BME: Body Modification Ezine

A tattooed person suspends from hooks, laying flat, one leg higher than the other. Their head is back, and they seem to be smiling, dark hair dangling like an anime character.

Celebrating body modification culture since 1994.

Author: Rob

  • Back to school!

    Written by

    Rob

    Well modified parents, it’s about that time of year when you can finally celebrate.  In a few short weeks, the youngsters will be heading back to school, letting you call in sick to work and enjoy a silent few hours at home before the bell rings.

    But before the quiet can settle in, there still is the matter of the dreaded back to school shopping.  Things have changed over the years when it comes to shopping for the little (and not-so little) ones.  Many moons ago, parents would help the kids pick up supplies; pens, notebooks, backpacks, etc., and probably pick up a new outfit or two for the first day of school.  Nowadays, things are a little different.

    In a recent American Express survey, notebooks and clothes are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to fall spending.

    schoolbus

    Clothing, shoes and school supplies were the top three categories, making the shopping lists of more than 80 percent of consumers. Other popular categories include books (43 percent), sports equipment (24 percent) and healthcare (23 percent).

    But parents also had some more discretionary purchases in mind, with nearly half saying they planned to spend on cosmetic services for their kids. Of that group, respondents were divided among manicures and pedicures (24 percent), teeth whitening (18 percent), spa services (12 percent), waxing (11 percent) and tattoos (9 percent).

    Yep, you read that right.  9 percent of the people polled in the survey had planned in their budget a new tattoo for their offspring.  I know that for years now body modifications have been becoming more and more acceptable in mainstream society, and you can call me old fashioned, but I think I would probably not give my kids money for a tattoo if the only justification was that it was to show off for the new school year.

    So ModBlog reader, what are your thoughts?  Would you get your children a new mod for the first day of school, or would you rather spend the money on something banal, like spa services and teeth whitening?  Actually come to think of it, I’d probably be a little creeped out if my kids asked me for money to get waxed before hopping on the bus.

  • Come sail away..

    Written by

    Rob

    Browsing the newest images uploaded to BME is always a treat.  Especially when I get to see a new piece uploaded by Fabrizio Divari.

    sailaway

    Looking through his gallery on BME you’ll find quite a few pieces like this.  The coloring of the sky and ocean looks painted on, rather than tattooed, and the detail in the ship’s rigging is incredible.  I’m actually at a bit of a loss for words when looking at it, it’s that beautiful.

    Keep submitting those photos ModBlog readers, there’s a lot of wonderful work out there that I’d love to see shared with the world.

  • ,

    Upcoming events in a galaxy far, far away

    Written by

    Rob

    So let me tell you a little story.  I enjoy Star Wars, as a great many others do.  Now, I’m not exactly a poster child for fandom, but I enjoy the films and can geek out with the best of them when I see a Star Wars reference pop up unexpectedly in an image or film.  It should come as no surprise that I have friends who also enjoy the films, some of whom are a little more dedicated to the fandom than I am.

    Now, with all that being said, something strange has been happening to me the past couple of weeks.  Artists that I know seemed to be focusing on Star Wars quite a bit.  Lots of images popping up, discussions being held, references being made, etc.  I don’t know if it was my subconscious picking up on things that always seemed to be there, or if it was something else.

    It turns out it was something else.

    I was visiting my artist, Rev. Matt Ellis, a few month ago and he mentioned that he was working on a Star Wars skateboard as a piece for a show.  I didn’t think too much of it, as he’s always working on something.  When he finally finished the board, he posted an image of it on facebook, and needless to say it was awesome.

    esb-mattellis1

    After that, I also was hearing complaints from the lovely Lexci Million that her partner in crime was spending all his time drawing Star Wars images.  At the time they had just gotten a new TV so I figured he’d just been watching the movies a lot.

    So this week, when I was looking for some upcoming events, I came across an article about Celebration V.  For those that aren’t at one with the force, the Celebration events are pretty much Mecca for hardcore Star Wars nerds.  It turns out this year, in addition to all the major events of the weekend, there will also be a tattoo pavilion featuring a skateboard art show.  Yep, while reading the article I found the exact same image that had appeared on my facebook page not 2 weeks ago.

    The skateboard art is just one event going on in the pavilion.  Over the course of the weekend, there will be a tattoo competition, a gallery of Star Wars tattoo art, live art competitions between artists, and of course, a large number of tattoo artists on hand who will be available all weekend to get work done.

    To find out more about the pavilion, as well as what artists will be featured there, head on over to theforce.net to get all the information.

    Now if you live on the other side of the planet and can’t make it to California for the nerd gala, you may want to think about heading over to Doncaster in the UK.  This weekend is the annual Tattoo Jam, and the goal this year is to set the Guinness record for most people tattooed simultaneously.

    Currently the record for the most people tattooed simultaneously stands at 178, set last year at The London Tattoo Convention.   But Tattoo Jam has lined up more than 300 artists from around the world who will all be in action at 2pm on Saturday in an attempt to set the new record for more than 300 people.
    Organisers are appealing for 13 members of the public to act as stewards for the occasion and ensure the event runs smoothly.  Volunteers must be available to be at Doncaster Racecourse from noon on Saturday.  Everyone who helps out will receive a memorabilia T-shirt and certificate to mark the occasion.

    There will also be the chance for Doncaster residents to become part of the record bid by going under the needle as part of the attempt.
    Anyone interested must make a 2pm booking – either in advance of the event or early on the same day.

    So if you’re in the neighborhood and you want to get your name in the big book of records, just swing by Doncaster and you’ll have the chance to do it.

    Have any events coming up?  Send me an e-mail so I can put the word out.

  • Toronto: The Vinaayagar Chariot Festival

    Written by

    Rob

    I’m a big fan of my hometown.  Those of us that live in Toronto will probably tell you the same.  While the rest of the country gives us grief for calling ourselves the center of the universe, we just go on about day with the knowledge that if something awesome is going to happen, it will be in Toronto.

    Last week, a Toronto Star photographer took a series of photos at the Vinaayager Chariot Festival.  An annual event at the Sri Varasiththi Vinaayagar Hindu Temple, located just north of the city.  While major events such as Pride and Caribana get a lot of press coverage, it’s great to see that our city has more than just the major events going for it.

    Now you may be asking yourself, why is Rob talking about this on ModBlog?  Well the answer is fairly simple.  Part of the festivities include ritual piercings and suspensions.  I’ll let some of the photos explain for me.

    festival1

    festival3

    festival2

    You can see the rest of the images from the festival over at the Toronto Star

  • ModBlog News of the week: August 3rd, 2010

    Written by

    Rob

    If you recall, last week’s news was fairly long, so this week will be just a short update.  I want to start off this week with an e-mail I received from Scott at Inkfliction Tattoo in Sioux City.  As you may recall, a few months ago I posted a story about Scott’s studio running a charity tattoo drive to raise money for cancer research.  Here’s what Scott had to say about it:

    hey rob, this is scott magnetti, owner of inkfliction tattoo in sioux city iowa….1st of all i would like to say thanks for the article…we had an amazing amount of support not only from that article, but from the entire Siouxland community…we did that event as a way to raise awareness for cancer..its a disease that is non discriminatory..it affects women, men, children, etc…when we were approached to see if there was a way we could help, we new we could do something special. Kevin, ( my business partner) and myself were extremely busy that month…we set our goal at 1000.. not only did we hit our goal, we raised close to 8000…we did that at 25 dollar tattoos( cancer ribbons in any color), as well as a walk that we participated in at 35 dollars a person…we cannot say thank you enough to everyone that helped making this event a huge success…and the money raised went to some very worth while org….once again i would like to say thank you and from the crew here at Inkfliction, we deeply appreciate not only what you did for us but what everyone did…we look forward to 2011 so we can do this event again

    So a big thanks to all the ModBlog readers who helped spread the word about this event to make it as successful as it was.  If you know of any mod-related charity events going on, please submit them, so we can get the word out to those who may not know about it. Speaking of charity events, Twiztid Ink in Alvarado TX is holding it’s quarterly clothing drive next month.

    The shop owner, addressed only by Twiztid, said he is holding his quarterly gathering giving back to the community.  His latest event, Twiztid Ink Coverage, is a clothing drive that will be open to anyone who wants to join him bringing housecoat-style robes, slippers, socks or other clothing items on a trip to Alvarado’s Nursing Home. Twiztid said the facility is home to about 100 residents with about 60 being women and 40 men for whom he would like to offer the clothing. The Twiztid Ink Coverage clothing drive Saturday, September 4 begins at 9 a.m. with donuts and coffee at the meeting place. Patrons are invited to join in the ride at 10 a.m. and deliver new or gently used, cleaned clothing for Alvarado seniors at Alvarado Nursing Home 101 N. Parkway. Following the delivery, everyone is invited to spend a few minutes or a few hours sharing stories with seniors.

    Not only is Twiztid helping out the nursing home by bringing the clothing, he’s encouraging participants to come along for the drop off and spend some time with the seniors.  My grandmother, before she passed, was in a nursing home for a couple of years, and I know the highlight of any day would be getting a visitor. Now, in something completely unrelated, take a look at this find sent in by quinnnchick:

    1905transdermal

    To find out the rest of the story, continue reading The article above, and the rest of it which you can find right here, is from the LA Times in 1905.  It turns out a man had gotten a doctor to implant a bar into his scalp, to which he could affix horns, as well as replace two of his teeth with caps that allowed for tusks to be fitted in.  I’ve always thought that sideshow workers had an affinity with the modded community, I just didn’t realize that transdermals were an option back then. To go back even further in time, scientists are realizing that the Nacurrie skeleton, discovered in 1948, may very well be the first documented occurrence of skull manipulation.

    The shape of his cranium suggests Aborigines practised body modification, manipulating the contour of the skull, he said.  The skeleton of Nacurrie suggests his skull shape was modified by subtle means, probably by massage from his mother’s hands. Several other skeletons found in the Murray-Darling area also had modified skulls.  Cranium manipulation has been common throughout different cultures. By some reports, it was the most popular type of body modification after circumcision, said Professor Brown, whose findings are published in the Journal of Human Evolution.

    As interesting as this is, I wonder how accepted this practice would be in today’s westernized world.  I’m sure Conehead fanatics would be ecstatic about this.  There are still Conehead fans out there right? While we’re on the subject of fanatics, I happen to know a couple of people who are very dedicated to their LEGO collections.  I’m sure they’ll get a kick out of this next story.

    Lego

    A Lego person is a couple of inches tall on a good day, so it’s not exactly easy to draw a dragon, skull, or Harley Davidson logo on the arm of one. Seemingly, that’s just what Barcelona’s Grey advertising agency did to promote a line of Pilot’s extra-fine tipped pens.

    Now I’m not a LEGO collector by any means, but if I saw these guys on the shelf, I’d be sure to pick them up.  Too bad they’re probably just a clever photoshop.

    This next story was submitted by AmberLilith, and it surrounds a somewhat troubling situation in the UK.  I say troubling because I know that there is a community built around DIY modifications.  I would definitely be interested in hearing their thoughts on a potential ban on DIY tattoo kits being sold online.

    “The sale of tattoo equipment online is not regulated in any way, and well known internet auction sites, who are not prepared to sell items such as knives, are prepared to ignore the welfare of people and the risk of spreading diseases.  These results are a big burden to those who do everything they can, to work in a safe and hygienic environment and in accordance with local health and safety laws.”

    In addition to the kits being sold to unlicensed individuals (who go on to tattoo others), the kits don’t contain any form of instructions, or directions on proper sterilization.  There actually isn’t even any proof given that the materials have been sterilized prior to being shipped.  I’d like to believe that the people buying these kits will do research into safe practices, but with so much bad information floating around the internet, I’m a little worried that I’m going to be posting a story soon about an outbreak of hep from someone who didn’t bother to sterilize their equipment.

    Well, that’s it for this week (I warned you it would be a short week), but I’ve got some great stories to feature later in the week so look forward to those.

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