That Better Not Be A Tattoo, Private.

April 2nd, 2009 by Kat Von

Ever notice how the people who continue to buy into the idea of a tattoo limiting your ability to become a “serious” member of society are the very same people who make that outdated notion possible?  Wouldn’t things work so much smoother if we all just gave up on that idea and hired people based on their skills rather than their personal taste?  Hmmm…I’m thinking yeah, they really would.

This article from Stars and Stripes talks about US Marines being banned from having sleeve tattoos, as well as police departments having a policy of no tattoos for its officers.  Some police departments allow tattoos, but only if they are covered up during duty.  Other police forces think some tattoos are okay for their officers, so says Jimmy Holderfield, chief of personnel for the Jacksonville Florida sheriff’s office:

“If the Marine had a “Globe and Laurel,” USMC, or an American Flag on his arm he would be OK,” Holderfield explained. “If he had a woman with her breast exposed, a confederate battle flag, or words that would be considered profanity, he would either have to wear a patch or long sleeves to cover them up.”

So in other words, as long as a tattoo is patriotic, then it’s fine.  But – and pay attention here, because this is a big exception – BUT, if your tattoo doesn’t fall into the category of patriotism, then it’s probably either sexist, pornographic, racist or profane and you better cover that shit up.  It doesn’t matter if you’ve got a sleeve of a unicorn blowing marshmallow kisses to a squadron of teddy bears, unless those unicorns and teddy bears are wrapped in ol’ glory and heading to boot camp, it’s going to affect your performance as a police officer and the only cure is to cover it up completely or to not join the police force at all.

It’s all just so ridiculous.  I mean, if an ex-marine wants to join a police force, doesn’t that already prove that he’s got the drive, physical ability and determination to be a cop?  Because let’s be serious here, and I have to go on record as not knowing much about the marines other than what I’ve seen in films, but couldn’t even the weakest marine run circles around the best cop in the physical fitness department?  And if that marine just happened to be tattooed, what difference would it make in terms of how that marine did their job as a cop?  Not only that, but would it not do worlds of good towards eliminating the stale stigma attached to tattoos if people actually saw officers with visible tattoos?  Would that not go to show people that yes, even law abiding cops can have tattoos too?  Maybe they aren’t so bad after all?

As a society, people should start caring less about what police officers have tattooed on their skin and more about the actual job that those officers are doing.  A few weeks back in the city where I live, a bunch of off duty cops beat up an Indian man because they “didn’t like brown people”.  That to me is a strong indicator that someone should not be allowed to be on a police force, because it really doesn’t matter if the guilty officers did or didn’t have tattoos.  It matters how they do the job that they’re entrusted to do.  Bottom line.

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Cry-Babyshambles Backside.

April 2nd, 2009 by Kat Von

It seems that Peter Doherty, lead singer for the alt-rock group The Babyshambles, and one time love interest of super model Kate Moss, has recently turned the other cheek. So to speak.

Doherty had the idea to have a third tattoo added to his collection of one on his neck, and the heart he had inscribed for Kate. Problem was this time he hit  rock bottom. Perhaps he was sober for once in his life? What ever the reason he wussed out and only got half the tattoo done.

The tattoo? Well, depending on who you ask it was the single word “Wasteland” to be tattooed on his tail. The tat was inspired by his supposedly love of the poem of the same name by T.S. Eliot, but it seems strange that the title of his new album is “Grace/Wastelands”. So, was this a real tribute, or just a cheap publicity stunt? Either way all that Pete has permanently emblazoned on his bum is the word “Waste”.

Fairly appropriate when you consider the main function of the area tattooed and the thought that he couldn’t even finish a single word on one of the toughest areas of the human anatomy. The letters must have been at least two inches tall, and half inch wide block style with major shading!

Maybe he didn’t get tanned there often enough growing up. Though considering some of his antics, stealing from a friend and band mate, in and out of rehab more times than Lindsey  Lohan, I’m not real sure he ever did. Grow up that is.

Ah well……at least he’s properly labeled now.

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Recession Proof Tattoo.

April 2nd, 2009 by Kat Von

After posting the last story about an artist in Germany who was in financial straights from the economic downturn I got to wondering. Just how badly has the current money slide hit our beloved art? After quite a bit of digging I am happy to report that on the whole the tattoo scene is not only proving to be recession proof, but in some cases is actually growing.

This is, of course, due in large part to the collector’s themselves. While they are still concerned about where and how they spend their hard earned dollars these days, nothing is going to keep them from getting their art.

Major retailers and corporations are all seeing a downturn in sales while most tattoo studios are not only holding their own, but some are even reporting a 20% growth in their business. Mike Cummings, owner of Inksomnia Tattoo in GA stated, “The tattoo business is not like a convenience store. We don’t count on seeing 200-300 people come through the doors every day. If we do 10 tattoos a day, we’re very happy.”

Amen to that, Brother!

Given the number of people who said that the trend in tattooing was just a fad and all the folks out there getting inked would soon be regretting it, I have one thing to say; “Nyah, nyah. Nyah, nyahn, nyah!”

Any art form that can not only weather the economic storm that’s putting a hurtin’ on businesses across the board, and actually show an increase in revenue during those times is certainly not “just a fad”.

Perhaps this will finally get it through their heads that there is far more to tattoo than just a passing fad. You never know, though. Some of those tat haters out there have pretty dense craniums.

Keep ‘em flyin’, gang. ;)

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Madison Ave Gets a Heads Up.

April 2nd, 2009 by Kat Von

Since I got on the subject in another blog, I figured, “Why not keep the ball rolling with a few people who did the job right?”

A legal secretary in California named Terry Gardner recently shaved her own head for the sake of advertising. The difference being that the tattoo covering the back of her head is a temporary tattoo. Now here is probably the first, and only time I will sing the praises of temp tats.

As part of an advertising campaign for Air New Zealand, Ms. Gardner and about 30 more people shaved their heads and had the advertisement, ““Need A Change? Head Down to New Zealand. www.airnewzealand.com.” put on in henna. For which the chosen few received their choice of either a round-trip ticket to New Zealand worth $1,200, or $777 in cash.

Given that henna wears off, leaving no trace after a while it seems if your going to rent out your body to advertise a temp would be the way to go.

According to Jodi Williams, director of marketing for Air New Zealand, “The participants were, in marketing parlance, ideal brand ambassadors: when co-workers or strangers behind them in the grocery store line asked about New Zealand, they could speak enthusiastically right off the top of their heads.” (pun intended). Considering that most of the chosen participants were from New Zealand, I can see why.

To make matters even better Air New Zealand donated all of the shorn locks to Locks of Love, a group that makes hairpieces for children who have gone bald from illnesses.

Now, that is not only good advertisement, but just plain cool!

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Heads up Advertising.

April 2nd, 2009 by Kat Von

I know these trying financial times are hard on everybody, and sometimes it can lead to some really out of the box thinking where matters of money are concerned. God knows how many hair-brained schemes I have kicked to the curb after thinking over what seemed to be a good idea at the time.

Well here’s another one that isn’t going to hold water in the long run, but thankfully it isn’t mine!

German tattoo artist Thomas Tanriverdi had felt the pinch of the economic downturn and wracked his brain for a solution for his financial woes. After much thought he came up with what at first surely seemed to be a foolproof plan? Rent the only place on his body not covered in tats for advertisement.

Now if your already a well known figure in the public eye this would probably be a quick windfall, but as Thomas soon found out no one is going to pay mega-bucks to have an advertisement tattooed onto the head of an unknown soldier.

Tanriverdi had hoped to earn around 50,000 euros, $65,700 in American dollars, from any bidder who wanted to have their ad tattooed onto his shiny head. After the first few days of bidding on a large online auction Web site, the highest offer was 355 euros!

Still, I have to give it to the guy for sticking to his guns. Undaunted, Thomas then lowered his asking price to 500 euros for anyone willing to advertise on his head for a year. “Others have, with bravura, auctioned their skin for advertising purposes,” Tanriverdi said. He has also since modified the offer further with prices such as: for 4,000 euros, his scalp can be yours for three years, or for 18,000 euros or to own the space until the end of his life.

Somehow I don’t think he has thought this all the way through, yet. Nadine Peukert, a dermatologist at the University Hospital in Muenster, says the idea of tattooing one’s head with the intention of removing the artwork by laser and tattooing anew is not only painful, it’s stupid. “It’s not like using an eraser,” Peukert told German news agency DPA. “Afterwards, the skin will look different, and on the scalp, this could easily lead to scarring.”

Not to mention that the cost of laser tattoo removal typically ranges between $250 and $850! Even at the lowest cost of 500 euros comes out to $648.55. After the cost of around $400 to remove the tat, assuming it isn’t so small you would need a magnifying glass to see it, that’s only $248.55 dollars profit for the entire year!

I could do better flipping burgers, Dude.

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Books Are Sexy

April 2nd, 2009 by Kat Von

One of the greatest (at least in my opinion) types of tattoos are quotes or passages from books or poetry or even lines from films.  If these words made you feel a certain way or expressed something that you were truly about or believed in, I’ve always felt that the written word looks great as a tattoo.  Again, I may be biased seeing as I am one of those people who has such tattoos, but that’s just how I roll.  If you can get past the annoyance factor of complete strangers coming up to you to ask you what your tattoos mean or say, then it’s one of the most perfect ways to sum up who you are.

Another thing that I like about these sorts of tattoos is that you don’t see a lot of them around and so they’re a little more original and personal than getting a barbed wire arm band inked around your bicep, or the kanji character for “strength”, or “determination” or any other overused noun or adjective tattooed on to your shoulder.

Recently however, I found out about contrariwise, a website that showcases literary tattoos from different people all around the world.  I was quite surprised to know how many people actually put the words of their favourite authors and books on their skin.  One dude even went as far as putting an entire monologue from Fight Club on his back.  Even Harry Potter’s legacy has found his way onto people’s backs and shoulders.  Not my cup of tea, but hey, it still looks pretty cool.  If you do like the look of these sorts of tattoos and have a favourite book or author’s words you want to immortalize on your body, don’t forget the single most important rule about literary tattoos: be completely certain that the quote or passage you are getting done on your body is SPELLED correctly.  Nothing ruins a tattoo more and makes you look like more of a total knob than having a misspelled tattoo.  Check out the section on exactly that right here.

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To See, or Not To See.

April 2nd, 2009 by Kat Von

Thinking about getting an eyeball tattoo? Well not in the state of Oklahoma you won’t.

The recent fad of having the white of the eye tattooed has just been made illegal in the state of Oklahoma. The Oklahoma state Senate voted unanimously to ban tattooing of the eyeball, and I’ve little doubt that other states will soon follow suit.

Sen. Cliff Brannan, (Oklahoma City Rep.), said scleral tattooing is a dangerous fad that can cause damage to the eye or even blindness. This public health issue was brought to the senate’s attention by several concerned ophthalmologists, and I have to applaud them for it.

Now I’m not one for overly restrictive laws, especially where tattooing is involved, but it is just possible that the lawmakers may have something here. Almost every ophthalmologist who has taken a look at this new fad has had the same thing to say about it. Its dangerous.

Take it from someone who has partially lost some of their sight. Any risk to your eyes is too much. No fad, or trend is worth losing your sight over. Ask any blind person what they would wish for if they had one wish and the answer will be, sight.

I think this is one of the few times the lawmakers are right.

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Thumbs Up for S.C.

April 2nd, 2009 by Kat Von

A while back I did a blog on the draconian tattoo laws in the state of South Carolina. All though I consider most of them to be more than a bit over the top in their anal retentiveness, one that really stuck in my craw was the legal age for getting a tattoo, 21.

Now as I stated before, having to have parental permission to get a tattoo at the age of 18, 19, and 20 seemed more than a little ignorant to me. I can see that kind of law for the legal age of drinking, but for getting a tattoo? PUHHH-LEEESE!

Well, it seems that I’m not the only one who thinks that one particular law is more than a bit stupid. Recently the president of the Senate in South Carolina stated it is unconstitutional to treat 18-year-olds differently than other adults with the only exception being the legal age of consuming alcohol.

Another S.C. politician said, “If teens are old enough to join the military and defend their country, they’re old enough to get a tattoo.” He also stated that he thought the tattooing law of being 21 to get some ink was a bit too old.

Well, thanks to forward thinkers like this, and the efforts of the tattoo artists who put up with miles of crap to tattoo in S.C., the state senate is sitting down to change the law to the legal age of 18.

So, all you tattoo fans in South Carolina get ready. Soon the law will be made far more reasonable and you will have the opportunity to be treated more like the adult your supposed to be. Just remember to think before you ink, Gang.

Now that certainly falls into the category of good news!

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Tattoo Abuse

April 2nd, 2009 by Kat Von

A 41-year-old Singapore man has been sentenced to two years and ten months in jail after he aided in the forced tattooing of his friend’s wife in August of 2006.  The husband of the woman was sentenced to a three year jail term in 2007, having conceived of the plan to tattoo his wife as punishment for what he believed to be unfaithful behavior on her part.  In addition to the prison sentence, the 41-year-old “freelance” tattooist will receive six strokes with the cane.

The attack took place after the woman arrived at the apartment of a friend early one morning.  There she found her husband and his friend waiting for her.  The woman was shoved into a bedroom by her husband, at which point the husband and his “freelance” tattooist friend held her down, gagging her with a towel and tying her legs and arms to the four corners of the bed.  The husband of the woman then sat on her legs as his friend went to work with the tattoo gun, branding her breasts, abdomen and forearms.

11 laser surgery sessions later and the woman still has a long way to go with regards to removing the tattoos.  In addition to this, the tattoos were not professionally done and as a result, there will be many scars and a certain amount of skin damage.  There are no photos available of the woman’s flesh, but from the sounds of it, the results of this brutal attack are most likely not too easy to stomach.  Abuse is never a pleasant subject, but when the abuse is done with a tattoo needle, the scars are both mental and physical.

The sentences themselves also seem relatively light for a country such as Singapore, where strict adherence to the law is no joking matter.  But the idea of this scratcher getting six licks with the cane that Singaporean justice enlists is also a pretty brutal punishment.  If you’re not familiar with the caning punishment, the canes pictured below are actual canes used for this um, procedure.  The prisoner is bent over and whipped across the bare ass.  Hard.  I’ve seen these canes in person as well as the set up for the entire operation, and let me tell you that six lashes with that cane will make mister scratcher wish he’d never been born.

Crazy world.

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Baby Buck$

April 2nd, 2009 by Kat Von

For anyone who actually pays attention to what I write on here, you may remember back in December when I wrote about how tattoo artists and clothing are going to be the next result of the tattoo’s mainstream status.  Tattoo artist created clothing isn’t exactly barreling down runways in Milan and Paris, but that certainly doesn’t mean that its appeal isn’t growing.

Take for example the latest side project of tattoo artists and Miami Ink stars Darren Brass, Chris Garver, Yoji Harada and James Hamilton.  For these four talented guys, it’s all about the babies.  That’s right, their new line of clothing, Ruthless & Toothless, focuses on “onesies” (those one piece things babies wear, for any of you out there who have no clue what a onesie is).  That’s not all though, in addition to the aforementioned onesies, Ruthless & Toothless also sells baby T-shirts, dresses, hoodies and beanies.  Everything is small and designed with providing stylish clothes for babies in mind.  A quick look through R&T’s first clothing line has me thinking that all of this is well…pretty rad.

But wait!  What’s this?  The R&T guys also plan on selling phone covers for your mobile, something that has been going on in Japan for years and which I’m sure will bode well for Ruthless & Toothless in America.  Aside from that, there’s laptop covers, pacifiers, trash cans and a whole bunch of other stuff that isn’t necessarily related to babies but which is very nicely designed indeed.  Also, the stuff is made in the USA, so for once, labour isn’t being outsourced to some other country where people are paid like, two cents a month for their work.  Although, I can’t vouch for where the clothing itself is made before the main design work is implemented.  Still, as far as R&T is concerned, all their stuff is made in the US of A.

There you go.  Kids are being introduced to tattoo art before they’ve even cut their first tooth.  It really says a lot about where tattoo art currently is with regards to the public, as well as where it’s going.  Some may think it doesn’t mean anything in the grand scheme of things.  But it’s hard to argue the fact that many people out there will be eagerly throwing down thirty bucks or more just so that their kid can barf all over a onesie designed by one of the best tattoo artists in the world.  Believe that.

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