Believe it or not, if you do a search for Miyazaki on ModBlog, you won’t get any results.  It’s time to change that.  While you may not know the name Hayao Miyazaki, you probably have seen, or at least heard of one of his films.  Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, Ponyo, Howl’s Moving Castle, and My Neighbour Totoro are just some of the films he has created over the past 40 years.  He’s even got two academy awards under his belt for best animated feature.  So to discover there hasn’t been a post mentioning his name is a little shocking.  Especially because of the memorable characters he creates.  Thankfully IAM: h0ly_frij0les is a huge Miyazaki fan and sent in this image of his My Neighbour Totoro tattoo to the cartoon tattoo gallery.  The artist is Lu Valdovinos from Exodus Ink in Summit, Ill.

Alright Miyazaki fans, I know you’re out there!  What’s your favorite Studio Ghibli film?  And don’t you dare say Grave of the Fireflies.  I don’t need to spend the rest of the day bawling in a corner.  There’s a reason it’s known as the saddest film ever.

…so here’s a three-eyed, crayon-horned, unicycle riding, purple people eater.

This interesting character comes from the gang at Studio Evolve Tattoo in Virginia Beach.  I think there may be turtle elements to this guy as well, given the chest and paws are vaguely turtle-ish.  In any case, it definitely is a creative design.  And it fits in well in the cartoon tattoo gallery.

Now I’m not sure if this guy is from something, or is a completely unique design, but it certainly is fun.  Anyone have any ideas for a name for this little guy?

Also, I’m always on the lookout for great pictures of modifications in any medium.  So if you’ve got something you want to share with the world, just log into your BMEzine.com account, go to your profile page, click on “Media”, and then click on the “Photo” button in the top right section of the media page.  From there you can upload your pictures, as well as tag them with what type of modification it is, and most importantly, you can give full credit to everyone involved in it.

If you don’t have a BMEzine.com account, what are you waiting for?  You can sign up at any time to get a free membership which gives you access to the galleries, so you can see more than just the first few pictures.  If you do have a membership and are having problems seeing the galleries, make sure that you’re logged in, I know I’ve forgotten to log in a couple of times and wondered why I suddenly can’t see everything.  It something so simple, that it really is easy to forget, but once you’re logged in, you won’t have any problems, and if you do, our support staff is on hand to help you out.

The “Dogs Playing Poker” series of images were originally a series of oil paintings designed to sell cigars.  Somehow these images transcended their initial meaning and have turned into a staple of American kitsch.  Pool halls and rec rooms all over North America have at least one of these famous paintings, or ones that have been inspired by them.

At the same time C. M. Coolidge sat down to paint these images, another American legacy was being formed in the tattoo studios of New York City.  Fast forward almost 100 years later and the two have finally come together in this back piece by Jeff Houston from Under the Needle Tattoo in Seattle, WA.

A larger version of the picture can be found in the cartoon tattoo gallery, where you can see these dogs in all their poker playing glory.

For those curious, the actual title of this particular painting is “A friend in need”, referring to the ace being passed under the table.  Now I’m not sure, but I think the English bulldog is passing a card to a pug.  Which goes to show, pugs can the the sneakiest dogs around.  So take care the next time you’re playing poker with a bunch of dogs, the ones with the crazy eyes tend to be the cheats.

Fragglegirl uploaded this image, and I just had to share it.  While I loved the Muppet Show growing up, I only really was able to watch re-runs.  Now Fraggle Rock?  I was five when it first hit the air, so I was pretty much the target audience.  I was also shocked to learn that Fraggle Rock only aired on HBO in the US.  So while we (Canucks) got the Fraggles every week courtesy the CBC, if you lived below the 49th parallel you needed your parents to shell out for cable in order to see it.

If you head over to the cartoon tattoo galleries, you can see which Fraggle resides in her other armpit.

So, who/what was your favorite Muppet?

I am a sucker for serious tattoos done in a silly manner or silly tattoos done in a serious manner.  This tribute to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles characters Splinter and Shredder, definitely falls into the later category.

Tattoo by Vegas King, Ottawa, Ontario

Jason definitely has a very interesting menagerie of tattoos. His latest tattoo by Pecka Lindahl of Pecka’s Tatueringkonst in Stersund, Sweden is no exception. I figured I’d post this one since everyone loved the Care Bears Sleeve, that you all would no doubt dig this guy.

See more in “Cartoon Tattoos“ (Tattoos)

I’m going to the airport shortly to pick up the darling love of my life who would also probably love this tattoo. I’m going to try to get a couple posts up over the weekend but I’d rather spend the time I have with her playing, than stuck behind a computer. Thanks again for support BME! See you guys on Monday!

April sends us this little cartoon tattoo by John Brehm while he was guest spotting at 717 Tattoo in Harrisburg, PA. I’m not sure what the story is behind the tattoo other than it’s “to go with Tot.”. I can only assume that’s the little fellow below the Moon Dawg tattoo. That Tot’s linework looks so solid it’s hard to believe it’s not a stick on.

What do you guys think about comical/cartoon tattoos?