Monthly Archives: December 2004

Can I mention the CoBM here?

As SG readers already know (more), the courts just struck down the Church of Body Modification's case (via Kimberly Cloutier) against Costco for not letting her wear her eyebrow ring at work. Unfortunately this case was a loser from day one; the plaintiff (while I agree she should be allowed to wear the eyebrow ring) read as someone who was just seeking an “excuse” to wear it, rather than someone who was genuinely having their faith denied in some way.

I'd have much rather seen this battle fought over suspension or at least something that one could call “spiritually motivated” in some clear way… Since the CoBM has never made the requirement of having people make statements of faith (ie. like wearing a crucifix or turban, or shared or communal markings of some sort), that defense didn't fly either unfortunately. You never know what phoenixes rise from what ashes, and they're certainly a group that have had their demise prematurely predicted before, but this isn't going to be easy for them to recover from.

That said, the court did not go so far as to say “it's not a church” so the war's not over perhaps.

For the more law oriented, Appellate Law & Practice has some good links with more details here and more recently here. It's quite interesting, and certainly outlines in clearer terms exactly what steps would have to be taken to clarify body modification as a protected form of expression.

Let's see what the general public has to say about this:

From: "jason tidbury"
Subject: sick
Date: Wed, 15 Dec 2004 12:27:24 -0700
X-Originating-IP: [64.235.199.155]

I just wanted to tell you that you people are sick! I for one can't beleave you would do that your your selfs! How do you get laid with nails in yoru cosks!!! sicks ass mother fucks thats what you all are! Go check yoruselif into a hostpials!

Finally, let me show you the last bit of tattooing I got done:

That's the last of what I'm having done before I leave. It's not complete yet, but it's starting to get there… At this point there are only one or two incomplete areas, and other than that it's a matter of just giving the whole thing a once-over to pull it all together. The tattoo was done in three or four stages (first Frank, then the lower part of the sleeve, then my upper arm, and then the background) and when it was started it wasn't considered as a sleeve so it's a little disjointed in parts.

I know it's said over and over, but don't get smaller tattoos on your arms unless you are 101% sure that you will never want a full sleeve.

That reminds me; if you are starting a full sleeve or other single large custom piece, and would like to be featured in my new book, please contact me ASAP, and before you begin if possible.

Transfinger piercing

Thanks to Matt for sending in the somewhat freaky piercing that this BME encyclopedia entry is written around — if anyone else has done this piercing, please do send in some pictures as its very rare. Anyway, click the pictures below to jump to the entry on transfinger piercing.

Other than that I'm getting tattooed again today (which may well finish that arm other than some touchups), and finishing a nice giant update, so it's going to be a long day I think.

Land, Sea, and Air

I saw this super cool amphicar (link includes a video) on I4U that I thought I'd post here… on the off chance that anyone reading this knows more about it, do let me know. Looks pretty fun, and you know I can imagine a BME logo on the side of it! I think it needs better tires* though.

Other than that I'm processing images for tomorrow's update, and I might have a little article to post later today as well about using bridge piercings to hold eyeglasses in place.

Let me be real lazy for a moment: Link to a good/scary MeFi thread.

* Since Rachel made fun of me about this, let me state for the record that I absolutely understand how low pressure balloon type tires work. I just think they should be less smooth; I don't see these getting great traction in slick grass, let alone water.

[SPAM] mass1ve d1ck pills 100%

Don't click the links or thumbnails in this entry if you're under age!

I've mentioned my friend Mark here before; he runs SiliconeFreak. Here's his latest work:

He's also been reshaping his face fairly radically using silicone a la Cat's transformation (just without the tiger focus). I'm always amazed by just how radical the silicone guys are; there's got to be an “addiction” almost like ear piercing where people really get to enjoy that process of getting bigger and bigger. Of course, I've also always been a fan of ridiculously enormous souped-up weiners….

Other people's ideas

I've got to do pretty much non-stop work until this year-end update (not that it's outrageous or anything, but I'm already behind), so let me mention some other people's ideas. First, let me point out wlfdrgn's IAM scholarship project (fully independent) — you may also remember Darrin as the primary author and organizer of the BME megasurvey so he's got my vote of confidence on this project. I'm mentioning it here now because there's a bit less than a week left before he finalizes the rules and requirements so if you're interested click the button and check out the forum.

Other than that I'm going to go through my bookmarks and recommend a few blogs. People ask me regularly how I stay in touch with a diverse range of subjects. I read a lot of news, but these sites help me stay focussed:

  • treehugger“the future is green. find it here.”
    This is a really hip, design-oriented site on renewable technology, ecotravel and general “green lifestyle” (with a strong emphasis on urban living)… Great blog for wanna-be eco-hippies living in NYC (and I say that in the most endearing of ways). If you like the vibe of this site but prefer travel-oriented stuff, check out Gadling, and if you're more interested in the design side of things, check out MetaEfficient.
  • Green Trust“sustainability and renewable energy”
    I just started reading this blog. It's not updated as regularly as I'd like, but it's got a good content encyclopedia and I like their spin on life a little more than the treehugger site. I'll mention sustainablog as well which has tons more links.
  • LukeFord.com, HardcoreGossip
    There are a ton of adult industry blogs, but these are the two that I read regularly. I like Fleshbot as well but that's a very different sort of adult blog.

I also read Defense Tech, Gizmodo, MeFi, and other blogs, but I'm going to mention a few more of my bookmarks as well that are not blogs (and then I can delete them from that long drop-down Favorites menu — some of these are just articles I bookmarked thinking I should write about them).

Anyway, hope that cures at least ten minutes of boredom, although of all the sins in life, boredom is the least excusable. The world is an exciting place!