Well well well, looks like somebody unwrapped their present already. Geez. Some people are so impatient. You couldn’t have just waited a few more hours? Is nothing sacred anymore?
See more in ““Standard” Female Nipple Piercings“ (Nipple Piercing)
It was about time for Cody to get his first cutting, Charles reckoned, and what better way to jump in than with a big ol’ Texas shoot-em-up notched right on the boy’s hindparts? Mighty fine idea, I tell you what.
(Cutting by Charles Finnie at Eye of the Lotus in Edmonton, Alberta.)
See more in “Misc. Cuttings“ (Scarification)
Earlier this year, Helsinki played host to a truly amazing night of sideshow performances, featuring appearances by Maleficent Martini and Lucky Mladineo, Operafication, Pain Solution, The Saviours and Swing Shift Sideshow. This is an account of that evening, written by Lucky Mladineo, with accompanying photos by Riina Aarrekorpi and Tatu Blomqvist. Big thanks to everyone involved!
To read Helsinki Sideshow Night, click here.
[Ed. note: Comments on this post have been disabled. Chat it up in the comment forum attached to the article.]
Editor’s note: Earlier this year, Helsinki played host to a truly amazing night of sideshow performances, featuring appearances by Maleficent Martini and Lucky Mladineo, Operafication, Pain Solution, The Saviours and Swing Shift Sideshow. This is an account of that evening, written by Lucky Mladineo, with accompanying photos by Riina Aarrekorpi and Tatu Blomqvist.
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On a chilly Saturday night in September, within the walls of famous rock venue Nosturi, sitting imposingly on the edge of the docks overlooking the Baltic Sea, the scene was set for the first Helsinki Sideshow Night. Before things got too hectic, I walked through the crowd. As with the general feel of Helsinki, diversity was present and every type, stereotype and non-stereotype you could pick was there to see what this Sideshow fuss was about.
As Jussi took some time to welcome the crowd and introduce the first act, behind the curtains everyone that was not a part of the Operafication performance left the stage. As the curtains opened, silence swept through the room. The Operafication show is not one you can really explain: it has that special quality that requires you to be there and experience it in the flesh. So all I can say is that the expression on the sea of faces in the crowd varied evenly between confusion, appreciation and awe, and in the end, applause was somewhat stifled by shock, as beauty and sadness were brought together with mainstream theatre story telling through a very abstract medium. In the end, an Opera star, on the most bizarre of stages, impressed the hell out of everyone, especially those sceptical, “What is this Opera shit” few. As the curtain closed for the 20-minute break, you could almost hear the collective deep breath out of everyone watching.
The break ended, and Miss Martini and I got ready to do the opening act we had come up with for the Sideshow extravaganza. I secured my fake beard, climbed into the prop-box and waited for the music to start and curtains to introduce us. Martini delicately stepped point-toe by toe onto the stage, while I was having a hard time pretending to be asleep in the box — I was so excited and wanted to watch! As I climbed out of the box, all our choreography went out the window but it didn’t really matter and it all came together when we got into a nice, old fashioned cat-fight. Some punches, ballet shoes and abuse was thrown back and forth, some hair was pulled, but in the end we reconciled, letting out a collective “Aw!” and fumbling our way through a dance routine to welcome everyone at the microphones, screaming together, “Welcome to the Helsinki Sideshow Night!”
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I sat high up side stage for the best viewpoint to watch and take notes for the show, and I was also attempting to get some backstage footage. Spotting Jussi’s bunny ears above me, fumbling with my pen, notepad and camera, I leaned forward to make the artsy shot and just about fell onto the stage — oops. Eye on the job, not the Bunny!
Pain Solution took to the stage in their usual charming manner and got right down to some don’t-try-this-at-home instruction. A little glass eating from The Maniac and some comedic narration from The Headmaster (“Bling in your poo” — that was a good one, Håvve) and the crowd was up and clapping. Pain Solution’s stage presence and international appeal was evident within the first 10 minutes of their show, their re-creation of the all time classic Human Blockhead act into a Blues Brother’s dance-along is testament to their originality and style.
As I watched Håvve put out a giant torch in the trunk of his underwear, I wondered, was he born on stage? The smell of singed hair (or flesh?) floats in the air but the crowd didn’t seem to mind, and they were going wild. Applause and yelling quickly became screaming and downright vocal chaos, either from the half naked Headmaster with a torch down his pants, or at the introduction of Swing Shift Sideshow to the stage. Actually I think it was the latter, as I do remember hearing someone cry out “Las Vegas, FUCK YEAH!” from the middle rows at the mere mention of their name. But really, they had no idea what they were in for. Miss Kelvikta the Blade and Andrew decided to give them a little taste of the Swing Shift style, both swallowing flaming swords. And if the crowd thought it couldn’t get much better than swallowing flaming swords, the Headmaster proved them wrong, breathing fire onto the flames igniting massive fireballs and even more frenzied reactions. Everyone just started screaming maniacally and aesthetically a stage couldn’t really look any better — now the night had really begun!
The night was divided up seamlessly, and with an ease of flow that is not usual to first time events of this size. Pain Solution and Swing Shift commanded the stage interchangeably, to address, entertain and scare the hell out of the very enthusiastic audience. Both groups have pushed side show and showmanship creatively to larger than life status and both in somewhat different directions, but the two worked contagiously together. Bouncing from one to the other, stunt to stunt and having a total stranglehold on everyone’s attention by not giving them any kind of break and really setting the tone for madness. Each stunt had at least a few over-stimulated viewers covering their mouths and eyes, and many having to turn away completely more than once. The screams and Finnish cursing (e.g. “Vittu” = “Fuck,” “Ei Saatana…!” = “No fucking way…!”) were heard frequently from where I was sitting way up in the wings, and were definitely escalating as the night continued and the side show rolled on …
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After all that excitement, it was time for a bit of a romantic interlude. Slow music hit the amplifiers as Helsinki boys, The Saviours, set up their stage of love. PooPoo the Bunny sat down at a table, looking his furry best, kicking back with a big bottle of liquor and pills, while Lassi, in his German-style get-on-it pants and ever so insinuating smile, casually tried to slip his arm around the uninterested though intoxicated bunny. The Saviours mimed their show and it translated effortlessly — you could feel the love from the crowd at their brand of dark, slightly romancing comedy, which is totally at home in Finland. Everyone knew just what was going on when Lassi took to his zipper and to a beer keg. As Foghat hit the chorus of “I just wanna make love to you” and the beat dropped in, Lassi dropped his balls to the sound of screaming fans. From my experience in Finland, people simply cannot get enough of Lassi and his penis. But perhaps PooPoo was a little disturbed by this gratuitous show of genitals, because a fight broke out between the two, and Headmaster Håvve had to come in and remove them, Lassi by the ear, PooPoo by the bunny ear.
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Once order was regained, Headmaster set up his stage to start the audience on a journey to even more chaos. Håvve standing on swords and demanding at the audience, “So do you want blood?!” getting them ready for the next instalment of madness. When Andrew and Kelvikta re-appeared, the reaction was something like hysteria. Andrew S. took the microphone and once the small talk was laid out, he pulled out the big gun, or in his case, the big coil, and the excitement was unavoidable, Andrew never fails to impress within a few minutes of getting to know the audience. Again, I couldn’t decide what to watch, the show or the reactions of the crowd. Swing Shift were once again amazingly well received and this has a lot to do with Andrew’s much loveable stage presence, his very brave attempts at using Finnish under pressure, and of course, Miss Kelvikta is always a big crowd favourite. When she asked for a cigarette, she had a whole packet thrown at her. Are we sensing a theme here?
The feeling of “Oh my god!” had started to filter onto the stage by the second half of the show and exploded with Swing Shift’s first few death defying stunts. If there was a climax to this feeling being emitted from the audience, it was definitely with the 30-kilogram anvil eye lift. I just remember everyone screaming like murder victims as Andrew swayed the Acme-style anvil, and Kelvikta threw up the metal hand.
Shrieking, screaming, laughing and having to turn away completely, the audience were both entertained and a little tormented through the night, having their boundaries pushed and testing their limits and opinions of what’s shocking. More than a few found out the fun way at the first annual Helsinki Sideshow Night.
Photos by: Riina Aarrekorpi and Tatu Blomqvist
All photos are copyrighted. Full resolution versions and more photos are available. To obtain them, please contact the photographers via e-mail: [email protected] / [email protected].
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This hair-raising shot of Grundstuck, with his 10 mm. septum and 7 mm. labret, is care of Juno Photography. Right? “Hair-raising”! Because his hair is … oh, fine. I’ll show myself out.
See more in “Septum piercing“ (Nose Piercing)
Ray turned to Philip as they sat atop the fleshy, sensitive summit. “We made it,” he said to Phil. “We made the climb that nobody thought we could.”
Philip scratched his chin. “Lost a lot of men, though,” he said. “A lot of good men.”
“When Freddy slipped into the navel, I just …”
“Hey,” Philip said, his hand on Ray’s shoulder. “There was nothing you could have done. OK? There was nothing. You saw how smooth the skin was there. It could have happened to any of us.”
“You’re right.” He exhaled heavily. “It’s beautiful up here, though. You can see the other peak so clearly.”
“Maybe we’ll climb that one some day, too.” The men smiled at each other. “So,” Philip said, “what do you want to do?”
“What we came here to do,” Ray said. “I’m gonna pinch it.”
The clouds broke then, and at that moment, it felt like the sun was shining just for him.
See more in ““Standard” Female Nipple Piercings“ (Nipple Piercing)
Whoa. Hey fella, we were just, uh, we were just passing through. Sure gets dark early in these woods, doesn’t it? Didn’t even see the barn at first. Wait, did you say something? Are you hurt? You’re breathing pretty heavy, mister, is everything alright? Why don’t you come out here, mister? Maybe we can help …
We’ve made a huge mistake.
(Awesome photos of Josh by Dave Barnhouser, 13th Hour Photography.)
This is a friend of Latvia’s own NinjaLV, who saw this off-center smiley piercing somewhere, had it catch her fancy, and came to him for the set of piercings. And you know what? Neither one of them has ever been happier. I’m assuming.
More shots, after the jump.
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| Jud Winters (Photo source: MySpace.com) |
[About.com] Sad story here, folks. Last week, Jud Winters, a 21-year-old tattoo artist in Nampa, Idaho, was severely burned after trying to light a bonfire, sustaining second- and third-degree burns on 90 per cent of his body. He’s undergone two surgeries already, just to remove burned tissue, and doctors are only putting his chances of survival at 30 per cent. The Garrity Tattoo Shop in Nampa is holding a raffle to raise money for Winters’s family, the statement for which can be read below:
Jud Winters, a 21 yr. old Nampa tattoo artist, was recently involved in a horrific burning incident which resulted in the loss of 90% of his skin. He is clinging to life at the SLC Burn Center, with a 30% chance of survival, and his family by his side. On Behalf of Jud Winters’ family, Garrity Tattoo will be hosting a raffle of donated items to help benefit them, and help assure that their basic needs (food, clothing, shelter) are met during this time. We are currently asking for donations of every type, and plan to raffle the items with a drawing and appreciation BBQ scheduled for Saturday December 20th at 12:30. This young victim’s life will be forever changed, as will the lives of all who knew and loved him. During this time, where we are so powerless to help Jud directly, we must not forget the ever growing needs of his family, and do our part to assure that his family knows that their community is here for them. As the month progresses, and the donations are made, we will keep an updated listing of raffle items available in our MySpace blog. Please tell everyone you know that for the price of a $2 raffle ticket, they could win some great stuff, and support a great family with firm ties to our community. Come by the shop at 3116 Garrity Blvd (18) today to donate your items and buy your tickets! If you have any questions, please call 461-3181
The shop has received tons of donations already — gift certificates from other tattoo shops, rare albums, sporting goods — and really, this is about as good a cause to support as any. If you’re in the Nampa area, try to pay the shop a visit.
This link features video of a news broadcast about the story.
[feelunique.com] Ha ha, now this is a great idea. If this terrible recession has left you jobless and hopeless and hungry, how about you, I don’t know, get some temporary tattoos on your eyelids? For money? Sure, why not.
With the credit crunch continuing to bite why not try an alternative way of making money by renting out your eyelids as advertising space.
feelunique.com is offering people the chance to earn 10 pence per wink in return for displaying the company’s logo on their eyelid space. People who sign up to star in the campaign will have the feelunique.com logo temporarily transferred onto their eyelid and will be paid on a Pay Per Wink (PPW) basis – up to a total of £100 per model.
Amy Rebours of feelunique.com says:
“We all take notice when we’re being winked at so what better way to advertise feelunique.com than on people’s eyelids. It’s a genuine marketing first, which encourages people to spread a feel-good winking moment and earn some much-needed extra income in the process.”
A “marketing first” indeed! I can’t believe nobody has never thought of paying people to, huh, blink? Really? I’m kind of surprised that these marketing geniuses behind this one didn’t get “Pay Per Wink” trademarked, as this is clearly the new frontier.
[Ananova.com] Here’s a good one: Some donkey gets pulled over for some reason, tries to give the cops a fake name, but, whoops, he had his name tattooed on his neck:
Darnell Frazier, 25, and a friend were pulled up by a police officer in St. Paul, Minnesota, reports the Star Tribune.
Frazier told the officer he had never had a photo ID and claimed his name was Darnell Lewis.
The officer, however, noticed that the man had “Frazier” tattooed in large letters on the side of his neck.
Police spokesman Peter Panos said Frazier was arrested on four misdemeanour warrants, including driving while disqualified and no proof of insurance.
Frazier then tried to flirt with the officer, batting his eyelashes repeatedly, but forgot that he had his initials temporarily imprinted on his eyelids, thereby giving up the game even further. He did, however, make a cool 60 pence, which is something, I guess.
[BMEzine.com] Rachel posted this last night, but here it is again for good measure — her words follow:
Canvas Los Angeles, the boutique and gallery of the tattooer arts, was robbed on December 12th. Thankfully, none of the gallery’s staff were injured, but sadly, two pieces of artwork were stolen. The two pieces stolen were by Alex Garcia and Guy Aitchison.
This was a truly despicable act. It’s a violation, pure and simple, without any justification whatsoever, and it’s an insult to both the art and tattoo communities. Theft of any sort is inexcusable, but when you steal work from an artist, you steal the thing they produce, and you rob them of their livelihood.
What we want more than anything else is simply for these pieces to be returned. If those responsible for this theft bring the paintings back, or if they are otherwise returned unharmed, Canvas LA will not press charges. All we want is for the pieces to be returned to the gallery — this is really just a matter of supporting our community, plain and simple.
“Minty Fresh Death” is oil on masonite while “AutoMech #2″ is acrylic on canvas. Both paintings are approximately 8×10 and were framed at the time they were stolen. Please keep an eye out on eBay and anywhere else you may see art for sale or displayed, and report anything you see to [email protected]. Thank you all for your help and support.
Oh, hello! Welcome to the inaugural installment of the BME Shop Spotlight, in which we’ll feature candid shots of you lovely people sporting the latest in BME shirts, jewelry, and, well, anything else that found its way out of BME Shop.
Today’s model is evilolive, who can be seen in the award-winning BME Unicorn T-shirt. You know what kinds of T-shirts have unicorns on them? The best kinds.
Thanks, evilolive! And to everyone else, don’t forget to send in your photos of yourselves decked out in BME gear!
P.S. From Rachel
The “final run designs” have been dropped to 5.99 to clear them out for the holidays so I can make room for new stock in the new year. You can get jackets for as low as 29.99 (if it says we don’t have it in stock, try to order it anyway), shorts for 15.99 and even the work shirts for 19.99. Regular tshirts range from 5.99 and up. The shop cache might take a couple minutes to reflect the new pricing on the main pages but the items themselves should be correct. Help me clear these items out!
Anyone ordering 10 shirts or more will get a free keychain.
I’ve also added a lot of supplies, new jewelry as well as a brand new accessory! BMEshop carries more than it ever has and will continue to grow with your support. Please post in the comments if there are things you guys want to see available.