As much as BME is absolutely a large-scale community project, for a decade and a half the output has been under my creative guidance and very much flavored by my own personality, politics, and interests. I’m sure there are people who are hoping that character will stay the same, and I’m sure there are people who are hoping it will change radically, and of course there’s value in each path. I am very much looking forward to seeing how things are expressed through a new prism, and I hope everyone gives it a chance.

Either way, I’m also looking forward to being able to get back out to the East Coast — maybe I will bump into John P at Peggy’s Cove, since his ear lends evidence that he’s been there.

Above is a moth xray which shows Rubber_Duckie’s tongue web piercing — and if you look carefully you can also see a tooth gem, a nostril screw, and a tragus piercing. Below is Andrey’s xray (sent in by his friend Golddust) showing a couple tunnels and a tongue bar.

This was done by Timb Wilton at Third Eye Tattoo in Melbourne.

See more in “Misc. Cuttings“ (Scarification)

As I’m sure you’ve heard, there are some changes going on here at BME, and because the rumor mill goes into overdrive in times like this, it’s very important to me to keep everyone in the loop as much as possible.

First of all, Shannon Larratt will no longer be an employee of BME, and has willfully relinquished his interest in our site to me — we were co-owners of BME, and I am now the sole owner. We truly believe this was in the best interest of both parties, and this was a decision to which Shannon and I both agreed. There was no force, no coercion — nothing of the sort. This was mutually beneficial, and I wish Shannon all the best. I have no doubt that I’ll be promoting and encouraging his books which have been incredibly successful in the past.

Next, I want to assuage your fears: nothing is happening to BME, IAM or ModBlog. BME and ModBlog will continue to be updated as they always have by long-time BME staff members who have been absolutely integral in keeping BME running smoothly. As BME grows, it may be necessary to add new members to the team, but out of the gate, believe me when I say that you’ll be greeted by familiar faces. BME has been a team effort, and that will not change. The content that’s kept you coming back to BME will not stop, and will only get better from here on out.

What will change? Well, there will be new features. Sooner rather than later, we hope to roll out a thorough re-design that will give our amazing and unique community the presentation it deserves. Podcasts, new interviews, original content, new site features… we have a lot of plans, and I can’t wait to start putting them into action.

It’s a new day, and I couldn’t be happier that you’re all here with us. Stay tuned.

It’s definitely a very strange and mixed set of feelings, having run this site from the very beginning, over nearly a decade and a half. On one hand I’m very much looking forward to having the opportunity and time to paint and tackle new adventures, and on the other hand I will very much miss both the people and the subject in general that I came to know through BME. That said, when I grew up and fell in love with body modification — and later built BME — this was a very different and much more “outsider” culture, so maybe now, as not just tattooing but body modification as a whole enjoys unprecedented levels of popularity and acceptability, it is a good time to pass the torch on to a new generation. It’s my hope that they maintain the site in the spirit that it was begun, while taking on the challenges of a new environment.

I have very much enjoyed being a part of BME and I leave it with good memories. Thank you to everyone who’s been a friend of the site, and everyone who’s helped bring it to this point. I hope you’ve enjoyed my contributions — I know I’ve enjoyed yours — and I hope that you continue to enjoy what BME brings in the future.

See you in hell! :P

         Shannon
         snowrail@gmail.com
         zentastic.com

Click the review for the matching tattoo…

You don’t need to watch it

Hand wash, warm water. Do not bleach. Drip dry. Do not iron.
“A friend suggested these, but decided not to go through with them. Now if ever I’m found unconscious on the sidewalk by a sumptuous brunette, she’ll know exactly what to do with me.”

Ah, Montreal… A place where you can find a sumptuous brunette to drip you dry just by lying unconscious on the sidewalk. I love French girls… Ah hell, French guys too — Dave didn’t specify a gender. [Edit: I ignore gender].

John Blake (in the blue shirt) forwarded me some more pictures of himself, Cutthroat (red facial tattoos), and Josh (totally blue eye), who all have eyeball tattoo work by Howie (LunaCobra.net), along with Andrew S from Swingshift (last photo). Each experienced quite a bit of spreading after the injection.

Eyeball tattooing has got to be my favorite new mod… I don’t know if it’s got universal appeal (but who’d have thought tongue splitting, also decried as completely nuts, would take off like it did). My eye tattoo is now almost one year old (along with Josh and Pauly’s). Here’s some closeup photos of how it’s doing.

As you may recall, it had some problems with a cyst-type structure developing (which was examined by eye injury specialists and ultrasounded, with no complications other than the obvious being found). While it definitely made me nervous for quite some time, it appears to be stable at this point. I’m definitely looking forward to continuing this work, and I’m always thrilled to see more of these admittedly gnarly, mutated-looking zombie-like eye experiments!

Previous entries on eyeball tattooing on ModBlog and eyeball tattooing on my blog.

Mum = Alice.

Artist = Alana Robbie.

See more in “Hand Tattoos“ (Tattoos)

See more in “Wildlife and Nature Tattoos“ (Tattoos)

The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones that never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes “Awww!”

See more in “Lettering Tattoos“ (Tattoos)

In equally unhealthy territory, Kalvin got this “cream cheese and chives” Captain’s Wafers tattoo, done by Ol’ Dirty Rob at Anthem Tattoo in Gainesville, Florida. He explains the design choice, saying, “I just really like these crackers. They’re heavenly. I’m a pirate…”