“I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, but they’ve always worked for me.”
— Hunter S. Thompson

The cutting part of this scar/tattoo tribute to the godfather of gonzo, Hunter S. Thompson was done by Tony Snow. Tony is currently out in my neck of the woods guest spotting at Fatty’s with Hannah. A mere twenty minutes away from my shop and not even a visit. For shame you bastard.

In keeping with the theme from my last post, “mods that stir up a genuine  sense of awesomeness for me”, I present to you Mason’s (who you may remember from this Modblog gem from the past ) deep chest “piercings”. I say piercing in quotes, because while these are opening in the skin filled with a piece of jewelry, the procedure to get them there (and healed) was FAR from a piercing.

When I first saw this picture on Tumblr, I shot Mason a message I wanted 2 things: a) a better photo of this mod and maybe some additional photos. b) his permission to post this on modblog. That little bastard never responded to me and I realized 2 things: a) this mod is so AWESOME that if all we can get is a homoerotic myspace mirror shot, then that’s what we will post! b) This is Mason, am I really waiting on permission from him?

Since I never got the full 411 from Mason, I am basing the following information on what he told me a long time ago, and my own theories so if anyone involved with this project wants to jump in and correct me, please do so.

These “piercings” started as subdermal implants done by none other than Brian Decker (if memory serves me correct).  After the subdermals were allowed sufficient time to heal, they were removed which left behind a healed fistula. Then the entry and exit points for the new “piercing” were opened by Howie and teflon jewelry was inserted.  (Thanks to Tony for correcting me on the implant to piercings steps). This left behind a piercing that would be nearly impossible to heal using traditional manners and a mod that I have only actually seen one other time…and that was on Fakir Musafar!

I have to admit, after over a decade on this site I tend to take mods that other’s would consider amazing for granted. It’s rare that I see any mods that stir up a genuine  sense of awesomeness for me. This ear mod on Kira got that reaction from me.

This awesome ear  mod was done by Bruno, who was one of the first practitioners I knew of to use the cut and suture method for cartilage removal. For this piece he used a custom made dermal punch and custom jewelry. The plan is for her to wear the jewelry for a few years to truly define the shape and then hopefully she can not wear any jewelry and still have the cross removal be well defined. If it turns out as well as the inner conch removal Howie cut and sutured on me a few years back, she will have an awesome ear mod for sure!

For more pics of the custom punch, and whatnot you know the deal, keep on keeping on…..

Read more…

Hello everyone! Its that time of the year again! It is time to reserve your spot for the 2011 ROP BBQ in Pittsfield, MA! The dates are set in stone for the weekend of Friday August 12th until Sunday August 14th, rain or shine! (And given our history, it will probably be leaning toward rain) For those of you who may be unfamiliar with the event, you can expect three days of camping, relaxing with friends old and new, BBQing and the main event: Suspensions and pulls in the beautiful Pittsfield State Forest.  This is considered a public event, and everyone is welcome to attend! Whether you are considering your first suspension or have hung 100 times, the ROP BBQ is a guaranteed good time. There will be a few points to hang from in the woods, including a private spot for those of you seeking a more secluded experience. Most spots overlook Berry Pond for a beautiful suspension experience in the heart of the Berkshires. (Fun Fact: Berry Pond is at an elevation of 2,150 feet, making it one of the highest bodies of water in New England)ACCOMODATIONS:

It’s camping!

http://www.reserveamerica.com/r/campgroundDetails.do?subTabIndex=0&contractCode=ma&parkCode=pitt

The most important thing to note about staying for the weekend is that campsites are limited. That being said, they are extremely cheap (a few bucks a day) so get on the website and book that shit! Also, there is an important change this year when it comes to motor vehicles. There will be no parking available at either of the group sites! This means that you MUST reserve your own campsite to assure that you will have a parking spot. There will be a shuttle set up between Bishops Field (group site) and site 01 (top of the mountain- suspension sites). We will also have an indoor space reserved in the event that we have to move inside for a bit.

SUSPENSIONS:

If you would like to suspend at the event, YOU MUST PRE-REGISTER. You can do this by contacting this guy named Cere. He is handling all of the donations and will be happy to hook you up with a guaranteed spot to suspend.

FOOD:

The event is BYOFTBBQ (Bring your own food to BBQ). Bring what you like to eat, we will provide the place to BBQ! There is a Big Y not too far from the forest. Because we will be inside a State Forest, there are no drugs or alcohol allowed.

SPONSORSHIP:

We are currently looking for sponsors for supplies. Anyone can sponsor (shops, companies, particularly generous individuals) and we will have a little sponsorship package to offer that will showcase the sponsor. If your company is seriously interested in sponsoring our awesome event, contact Kristina- piercingsbykristina@yahoo.com.

Be sure to hit up the  events page for more info and a forum!

This miniature Ouroboros cutting done by no other than Ryan Oullette is a great example of the detail work that can be packed into  tiny scars. Facial scars are generally very subtle, so I imagine this will heal cleanly and likely have the appearance of a white tattoo. Hopefully, this guy keeps up with Ryan so we can have a healed pic down the road.

One of my favorite, JAP’s (Jewish American Princesses) Hannah, sent me this cleverly ironic photo.  I mean really, clamps? How un-kosher is that? Or wait, is that not where the implied irony is supposed to be?

It seems like just yesterday, Shawn was asking me if I had heard of “this Brian Decker guy in NY”. I hadn’t. Shawn told me Brian was some piercer getting into doing heavy mod work.  We both assumed that, like most all other,piercers getting into heavier mod work at the time, he had to be a hack. Needless to say he did a helluva job proving us both wrong and is now one of the biggest and most respected names in piercing/ body modification.

For his heavy mod work, his contributions to the evolution of body piercing, his work with ROP and his ability to survive off nothing more than pop tarts for extended periods of time he deserves a big fat Happy Birthday from myself, all the fine folks at BME as well as the modified community at large.

So happy freaking birthday, you delightfully bitter old fart!

I am sure most of you are quite familiar with the “birthday spankings” tradition. For those that are not, it generally works like this; on someone’s birthday they receive one spanking for each year they have lived and occasionally “one to grow on”. However, in some instances, someone reach such levels of greatness and respect that they are able to turn the birthday tradition around. Rather than be spanked themselves, they get to spank someone else, such as this buff young man (Aaron) dressed in a Spiderman get up.

In the piercing world, one of the few people deserving of this sort of respect is obviously Jim Ward. His contributions to my industry gave me a career that I have loved for the last 14 years and I, like most others hold him with the utmost of respect. To learn more about the man, the myth, the legend himself, why don’t you pick up the book he wrote that I previously reviewed?

Also, be damn sure to take a moment to wish, Jim Ward a happy birthday today!

To forever honor Jim, Barry a long time friend of his and founder of Anatometal has taken the initiative to make his birthday into a world wide holiday , International Body Piercing Day. This holiday may never get a special card section at Hallmark, but if it’s facebook page is any indicator it is certainly catching on in our little world!

Brian Skellie, for those not familiar with the name, is a piercers piercer. He was a huge contributor to the freehand piercing movement ( a term he would like to see done away with and replaced with “piercing with less tools”). He brought the statim autoclave to the attention of our industry and is our resident expert on the subject. I could go on and on, but I will leave it at this Brian Skellie is not only one of the most informed piercers in the biz, but by far one of the most willing to share his information with his colleagues. Even if you, or your piercer has never dealt with him directly, if they use modern freehand and/or disposable techniques their information that got them to that point most likely originated from Mr. Skellie.

So please, take a moment and wish this man a happy birthday!

Plus, keep your eyes here peeled, because one day when his and my busy schedules (on different time zones) line up, I will be doing an in depth interview with him for Modblog. I am thinking this will likely be the most insightful piercing interview on BME since the Tom Brazda interviews from the late nineties.

We frequently, get request from students asking for us to help them contact modified people to interview for their thesis or whatever. Sometimes, we post them, sometimes we don’t. However, when one of our own ask for our help, we will always happily oblige.

Tigricula, sent us this request, not only is she an IAM member and part of the modded community, but she emphasizes her respect for the individuals being interview and is even offering a small monetary compensation for their time. That speaks volumes, compared to the usual request sent in by psych majors trying to prove anyone with stretched ears MUST have been touched inappropriately by their family members, or whatever foolish hypothesis they want to put forth.

I am a PhD student in library and information science, and I’m currently researching how people get information about body modification procedures. I’m particularly interested in how people research some of the more intense procedures, like tongue splitting, ear pointing and genital modifications. I’m looking for people to interview about the role of technology, the internet and social media in terms of finding out about body modification practices. Interviews could be done in person (if you’re on the East Coast of the US) or virtually (Skype or chat), and I’m able to offer people $30 as an honorarium for their time and help. If this sounds like something that would interest you, please get in touch with me at jessa.research.2011@gmail.com or on IAM, username tigricula.

One last thing - I’ve participated in the body modification scene for nearly a decade, and I’m grateful to both the online and offline facets of this community for being a place where I’ve made some really important friendships. I also happen to be a PhD student who studies information and subcultures. I point this out to say that respect for this community is really important to me, as is confidentiality of participants. Please feel free to contact me with any questions about or suggestions for how I’m conducting research on this project.