Here’s another lovely (and thought-provoking) video courtesy of Shawn (more).. Read on Macduff!

“I dug this footage up when I was preparing a class I was preparing to teach on behalf of the APP; it features Sailor Sid Diller interviewing “Tattoo Sammy” from Frankfort, West Germany.”

“Sammy appeared in P.F.I.Q. #18 (1983) and #19 as the magazine’s first documented tongue piercing. This clip has audio and video glitches (that Roo was kind enough to clean up to the best of his ability) present in the original VHS; that’s why these are so important to share. Once the original masters degrade - this stuff could be lost forever. I hope you guys are enjoying these glimpses into our not so distant past!

Enjoy! - Shawn”

Read more…

"This video is a little fancier than the old 8mm conversions I’ve been sending in.

Filmed in South Florida in 1989 by Sailor Sid on a fancy VHS camcorder it features Jack Yount talking about his piercings and subincision. It’s living proof that the pre-1990s modification scene didn’t believe in wearing clothes. Which is how I like to remember Jack..

Cheers.

Shawn Porter - Scarwars.net"

More from Sid’s 1974 visit to NYC (all)..

"This video offers a rare (not exclusive, but rare) glimpse of iconic tattooist Cliff Raven at work. Of all the videos I had in my “to do” pile, this one was the one I was looking forward to the most. As long as Roo wants to keep posting them (Roo: I do, I do!) I’ll keep converting them!

Cheers.

Shawn Porter - Scarwars.net"

Sailor Sid goes to NYC, 1974.

“Originally shot on 8mm film stock and converted to VHS in the early 1980s, this tape like others from the Sailor Sid archive has no sound. I can place names to a few faces but the one that stands out the most is infamous NYC artist Spider Webb. More from this series will be transcoded shortly!

Until then..

Shawn Porter - Scarwars.net“

Don’t forget! If you’ve got a video you’d like featured on ModBlog please feel free to send it to Films@BMEvideo.com or use Megaupload.com/Yousendit.com.

As promised!

“Hey ya’all, ready for another visit with Sailor Sid? This time he’s tattooing at Ken Meyer’s place in Kissimmee, Florida.

This video was taken from 8mm film then converted to VHS and didn’t originally have an audio track. As with previous videos this is very much a product of it’s time - aseptic procedure isn’t followed, nor is the wearing of clothes. Sid and Ken specialized in homoerotic tattooing, and wearing awesome hats! Thanks for watching and expect an update with Cliff Raven soon..

Cheers,

Shawn Porter - Scarwars.net”

(Previous videos from Shawn can be found here!)

A friend of mine sent me a link to this beautiful (and informal) interview between Clayton Cubitt and Vic Taurewa Biddle discussing his homosexuality, Tā moko, Maori heritage, the Twelfth Realm and everything inbetween.

Apparently Veoh (the provider of the video above) is blocked in quite a few countries so if you can’t view it above, here is the YouTube video.

“I say, Josh! This milk is most refreshing!”
“I concur, fair Yttrx! Most indubitably!”

Read more…

Ok, he’s not my grandad — this is tattoo icon and author Herbert Hoffmann (the amazing and highly recommended “Bilderbuchmenschen“, also available in English from Last Gasp as “Living Picture Books”), photographed by AEEC in Bibione, Italy. A couple more pictures are after the break.

See more in “BME/Culture/People“ (Culture)

Read more…

In reference to the previous history post, Matthias wrote me with a pointer to the cover of a 1973 Campo di Marte album (an Italian prog-rock band). The album focuses on the foolishness of war, and with that in mind, the cover is an old Italian engraving (probably from the 1500s — please post here if you know more) of Turkish mercenaries doing play piercing to show their courage.

Click to see a much higher resolution scan of the album cover that shows the illustration in good detail. BTW, Mattias released this album on his label if you’re interested!