Walk, Then Run


Bear and his ears are pretty famous around these parts — it’s probably impossible to count the number of people he’s inspired to stretch their ears, to say nothing of other piercings. But after years of stretching (and, at points, getting up to five-and-a-half inches!), even he runs into trouble sometimes, and he was having a rough go of stretching up his right earlobe. After almost a month of wearing these big-ass, heavy CBRs for eight hours a day, though, he got things moving again, and now, after worrying his ear would never stretch again, has more than enough room for his three-and-a-half inch spool. There’s a lesson in here somewhere, I think.

Full Coverage: Links From All Over (Dec. 17, 2008)

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.

Spooky Scary


Is the Ouija Board not one of the weirdest toys ever made? Regardless of its origins, the current incarnation is ostensibly for children, but it exists only to scare the bejesus out of you, right? And not even in the harmless “scary story” way — these things have tortured a few generations of people now by making them think they are literally being haunted by damned demons and such. What I’m getting at is, this cutting is well done, but since the person who got it done is obviously going to hell, I think we need another board game-related scarification piece to balance things out. I’m going to suggest Scrabble.

(Cutting by Russ Foxx at The Fall in Vancouver, British Columbia.)

See more in Misc. Cuttings (Scarification)

Fell Down Some Stairs


You know, this photo of Sicko seems as good as any to serve as the basis for a good old-fashioned caption contest! The winner gets a copy of that motorcycle poster on the wall. Let’s hear it in the comments, good people.

See more in 3D-Art Implants (Implants) (members only)

We All Scream


Soon after I got my Prince Albert pierced, my girlfriend came up with the idea of drinking a float through it. So after waiting a few months for me to stretch far enough to allow a straw … this happened.

Click through to de-tree, of course.

(Palm tree photo used under “Attribution” provision of Creative Commons. Photo source: http://flickr.com/photos/blmurch/90778103/.)

See more in PAs (Prince Alberts) (Male Genital Piercing) (members only)

BME Shop Spotlight


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.

Opened Up His Love So Wide


I swear, when I first saw this cutting by Jonathan Martinez (while doing a guest spot at La Dolores Tattoo in Madrid, Spain), I could not bay leaf I’d never seen one like it before! Right? Because it’s a leaf, and it looks like a bay leaf, an— hey, guys? Guys, where are you all going? Aw, nuts.

See more in Misc. Cuttings (Scarification)