First, in random browsing of hurdy gurdy videos, I came across the “Singing Dragon” busker performance recorded on the New York subway. If you’re interested in it, it’s from a blog on the subject with more clips and interviews with various street performers.
There was an entry posted to the new ModBlog earlier today about magnetic implants and rock climbing, saying that you could do things like that without putting them at risk. This worried me a little because the reality is that this is one of the things that could put magnetic implants at risk, and I feel that one of BME’s roles should be to inform people of risks so that they can engage in body modification with full knowledge of what the issues are.
I posted a comment about it — which unfortunately like all my other comments got deleted — and they amended the entry with a slight addition, but without full info. I tried following it up, but unfortunately that comment got censored as well. Since BME doesn’t feel that my feedback on this is on-topic with body modification or otherwise something they think should be included in their discussion on magnetic implants, I figure I’ll repeat my comment here.
As I mentioned before the entry was amended to mention the issue of risks, this was/is irresponsible for BME to present as completely safe. As has been addressed in the past, it’s specifically these types of forces (specifically, shearing forces) on magnetic implants that are most likely damage the silicone sheath. As some may recall, one of my magnets was damaged by opening a pickle jar (ie. shearing forces) and had to be removed.
Dipped magnets are HIGHLY susceptible, but even the stronger cast magnets can be damaged — it only takes a tiny tear. They’re not indestructible and must be treated as a volatile substance inside a sheath that has some level of fragility. I’m not saying people should restrict their activities if they understand the risks, but they HAVE TO understand the risks and have to understand that some activities will test the sheath more than others.
Trust me, removing them is NOT fun (there are photos of this both in my magnetic implant article series on BME [1 2 3 4 5] and on my blog [1 2 3 4 5 6]) — and not something you’d want to attempt solo if your practitioner doesn’t live nearby.
As a side note, while the magnets break down once the silicone is compromised and they lose the ability to sense EM fields on the whole, they do realign slightly over time and regain some sensitivity to powerful fields. Both Quinn and I have had this experience (and it was quite surprising).
I thought it had been added to BME/Risks previously, but perhaps someone with access to the Wiki could update the entries there to reflect these issues. Magnetic implants are an amazing experience and I highly recommend them for those who appreciate the potential problems, but they need to be treated as something with serious potential for failure.
(Links added now; they weren’t in the original post).
I should add here that Fred, who’s the one in the photo in the entry, actually has a titanium coated magnet (which is mentioned in the last article I wrote on them for BME, which includes him), so he is actually never going to shear the coating off his, but titanium-coating is not the norm.
Anyway, in the interest of being responsible, if you’re going to do experimental surgery on yourself, I hope it’ll happen with the fullest understanding of the risks involved. If the folks at BME change their mind about including the above information, I certainly give permission to include any information I’ve published to date on my blog here including photos in the BME wiki in order to further this goal. Good luck to anyone interested in magnetic implants, but do be careful — they are not invincible.
18 Comments
They keep deleting your comments? Immature much?
I wonder sometimes if we’ll ever get to hear the story of how all that BME business played out from the parties involved…
Though, I’m certain prying the public from the private in that…event(?)…is damn near impossible and all will probably be left concealed.
And so be it, if such a distinction isn’t possible. I care about the community, but I’m no gossip.
How can BME delete/censor you? I thought it was your site? weird, and immature imho…
It was my site from when I founded it in 1994 to when I made the difficult decision to sell it in 2008… It’s not my site any more, so it’s their complete right to decide what information they feel they’d like included there and what they feel needs to be restricted from public viewing there.
Nice link. Street performers are one of the good things about raising a kid in the city. Art art everywhere….
im sorry to hear your posts are being deleted/ restricted on BME. its disgusting IMO. several times i week i find myself being disappointed with BME, its a shame.
Please keep helping us find information about body modification! i know it has helped me and kept many others safer, or at least helped us to make more informed decisions. Thank you for everything you have done so far.
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!
Pete – Thank you. I enjoy posting about my own personal experiences and insights on body modification (which is why I thought I’d pipe up about the magnets), but this is going to stay more a blog about my life, so body modification posts are going to be few and far between here I’m afraid… But if you’re interested in face paint and such, keep reading, ha!
hehe, you know ive been enjoying Zentastic for awhile. makes me laff & clues me into cool stuff. so ill keep reading along, even w/o the bodymod!
Hey Shannon, since I was the one the post was about I just wanted to say that I respect your opinions and agree with them completely.
Great link. I have seen this singer at Times Square. I didn’t know he is called the ‘Singing Dragon’… Today I saw the ‘Saw Lady’ at GCS – https://www.sawlady.com/blog
I guess all subway performers have strange names?
I haven’t really said anything about the quality of BME after the change before because I never wanted it to be misinterpreted as a bash (and I apologize ahead of time if it offends anyone, it is truly not my intent), but since it has been almost semi-brought up…yeah I do feel as though it has gone downhill in some respects. I went from going on BME several times a day, to a few times a month. I’m sure everything is done with the best intentions but it’s like Modblog has turned from a mostly informative and insightful blog to “oh look what a neat pic I found”. I wish they could at least bring you on as a guest writer for a few entries or news articles. As for the site itself, it seems very IAM-centered and if you don’t have an IAM account you don’t belong there. This was solidified through a recent blog entry of Rachel’s “Let’s talk in the forum. I really appreciate the comments and insight from IAM members because I know that YOU GUYS are who make BME what it is. You actively participate, you submit to BME, you ARE who the site is about, so tell me..[what do you want]“. I don’t have anything against IAM, I had an account for a while but it just wasn’t my thing. I never even really got into the whole Myspace or facebook thing either, and that’s pretty standard now. I think being overwhelmed with the size was part of it too. I used to comment to Modblog regularly until it got too big to keep track of who was who in terms of posters. It didn’t keep me from contributing pictures or experiences, I just wasn’t much of an IAMer. Regardless, BME was a part of my life for a very long time and was a source of comfort and information. It contributed to who I am today. It just sucks now because I don’t feel as though I belong to or am welcome there anymore.
i saw the singing dragon in a surf film ages ago…was trying to find his work on soulseek, haha, now i at least have a name to the voice..very nice post.
Well thank-you Shannon for all your hard work anyway, I know a lot of people appreciate it, not least me…
Love and light
Skid x
IAM/BME is NOT the same without you. It’s lost the vaguely anarchic feel that made it so enjoyable.
Always like to read your blog here though :)
I’m gone from BME and IAM finally, it’s really hard to expunge something so close to my heart for most of my formative years. I’ll always have my logo backpiece to remind me of better times :) Thanks for everything, Shannon!
Same here, I just don’ enjoy being at ModBlog or BME anymore. I’m not a native english speaker so excuse my lack of a less lame word, but the “spirit” of BME is gone. I never feel the need to participate in discussions or anything, it’s pointless. Sad, but true.
I didnt want to bring it up either, but since again its semi brought up… BME/IAM/Modblog is not the same without you there at all sir.
BME in my eye is YOU. Youre blood, sweat, and tears type thing. It was like your favorite sitcom was canceled…
Or that a loved one had died… Its an empty feeling…
I actually made a blog post about it the other day…
You, your knowledge, and passion became a big part of my life for a time…
And even though weve never talked I got pretty bummed that you were gone…
Sorry for getting all sappy and gay on you, but its true.
Instead of getting cool educational things on modblog, it now seems like hotornot.com haha.
Sorry if any of this pissed you off…
(Followed a link here from Digg)
Back in 2004 I posted this silly idea inspired by one of your implanted magnet stories:
https://www.halfbakery.com/idea/Quick_20and_20dirty_20cyborg
With just a solar cell (or inductor or other sensor) encased in something bio-inert, you could make a crude functional implant.
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