Monthly Archives: September 2002

Scrapbook

Here are a few mock-up pages from the scrapbook. These aren't actual pages that are in the book, but it is what the general look-and-feel will be. Hope you like! Oh, and I should comment that the book is laid out as 5″x7″ with a 1/4″ bleed. If anyone wants to submit full pages or even full spreads, you're more than welcome to!

Also, james_norman. just got an interview he did with me some time back put up on the YMA site (click on People/Articles, then on my name of course).

So far

So far this morning I've done, well, very little. I went up to my bank and dealt with a few bills (paying off my old Datapipe hosting debts for when IAM was still hosted with them). I went to the post office to pick up some packaging so I can send out the BBQ DVDs (I'm sorry, I know I'm a week past due, but they are done now), a book for Jerome (and if you're in the Montreal area, make sure you go and see his body modification photo exhibit), some books for Ed, and a variety of other goodies.

I'm getting a lot of complaints about the current BME cover from the mundanes. You know what — to me — is one of the things that makes BME special? That it doesn't make judgments as to one mod versus another. So you may see a navel piercing one week, and a tongue splitting the next. If you don't think you can handle that, stick to one of the light piercing-only sites. I'm not going to tell tongue splitting that it's “too gross” to be on the cover any more than I'm going to tell eyebrow rings that it's “too boring” to be on the cover.

Anyway, here are some letters to the editor I've gotten on the subject. They're not all bad (except the first one) and definitely bring up valid points so I don't think I'd call this a funmail entry — I definitely appreciate constructive feedback even if I don't agree with it. I understand why people would make this request, but they have to understand that I really feel strongly on this issue (that it's important that we not rank mods either by “coolness” or even “public acceptability”).

From: CANADASFINEST101@aol.com
Subject: what ??????????????????

would you please remove the picture of the girl that freshly got her toungue split. it is absolutely horrid and disturbing, i almost had to run to the toilet to vomit. no sarcasm intended. thx.


From: "Melanie Neely"
Subject: Tongue Splitting on Main Page

I was referred to your site from a friend who had just gotten her navel pierced. I would like to have mine done too, so I came to your site looking for some "real" information on body modifications. I was appalled to see the picture of the tongue splitting on your front page.

I understand that your site contains some controversial content and that you have made every effort to display disclaimer links on your main page, but I find it hard to justify putting a graphic image like that on the entrance to your site. I have no problem with you providing information on a procedure like this, in fact, I think the consumer should have access to this information, but please don't make everyone have to look at it! Some people have come to your site to look up information on something as simple as ear piercing, and that picture is disgusting. I find it quite offensive, and I really wish I wouldn't have seen it. The picture needs to be placed under a sub-category inside your actual site, not on the main URL.

You have wonderful, practical information on body modification, and now I really want my navel done! Thanks for providing the best information on the entire Internet.


From: "Hans H"
Subject: Main page pictures...

Dear oh dear,

It's bloody once again.

Picture main page: tongue splitting. Picture hard pages... Scrotal exposure...

And I'm not into blood at all.

Can you please avoid pictures like these on the main pages...

If people are into bloody things, let them go to the appropriate pages, but please don't confront people who are definitely not into bloody scenes with pictures like that.

Further I'm very happy with your magazine!

Greetings,

Hans

(Emphasis added by me.)

Thank you to Hans for writing, sort-of-thank you to Melanie, and no-thank you to “Canada's Finest 101″ for the fine words of encouragement. It's late in the day, so maybe everyone has already read the news elsewhere, but I'll quick-link to a few stories before I get to work.

PS. I think there's a dead hobo in my laneway. My entire house smells like piss, and after first checking myself, I realized that the stench was coming from the air conditioner. Not a nice atmosphere.

Ooh baby baby!

So I got to ride public transit out to the 'burbs today for the first time in I think a couple years. I'd really forgotten how much people stare at me — living in the Queen West SoHo people don't really look twice at me, and when they do it's usually to ask a relatively intelligent question.

The suburbs — appropriately known as “the ugly wall of suburbia” in Priscilla — are my most hated geographic region (I class most mid-sized cities as suburbs as well). To me at least, they have none of the benefits that the city offers, but also none of the benefits of the country — literally the worst of both worlds.

Anyway, I picked up the Jeep, and luckily it passed its emissions inspection even though it's not running cats like it's supposed to. I'm running a new (well, new in 1999 when I put it in) fuelly 318 in it, so it runs very cleanly and reliably. Now I just have to put in a block heater and I'm ready for winter.

I'd also forgotten how much people stare at the Jeep — people literally pull up beside, match my speed, miss their turn offs, etc… I even had one guy pull up to me and tell me that he had a picture of my truck on his wall — he'd taken a photo of it two years ago!

Morning

I'm off now to get my (big) baby. I haven't seen her for a long time now, and it'll be nice to have her backing me up over the winter. I'll need to add a block heater and maybe an electric interior heater as well, but it'll certainly make dealing with any amount of snow insignificant.

Anyway, I'm out the door, but I recommend Buchanan's latest.

Being unamerican doesn't mean hating Americans!

I feel like I've written this entry a half dozen times now, but since people keep bringing it up, I don't have a choice. Yes, I think the US government is committing evil acts (evil in the sense that they are self-serving to a small group of people and harmful to most Americans and world citizens) and I think I can provide pretty much unlimited documentation to back up that fact. However, I don't think the average American is evil — at least not any more so than the average German was at the height of the Nazis' power.

America, as we idealistically remember, was defined as a nation steeped in personal freedom — a beautiful mix of revolutionaries, transcendeltalists, mountain people, quiet farms, and libertarians with a set of doctrines that would change the way the world conceived of a modern Western Nation. Sadly, in the mid 1800's corporate entities began growing in power, and weaknesses of greed subverted the government into something which no longer held the people's interests as its highest priority.

Which brings us to the current world hell.

Now, does saying that make me a racist? Does it mean that I hate all Americans? Of course not — that's quite a ludicrous notion (I have lived in America, traveled extensively in America, own businesses in America, pay taxes in America, and am married to an American). To people who are writing various “fuck you” notes on their pages, I implore you to open your eyes, read what I'm saying, and most importantly, take a look around you. America has been taken over. A coup happened a long time ago.

A film on 9/11 recently quoted an Egyptian as saying that the Americans killed on 9/11 actually deserved it, since America is “government for the people, by the people” (representative government) and thus the people can be called upon to answer for the crimes of the government. Now, if it really was representative government, that might be true. But I think by now Americans know that it's not a representative government.

Now, I'm oversimplifying here of course — since it's the majority that determines the outcome of an election, these statements may be false on an individual level (while retaining truth on the national average). In any case, to reword that previous paragraph, you have a choice of two mutually exclusive cases:

  1. The American system of government “works”. As such, the government is the direct representative of the people and acts on their behalf. In this case, the American people are responsible for the actions of their government.
  2. The American system of government does NOT work, and the United States are in fact governed by a group other than representatives of the people. In this case, the American people are not responsible for the actions of their government.

Now, I think the general consensus is that the latter is closer to the truth, if not the precise truth. The problem is that America — and the rest of the Western nations to a lesser extent — consumes most of the world's resources and holds most of the world's wealth. As a result, Americans and Westerners in general reap the benefits of being the top level in a global pyramid scheme, while at the same time looking the other way as we commit our governmental wrongs.

Someone just made an interesting point to me as well — if the government doesn't actually represent people, why do people get so angry when its actions are criticized?


Now, some people have said “but what are we supposed to do?”

I'm not saying that everyone MUST go and protest in the streets or become a militant. What I will say is that we need to think about our day to day actions, and understand the greater implications that they have.

Revolution, one small (but calculated) act at a time.

At its simplest, don't eat at McDonalds — eat at the locally owned business. Support organic farms. Make less garbage. All little acts like this chip away at the power that the global corporations hold. By doing these things, strangely enough, you go a long way to personally ending war and suffering in this world. You don't have to wear a beret to be a revolutionary, and you don't need to hold your fist to the sky to fight for social justice.

My solution for myself is threefold:

  1. To use my “loud voice” to further general awareness of important issues, both locally and internationally.
  2. To use my business success to support small businesses and new ventures.
  3. To live a responsible lifestyle which rejects as many of the vices (bait) of the corporate-controlled modern world as possible.

These things are all small, but if enough people start doing them in their own way, we will collectively change the world. We do have that power.