I was thrilled to find out I would have the opportunity to review the newest tattoo book on the market, Black and Grey Tattoo: From Street Art to Fine Art by our old friend Marisa Kakoulas (who wrote Legal Link for BME) and co-authored with Edgar Hoill. I’ll admit, I was also a little nervous, after all, Marisa is a friend and what would I say if the book wasn’t up to snuff? All those worries went out the window when I finally got my hands on it.

This is actually a three volume set and to my knowledge the first multi-volume set featuring the work of some of the world’s greatest tattoo artists. From street art to fine art indeed, the range and diversity of the work is amazing and the talent is unquestionable.

Read on for my review!

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October is just about over, but there’s still time for one last edition of the ModBlog News of the Week for the month.  Before we get started, I just wanted to thank everyone who sent in stories this week, Taylor, Christian, Lauranomaly, Botexty, and Nexizydrate to name a few.  Submitting an article is easy, all you have to do is click here and fill out the boxes.

The first story today was submitted about 10 times, so there way no way it wouldn’t kick off the news of the week.

I’m sure most tattooed people, as well as artists, have joked around about getting tattooed with a penis instead of the intended design.  It’s that running gag that nobody ever acts on.  Until now.

Police allege the man, who was not a professional tattooist, talked his friend into having the tattoo while the friend was visiting him at home.  After the 25-year-old victim got home, he was horrified to discover the tattoo was far from what he expected.  Instead of a Yin and Yang symbol with some dragons, the tattoo featured a 40cm-long image of a penis and a slogan implying he was gay. He contacted police and they charged the 21-year-old Bundamba man with assault occasioning bodily harm.

I looked everywhere for an image of the tattoo, but it seems that most mainstream news sources have some policy against posting pictures of dicks.  How lame is that?  But wait, the story gets better.

Police allege the tattooing followed a disagreement between the pair that culminated with the Bundamba man taking offence at something the victim said.  Ipswich CIB Detective Constable Paul Malcolm said the victim was extremely upset.  “Apparently he went round to the other bloke’s house and somehow in the course of the conversation the subject of tattoos came up,” Const Malcolm said.  ”The victim wasn’t interested at first but he was talked into it and he said he wanted a Yin and Yang symbol with some dragons.  He rolled him on to his stomach and the bloke started doing the tattoo and there was another bloke standing there watching saying, ‘Mate, it’s looking really good’.  He was told not to go out into the sun and not to show anyone for a few weeks.  When he got home he showed it to the person he lives with and she said: ‘I don’t think it’s the tattoo you were after’.”

To add insult to injury, he was allegedly punched and thrown out of the Bundamba man’s house after he was tattooed.

So, to get this straight, after getting into a fight with someone, this man was then talked into getting tattooed by the same guy.  I’m willing to put money that alcohol was somehow involved in this situation.

Next up, and in a completely unrelated story, PerthNow.com.au has an excellent photo gallery of the recent Phuket Vegetarian Festival.  It’s absolutely worth checking out.

A devotee of the Chinese shrine of Sapam, pierces his cheeks with swords during the Phuket Vegetarian Festival on October 10, 2010 in Phuket, Thailand. (Getty Images)

We’re just getting started, so kick back and relax, and keep on reading.

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Today’s final Halloween inspired post is again brought to you by Jamie Henderson from Forsaken Ink in Bloomingburg, NY.

Of all the Universal monsters, I’d have to say the Wolfman is probably my favorite.  Simply because before Lon Chaney Jr. donned the costume, there were only a handful of werewolf films made.  Following the film The Wolfman, the genre exploded, and kids were given the idea for a Halloween costume that is still popular to this day.

Come Monday morning, Halloween will be over, but that doesn’t mean the pictures will stop.  Remember to break out those cameras and send in your pictures.  The only thing better than costumed people, is modified costumed people.

Next up in today’s Halloween themed trio of posts is this portrait sent in by InkEverything.

10 points if you can name where the image comes from.

Well seeing as how Halloween is only a couple of days away, it only makes sense to check out some horror film inspired tattoos.

Picture in your mind a chainsaw.  Hear the sound of it running, smell the fumes coming off of it.  Now picture someone holding it.  Who did you imagine was holding it?  A lumberjack?  Or was it this guy?

This Leatherface tattoo was sent in by the artist, Jamie Henderson from Forsaken Ink in Bloomingburg, NY.  You can check out more of Jamie’s work in the portrait tattoo gallery.

This week’s follow-up is a bit of a bloody affair.  For the most part, the Friday Follow-ups have focused on flesh removal scarification.  This week’s scar is the seldom seen dermabrasion scarification (more info).  For all of you who get a little squeamish at the thought of cutting off your skin, imagine having a dremal tool grind away at your flesh.  Now it should go without saying, but I’ll say it anyway, this type of scarification is rare for a reason.  The risks of spreading any blood borne pathogen are extremely high due to the nature of the procedure.  To give you an idea, just think of how much sawdust is kicked up when someone is sanding a piece of wood.  Now replace the sawdust with blood.

Now with that all said, lets take a look at this week’s scar sent in by Brian Wood from Golden Spiral Studio in Greensboro, NC.

To see how it healed up, keep on reading.

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It’s not uncommon for a photo to be posted on ModBlog with only the bare minimum of details provided.  As much as the writers here try to get information, sometimes it just isn’t possible.  Thankfully there are readers like IAM:Trinket. who not only submit images to BME, but also stories.  Now you may remember Trinket. from a few months back when her boyfriend proposed to her during a chest pull.  This time around Trinket. is sharing the story behind her recent lotus suspension.

Keep reading to hear Trinket.’s story.

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The headline for almost every paper across the globe is “BMEGirls are awesome!”  Who are we to argue with the news.

This is just one of many photos sent in by the crew down at Studio Evolve Tattoo in Virginia Beach.  Tanane Whitfield is the artist behind the tattoos, while Chuck Long did the photography.

When I started piercing, I would often make definitive  statements such as “that will NEVER heal” referring to certain piercings or tattoos. Like the lady who had a cbr pierced right in her forehead that I met at a tattoo convention. It wanted to stick out, so she had glued the bead of it to her forehead with super glue………….The next year, I saw her and holy monkey turds Batman it had healed perfectly!

I have seen countless examples of ridiculous things heal since then, so now I tend to use phrases like “that has ALMOST no chance of healing”, because I have seen the “impossible” prove to be possible many, many times now.

When I first posted this tattoo last June, lot’s of commenters said it would NEVER heal. Well here it is,  several months later and while it has faded a bit, I would still consider it a huge success as far as palm tattoos go.

Oh mercy me, does Mercy_me have some kickass chops.  Oh, and I think he has some stretched lobes as well.

Remember boys and girls.  Movember (or No-shave November) is just around the corner.  Get those mustache and beard pics in!