Between 11 and 2 (well, more like between 11:05 and 11:45) I'll be on Saira's radio show. You can click here to listen live. Naturally, unless it' between 11 PM and 2 AM on Tuesday night, you'll be listening to someone else (like maybe the slow love show).
Oh, and unless someone says to me, “Here's $4000,” I'm giving the car below to Saira's father. So tell me now if you want it!
Did you know that the following are all anagrams of “Body Modification Ezine”?
INDEFINITE ACID ZOOM BOYDEFINITION: ICY MAD BOOZE
DIE FAY!! CONDITION ZOMBIE.
ZOO DIN? I'M A DEFICIENT BOY.
DIETICIAN: MONEY FOOD BIZ.
IDIOMATIC FINE BODY ZONE.
Driving that Vette (which I love), I really appreciate how well engineered my other cars are. The early Vettes displays some truly frightening handling characteristics at even relatively mild speeds (anything about about 65 mph). I don't think they really figured it out until the eighties… even the aerodynamics are fucked. I can drive the SLK at 100 mph with the top down and I barely feel the wind in the cabin… But even at 50 mph in the Vette if I roll down the window I go through insane buffeting.
But none of that even puts a dent in how much I enjoy this car.
Marty was actually the first person to see the car — he and his girlfriend (I'm sorry, I don't remember your IAM page) stopped by yesterday (getting a preview of the ModCon book, and dropping off some photos for me to scan). His implant looks amazing — one of the most involved and detailed tattoo accents I've ever seen. Then I shot out to Burlington to visit Kerri (and get some advice from her father about upholstery).
When I arrived home some asshole from Ajax had decided to park in my lane, totally blocking access so I couldn't get in to my driveway. I asked my neighbors and no one knew who's it was, so I called the police to have it towed. Problem is that where he was parked was private property… to tow off of private property, you need a signiture from the property owner. The empty lot owners went bankrupt so as far as I know, there's no one that can actually sign. So they couldn't tow him. (PS. That means if you come for a BBQ feel free to use the lot to park in I guess).
Anyway, so I just pulled up the big truck and parked it about two inches behind him, pinning him between the wall and a truck that would damage him severely should he bump it. I locked my doors and went to bed.
No big surprise, but I woke up to my landlord pounding on my door. My landlord is five feet tall, four feet wide, and extremely difficult to communicate with. I'd always assumed that it was because even though he'd lived here for forty years, he'd somehow managed to keep Portugese his primary language. Toronto has a large Portugese community so it's certainly possible. Anyway, one day he was trying to install a new lock and couldn't figure out how to use a screwdriver so I attempted to explain it's workings to him. His son came along luckily and tried to help him in Portugese — same difficulty. In time I've come to the conclusion that he actually speaks English fine, he's just dumb as a rock.
In anycase, he woke me up and was screaming about me moving my truck… I came out and yelled back at him trying to explain what happened. Thank god his son was there who understood and agreed with what I'd done. The guy who'd blocked me had long since left — he'd spent half an hour inching forward and backward to eventually escape. I doubt I'll ever see him again.
ANYWAY. Blah blah blah, right. I'm processing about 175 experiences right now, unless something unexpected happens, they'll be uploaded later today.
The procedures at ModCon were free for attendees. Not free because they were free, but free because ModCon (ie. BME, ie. me) paid for them. Sure I can use the photos from the event itself in the book, but it's not as if I even close to break even on it. The book is being done to reach the public, not to rake in money. Anyway, I asked everyone who had procedures done to send photos of them to BME. You'd think that out of fifty or so procedures I'd get some pictures back… but as of last check only The Eternal, joshcantyoyo, and the great ORBAX have come through…
I've even seen pictures posted on some IAM pages of people's mods that they got there that for some reason they decided not to share with BME. Doesn't do wonders for my faith in people… Lets hope they're just waiting for complete healing to send in their pictures.
Oh well. Blair tells me he goes through the same thing — he'll spend hours with someone doing the perfect custom brand for them, and they thank him profusely and promise to send him healed photos… big surprise, he never hears another word from them.
What's the rule that's analogous? “Never loan money to friends…”
There were a few people — not a lot, but a few — that had the very clear “I don't care what I get as long as its free” attitude. I've really got to wonder when a person doesn't care what mod they get, and prioritizes it by price — it's like the idiot that walks into a tattoo studio and asks, “What can I get for forty bucks?”
I talked to Saira about it last night at dinner… I figure that of people involved in heavy mods, a quarter of them are involved because they're legitimately interested and would have done it even without the media. Half of them are doing it for legitimate reasons, but would never have done it if the media hadn't told them about it. The remaining quarter are involved ONLY because the media or their subculture has told them it's the cool thing to do…
Sometimes I wonder if I'd just be better off going back to building custom telephony software. I know I'd have a lot more money and a lot more spare time, and probably less stress… If only I didn't have this damn belief that this is important.
(end of rant)
I just got the numbers back from the printers — they're estimating that the price of printing the 10,000 copies will be about $36k CDN. That doesn't include the DVDs, which will probably add arounda a dollar a copy plus mounting costs… So… We're in need of basically $30k USD.
This book will be published by a totally new company, “BMEbooks”, which has also recently negotiated the rights to published a number of Japanese piercing books as well.
Here's the problem: We need investors. If you have $5k or more to invest (and I mean invest, not loan or donate), please contact me via email at glider@bmezine.com. The book is basically ready to go — as soon as we raise the cash, it's a GO!
So ask yourself… Do you want to take part in one of the most significant publishing moments in modern body modification?
