The Hidden Paths That Run


And finally, let’s shut it down for the night with this offering by the Owl God-summoning Anji Marth, who tattooed this while at High Priestess Corvallis in Corvallis, Oregon. In addition to being some of the nicer, more original script we’ve seen in a while, this is also delightfully nerdy and, to top it off, there appears to be a kilt involved. Awesome? Awesome. The tattoo itself is the text of The Road Goes Ever On and On, written by none other than J.R.R. Tolkien and, while it was published in various forms throughout his novels, the one committed to skin up there is from The Hobbit. In case you can’t make it all out:

Roads go ever ever on,
Over rock and under tree,
By caves where never sun has shone,
By streams that never find the sea;
Over snow by winter sown,
And through the merry flowers of June,
Over grass and over stone,
And under mountains of the moon.

Roads go ever ever on
Under cloud and under star,
Yet feet that wandering have gone
Turn at last to home afar.
Eyes that fire and sword have seen
And horror in the halls of stone
Look at last on meadows green
And trees and hills they long have known.

We’ll see you tomorrow, folks.

See more in Lettering Tattoos (Tattoos)

This Week in BME


And finally, folks, let’s conclude our week with the lovely Candace, who seems to have misplaced her top. Ha ha, klutz. Luckily, this gives us a nice vantage point from which to view her in-progress sleeve by Toronto’s own Derek Lewis. After the jump, our hero puts some damn clothes on.

And that’s the week, folks! What did we grudgingly accomplish post-Labor Day?

An anonymous benefactor arrived sporting some pretty fantastic implants.

This suspension was so nice, we would have liked to frame it. We were beaten to it.

Danae + leather pants = welcome to ModBlog!

Can you think of a better place to keep your various flora?

Oh hey there is a big sale going on at BME Shop right now go buy lots of stuff please.

We were a little jealous of Anna’s bowl, not gonna lie.

Do not anger the Angry Owl God.

We may be around over the weekend, especially if all goes well and we’re able to post a wonderful and hilarious interview that we think you folks will really love. Either way, Monday morning, we gas this baby back up and get back to the usual grind. Until then, have fun, stay safe and, of course, thank you for your continued support of BME. Enjoy the weekend, folks.

BME Shop is having a huge sale — everything in the store (except anesthetics) is 25% off! Go stock up at shop.BMEzine.com before this deal ends!

Here Comes the Water


Hey, look, we make the occasional good-natured joke about the Angry Owl God, but it is never, ever with any malice. You know why? This. This is why. Do you have any idea the damage that can be done, the havoc that can be wreaked with just that umbrella? It is a vengeful creature, this god, in whose image we were not created, and for that, we are resented. Tread lightly. Hopefully, it will be appeased by being represented in such an excellent tattoo, complete with what could perhaps be a reference to Tool’s best song right above.

(Spotted owl tattoo done by Anji Marth of High Priestess in Eugene, Oregon, while at the Seattle Tattoo Convention.)

BME Shop is having a huge sale — everything in the store (except anesthetics) is 25% off! Go stock up at shop.BMEzine.com before this deal ends!

This Week in BME


Oh sweet holy shit. This is just…my God, man. The work (by Dustin Gray at AAA Tattoo in Rogers, Arkansas) is excellent—top o’ the scalp isn’t always an easy spot to get right—but this is about as terrifying as one could hope for. This gentleman has tried to grow his hair back, but this tattoo has scared his damn hair follicles shut. True story.

And just like that, dear readers, our week has reached its logical conclusion. What the hell just happened?

Brian Decker is slaying lately, and this hand/wrist/forearm cutting is just further evidence of the fact.

The Owl God made a triumphant appearance!

This gentleman was fortunate enough to survive his own autopsy, which is pretty rare.

Sidra won the 2009 BME Scholarship!

We instituted our moratorium on Michael Jackson tattoos, but went out with a bang.

It’s Log!

It’s Dong!

Massachusetts is going in the right direction with new regulations. Dallas is not.

And we’re off! Keep checking back all weekend for Alex’s dispatches from the 2009 Oslo SusCon and whatever other goodies we manage to dig up, and then come Monday it’s back to business as usual. Until then, have fun, stay safe and, as always, thank you for your continued support of BME.

Tattoo Hollywood, BME’s first tattoo convention, is coming to Los Angeles from August 21-23, featuring contests, prizes and some of the best artists from around the world! Click here for more information.

The Bones Of All


Hot on the heels of our esteemed religious coverage from earlier this week, Andrea at White Light Tätowierungen in Berlin, Germany, sends in this photo of a cutting she did months ago, well along into the healing process and looking pretty fantastic, yes? Yes. Sure, the Owl God is nowhere to be found, but He’s always there in spirit, hootin’ the night away, swooping down to swipe rats and beetles out of the soil for all of eternity, amen.

Tattoo Hollywood, BME’s first tattoo convention, is coming to Los Angeles from August 21-23, featuring contests, prizes and some of the best artists from around the world! Click here for more information.

See more in Misc. Cuttings (Scarification)

Hustling The Freak


See, now, this is why I stand in firm opposition to “medical science” and the like, as my beloved Owl God teaches: Here is a man who, somehow, survived his own autopsy, which is surely, inarguably a miracle. Unless, of course, he is now a zombie, which would be vile trickery of the highest order. SHOW YOUR FACE, LIVING DEAD FELLA.

(But really, this intense and finely executed scar was done by none other than John Durante while taking a break from gridskipping in Des Moines, Iowa.)

Tattoo Hollywood, BME’s first tattoo convention, is coming to Los Angeles from August 21-23, featuring contests, prizes and some of the best artists from around the world! Click here for more information.

See more in Skin Removal Scarification (Scarification)

Marked the Pretty Beam


Greetings, ModBloggers! It seems like our prayers to the heathen Owl God have worked, as yesterday’s soul-crushing humidity has been washed away by furious thunderstorms! (There are several thousand things your editor would rather do than sweat.) Anyway, to give thanks, here we present a photo of “The Anonymous German,” sporting some rather large stretched nipple piercings, hanging out on the surface of the sun.

Whoa hey, it’s already Thursday! Good times. One question, though: Did you sell me to wanderlust?