. Not to be too much of an armchair physician/psychologist/mind-reader/whatever, but falling asleep while someone drills 56 stars into your face? Come on now. I think we can all agree this is preposterous. The argument could potentially be made that the artists should have maybe not tattooed the hell out of an 18-year-old’s face, but her reaction seems downright pathological. If any of this is true. Which I don’t think it is.

[Craigslist] And finally, here is a HOT NEW TREND that will surely be hitting a city near you, soon! As the RECESSION continues and people can NO LONGER AFFORD TATTOOS, how will they manage to keep inking themselves into UNEMPLOYABILITY? The answer, of course, is PRESCRIPTION DRUGS:

Glorious.

Training is Everything

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Alright, OK, enough of the good times we’ve been having today, what with all the Satan faces and ancient religious weaponry—time to get down to brass tacks, and the dangers of this so-called “body modification” of which we are all such great fans. See that up there? That man, covered in food? Trying desperately to tongue that bit of sauerkraut off his face? This, my friends, is one of the many potential pitfalls of engaging in risk-laden behaviors such as “body piercing.” I’m not saying you absolutely shouldn’t get piercings, but just look at Artie up on top and, being honest with yourself, decide if that sort of life—happy, attractive, well-fed—is the kind of existence with which you are comfortable. Just saying.

(Photo by Phoenixxx.)

It’s Running You With Red

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Hey, aw, this is sweet, right? Neither of these folks, Nadine (more) or Alex (more), are strangers to this corner of the Internet’s Wild West, but Nadine sent in these shots of the happy pair sporting a damn ocean’s worth of ink by our old friend Marc (with photos by Marc as well), and you know what? They were too damn cute to pass up. Everyone understands, right? Right. After the jump, some sound advice, in the form of a tattoo, etc.