So with the record breaking temperatures in Toronto this week, it seems that modification related stories have dried up.  In fact, there’s only 1 story this week.

Diabetics the world around continually have to deal with checking their blood sugar levels.  This of course means they have to carry around a meter and deal with regular finger pricks.  Well a couple of scientists have come up with a unique way to get around this chore, using an iPhone app.

For diabetics, checking blood glucose levels is literally a pain. Current blood glucose meters require a prick of the finger to get a small blood sample that is then put onto a small paper strip, inserted into the meter, and analyzed. The strips are a recurring cost to diabetics, and the constant finger pricks can be a route for infection. Now a research team at Northeastern University has developed a method of reading blood glucose levels with an iPhone and a nanosensor tattoo.

The team’s method works this way: they inject a patient with subdermal nanoparticles containing “fluorescent dye, specialized sensor molecules…and a charge-neutralizing molecule.” The molecules attach to glucose, release ions, and alter the glow of the nanosensor tattoo based on the relative amount of glucose.   While the initial device for reading the tattoo’s glow was a big ugly box, one of the team members apparently outfitted an iPhone case with LEDs and filters to do the job.

Now it is a bit of a stretch to call this a tattoo, but with inks injected into the skin, I’ll let it slide.  Hopefully in a few years this will become publicly available, making things a lot easier for diabetics.

Well, with the lack of stories in the news, I’m going to need more submissions from you.  So if you come across anything you think should be included, just click here to send me the link.

Have a great weekend everyone, especially those of you making the trip to the annual ECBBQ.

By now the weekend will have started for many of us on the east coast, while the west is not far behind.  Granted in Australia it’s already the future so they’ve already got a head start.  This week’s news is fairly concise, with a couple of updates on past stories, as well as a look into the facial tattoos of Burma’s Chin province.

First up is more on TLC’s “Tattoo School”.  Last night the program aired, and news agencies all over have started to notice the overwhelming negative feedback coming from the tattoo community.  What surprised me the most is that every story I read is falling on the side of the tattoo artists, and joining in the condemnation of this show.  This first article from the Jamestown, NY Post-Journal where they talk to artists in the area around the school, as well as former students of a tattoo school.

Ryan Gillikin has been in the tattoo industry for more than 20 years.  Tattooing is a tradition, he says, and the only proper way to learn the skill – and to learn to administer the body art safely – is to be under the guiding hand of a master tattooist in an apprenticeship.  ”My apprenticeship was a year,” said Gillikin, owner of Almighty Studios Tattoo and Body Piercing in Jamestown. ”And when I apprentice (others), it’s a two-year  process.”  Gillikin said there are several such high-profile tattoo schools around the nation, and that each has the same motive – to scam people out of money and to make them believe they are talented tattoo artists when they are not.

A haircut from an untalented beautician will grow back, however. A tattoo from an untalented artist could land someone in the hospital with an infection or a disease, Gillikin said. And he fears that people who open shops based on what they learn in tattoo schools are coming out without knowing how to stop that from happening.  ”You can’t even learn the basics of sterile practices in two weeks,” Gillikin said. ”So when people take $5,000 from somebody and tell them they’re going to be professionals in two weeks, they’re just giving people a false idea that they know what they’re actually doing.”

Now over to The Examiner which takes a look at the what the community is doing to protest this show.

It’s completely impossible to be a professional tattooer in 14 days, at least not one who has been properly trained to produce quality work using safe sterile practices. Can an aspiring doctor become prepared for surgery in 2 weeks? Of course not.  Professional tattooers pride themselves in being knowledgeable about the prevention of disease transmission and giving their clients a clean tattoo in a clean environment. Photos on the Tattoo Learning Center’s website show students tattooing without using standard protocols such as wrapping their machines and clip cord with plastic wrap. This is an easy way for cross contamination of blood and body fluids to occur. A second photo shows a student tattooing someone on a wooden stool, material that can not be cleaned or disinfected properly. Definitely a health code violation.

Tattoo artists and enthusiasts are uniting online through Facebook pages, Artists and collectors against TLC’s “Tattoo School” and Boycott TLC’s Tattoo School Show. Both pages have a combined total of over 45,000 fans and the number is growing by the minute. The anger being shown regarding the upcoming show has nothing to with fear of new competition but everything to do with fear of one’s livelihood being disrupted. If the tattoo school fails to educate their students about safe tattooing; diseases and infections can be spread.

Finally, a group of protesters formed outside the San Diego branch of the “school”, where they learned some new information about how they run their business.

Local tattoo artists are protesting a new school in Pacific Beach that plans to teach people the art of tattooing in two weeks.  The group stood outside the Steady Flow Tattoo shop, also known as the Tattoo Learning Center, at Grand Avenue on Monday, protesting what they believe is an insult to their profession.  “These people are teaching people how to tattoo for a lump sum of $5000, and within two weeks, they are supposedly professional tattoo artists,” said Randy Janson, a tattoo artist. “It’s not really possible. It is more of a scam.”

One of the school’s students and two women interested in getting a tattoo at the shop watched the group with a bit of concern.   The student said he flew to San Diego from out of the country and was told when he arrived that his two-week class was canceled. The man, who wishes to remain anonymous, said the school told him to enjoy his free accommodations and that his tuition would be refunded. He said the shop owner told him to drive by the storefront to check it out and stumbled on the crowd growing outside the shop.

The student said he is already a tattoo artist in his home country, but he had hoped to come to the United States to become a licensed tattoo artist.  In San Diego, you only need to fill out an application and pay the appropriate fee to be able to practice tattooing within the county limits, according to the County of San Diego’s Department of Environmental Health’s website.

Two young women interested in getting tattooed were also standing outside the shop amidst the protesters. They said they spoke to someone at the shop earlier in the week and were told they don’t take appointments; rather, they should simply stop by. When the girls arrived, they found the shop closed.  After a second phone call to the shop, they learned Steady Flow would be closed for two weeks.

So not only does the school cancel classes at the last minute, it also doesn’t take appointments, which isn’t surprising as it seems to close on a whim when there aren’t students there to ruin someone’s skin.  Following the links above will get you information on how to contact TLC and let them know how dangerous this show is, as well as links to online petitions.  Some groups are encouraging people not to buy any products advertised on the show, as well as encouraging tattoo studios to contact suppliers and inform them that as long as their products are used on the show, they won’t be getting orders.  What this comes down to is money.  If TLC isn’t making any money off the show it will be cancelled.  Hopefully that happens sooner rather than later.

More news to come, so keep on reading.

This next story is from my hometown of Toronto, ON.  Two body piercing shops have been found not using proper infection controls, and Toronto Public Health is encouraging anyone who was pierced there to contact them.

The shops are NY NY Body Piercing, located at 1700 Wilson Ave., Unit 151, and New York New York (Accessories & Body Piercing), located at 423 Queen St. West.  Anyone who received a piercing from the stores between Nov. 6, 2010 and March 1, 2011 should visit a doctor and ask to be tested for hepatitis B and C and for HIV, the public health authority said.

New York, New York has four shops in Toronto. Only the two listed above were part of the Toronto Public Health investigation.  Piercing and tattoo equipment should be sterile and sterilizers should be tested every two weeks to ensure they are working properly, the public health authority said.  Toronto Public Health recommended piercing and tattoo clients always check to ensure employees wash their hands, change gloves, use an antiseptic on the skin, and open sterilized packages of equipment for every client.

In somewhat disturbing news, I was informed that the queen street location is still open for business.  Previously when a shop has been flagged by Public Health, they were forced to remain closed for the duration of the investigation.  As such I’d encourage anyone in the city to avoid these studios until they’re cleared by the health board.

While on the subject of possible infections, scares like this have caused a German football club to ban players from getting tattooed.

Werder’s decision to scratch their players from getting anymore tattoos is a result of the infection that forced Hamburg SV’s Eljero Elia into a lengthy and painful injury break in March 2010.  “It is a risk that we need to rule out,” the German club’s sports director Klaus Allofs told the Hamburger Abendblatt newspaper. Several Werder players are fans of tattoos with Austrian Marko Arnautovic sporting several.

Moving away from tattoos for a moment, the Tel Aviv suscon was featured on China Daily.  Not necessarily the first place I’d look for suspension news from Israel, but with local suspensions starting to take place in China we may be hearing more news from them in the coming months.

A man is suspended on hooks pierced through his skin at a suspension convention in Tel Aviv July 9, 2011. Some 30 people attended the convention, which offered the chance to be suspended or just watch. Captain Howdy, who organised the event, said the origin of the practice comes from Native American cultures that used to perform body suspensions as a rite of passage. He said the practice has been revived by people prepared to test the limits of mind over matter.

Heading back into tattoo news, according to AOL’s finance section, tattoos seem to be a recession proof industry.

New’s experience is not unusual. According to Time magazine, roughly 16% of people with tattoos eventually elect to have them removed. And that number is growing. Which isn’t necessarily surprising. Sometimes, the love of our life, whose name we permanently inked across our bicep, turns out to be a fling. Or that image of the Tasmanian Devil that looked so cool after a night of drinking is a little less appealing in the sober light of day.

Additionally, in today’s challenging economy, when unemployment continues to hover near 9%, people are also choosing to remove tattoos to appeal to potential employers. At least, that’s half of the story. At the same time, others see the recession as an opportune moment to get inked, arguing that it’s not only a relatively cheap splurge, but that the unemployed no longer have to conform to an employer’s standards.

In either case, the end result is the same: The tattoo industry continues to thrive, seemingly recession-proof. To better understand this strange dynamic, I visited Tattoo Lou’s, a family-owned chain of Long Island tattoo parlors that also offers laser tattoo removal.

Well, it seems that one studio is doing well, can the same be said for the ones in your area?  Let us know in the comments below.

Now if you remember back to last year, there was a story about an Australian man who paid an acquaintance to tattoo him shortly after having a fight with him.  What was supposed to be a yin-yang turned out to be something quite different.

AN IPSWICH man is enduring a series of painful sessions to cover up a lewd image tattooed on his back by a backyard operator.  Matthew Francis Brady, 22, has admitted tattooing a 40cm-long image of a penis and a crude slogan on his former mate’s back.  The victim had wanted a Yin and Yang design with some dragons but was horrified with the end result.

Upon hearing about the case, Ipswich business Ultimate Image Tattoo offered to do the cover-up work for free.  The 26-year-old victim this week had his third appointment in a long series of visits to hide the offensive tattoo.  Brady pleading guilty in Ipswich Magistrates Court last month to assault occasioning bodily harm while armed and assault occasioning bodily harm.  He will be sentenced later this year.

After several more sessions the man will be able to proudly display a much more professional tattoo of a sword with a dragon wrapped around it.  The sessions last for up to an hour – or however long the man can stand the pain.  Tattoo artist Matty Tredgold said the final work would include a range of colours from blue, green, yellow and red and was inspired by one of the client’s favourite T-shirts.

I think my favorite part of the original story is the man who did the tattoo told him to keep it covered and not show anyone for 2 months.  Thankfully he got someone to take a look at it right away.

Today’s final story comes to us from The National Post, about the women of Burma’s Chin province.  While the custom of full facial tattoos on women is pretty much extinct, there are still some women who were born when the practice was being followed.  It’s a great read that takes a look into a cultural ritual that may become completely extinct in our lifetime.

To many of us here in the West, it would be pretty unheard of for a woman to tattoo her entire face. But these women have been doing it for hundreds of years. Why?
When I asked, I got varying responses. But the consensus seemed to be that a long time ago they were known for their beauty, and kings in Burma found out about these Chin women and teenagers. The kings would then come and basically pick out the women he wanted and take them away. In response to that, the village elders who were women started tattooing the girls as a measure against the king coming to take them away. It was almost to steal their beauty.

How did the practice become more commonplace?
Although it was once something to make them ugly, over time these women have become to view themselves as beautiful. It came to be a symbol of strength, of beauty, of toughness. Some of the women even said to me “If I didn’t have this tattoo, men wouldn’t want to marry me.” It’s definitely a rite of passage in these villages. And it’s really really painful.

That’s all the news we’ve got this week.  Have a great weekend, and as always, if you find a story you think should be included in the news round-up, just click here to send me the link, or simply send me an e-mail.

Thanks to some ISP issues this week will be a “better late than never” edition.

Thanks to the wonders of social media, my inbox and facebook wall have been slammed with links about this first story.  Justifiably so, as it has the potential to affect not only the community, but also anyone interested in getting tattooed in the future.  I honestly wish I was using hyperbole there, but in reality, this actually can have a big impact on the tattooing industry.  I’m sure by now you know what I’m talking about, but if you haven’t heard yet, TLC is planning on airing a new series starting next week called “Tattoo School”.  The show’s description reads:

Award-winning Tattoo Artist Lisa Fasulo runs a hands-on and unconventional tattoo school in upstate NY where students from all walks of life learn how to tattoo in just two weeks. These rookie students are seeking to change their lives through tattooing. With just two intense weeks under Lisa’s instruction, they will get the experience tattooing on body after body with artwork of varying levels of difficulty.  Rookie students, models risking their skin to first time body artists, a rebellious instructor and unconventional training…who will bear the drama of competition and survive?

So according to them anyone can pick up a machine and learn to tattoo in 2 weeks.  It also looks like they’re stepping up the “drama” to make good TV by adding some kind of competition factor.  Who can last the full 2 weeks?  As if 2 weeks is somehow a long time to learn to tattoo.  It’s this point here that most people have a problem with.  TLC’s programming has been consistently portraying the tattoo industry as a drama filled joke where legitimate artists are used as pawns in a scripted soap opera, with the work taking a back seat.  On top of that this new show will give viewers the impression that anyone can learn to tattoo in a couple of weeks.

This isn’t about having to “pay your dues” or doing bitch work at a shop in order to earn your apprenticeship, this is about taking a legitimate trade/artform and misinforming people about it.  Learning to tattoo takes a long time, months to years.  Learning to tattoo well takes a lot longer.

Putting that aside for the moment, lets take a look at the larger ramifications of this television series and the school it is promoting.  A large number of studios won’t take an artist who only has 2 weeks of experience, this means that the graduates from this program will be forced to find other ways to continue to tattoo, which inevitably will lead to tattooing out of their home.  I don’t think I need to explain anything beyond that.  As for the show, it will give people the idea that all it takes is a machine and a few hours of practice to know what to do.  With the availability of machines on e-bay, as well as those “tattoo starter kits”, there could be an increase of the number of people who think “well if they can learn everything in 2 weeks, it must be easy”.  They then go out, get a kit, and start working from home.  Taking a look at the school’s website, here is what students will be receiving for their almost 5 thousand dollar tuition:

What does the tuition include?

* A professional tattoo machine.
* 80 Hours of tattoo instruction with certified, experienced, award winning, tattoo instructors.
* FREE lodging for 2 weeks.
* Dozens of willing, prescreened human models for you to learn and practice on.
* Use of all our equipment at our State of the Art tattoo training facilities.
* Informational binder with all the important contacts and sources for all things “tattoo related”.
* DVD of machine tuning produced by the TLC staff.
* Tattoo techniques textbook
* Tattoo License permit (as per county)
* Certificate of Completion upon course graduation.
* Tattoo Learning Center T-Shirt.
* Transportation to and from the student housing daily.
* DVD with digital pictures of all the tattoos you completed while at school (enough for a beginning portfolio).
*** LOTS and LOTS of nurturing and emotional support that makes us the finest tattoo school!

You’d think that if they wanted to be a responsible school, they’d include an autoclave with tuition.  Reading through her blog post on hate mail, it seems that Lisa believes that people find this to be a bad idea simply because you need to “pay your dues”.  While that may have been the case in the past, nowadays apprentices focus mainly on the art and technique.  Sure there are a lot of people who stick to the old school methods, but that isn’t why people are opposed to this type of “school”.  What she doesn’t seem to understand is that tattooing is an artform, one that takes years to master, and to convince people that it only takes 2 weeks to teach someone is doing a disservice to the students and the profession.  It’s also highly irresponsible, and only serves to create more and more scratchers, giving legitimate artists a bad name.  With tattooing as popular as it is now, local governments are starting to pay more attention to studios, which isn’t a bad thing as most studios welcome strict health code regulations, but when the politicians hear about artists in basements spreading diseases, then you end up with studios being forced to close down because of new zoning laws preventing studios from operating.

Of course, this has caught the attention of a number of different people.  A quick google search reveals a number of studios and publications getting on board, encouraging people not to watch the program.  There is a facebook event page, a boycott page, as well as an online petition (feel free to skip the donate page).  A number of people have also taken to using this image as their facebook profile photo:

While not watching the program is a good start, Alie K (IAM: alouicious) had this to say with regards to the program:

Been seeing a lot of people changing their avatars to the ‘boycott tlc logo’. Hey, it’s great that you are unhappy about a network’s decision to produce a show that won’t do much except give people false hopes about being the ‘next Kat Von D’, but complaining about it won’t do much except make you look like a whiner.

Instead of having a black cloud looming over your head, do something PROACTIVE about it. Unhappy with TLC’s decision? CONTACT THEM! They have an ethics hotline where you can actually phone them and give them what for (though you may want to have something pre-written to follow so that you don’t fly off the handle and sound like an jabbering idiot – which of course, you are not). They also have a viewer relations link where you can type them a letter and let them know your displeasure.

Instead of typing things like, “YOUR NEW SHOW IS STUPID AND IS TAKING BUSINESS AWAY FROM ME! YOU’RE AN ASSHOLE FOR PRODUCING IT!”, which won’t do that much except maybe make someone on the other end say, “Heh heh – looks like we pissed off another one”, consider writing about what makes the tattoo industry what it is and why you feel that advertising about a school will give an individual a false sense of “yeah I can do that! Look how easy it is! A real apprenticeship takes too much time. I can’t be bothered with that”. We all know that tattooing isn’t easy in the least.

We’ve all seen tattoos done by ‘some dude in his basement’. Some of us have been asked to cover them up with a ‘real’ tattoo. Sending a ‘newly schooled’ person out into the wild with their ‘new gun so they can start tattin’ people up’ will only result in people tattooing out of their homes (because they aren’t talented enough to get into a real shop) and potentially  causing outbreaks of staph infections and worse, because these individuals are unable or unwilling to get the proper supplies to protect themselves and their clients (a dental bib is about the same as a paper towel, right?).

Perhaps we should focus our emails on health and safety issues as well as terrible tattoos that people will be complaining about the cost to cover up or laser off a few years down the line. In the mean time, REAL artists should focus on self-promotion and marketing to make themselves stand out above the sub-par, lazy, tattoo school artists. Either that, or get REALLY GOOD at doing coverups.

Courtesy of Lorin Hay:

If anyone would like to call and leave Lisa Fasulo a message of support in her new TLC Tattoo School project, her number is **1-800-466-4117 **. Show her some love!! Especially since she has blocked her Facebook account from receiving any friends request or messages, and has removed her Twitter account. Another number you can use is 518-428-4271. The listed email addresses for her are [email protected] and [email protected] and The address of the school is 1301 CURRY ROAD ROTTERDAM NY 12306

Sample emails:

Courtesy of Chris Collins:

Please do not air the Tattoo School show. It is irresponsible to let people think that just because some states have lacking heath code enforcement and education requirements that it is okay to do something as potentially dangerous as tattoo the public as an amateur. That show is a time bomb waiting for lawsuit and further more just dangerous to let the public think it’s as simple as a few hours “education” and then you are okay to to practice a somewhat invasive procedure. Please pull the plug on this.

To get in contact with TLC directly, you can find their phone contact information here:  http://corporate.discovery.com/contact/ethics-hotline/ it has the contact phone number for all the countries that air TLC programming.  The US and Canada number is 1-800-398-6395.  You can also send in a written complaint via this page: http://corporate.discovery.com/contact/viewer-relations/.

As I said earlier, this program is angering a large portion of the community.  While complaining on facebook is one thing, if you feel this does affect you negatively in some way, or you think that it is irresponsible programming, get in touch with TLC directly and let them know.  Contacting advertisers is also a way to send a message to TLC, for without advertising a program can’t stay on the air.

I’ve dedicated a big chunk of today’s news to one story already, but there is more news this week.  Keep on reading to see the rest of this week’s news.

Now in another story that ties into the today’s lead story, police in Newport, RI have issued a citation against an 18 year old tattoo artist.  It turns out that you need a license to tattoo in Newport.  Oh and that you shouldn’t set up shop in the middle of a park.

Julian Rodrigo, 18, of 195 Admiral Kalbfus Road, Newport, was issued a court summons on Saturday for illegally tattooing minors and not having a tattoo parlor license.

As part of a follow-up, police met with a the mother of a 16-year-old who Rodrigo tattooed. According to reports, she was upset because her son was able to get tattoos without her consent. She said Rodrigo was giving tattoos to juveniles in the Rolling Green area and was not licensed or trained.

Police spoke with Rodrigo, who said he did not know he needed a license, and that he had bought the equipment online. Officers came to an agreement with the reporting party that since Rodrigo had no prior criminal history and was unaware of the law that required him to have a license, to only issue him a citation.

Maybe Julian should have taken a 2 week course after buying his kit online.  Then again, not too many studios would hire an artist with 2 weeks experience and a machine bought online, so he probably would have ended up in the park anyway.

Another story that’s been hitting the social media feeds is an “interactive tattoo“.  Originally this was streamed online, but thanks to the wonders of video editing, there’s a shortened version available.  The idea behind it, is that with a QR code, an iPhone, a design company, and a corporate sponsor, you can get a tattoo that when viewed using a specific app, will animate the tattoo.

As part of whisky brand Ballantine’s “Leave an Impression” campaign, Paris-based tattoo artist Karl Marc seared a QR code onto his friend Marco’s chest.  Marc says the whisky company approached him and asked if he would be interested in executing the tattoo — a QR code that unlocked an animation when scanned — via a live stream on the brand’s Facebook Page. The brand is doing similar events with other artists, from ice sculptors to graffiti artists.  “The video was made during four hours, all live, with no breaks or interruptions,” Marc says. “I had a camera strapped to my head as well as microphones and battery packs. We didn’t know if the Matrix code would actually work right up to the very end. It worked on paper, but would it work as a tattoo?”

You’re probably wondering if the tat is fake — after all, that Facebook friend tattoo turned out to be an advertising campaign, as did the Ray-Ban tattoo. But Marc says that the ink is the real deal. And it does seems likely. There’s no hidden viral agenda here: Ballantine’s hosted the live stream of the process on its brand page.  Marc says he’s been getting a lot of requests lately for QR code tats, and he told us that he will be working with a company called MIYU productions on more ink of this ilk.  Marc provided us with Marco’s design. You can scan it to check out the animation that currently graces Marco’s body. Use ScanLife to access the video.

As cool as this is.  All I could think about at the end of the video was that he just put his phone on top of a fresh tattoo barehanded, and that he was typing on the keyboard without changing gloves from the machine.

Just a couple more quick tattoo related stories this week.  The first is from San Francisco where a high school teacher had to make good on a bet he made with his students.

Stanley Richards, a teacher at San Francisco’s City Arts and Technology High School, promised students he would get a tattoo of the school’s vice principal if they could raise the school’s score on the California Academic Performance Index by 50 points.  The school was expected to raise the score by 7 points at the time.  “I was 99 percent sure that it wouldn’t happen” Richards said.  He now has a large tattoo of Vice Principal Paul Koh on his calf.  In the portrait, Koh is dressed in samurai clothing and slaying a dragon that represents standardized tests.

Over in the UK a bride-to-be was kicked out of a club for the serious crime of having a bachelorette party while tattooed.

Miss Trigg and four friends went in to the venue to begin their big night out, but it wasn’t long before bouncers told her to go.  The mum-of-two of said: “They let us in and we went straight to the ladies.  “Then as soon as we came out they told us to leave as it was the club policy not to let tattooed people in.  “I am not exactly the type who would make trouble. I’m just a mum who wanted to enjoy herself on her hen night.  “I think it is very discriminatory, because there are so many people with tattoos these days.  “Mine are quite pretty too, with flowers and fairies, so I don’t know why they would ask me to leave. It really spoiled my evening.”

Previously, club owner Dick de Vigne has stated the club did not encourage heavily-tattooed customers.  He said: “We have always said we don’t have rules, just very high standards. We look at each case on its merits.”  Mr de Vigne said when people became regulars at the club, they were encouraged to cover tattoos.

The sad thing is, this happens at restaurants in the US as well.  Those of you with a good memory will recall that Rachel was kicked out of a restaurant a few years back because she was sporting “gang tattoos”.

Today’s last story comes from Australia where doctors are urging the government to crack down on heavy surgical modification.  While the story is heavily biased towards the side of the doctors, they did interview the lovely miss Zephyr*Elf about her own experiences with surgical modifications.

Medical professionals are dealing with a surge of backyard “body-modification” surgeries gone wrong, with two people needing intensive care for infections. Many of the modification procedures carried out in South Australia are performed by international professional “skin artists” during fly-in visits.  RAH staff said they were alarmed at a “surge” in cases at its emergency department from extreme modifications.  Police were called to investigate one incident involving the hospitalisation of a young woman at the RAH this month.

Extreme modification techniques include tongue-splitting, scarification, branding and having implants put under the skin.  RAH emergency department nurse practitioner Melissa Curtis said she had treated two people with complications from silicon implants this year. The RAH’s plastic surgery unit also had treated several other cases in the past 12 months.

There are no laws in South Australia outlawing body modification for adults.  The Sunday Mail does not know where the surgeries were performed. City-based Modify Body Piercings has hosted a Canadian professional body modification practitioner for three week-long stints since opening in 2009. Modify employee Harmony Capper said he was always booked out for the duration of his stay. “It’s important that bookings are made in advance because if it’s a permanent body modification you really need to think about it and be sure,” she said.  Professional Tattooing Association of Australia SA spokeswoman Morag Draper said the surgeries were legal for adults.  “It is important that these places are providing post-modification support,” she said.  AMA state president Dr Peter Sharley said: “These are unnecessary and dangerous procedures with risks of haemorrhaging, infection and disfigurement. Surgeons are highly trained and would not be involved in this sort of destructive surgery.”

Zephyr Elf – aka Kasey Hilder – scars and cuts her body for art’s sake. “Art, self-expression – for me, having a malleable appearance is really integral to my cultural identity,” she said. “Being a chameleon is a lot of fun.” The Adelaide student and alternative model began modifying her body with a nose piercing at 16.  Since then, Zephyr, now 21, has had her tongue split, her ears surgically pointed, undergone 90 piercings, acquired 14 tattoos and is currently planning a scarification design for her leg.

Evidently a sterile room at a professional studio is now considered a “backyard”.  I think what upsets me the most is that they’re lumping together highly respected modification artists with people who are ill informed and performing modifications on themselves.  Knowing who this mysterious Canadian is, I know for certain that he takes all possible precautions and stays in touch with his clients even while not in the country.  A far cry from cutting someone open and leaving them to fend for themselves.  Of course, making wild accusations and using biased language is a sign of good reporting right?

Well, that’s it for the news this week.  As always, if you find a story you think should be included in the news updates, feel free to send them to me via this link, or by e-mail:  [email protected].

One last thing.  If you are as opposed to this “tattoo school” as we are, get involved.  Contact TLC and let them know just how bad an idea this is.  http://corporate.discovery.com/contact/viewer-relations/ & http://corporate.discovery.com/contact/ethics-hotline/.

First thing’s first.  Happy Canada Day to all our Canadian readers.

Now the biggest story this week is pretty easy to guess..  BMEFest 2011!!  It’s this weekend.  From Saturday to Monday everyone is welcome to come on down to BMEHQ and get together with the whole BME gang.  It’s been a few years since the last BMEFest, so we’re treating this one like a family reunion.  The event page has all the details, so be sure to check it out and sign up! You’ll get to see friends you may not have seen in a while, and also make a whole lot of new friends.  Just don’t forget your bathing suit, with the weather as hot as it is, we’ll be spending most of the time poolside, or on the slip’n’slides.

Now on to the news from the rest of the world.  Making headlines in the UK is Jeremy Castle, an NHS nurse who has been doing a little freelance work in his spare time.

Jeremy Luke Castle offers the £120 surgery from a dingy flat where his three cats run about.  Health experts last night admitted the practice is NOT illegal, despite being potentially lethal if jabs are not properly administered.  The Sun found Castle carrying out the “surgery” in Elephant and Castle, South London – where his pets roam nearby as he uses the grouting gun on men’s genitals.

Castle, who advertises online and admits he has had no formal training, said: “It’s not rocket science.  “The scrotum is very easy and it’s just a case of hitting the best place.  “There’s no law that says you can’t do it.  “It’s medical grade silicone. The equipment I use is sterilised with copious amounts of disinfectant. It’s not really dangerous.”  But he admitted: “If it’s done incorrectly you could inject silicone into the blood vessel and that would result in the patient being, well, dead.”

Castle, who claimed he banned the cats from the room when he was injecting the filler, added: “I’m a trained nurse specialist.”

I just..  wow.  Well, as long as he dipped the end of the caulking gun in disinfectant, it’s not a problem right?  But hey, it’s not dangerous, the worst thing that could happen is you die.  Wait, is that serious?

More news to come, including a couple of Aussies who have found an ingenious way to raise money for their Olympic team.

This week’s installment of “don’t commit a crime if you have an easily identifiable facial tattoo” is brought to you by the letters M and J.

If you’ll look closely, you’ll notice that the tattoo itself is actually terrible. The Jumpman logo is, of course, of a silhouetted Jordan skying through the air for a dunk. This looks more like a man delivering a pizza while wearing clown shoes.

See to me it looks like a guy running while holding a frying pan.

A few more crime related stories this week.  The first of which is a quick tale from Columbus, OH.

A man is stabbed during an argument over unpaid tattoo work Tuesday evening.  Corey Norris, 20, was with some friends in front of a house on Filco Drive at about 6:26 p.m. Tuesday.  A person Norris did some tattoo work for walked up to Norris. Apparently, the male didn’t pay Norris for the tattoos.  Norris demanded payment for his work.

Norris’ group and the other person’s group became involved in a physical fight.  The groups and the fight moved to the Walgreens drug store at the corner of South High Street and Williams Road.  Someone pulled out a knife and stabbed Norris twice.

The tattooed male and his group left the area.

So Columbus people, be on the lookout for a tattooed male.  It’s a shame that saying a suspect is tattooed is enough to qualify as a newsworthy identifier.

This next story unfortunately is much worse.  Not in terms of how tattoos are being represented, but what the tattoos in the story represent.

On Thursday night, a 16 year-old boy from Malwani reportedly raped a seven-year-old girl. Following questioning it was revealed that this was the eighth girl that he had  raped.  The incident occurred when the girl went to a grocery shop, where the boy started molesting her. The girl reportedly yelled at the boy, which is when he hoisted her on his shoulders and raped her twice behind the Malwani church.  After raping her, the boy tried to escape from the crime scene, but the girl followed him crying. They reached Rathodi village in Malwani, where they both live, the girl’s mother saw the boy running and her daughter following him crying and confronted him.   Locals caught the boy and handed him to the police. After the police questioning, both were sent to the Nagpada Police hospital for a check up. The boy later confessed to his crime.

During the interrogation, the boy was asked about a series of tattoos on his arms.  In what came as a horrifying revelation to the police, he revealed that the names tattooed on his arm was a list of the girls he had raped. Following the confession the police sent the boy to the Children Remand Home in Dongri.

Due to local laws the boy will be charged as a minor, and given a lesser sentence than if he were an adult.

Our last crime-related story is a follow-up to one from earlier in the year.  If you recall, a young man was kidnapped, beaten, tazed, and finally left with a tattoo that said “rapest” across his forehead.  This week the courts issued a sentence to those found guilty.

Four people charged with kidnapping a man, tattooing “RAPEST” on his forehead and shocking his genitals with a stun gun before beating him unconscious with a baseball bat have pleaded guilty to kidnapping and maiming charges.  Three of the defendants also pleaded guilty to assault and battery with a dangerous weapon in a plea agreement with prosecutors while the fourth pleaded no contest to the charge during a hearing in Oklahoma County District Court.  A no contest plea has the same effect as a guilty plea but is not an admission of guilt.

Richard Dellert, Zachary Provence, Kimberly Kirchler Vergara and Lorena Hodges were accused of attacking 18-year-old Stetson Johnson on April 17.  Special Judge Stephen Alcorn sentenced Dellert, 25, and Provence, 21, to 10 years in prison followed by 10 years of probation. Vergara, 24, who clutched a Bible during the hearing, and Hodges, 33, were each sentenced to five years in prison and five years of probation in the attack a prosecutor characterised as “a brutal case of bullying”.  “I think a mob mentality took over,” First Assistant District Attorney Scott Rowland said.  Johnson told authorities he was restrained with duct tape while “RAPEST”, apparently a misspelling of “rapist”, was tattooed across his forehead and a phrase that resembles “I like little boys” was tattooed on his chest.  The forehead tattoo has since been covered with another tattoo that looks like a bar code, and members of his family said he is working to have it removed.

Finally our last story of the day takes us down under to the magical land of Oz.  When it comes to competing in the Olympics most countries fund athletic programs.  But even with this funding, for a lot of athletes it just isn’t enough money.  Such is the case for Australia’s volleyball team.  A couple of members of the team have come up with an interesting way to ensure a trip to the Olympics for their team.

Some people would do anything for a buck. When you’re an Olympic hopeful who spends most of the time practicing and trying to fulfill a lifelong dream, the bucks can be tough to come by.  Luckily there are people like Australian volleyball player Claire Kelly who know how to think outside the box.

According to MyFoxDC via Fanattic Network, Kelly has petitioned companies to place permanent tattoos on her body to be seen during competition.  Packages are being offered directly to companies and sold on eBay for around $10,000 for a 0.8 inch x 0.8 inch on the left limb and roughly $50,000 for a 1.9 inch x 1.9 inch tat on the right arm or shoulder.  She said she hopes the money will help give her and her partner, Carla Kleverlaan, the financial backing they need for the 2012 Summer Games in London.

“It’s taken me months to get the courage to do this and now I’m going through with it,” Kelly explained. “I was thinking, ‘Tattoo my body with a business logo just so I can have a chance to play for my country at the Olympics? I’m crazy’!

If I recall, the Olympic rules are pretty strict on the amount of advertising on attire.  I wonder if the same rules apply to tattoos.

Oh, there is one more thing before I get going.  Toronto tattoo studio Seven Crowns is hosting their annual fall art auction in support of Art City-St. James, a charity that provides free and accessible art programs to underprivileged children in an urban setting.  The reason I’m posting about this so early is that Canadian artists who want to get involved know that they have until September 1st to submit their work.  More information can be found on the Seven Crowns website, or you can e-mail the boys at [email protected].

As far as I know this is for Canadian artists only, but feel free to get in contact with them for all the details.

And that’s all the news for this week.  Remember, BMEFest is this weekend, so sign up now, and I’ll see you in Virginia!

It’s time again for the weekly news round up, and as always I’ve got a nice little variety of stories this week.  Before I get to those, I wanted to give a quick update on Ran Maclurkin, who as you may know was injured in an accident a few weeks ago.

Here is a picture of Ran up and about on day release from the rehab hospital. An amazing result considering only 2 weeks ago he endured an 8 hour surgery on his spine. The best news is that they are sending him home permanently mid this week. He does need to wear a back brace and neck brace for the next 2-3 months. On behalf of Ran I would like to thank everyone that was so nice as to donate him a few dollars to help him while he recovers.  -Pete Sheringham

BME would also like to thank everyone who was able to send some support Ran’s way, and we all wish him the best on his road to recovery.

On a somewhat unrelated note, Pete had this story to share about an experience he had with a client recently:

Just had the most amazing phone call, 12 months ago today a lady came to get her nipples pierced at The Piercing Urge, while marking out her nipples I noticed a large lump in her breast, I thought that this should be looked at by a GP so I stopped the procedure and advised her of the lump and to see a GP, I felt a little strange doing this as I did not want to panic her in case it was nothing but felt she should at least get it checked out. She went to the doctors and after some testing was told it was aggressive breast cancer and she had 2 months to live. After almost a year of chemo and a mastectomy she is now cancer free.

She called to tell me I had saved her life and told me that she would call each year on the anniversary of her being clear of cancer.

I could be wrong, but I think it may have been a little dusty in the shop when he received that call.  I know I had something in my eye when I read it.

There’s not a lot of news this week, but there are a couple of stories to get you through the weekend.  Keep on reading to see what’s in store for you.

Well, it’s finally over.  The long and publicly drawn out battle between Warner Brothers and Victor Whitmill over the use of Mike Tyson’s facial tattoo ended in the way pretty much everyone expected it to, an out of court settlement.

A Missouri tattooist who claimed Warner Bros. infringed his copyrighted tattoo in The Hangover: Part II settled his lawsuit with the studio Wednesday.  Terms of the settlement, approved by U.S. District Judge Catherine Perry in Missouri, are being kept confidential as part of the deal.  The settlement comes two weeks after Warner Bros. acknowledged it might be liable for infringement, and announced it would remove the tattoo from the December DVD release if a deal was not reached.  The lawsuit, brought by tattooist Victor Whitmill, asserted the comedy features a “virtually exact reproduction” of a copyrighted tattoo he inked on former heavyweight boxing champ Mike Tyson in 2003. The tattoo appears on the Stu Price character played by actor Ed Helms.

The Whitmill lawsuit focused on the esoteric debate about whether a work first rendered on the human body can be copyright protected. Whitmill testified he created the image directly on Tyson’s skin.  There has never been a court verdict about whether a copyright on a tattoo could be enforced.

As you can tell, I’m not surprised at all by this turn of events.  Although I know a couple of armchair lawyers who will be disappointed to know that there still has yet to be a definitive court ruling one way or the other.

In sports news, an Australian footballer was given a red card the other day for having his penis pierced.  I know, I had to read the article twice just to be sure that was the actual reason.  Luckily there’s video of the event!

Macclesfield-born Aaron Eccleston, of Melbourne side Old Hill Wanderers reserves, was red-carded at the weekend for having his penis pierced.  Little Aaron’s bling was deemed so offensive that the referee decided to send him off.

The player can be heard to comment: “I’m making a complaint, ref. It’s not right looking at my c*ck.”  We’re inclined to agree with you, Aaron. And yet you went to dressing room of your own accord and got your tackle out for him!  If you are anything like OTP you are probably thinking ‘how did the ref know about it in the first place?’. The answer, it seems, is that Eccleston took a blow to his privates as he jumped for a header and pulled his shorts down to check he hadn’t lost anything, anatomically or piercing-wise.  He’s no doubt now thinking that check could have waiting until half-time, in which case he would have saved himself from YouTube humiliation.

I wonder if there is a specific rule on the books against that, or whether it’s just a general “no piercings” rule.

Every once in a while we feature amputation photos and stories on ModBlog.  The ones we feature are mostly DIY, and would be considered “successful”.  By successful I mean that the person doing the amputation achieved their goal of removing a part of their body.  Sadly this next story is about someone who wasn’t successful.

A DEPRESSED former property consultant bled to death in his London home after trying to amputate his own legs with a hacksaw, an inquest heard. Barrie Hepburn, 65, was confined to a wheelchair after being shot in the legs during an argument with a neighbor at the couple’s holiday home in France in 2000, the London Evening Standard reported.  He tried to commit suicide twice following the incident, and researched self-surgery on the internet.  Last August he almost completely severed his right leg with a hacksaw in the kitchen of the couple’s residence in London’s exclusive Mayfair neighborhood, the inquest was told.  Hepburn called paramedics and said he was suffering from heavy bleeding, but died before an ambulance could reach him.

His wife Susan – who runs a high-profile hypnotherapy clinic and counts British singer Lily Allen among her clients – told the Westminster coroner’s court that Hepburn’s depression lifted in recent years.  The coroner recorded a verdict of misadventure, noting, “I think it is quite clear he had no intention of taking his own life. This was a tragic turn of events.”

This is one of the main reasons we tend to post warnings with amputation posts and other heavy modifications.  While Barrie may have done research on the internet, the activity was extremely high risk (especially considering it was an entire limb), and sadly he didn’t survive.

As I said, this is a really slow news week, so we’re already at the last story of the day.

Vice Magazine, the publication that is always on top of the newest trends, reported on the new Japanese “bagelhead” phenomenon that is sweeping the nation.  Oh, wait, did I say new?  What I meant was they wanted to seem like it was a new practice, when in reality it was something was picked up 2 years ago by mainstream news, and it features Ryoichi talking about the forehead saline injections he’s been doing for many years prior to that initial news report.

Obviously, it’s now huge there. Saying that, even though it’s exactly what you’d expect from the country of loo-roll dispenser hats, apparently body modification is still somewhat of a taboo out there, with journalists who choose to cover it usually doing so at the risk of their own careers. I had a chat with Ryoichi to try to help me understand why people are choosing to inject themselves with fluids in order to temporarily change their appearance.

When did saline infusions start to get popular?
Well, actually, I happened to meet Jerome, who was the person who pioneered saline infusions, at Modcon in 1999. Modcon is an extreme body modification convention and it just happened to come to Japan that year so I went to cover it for Burst. I got talking to Jerome and we stayed in contact, then eventually I experienced saline with him in 2003 and he gave me permission to bring it to Japan, so I set up a team in Tokyo to administer infusions for other people. That’s been going since 2007.

I figure in another 2 years we’ll see a story in the NYPost about how this is a breaking new trend first featured in Vice.

And that’s it for the news this week.  Remember, if you find an article you think should be included in the weekly news post, just click here to send it in.

Oh, and remember, next weekend is BMEFest!!!  Sign up today!

It’s Friday night.  You’re either getting home from work or getting ready for a night on the town.  And for us here at BME the end of Friday means it’s time for the weekly news roundup for you to read over the weekend until we’re back on Monday with more posts.  Without any further ado, let’s begin.

A lot of ModBlog attention in the past year has been on a couple of Russian suspension teams that are constantly pushing the limits of suspensions.  Well this week it was an American who made headlines by setting the record for highest suspension ever.  Zane Whitmore, with the help of a team of professionals including Allen Falkner, took to the air, suspended from a hot air balloon.

Zane Whitmore’s weekend was probably more painful than yours.  On Saturday, this Seattle man spent nearly 75 minutes hooked to a hot air balloon 2,800 feet above the ground — and those hooks went through pierced holes in his back.  Whitmore, 34, practices the ritual of human suspension. Rather than focusing on being in pain, he said he spent most of the time thinking about how fortunate he was to be having the experience.  “I was mentally prepared for it so I was really just concentrating on the sensation of flying,” Whitmore told AOL Weird News. “I was having a blast.”

The stunt was filmed for “Feet Off the Ground,” a documentary about practitioners of human suspension. But Whitmore said he would have done it whether or not the cameras were rolling.  “The reward is largely mental,” he said. “When your mind’s state is altered I think the way you perceive the world around you changes a bit.”  According to Cory Devine of Precarious Egg, the company producing the documentary, Whitmore reached a height of nearly 11,000 feet above sea level. He wore a harness attached to his waist in the event his skin were to tear.  He added, “It was a unique way to view the wildlife, that’s for sure.” For sure.

Our friends over at Hooklife had the opportunity to hear from Allen about his part in the suspension.

“So how high are we?”  “You see those mountain peaks?  They are 11,000 feet.”  “That’s sea level right?  How high are we above the ground?”  “3,800 feet” I leaned out of the basket with camera in hand.  “Hey Zane, we just topped 3,800 feet.  How are you feeling?”  “Amazing!!!!!!”  Personally I wish it was me hanging below the basket, but being asked to pierce and rig this suspension was still a pretty amazing experience.

Just so we’re clear, this wasn’t meant to be a challenge to anyone to top this feat.  Allen and the rest of the crew are some of the top practitioners in the world, and even they had to differ to a stunt coordinator, as well as work with the hot air balloon company.  So as groundbreaking as this is, please don’t even think about attempting to recreate this, as this was probably one of the most dangerous suspensions I’ve ever seen.

However, Zane’s suspension wasn’t the only one in the news this week.  To see what other suspension made headlines, you’ll have to continue on with the rest of the news.

As I was saying, the hot air balloon suspension wasn’t the only headline making story in the news.  Alice Newstead in partnership with Shark Savers and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society took to the streets of Hong Kong to protest the killing of sharks for profit, such as selling the fins for shark fin soup.

The dramatic demonstration was part of a campaign to urge the Hong Kong government to stamp out shark fin soup.  Role-playing as a “live shark”, Artist Alice Newstead had her skin pierced with hooks, and hung suspended from scaffolding in an arts centre courtyard.  The 20-minute body suspension was a dramatic illustration of how sharks are caught on longlines to be killed for their fins.  “The ones that I used today are actually shark hooks that have had the barbs removed and have been sterilised. And I feel shark finning is a really barbaric practice. If it takes doing something a bit drastic to get people to notice it, then it’s absolutely worth it,” said Alice Newstead, a performance artist & Lush employee.

The campaign is a joint effort by British cosmetics company Lush and marine conservation group Shark Savers.  They are asking the public to sign postcards to the Hong Kong government, urging it to ban shark fin consumption, trade and sales in the city.

While we’re on the subject of metal piercing flesh, there were a couple of piercing related stories this week as well.

You may recall from a few months back that a woman was arrested for piercing kittens and selling them as “Goth Kittens“.  She appealed and this week her appeal was rejected.

‘Metal protruded from the kittens’ small bodies, pierced through their ears and necks, and at least one of these kittens also had an elastic band tied around its tail, an attempt at docking, which is a procedure to stem the blood flow so that the tail eventually falls off,’ Judge Kate Ford Elliott wrote in a 19-page opinion.  Crawford, who had offered the kittens for US$100 (S$124), was exposed after an investigator for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) posed as a customer and met her in 2008.  She was reported to the authorities and the kittens were seized.  In April last year, the groomer was sentenced to six months of home detention and electronic monitoring.  Crawford, who was described as having ‘several facial piercings’ herself and being ‘enthusiastic about piercing’, admitted to performing the kitten piercings herself without anaesthetic, though she did treat the kittens with antiseptic after the procedure.

While I don’t think the ear piercing was too damaging as cats can live with a little nick in their ears, doing a surface piercing on a kitten or attempting to dock their tail with an elastic band is just cruel.  Don’t get me wrong, I don’t agree with doing it at all, but when it comes to impact, the neck and tail were definitely the worst aspects of this case.

Microdermals are back in the news this week with revelations that even more states are looking at putting together legislation on their use.  A number of states have already banned the practice outright until some kind of ruling can be made, and Washington state is the next one looking to make that move.

They’re single-point, surface or microdermal anchors, tiny pieces of metal jewelry slipped under the skin.  “A lot of people question how (the piercings) are done,” said Deshazer, who was taking a break from making lattes and other coffee drinks at 13 Buffalos, a drive-through espresso stand on Rucker Avenue in downtown Everett.  It’s so new that state officials are still taking a look at the practice. And at least one state has banned it until new regulations can be written.  For Deshazer, the piercings are a bit painful and mostly permanent. If she ever wants to have her anchors removed, she’ll have to go to a professional.

Officials with the Association of Professional Piercers, a national nonprofit educational group, agree that surface piercings pose less risk than other, more extreme kinds of body manipulation.  The novelty of surface piercing has resulted in some confusion, especially among lawmakers, said James Weber, the group’s outgoing president.  “A lot of legislators don’t know what to make of them,” he said.  Washington last year began to regulate piercers and tattoo artists. Regulations require that no piercer “implant or embed foreign objects into the human body.”  “We are continually working with the industry on new practices that come along, especially in relation to public safety,” said Christine Anthony, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Licensing. “As I understand it, the microdermal piercing is a relatively new practice and one we will be taking a look at.”  Some states, including New Jersey, have banned the practice until further study can be completed, Weber said.

Moving on to the tattoo portion of this week’s news we have yet another story out of Hermosa Beach, CA.  If you remember, Hermosa Beach was the town that tried to ban tattoo studios through the courts, and ended up having the 9th circuit court turnover their ban, and made a ruling that tattoos are now a form of protected speech under the first amendment and studios can not be ordered to close without legitimate health concerns/complaints.  Fast forward to this week and a group of citizens are now trying to push the council to impose strict regulations on the studios which include where they can be located and what hours they can be open.  Rather than lose another law suit, the council rejected the motion.

Despite what residents and the Planning Commission wanted, Hermosa Beach’s City Council refused to impose additional restrictions on tattoo businesses.  The unpopular move was made in order to protect the city from possible future litigation.  When the city lost a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision to a tattoo artist allowing him to open a tattoo shop in Hermosa Beach, city officials were faced with creating zoning for the new businesses. Months later, residents began to react after shops started popping up in town.

At its June 14 meeting, the council heard from representatives for a group of residents called Citizens United, which had filed a lawsuit against the city in hopes of making it restart the zoning processes regarding tattoo shops in Hermosa Beach. Citizens United feels the city did not properly inform residents of zoning changes and said the city should have first consulted the Planning Commission before deciding what regulations to force on incoming tattoo businesses.

City Attorney Michael Jenkins was asked to inform the council of its options, and he said regardless of what the opposition says, any efforts to further restrict tattoo shops could entice legal action by the owners. He explained since tattooing is protected as a freedom of speech, there aren’t any options to impose further restrictions without risking litigation. He also said there is not any proof that real estate values decrease or that crime increases because of nearby tattoo studios.  “If we had documentation … we could rely on it,” Jenkins said. “We don’t have a documented problem.”  Mayor Pro Tem Howard Fishman said the city placed as many restrictions as it could last fall when zoning for the tattoo businesses and said a few more is not worth being sued over.  “We’ve done the best we can. It could subject us to some further litigation,” Fishman said, before making a motion to simply receive and file the Planning Commission’s proposal.

Hopefully this is the last time we hear about Hermosa Beach and it’s hatred towards tattoos.

Ok Aussie readers, you might want to pay attention to this story.  Researchers have discovered that people who get tattooed with Ned Kelly related images are more likely to die a violent death.

The life of outlaw Ned Kelly ended abruptly when he was sent to the gallows for his crimes – and now it appears he is still something of a curse more than 130 years after he went to his grave.  An extraordinary study has found that people with tattoos of the Irish- Australian criminal, who is seen by some as a freedom-fighting folk hero, are more likely to be murdered or kill themselves.

The comparison between murder, suicide and Ned Kelly tattoos was made by Adelaide University Professor Roger Byard.  He began looking into the phenomenon after seeing there were an unusually high number of Kelly tattoos on bodies in the Adelaide mortuary.  Of the 20 men with Ned Kelly tattoos that the professor studied, only three  had died from natural causes – the rest were murdered or killed themselves.  He also found that 11 of the 20 Kelly enthusiasts also had signs of drug and alcohol abuse.  Professor Byard wrote in a paper for the Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine: ‘Although the population studied is highly selected, individuals with these tattoos had an above average incidence of traumatic deaths.  ‘Individuals with Ned Kelly tattoos in this series certainly had an above-average incidence of traumatic deaths compared to other forensic cases.

Please note that engaging in criminal activities like Ned Kelly did can also be a cause of violent death.

Speaking of criminal activities.  I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again.  If you plan on committing a crime.  Make sure you cover up any tattoos that can easily be identified.

Baraboo police are searching for a man with a “Die Pig Die” tattoo on his neck who they say held up a Wells Fargo Bank early Thursday evening with a handgun and drove away in a stolen pickup truck.  Police are looking for Baraboo resident Richard B. Hindes, 31, in connection with the incident. Baraboo Police Department Lt. Rob Sinden said Hindes was identified by the tattoo described by tellers inside the bank.  Sinden added that Baraboo police officers previously had contact with Hindes. He is described as a 31-year-old white man who stands 6-feet-tall and weighs about 190 pounds. The tattoo is on the right side of his neck.

This goes double if you already have a criminal record and the police have documented your tattoos.

Richard there isn’t the only idiot in the news this week.  Who could forget Kimberley Vlaminck, the Belgian girl who got 56 stars tattooed on her face, and then tried to blame the tattoo artist.  It seems she’s finally ready to get them removed, which gives me another chance to post her picture again.  I can’t help but laugh every time I see it.

Belgian Kimberley Vlaminck, 20, told her furious dad tattooist Rouslan Toumaniantz had inked on the extra as she slept.  She said she woke in horror to find the stars spread all across the left side of her face.  Kimberley, then 18, blamed Flemish-speaking Rouslan for not being able to understand her French and English instructions.  She vowed to sue the Romanian after complaining she could not go out on the street looking “like a freak”.  She told reporters: “I explicitly said in my French native tongue, and also in English when he looked confused, that I wanted three little stars only near my left eye.”  She finally confessed she did not fall asleep, that she wanted all the stars and was “fully aware” of what the tattooist was doing a week later.

She told a TV station: “I asked for 56 stars and initially adored them. But when my father saw them, he was furious.  “So I said I fell asleep and that the tattooist made a mistake.”  Shocked Rouslan maintained she had given him explicit instructions at his parlour in Courtrai, Belgium, in June 2009.  He offered to pay for half the removal op when she complained, saying he did not “wish to have an unsatisfied client”. He later retracted the offer.  She will now pay for the surgery herself.

The “I fell asleep” line cracks me up every time.

Finally in news that’s only slightly tattoo related, a new trend is emerging in nightclubs.  It seems that if a guy wants women to know he’s available and looking, he gets a fake tattoo replica of Mike Tyson’s famous tribal.

Mike Tyson’s tattoo, is taking on a life of its own. This famous boxer’s facial tattoo is now considered a “hot new way to woo somebody,” according to the New York Post this morning. While most people, both men and women, are having the Tyson facial tattoo painted on temporarily, it is considered a real attention grabber for the single set.

“It is the No. 1 requested design I get from men of all ages . . . and men definitely use it as a way to attract the opposite sex,” says Prom. The temporary painted on version of the Tyson tattoo was seen Friday night at Coyote Ugly in the East Village, where there seemed to be no shortage of this newest trend. They were actually offering the boxer’s inspired tattoo as a face stamp, at this club. Both men and women were sporting the Tyson tat.

I fully expect everyone attending this year’s BMEFest in Virginia to arrive with a Mike Tyson tattoo.

And that’s it for this week’s news everyone.  As always, be sure to send in those links you find, and have a great weekend.

I’m going to start this week’s news with a story that I’m sure you’ve all heard of by now.  The reason I know most of you have read it?  I received more e-mails about this story than any other one to date.  Heck even Rachel e-mailed me about it.  Then I got an even larger number of e-mails when it was revealed that the entire story was faked.

A video of a woman having her 152 Facebook friends tattooed on her arm has been unmasked as a hoax after it became a viral hit around the world.  A woman in the Netherlands claimed to have created a permanent reminder of all her Facebook friends and posted a video YouTube that got over 1.5 million views.  But the bizarre stunt was revealed to be a fake after the supposed tattoo artist admitted it was just a temporary tattoo.

Lots of news this week, including a couple of follow-ups to previous stories, and the return of the celebrity news (well, maybe just one or two stories).

As I mentioned, today has a number of follow-up stories, and this first one is pretty big.  Over the past year I’ve linked to articles discussing Ariana Iocono.  If you recall, Ariana was the student in North Carolina who was suspended for refusing to remove a small stud from her nose on the grounds that she’s a member of the Church of Body Modification.  This week the school board finally backed off Ariana and allowed her to return to school, piercing and all.  The Washington Post summed up the full series of events, and even talked to one IAM: TrickyDick, about the church and Ariana.

The state chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, which represented Iacono and her mother in the case, said the settlement was a vindication of the family’s right to determine its own religious practice.  “We’ve believed from the beginning that the Constitution protects a parent’s right to direct his or her child’s religious upbringing,” said ACLU Legal Director Katy Parker. “We’re very happy with the settlement.”

Under the terms of the resolution, Iacono can wear the nose stud as long as she remains a member of the Church of Body Modification, a little-known religious group that claims about 3,500 adherents nationwide and considers practices like tattooing and body piercing to be elements of spiritual practice.

The Iaconos and their Raleigh-based minister, Richard Ivey, said part of the problem last fall was that school officials dismissed the Church of Body Modification faith as not a real religion.  “Obviously we’d like them to apologize, but we’ve been tied up in court with this for months now, so quite honestly, we’ll take what we can get,” Ivey said. “This was always about Ariana’s right to go to school and practice her religion, and she’s got both those things now.”

I think it’s great that the ACLU not only got on board with this, but they were able to get a resolution.  Although I’m still puzzled as to how a nostril stud somehow makes it impossible for all the students to learn something.

Last week I linked to a story from Thailand about the government’s plan to ban tourists from getting religious symbols tattooed.  This week a group of tattoo artists went before the cultural ministry and pleaded their case.

The meeting came after Culture Minister Nipit Intarasombat said he would seek to ban Thai tattoo artists from using images sacred to Buddhism or any other religion in their patterns.  The tattoo artists at the meeting said they understood the problem, but urged the government to use persuasion rather than new laws to tackle the problem.  They pointed out that it is not only in Thailand that people can get tattoos featuring religious symbols, so bringing in a law in Thailand to ban such tattoos would not solve the problem of people being offended at seeing the face of the Buddha or Ghanesh tattooed on someone’s body.  They advocated cooperation between tattoo artists and the government as preferable to the imposition of controls.

The assembled tattoo artists agreed to make no religious tattoos lower than the recipient’s waist, and to make sure the customer understands the image’s significance before starting work.  Ministry man Mr Somchai agreed that legislation might not be the answer – though he did not rule it out – but said that the ministry felt it had to discuss the matter with the tattoo artists so that everyone was on the same page.  “A law might be ineffective in stopping this practice, but the artists must be ethical. They must educate their customers and not [tattoo religious images on] improper areas [of the body],” he said.  The tattoo artists also asked that the government provide them with some sort of professional licence to distinguish them from the amateurs. Mr Somchai said, “I accept your proposal and I will discuss it with the relevant authorities in the Ministry of Commerce, Public Health and Culture.”

While these artists are looking to get licensed, artists in Toronto are possibly facing the possibility of being licensed as well.  Normally I only link to one article, but because I know some of the people involved I’ve got a couple of different links for you to check out.  The first link is from the CBC, discussing the potential legislation.

Toronto Health wants to license the city’s spas and tattoo parlours.  Health Canada provides what’s called infection control guidelines and cities have to inspect all spas and tattoo parlours once a year. But outside of these annual inspections, it’s a self-regulating industry and Toronto Public Health has decided that’s not good enough.

Under the proposed licensing rule, studios and parlours would have to be registered before they can open.  Owners would also be required to post the results of their inspections inside the store, as restaurants have to do now.  Proposed licensing rules are welcome news to Ian Nicolae, owner of Black Line studio, a tattoo parlour on King Street West.  “We’ve seen a lot of fly-by-night shops that open up for the busy season such as the summertime,” he told CBC News. “There should be some sort of regulation to filtrate the bad shops from the good.”

Greg Taylor of Lucky 13 tattoos and piercings on Bloor Street said he’s hopeful the new rules are not simply intended to fill the city’s coffers.  “Are they doing it for a money grab? I hope not,” said Greg Taylor. “I hope they care that they want to do this because I think most reputable shops want to do it.”

Now the way the city handles tattoo studios presently is that they’re mandated by Health Canada to meet certain health and safety guidelines.  Each studio that is registered with Health Canada is supposed to receive an annual inspection.  What the proposed legislation does is require studios to pay an annual licensing fee.  That’s it.  Licensed studios won’t receive any further inspections beyond the Health Canada inspections.  Jesse Kline at the National Post summed up a lot of the concerns in this commentary.

Indeed, licensing schemes usually produce negative health and safety outcomes. This is because licensing standards are often arbitrary and give people a false sense of security. They also make it more costly for people to enter the industry legitimately, something we should be trying to make easier while recovering from a recession. The result is that more people end up performing services on the black market to avoid the licensing fees.

Because tattooing equipment can be obtained fairly easily and with relatively little cost, many tattoo artists already perform their craft in basements and garages. But there is a real risk of transmitting infectious diseases if tattooing is performed with unsterilized equipment. It is, therefore, far better to have them done in reputable facilities, rather than driving the industry underground by imposing new fees and standards.

In fact, the only groups that generally benefit from professional licensing are the industries that are being licensed and the governments that are collecting the revenues. Most new licensing programs grandfather existing practitioners and serve to prevent new entrants from competing against them. It is also a nice way to get around the city’s inability to levy taxes on goods and services. “Why, it’s not a tax. It’s a license. And we’re doing it for you.”

Finally an artist I know well, George Brown from Seven Crowns Tattoo, went on CBC radio to discuss the legislation, where he talks about the incident that may have led to this sudden push for licensing, the impact it will have on clean established shots, whether this is just a cash grab by the city, and how this won’t prevent people who are already dodging inspections from being caught.  Personally I agree completely with George in his belief that this may just be a cash grab for the city.  While licensing sounds good on paper, when it comes to implementing it, what will be the conditions to receive a license?  Will artists have to provide portfolios of the quality of their work, or do they simply need to show up and state “I’m a tattoo artist”?  Will the new law increase the number of inspections (something most studios have no problem with), or will it simply be a piece of paper stating they agree to have the already mandated health inspection take place? The thing to take from this is that reputable studios are all for making things safer, they just don’t like the idea of having to pay money when there is no benefit given.

Moving on, a new Guinness record was possibly set earlier in the week.  The record Staysha Randall was aiming to break was the most number of piercings done in one sitting.  With Bill Robinson and SwingShift SideShow’s Jenn O. Cide performing the piercings, they were aiming for 3600 needles, but stopped at 3200 when Staysha finally tapped out.

For this was not the finishing touches of a tattoo for Las Vegas performer Staysha Randall but a bid to break the record for the most body piercings in a single sitting.  Staysha, 22, who performs in shows across the strip, was attempting to have 3 600 piercings in her back, arms and legs but decided enough was enough after 3 200 had been put in at Inktoxicated Tattoos in the Nevada city.  Helping in her bid was body piercer Bill “Danger” Robinson and his piercing assistant “Jenn O Cide”. The record attempt is still awaiting confirmation by the Guinness Book of Records before it becomes official.

Coincidentally (well probably not) this week was also the annual APP convention.  I’m sure the stories of debauchery are already making the rounds, as are photos of the convention making their way to the BME Galleries, but for today we look at things through the lens of the mainstream with this article from the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

But for many of the exhibitors at the annual Association of Professional Piercers conference at Bally’s, terms such as “upscale,” “mainstream” and even “organic” punctuated the sales pitches more often than “extreme.” The conference, with about 900 attendees, focuses many of its seminars on health issues, but also covers business issues.  The market for body jewelry has now matured to the point where vendors find a significant demand for $150 hand-carved wooden gauges — large discs used to stretch holes in the ear lobes — instead of just plain metal rings that go for $30. Other types of body jewelry have followed the trend.

Although the show focused on body piercings rather than tattoos, the two are almost synonymous to many consumers, an exhibitor said.  The sector has also started to follow the classic path of pushing up a product’s price by added aesthetics instead of just remaining plain and functional, said Sim.  Further, some of the people who started decorating themselves when they were young are now sprouting gray hair.  “The whole business has changed in the last 10 years,” said Scott Collins, who started Body Gems in Feasterville, Penn., in 1994 and has turned the business over to son, Josh.

While Vegas was a party city this week, over in the UK things were definitely not in a celebratory mood for Mike Prentice, owner of Andy Jay Tattoo Studio in Rochester.  Understandably so, as an online rumor is threatening his entire business.

A tattooist fears his business could be ruined by a smear campaign wrongly accusing his studio of infecting more than 100 people with HIV.  Worried customers of Rochester’s Andy Jay Tattoo Studios have been rushing for emergency tests at Medway Maritime Hospital as malicious rumours spread like wildfire across the Towns.  Owner Mike Prentice said trade has already begun to suffer, with people boycotting his High Street business all week.

It is not clear who started the rumours, but they appear to have begun on social networking site Facebook with claims someone working at the studio had been jailed for 10 years for infecting 102 people with HIV.  Frantic customers have prompted environmental health officers at Medway Council to issue a reassurance the rumours are false.

A Medway Council spokesman refused to comment to the Messenger, but customer service staff were freely issuing the denial to customers.  One told a Messenger reporter posing as a customer: “The rumours are competely untrue.  “We are investigating how they started, but it is safe to go to this tattooist.”

In tech news, a recent invention could change the way people see tongue studs permanently.

Researchers have tested a tongue piercing that’ll allow paralyzed people to steer their wheelchairs in any direction. All they have to do is move their tongue a specific direction and the wheelchair will follow.  The tongue piercing initiative is being run by the Northwestern University School of Medicine and they pierced the tongue of Martin Mireles, a former church youth leader who got shot in the neck. He was able to navigate his wheelchair through an obstacle course with his mouth closed (and his tongue waggling around, of course).

Basically Mireles was pierced with a magnetic stud through his tongue. In order to make the wheelchair move, he had to wear a headset with sensors that could pick up the magnetic waves from the tongue ring. To go forward, he would move his tongue to the upper left corner of his mouth. Easy enough.  Why a tongue ring? Because researcher says the tongue doesn’t tire easily and is usually not affected by a spinal cord injury because its connected to the brain through the cranial nerve. And the tongue ring is more effective than when they glued a magnet to a test subject’s tongue (which would eventually fall off). In the future, they imagine this technology could be implemented to differentiate each task by touch of a tooth. One tooth could mean opening a door, other could mean flipping on the TV.

It makes one wonder what other body modifications could be adapted in a similar manner.  Now raise your hand if you instantly thought of something genital related.

Over in China, suspensions are making headlines after an artist named Nutter held an outdoor suspension and published a video online.

A controversial body-modification process that appeared in Chengdu’s Sansheng Xiang on 14 May shocked onlookers, who described it as ‘offensive’, ‘disgusting’, ‘sick’ and ‘perverted’.  The process, called “body-piercing suspension,” involves suspending participants in mid-air with metal hooks pierced through their skin. Chengdu Economic Daily got up close with the operator and participants to find out more about their personal lives and inner thoughts.

He had been invited to Chongqing and Chengdu by local tattoo parlors which arranged the event and the venues. Then he posted the call for participants and onlookers online. Those who are willing to be hanged do not have to fork out a single cent for the service. But audience members paid RMB40 each. He said there were about 50 people watching in both cities respectively.  However, the piercer does not see body suspension as a commercial venture, because he did not make any monetary gain after deducting expenses for medical equipment, travel and other costs.  Nutter did not inform any media although they always manage to track him online. In response to comments that the activity is ‘sick’ and ‘perverted’, Nutter feels that body modification and body suspension are not meant for everybody. However, he asserts that participants are willing and have thought through their decisions and are exercising their rights over their own bodies.

The article does spend a lot of time focusing on the families of Nutter and the girls who suspended, but they do get bonus points for actually doing research on suspension.org.

In wedding news, Elaine Davidson, whom many know simply as the world’s most pierced woman (I’m guessing they don’t count Staysha’s play piercings) got married this week in Scotland.

Deemed as the “world’s most pierced woman,” Elaine Davidson married Douglas Watson, a conservatively-dressed, piercing-free civil servant, at a low-key wedding ceremony in Scotland, the Telegraph is reporting. The Brazilian-born Davidson, 46, opted for a flowing white dress and floral tiara, but offset the traditional look by painting her face — already studded with 192 piercings — green, blue and yellow.  At a recent count, Davidson, who lives and works in Edinburgh, had 6,925 piercings, included 1,500 that are “internal,” according to the Daily Mail. Despite his bride’s unconventional look and lifestyle, Watson, 60, couldn’t help but gush after the 35-minute ceremony. “Elaine looked astonishing,” he said. “People see the piercings, but I see the amazing personality underneath. We have known each other for a long time.”  Davidson was reportedly first certified as a Guinness World Record holder in 2000, when she had only 462 piercings. According to her website, Davidson never removes the rings and studs, which she estimates weigh a total of three kilos, and insists she is able to sleep soundly with all of her piercings in place as there is no pain involved.

Now that The Hangover: Part 2 has been in theatres for a while, the lawsuit against the studio is moving forward.  Warner Brothers, the studio behind the film, may be in the process of conceding the case by digitally altering Ed Helms’ tattoo for the dvd release.

Warner Bros. has told a Missouri judge that if it can’t resolve the ongoing legal fracas over the tattoo on display in the mega-grossing comedy by the time it comes out on home video, the studio will digitally alter the controversial mark on Helms’ face.  As you’ll recall, Warners was sued by a Missouri tattoo artist who claims he owns a copyright on the unique tattoo worn by former boxer Mike Tyson and Helms in Hangover II. The tattoo’s owner, S. Victor Whitmill, attempted to stop the film’s release but was denied a preliminary injunction. Hangover II has since grossed $350 million worldwide and counting.

The ongoing debate regarding this story is a combination of who owns the rights to the tattoo, and whether the use of the tattoo in the film constitutes “fair use” as it is a parody.  With a February court date, it may still be a while before we finally get an answer.  Unless of course the studio settles out of court.

Finally, as you may recall a few months back I mentioned that actress Rooney Mara, in preparation for her role in the American remake of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, got several piercings, including her nipples.  With this week’s release of the international movie poster, it turns out that the story was true.

Good for her.  She could have taken the easy route and just used make-up and fake piercings, but for her to go and actually get pierced means she’s taking the project very seriously, which is never a bad thing.

Now if you were looking for more celebrity news, well, that’s it.  Ok, so maybe Bieber got his ears pierced and Chris Brown got a smiley face tattoo, but I couldn’t even stomach clicking the links, let alone reading them, so you’ll just have to take my word on it.

And that’s it for this week’s news.  Keep on sending me those links, either by clicking here, or sending me an e-mail.  Have a great weekend everyone.

Apologies for the late news post today.  I’m currently in northern Ontario on an island looking out over a beautiful lake, and as you can imagine, the internet is a little sketchy.  But even that won’t stop me from getting this week’s news to you.

Today’s first story is pretty old, but I don’t remember reporting on it, and given the recent attention to the woman giving her child botox, this seemed pretty relevant.

A Teenage girl who dreams of a show business career has undergone radical beauty treatment and had make-up tattooed on her face.

Sophie Watson has followed in the footsteps of popstar and model idols such as Jordan by having semi-permanent make-up applied.

The 14-year-old’s tattooed eyeliner, eyebrows, lip liner and fake beauty spot will last for up to five years.

I’m just wondering who convinced the mother that a tattoo would disappear in 5 years.  I know cosmetic inks are slightly different than traditional tattoo inks, but the last time I checked they still were permanent.

Still more news to come, so keep on reading.

With The Hangover Part 2 in theatres right now, a lot of people are thinking about taking a vacation in Thailand.  Of course with a lot of people going, there is bound to be a couple of people who want to get some kind of tattoo.  Well, the government is considering a law that will limit the options of tattoos that tourists can get.

Thailand has ordered a crackdown on foreign tourists having religious images tattooed on their bodies while visiting the kingdom.  Tattoos with images such as of the Buddha may offend Thai people, Culture Minister Nipit Intarasombat was quoted as telling reporters.  He said his ministry had asked regional governors, particularly in tourist hotspots, to inspect tattoo studios and ask them not to use religious patterns, according to the state-run National News Bureau.  It said he would push for a law banning people from etching sacred images onto their skin.

However, these laws would only apply to tourists, as Yantra tattooing will still be practiced.  If you’re not familiar with this form of sacred tattooing, Pattaya Daily News has a great article on the history and meanings behind this style of tattoos.

Yantra Tattooing or also known as Sak Yant is a form of sacred tattooing commonly practised in Thailand. The tattoos are associated with animist beliefs which were popular in Thailand before the arrival of Buddhism. Sak Yant dates back to Angkor times and the art is greatly influenced by Khmer culture. In fact the blessings are written in a Khmer script called Khom. Sak Yant designs are normally tattooed by Maw Pii or spiritual doctors and Buddhist monks.

Meanwhile, in South Korea, tattoos are steadily increasing in popularity and are becoming more acceptable by the mainstream.

More people in South Korea these days are not ashamed to show a little skin – and ink.  The country now has its own annual tattoo convention, which attracts artists from neighboring Japan and the United States.   But anyone using needles to penetrate the skin is supposed to be a licensed medical doctor – credentials in short supply at this event and in the thousands of tattoo parlors across the country.

One of the organizers of Ink Bomb 2011, who goes by the professional name of Sun Rat, acknowledges body artists here maintain a low profile to avoid possible fines of up to $10,000.   “Massage and tattoo parlors are illegal here, but our goal is to have the tattoo industry become something that is viewed a part of legitimate culture,” he said.

Moving on, we have a couple of stories out of Europe this week, including one that will potentially affect thousands of people.  First, a local councilman in Austria may be facing jail time based on a tattoo that someone glimpsed at a meeting.

The tattoo reads “Blut und Ehre” — translated into English as “Blood and Honor, the slogan and motto of the Hitler Youth — and is inked on Leitmann’s upper arm.   Local Ebenthal politicians first saw the tattoo at a council meeting last week when Leitmann wore a short-sleeved shirt, the Austrian Independent newspaper reported.  Even if he removes it, Leitmann could still face jail time or fines under Austria’s federal anti-Nazi mind-set law, regarded as one of the strictest in the world.

He’s now in a situation where he needs to convince people that he didn’t know the meaning of the tattoo.  I’m not sure of Austria’s stance on the swastika, which we all know was perverted into a Nazi symbol, but it appears that they are extremely strict on any other potential reference.

Over in Sweden, the rules for potential blood donors have changed, and with the new stricter rules, a large number of people may not be eligible to give blood.  (The following quote was translated via Google, so don’t blame me if there are any words wrong).

The rules for blood donors has been strengthened. Since last Wednesday, the blood donors, including not having sex with someone who pierced or tattooed themselves over the last year, reports the SVT’s Report.  It is an adaptation to EU rules on donations and regulations is to protect patients in need of blood, primarily from jaundice.  Blood centers fear that the new rules will lead to fewer blood donors and make it more difficult to recruit young people

The basic rule is that if you have had sex with someone who has been tattooed or pierced in the past 365, you become ineligible to donate blood.  While this does go along the lines with other EU countries, if you recall, Australia changed their rules in the past year to make it easier for tattooed individuals to donate.

Heading back stateside, survivors of the Joplin tornado have been having difficulties getting the remains of their loved ones released from authorities.  This week policies have been relaxed to allow for identification by tattoos and piercings, which will hopefully allow families to move forward.

A Newton County, Missouri, official said authorities would begin streamlining the process of identifying bodies Saturday in Joplin in the aftermath of a killer tornado.  “The decision was made that if a person can make a positive ID, let’s say for instance … piercings or tattoos,” said Mark Bridges of the Newton County, Missouri, coroner’s office, ”[Saturday] we’re gonna start the process of allowing those people to view the bodies of the loved ones.”

“We’re going to go ahead and start releasing those bodies,” he said.  Already frayed nerves reached a boiling point Friday in Joplin, Missouri, as families trying to retrieve their dead loved ones were stalled by cautious medical examiners meticulously trying to sort remains.

In more positive news, new metal detectors are starting to be installed in hospitals to reduce the number of MRI related injuries.

“If you have any jewelry or any piercings or anything on your body, that’s what they want you to take off,” said patient Gabriel Diaz who was having an MRI on his head.  If something metal were left on a person, “there’s a lot of tugging that would occur,” explained University Hospital’s director of radiology Rick Pena. “And it actually could come loose and becomes a projectile much like a bullet.”  University is the first hospital in Texas to install sophisticated new detectors with lights and sounds to indicate when a patient or staff member or visitor is approaching a restricted area with anything metal.

I personally haven’t had the pleasure of getting MRI’d with metal in my body, but I’m sure there are some readers out there with stories to share.

The Ohio State football team is currently under investigation regarding allegations of bribery and using team memorabilia to pay for tattoos.

A woman said on Monday that that she saw several Ohio State football players at a Columbus tattoo parlor at the center of an NCAA investigation that led to the resignation of coach Jim Tressel.

She claimed that she saw quarterback Terrelle Pryor and others getting their tattoos.  The woman took pictures, including a picture of an autographed football that she said somebody close to the tattoo shop told her that players had just traded for body art.  “They had (the autographed football) given to him (and) said they had given it to him earlier in the day,” the woman said.  “They got the football for tattoos.  I wish I had a football to give them.”  The deal allegedly came long after Tressel knew of the problem.  Columbus attorney and former Ohio State player Chris Cicero e-mailed Tressel about similar problems in April 2010.

he woman claimed that he told her the shop had even received tickets to Ohio State’s January Sugar Bowl game against Arkansas.  “I asked them, ‘Where did you guys get the tickets?  How did you get the tickets?’ she said.  “And he said, ‘It’s the family members of the players felt they couldn’t win the game and some of the family members couldn’t afford to travel there and stay there and so some of family had given the tickets to the people at the tattoo shop.’”

Note to self:  When engaging in activities that could potentially cost me my position on a football team, make sure that you don’t tell a stranger about it and allow them to take pictures.

Finally we’re going to end this week with an announcement that all those crazy kids in Vegas for APP should pay attention to.  SwingShift SideShow, CoRE, and cEvin Key will be performing June 8th at The House of Blues!  Even if you’re not in town, try to get yourself to Vegas as this is one show you won’t want to miss out on.  Having had the chance to meet the SwingShift gang at SusCon, and seeing them perform, I can tell you that if you ever get a chance to see them, do it!

On top of that, CoRE is celebrating their 10 year anniversary in the only way they know how, by hanging people from hooks!  Plus, they’ve got Hilary from Operafication performing with them, which means you’re in for a real treat.

You can check out the rest of the details on the event’s facebook page.

And with that, we’re done for the week.  Now if you’ll excuse me, the lake is calling me.