Welcome to the first newsfeed post of the year, and this week is any indication, 2011 will be full of stories of epic proportions!

To kick things off, we have a story out of the UK about a fan going the extra mile for her passion.

For most people, a first tattoo is usually a small marking, perhaps a Chinese symbol no more a few inches wide. But Cathy Ward, 49, is such a die-hard fan of the Twilight Saga series of books and movies that she wanted something a bit more special… her entire back covered in artwork from the vampire films.  The supermarket worker, from Reading, braved 22 hours in the tattoo artist’s chair after months saving £2,000 to put permanent reminders of stars Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner on her skin.

She was desperate to get almost the whole cast of blood-sucking characters on her back because she claims they helped her lose five stone.  ”I love Robert Pattinson. I want to tone up so I can get his character Edward Cullen on my stomach.”

Now my gut instinct is to snark, because well, it’s Twilight, but when you think about it, what’s the difference between this tattoo and a giant Star Wars backpiece?  Well, aside from quality of the source material.  Fans will do some crazy things, and from reading the article it seems she took her obsession and used it to get herself healthy.

Lots more news to come, including a police blotter, tattoos in the military, and a possible health risk.

For anyone who reads a local paper, you may be familiar with a police blotter.  It’s basically a run down of some of the smaller crimes that have occurred that don’t warrant a full story.  A prime example of one comes from the Kings County Advertiser/Register from up in Nova Scotia.

1. A North Kentville woman reported a theft. She said her landlord had smoked all her cigarettes while she was in the hospital.

2. A tattoo parlour owner contacted police after a former customer threatened him. The man and his girlfriend had had their names tattooed on each other; then, the man was unfaithful. The woman was attempting to have her tattoo obliterated. The owner found himself threatened with being pushed under a truck in traffic if he removed the man’s name from her body.

3. A woman driving through Gospel Woods Rd. at 2 a.m. went to answer her cell phone and had a collision.

4. A guest at a New Minas hostelry received a ticket after he called 911 at 11:30 p.m. to protest staff would not change his shower gel.

5. A very nude couple visible due to open curtains was reported in Wolfville about 7 p.m. Police requested they close the blinds.

6. A clerk at a Wolfville store observed a woman wearing a stolen dress on Main St. Police were called and the woman claimed the dress was a gift. She was transported home and officers seized the garment.

7. A woman in Canning called police about a suspicious blue tarp lying on a trail. She said she was afraid to look under it. Police found nothing when they lifted the tarp.

8. An 89-year-old man was reported for asking a passerby to pay a bill for him at a New Minas business. He stated he could drive, but he couldn’t walk.

9. A woman reported a man for blowing kisses and winking at her in a parking lot over the lunch hour.

10. A woman left a five-month-old baby for three hours with a friend working at a mall in New Minas.

I am curious as to what the difference between “nude” and “very nude” is.  Oh, and obviously, if you’re going to be covering up a tattoo of someone’s name, make sure they’re not there with you.  For some reason that may cause them to get upset.

Back across the pond in Warwick, a tattoo shop that had originally been denied a permit to open, was finally granted one after the owner proved to the council that not only are tattoo studios not a source of crime, but they can also help prevent the spread of scratchers in-town as there is no legal studio open.

Of course when studios are licensed it also means the government gets to impose licensing fees.  For studios in Missouri, those fees are set to triple, which is causing some studios to fear customers will no longer come in and go to illegal operations.

The Missouri Division of Professional Registration’s Office of Tattooing, Body Piercing and Branding is accepting public comments through Jan. 14 on proposed fee increases. The new fees are expected to go into effect in late April or May, said Travis Ford, spokesman for the Division of Professional Registration.

Individual tattoo licenses will jump from $30 to $100, and tattoo establishment licenses will go from $100 to $200. Additional fees are charged for combination licenses, like tattooing and body piercing. The licenses are good for two years.

Of course, the counter argument to this is that the increase in fees should have no bearing whatsoever on the costs to the customer, and if the studios suddenly jack up their rates based off the increase of the annual license, they’re probably just trying to make more money off the publicity.

Moving towards the health aspects of modifications, health experts in Australia are asking for laws to be put in place to prevent “extreme piercings” in children as young as 11.

Children as young as 11 are nudging towards body modification practices once reserved for hardcore punks, reports the Courier Mail.  There are no laws in Queensland outlawing the piercing of young children, except in genitals. Yet, tattooing, on anyone under the age of 18 is illegal.

The Australian Medical Association Queensland president Gino Pecoraro supported the campaign and said the laws for piercing should be the same as tattooing.  ”Parents should be taking these people up on assault charges,” he said.  He said microdermal anchors amounted to surgical procedures and “should not be carried out by anyone not fully qualified and certainly should never ever be carried out on a minor”.  ”If they become infected … and left untreated, an infection runs the risk of bacteria getting into the blood and can be very dangerous to the heart,” Pecoraro said.

While the risks of microdermals are the same for anyone regardless of age, it is interesting they’ve singled them out as the “extreme” piercing that kids want these days.

In another story from down under (thanks as always to Botexty for sending in the news stories from Australia), doctors are warning people to avoid getting tattooed.  The reason?  They can possibly mask skin diseases such as cancer.

The Australian Medical Association (AMA) said the increasing popularity of tattoos, particularly among young people, is becoming an emerging medical concern.  Summer is a popular time of year for people to get tattoos … however, few people are aware that tattoos may hinder the diagnosis of a range of skin conditions, including skin cancer, by masking the tell-tale signs,” AMA president Dr Andrew Pesce said.

Nickolas Dennis is just one of many Orange residents with tattoos, and said he can understand how they could increase the risk of skin cancer.  He has had tattoos since the late 1980s, but has only just noticed a suspicious looking mole in the ink on his upper right arm.  “I didn’t take notice of it until six months ago,” he said.  “I hadn’t noticed it because of my tattoo.”  “Because it’s coloured in I didn’t really look.”  Mr Dennis said the effects of the sun’s strong UV rays could be seen in his tattoos that have faded to the point of being unreadable due to sunburn and sun damage.

Now the article doesn’t explicitly state that tattoos will lead to skin cancer, but it does gloss over the fact that this guy probably spends all summer outdoors without a shirt or sunblock on.  Sure the coloring may have obscured the blemish, but I get the impression he’s someone who doesn’t really check his skin over all the time anyway.

An Australian teacher is still in the classroom after making some pretty inappropriate comments towards his students.

The VIT disciplinary panel, chaired by Jane O’Shannessy, was told the man then commented on another student having got a nose piercing. The student claimed he followed her into the classroom and said words to the effect: “Oh, so you are a rebel. Have any of the other teachers ticked you off yet?”  He allegedly went on to say: “If any other teachers comment on it then tell them that is your good piercing and your other piercing can’t be seen as it is in a place where only your partner can see.  ”No, even better. Tell them that your Brazilian waxer has to take care not to damage the piercing when she is waxing you.”  The panel heard the student testified repeatedly that this exchange took place but the teacher denied it. He admitted only to the first part of the conversation, saying “he had in mind belly-button not genitalia piercing”.  ”The teacher said he realised his remarks were definitely inappropriate but he had not intended them to convey sexual connotations or be unpleasant,” the panel found.

I’m sorry.  As someone who has never had a Brazilian wax before (shocking I know), I’m fairly certain the navel isn’t exactly one of the places the waxer will concern themselves with.  Well, I suppose in my case they might, but for others probably not.

In much more positive news, tattooed Philadelphia-area veterans are invited to take part in a photo shoot for a project involving tattooed military personnel.

World renowned photographer, Kyle Cassidy, will be at American Legion Post 615 in Tinley Park on Friday January 7th from 7pm until 11 pm and Saturday January 8th from 6 pm until midnight, to speak with and photograph veterans with tattoos for his latest project “War Paint: Tattoo Culture & the Armed Forces”. War Paint is being published by Schiffer Books.

Anyone interested in sharing their story and tattoo(s) with Mr. Cassidy is urged to come up to American Legion Post and talk with him. You do not need to be a member of the American Legion, only a veteran with a tattoo and a story. He is looking for former and current service members to participate in this photo project. The requirements are simply that you served in the military (during war or peace time) and that you have a tattoo which is related to that military service. This is a great opportunity to preserve pieces of our history.

For more information on this project you can go to:
http://www.kylecassidy.com/warpaint/index.html

It looks like an interesting book, so if you’re in the area, follow the link above to get details for the shoot this weekend.

What would the newsfeed post be without the celebrity round-up?  This year is starting off light, but I’m sure hollywood won’t disappoint this year.

To start with, evidently it’s shocking that a musician got a tattoo.  I only know of the band from their songs on RockBand so I don’t know if they’re any good or not, but hey, new tattoo!

In completely unrelated news, another musician has tattoos.  The Maroon 5 guy did a spread for Cosmo where his Maroons were held by a nice lady with nail polish.  It’s supposed to create awareness for prostate and testicular cancer, but really I think it’s just an excuse for Cosmo to post a naked dude.

And finally, in what is probably the most important news story I will ever post, LeAnn (I’m still relevant) Rimes and Kate (I have no problems exploiting my children) Gosselin may have a tattoo in the same location that when viewed from a telephoto lens 10 miles away makes a similar blurry shape.  I honestly weep for humanity if this passes as news.

Well that’s it for this week.  Have a great weekend everyone and remember to send in any news stories you come across for next week’s news.