Tattooed Pigs

Boobs mailed me these pictures a while back.

If you think you're looking at pigs with a rare skin disease, look again cos it's actually tattoos!

Yes that's right....live pigs with tattoos on them!

Now i know usually tattoo artists, or rather apprentices use pig skin to practice their tattooing, but i think in this case, these pigs are actually tattooed and later these skins are used to make purses!

Pigs' skins may be harder than human skin, but i still think this would constitute animal cruelty!

The end product.....some poor pig had to suffer to end up looking this ugly???

Angelina Jolie's New Tattoos

Angelina Jolie has added 2 more tattoos to her collection - to represent Knox & Vivienne's birth longitude and latitude .

She showed of her new tatts at the premier of the Clint Eastwood-directed movie, The Changeling.

It comes as no surprise that these 2 were gonna be done......it was just a matter of when really.

The other 4 of of course represent her other children, Maddox, Zahara, Shiloh and Pax. (Have you heard the one about Jolie being likened to Vicky Pollard of Little Britain? Funneeeee!)

It's nice to see her looking a bit 'fuller' than her usual waif-self.

More pictures here and here

Tattoo.com On The Road

Got this from Tattoo.com if anyone is interested :

Come visit us if you plan on attending any of these upcoming shows! If you cannot attend in person, just join my.tattoos.com to be the first to see exclusive show photos and videos!


This weekend! The Calgary Tattoo and Arts Festival.We'll be there with our godsgirls and purrfect pineapplesn lingerie dodgeball team.Join myself, Bob Tyrrell and eight hot tattooed vixens while we kick butt at the first ever tattoo industry dodgeball tournament this weekend at the Calgary Roundup Centre. Info: calgarytattoos.com


Join us for the Beijing international convention Sep 19-21st 2008
Tattoos.com, Paul Booth, Bob Tyrrell, the Dutchman, Kurt Wiscombe, Dan Allaston and many more as we spend a week in China to visit and enjoy the convention and city of Beijing. Info online : http://www.tattoochina.cn/


Join us in Cape Town South Africa Jan - 23rd - 25th 2009
For Southern Ink Xposure a true international convention with artists form North America, Asia and Europe spending time at the Cape Town international Convention Center in this tropical paradise during their mid-summer. Lyle Tuttle, Paul Booth, Bob Tyrrell and many others - details online at tattoos.com/six

Booby Opts For Peace

Of all the cliches, i decided to get a symbol of peace.

What prompted me to get this symbol was of course the whole terrorist-threat thingy

I keep going over the incident in my head and i often think about how i could have approached the whole incident differently.

PEACEFULLY!

Placing the stencil

I'm not justifying their action of sending those horrible letters, but i'm just saying that perhaps i should have tried understanding their need to spread their word about the things happening in their country.

Of course at the time i did not know that the guy was Palestinian...i actually thought he was a Malaysian.

But regardless of that, i guess when people feel so passionate and angry about something, logic and reason will most likely go out the door and that's where i should have been more understanding.

Perfect fit!

Then of course there is my high-strung, angry-as-arse personality as well which sees me, more often than not, getting easily pissed-off and picking fights with the people around me :p

Setting up...very excited!!

Anyway i picked an Adinkra symbol : a FUNTUNFUNEFU-DENKYEMFUNEFU or "Siamese crocodiles".

I have been an admirer of Adinkra symbols for the past 5 years now, and have been wanting to get this particular symbol for the past 2 years.

And so it begins....

The Siamese crocodiles share one stomach, yet they fight over food. This symbol is a reminder that infighting and tribalism is harmful to all who engage in it.

Starts with the outline...i often find this part more painful than the filling-in

It is basically a symbol of peace where the 'wearer' achieves peace with him/herself as well as with others.

Outline done...lookin' good :)

And i must say that even before getting the tatt, whenever i got angry and was about to explode, i would think about the symbol and immediately my anger would dissipate!!!!

Location, location

The location of the tattoo, to me, is almost as important as the tattoo itself. To me, this symbol had to be somewhere i could clearly see it...so that everytime the ugly red monster tried to rear its head, i could see this symbol easily and try to take the peaceful approach instead.

Of course i made the mistake of telling my mum the meaning, and now everytime we fight she's like "Look!Look at your tattoo. Now stop fighting!"

:(

Filling-in...at this point the pain is already numbed and actually quite soothing :p

After much deliberation, i decided the best place would be my wrist. But i was of course worried, being in this profession, that i would get a lot of negative feedback. But after much discussion with friends and after testing out the design in several other locations, i decided that it would in fact look best on my wrist.

I would deal with any negativity in my own (peaceful of course) manner :p

Then of course was the matter of the size. Since i was still worried about the location, i printed out several different sizes of the symbol and had actually decided to get the smallest size done. But my tattoo artist Ernesto convinced me otherwise as too small a size would render the image 'unreadable', and so in the end we opted for the actual size :)

Almost done..

The inking itself took all of 20-30 minutes and i must say that it is hands down the prettiest tattoo i have! In fact it seems so odd to have something that pretty on someone like me!!

Imagine the Booby one in a pink dress (a stylish one without frills of course..but nevertheless pink!) and you'll get an idea of what i'm talking about :p

Final touch-up

My friends keep teasing me, saying it looks more like 2 lizards than 2 crocodiles but i don't care. I love it to death! And the more i look at it, the more i am so glad that i placed it on my wrist cos anywhere else and the 'meaning' and 'purpose' would have been lost

Plus is sooooo perrtyy!

Yay! All done!!!

The artist

Ernesto Kalum...a Sarawak-based tattoo artist who is internationally recognized particularly for his borneo tattoos. I first met Ernesto 3 years ago where i got 2 tattoos done by him. Since then i have gone back to have 2 more done

Other than his obvious talent at tattooing, what i absolutely love about him is his humility. I mean the dude is like a total rock star in Kuching and yet he is the humblest guy on earth.

Plus he has a killer sense of humour on him.

With the artist : Ernesto Kalum

I would highly recommend him especially if you want to get traditional Iban tattoos done. I have met people from different parts of the world who flew all the way to Kuching for the sole purpose of getting inked by him. You can check-out his website on the left for more details (i would strongly advise you to set an appointment first)

Thank you Dazzie for my tattoo (it was his birthday gift to me), and thanks to Rob & Ernesto for making the tattoo-experience so fantastic...as usual :p

You can view the video of the tattooing here

Miami Ink in Kuala Lumpur?!!

According to the buzz around town, it seems that Ami James and Chris Garver are gonna be coming down to Kuala Lumpur!!!!!

Ami James - i don't know of any ladies who don't wanna bonk him!

I don't know of the dates or venue. Hell i don't even know if it's for real since i just overhead it in a tattoo shop, but if it is indeed for real then woo hoo!


Now while Ami James is certainly the ladies man, it can't be denied that Chris Garver is the true genius! And i especially love the fact that he is also a painter - in fact you can see most of his awesome work in the shop itself! Remember that episode where he did the koi fish painting for that house to be placed above the bed? GORGEOUS!!!!!!



And despite being soo famous he still remains soo humble! Wonder if he is still single :p


You can see more of his art work here

Chris Garver - tattoo God!

Ami James also has an official website and you can checkout his work here

Will update as soon as i get more information on this.

Let's keep our fingers crossed and hope that they will indeed be coming...and perhaps bringing along the pretty-boy Nunez? I know my cousin Steph would just go wild!!!

Watch this space

Ronald's Koi Fish Tattoo

Ronald got this Koi Fish tattoo done about a year ago.

As any tattoo enthusiast will know, the koi fish is very popular among Westerners and Asians alike. Just watch Miami Ink and you'll see at least 1 person per episode requesting for one to be done!

And of course they all request for it to be done by the delicious Amy James since he is a Koi Fish expert :p

The koi fish is a tattoo of the fish Cyprinus carpio. They are often mistaken for goldfish as they closely resemble them, but they are in fact from the carp family.

Koi fish are known for their strength vitality and perseverance. These japanese tattoos are taken most commonly to symbolize luck. It is very lucky to be a Koi because they are so highly prized and well treated in Japan.

Wild Koi swim upstream to spawn. There is an ancient Japanese legend that if a koi swims all the way up the Yellow River to a point called Dragon Gate, and swims up the waterfall at that point, it will turn into a Dragon. Based on that legend, it became a symbol of worldly aspiration and advancement.

Among the different meanings/symbolism of the koi fish are :

• In Buddhism, it represents courage. Humans 'swim' through the 'ocean of suffering' without fear, just like a fish swims through water.
• Good fortune or luck
• A symbol of love & friendship
• Associated with perserverance in adversity and strength of purpose.

Sources : I Love Tattoos & Piercings & Wiki Answers

For a more detailed discussion on Koi Fish, the reader is referred here

The artist who did it was Spec and he was also the guy who gave me my first 2 tattoos (back when he was based in Midland's Penang)

I can personally vouch for this dude's work...he is absolutely fantastic and pays great attention to detail.

I must warn you though that he doesn't like people haggling over the price and he isn't someone who will put up with any attitude.

But other than that he is a totally cool dude.

Shop details :

Spec Bodyart
S048 2nd Floor, Sungei Wang Plaza,

Jalan Bukit Bintang

Kuala Lumpur 55200
Malaysia

Tattoo Artist : Frenchman Tattoo

This one was submitted by Jacques Pouliot

Jacques doing a tongue-piercing

He owns a Tattoo & Piercing shop in Campbell River, BC, which he runs with his wife.

Tattooing a client...she's biting-down on a popsicle stick :p

The finished 'product'......lower back rose tattoo with tribal underneath

He also owned/operated Dr. Doodle Tattoos in Powell River,BC for over 15 years.

He is a sample of some of his work :

You can check out the rest of his awesome work at www.frenchmantattoo.com

Here are the full details :

Jacques Pouliot

Frenchman Tattoo & Piercing

560-D 11th Avenue,

Campbell River, BC.,V9W 4G4

250-286-8339

Tours are welcome!

Thanks for the submission dude. If i'm ever in your country, i'm definitely coming over to get inked! :p

Jess' Butterfly Tattoo

This one was submitted by Jess :


My tale of self mutila… I mean beautification started when I was 16


I became obsessed with getting a belly ring but somehow never worked up the nerve to get one, partly due to my fear of needles but more so the wrath of my parents.


Almost 5 years later, I finally got pierced, with much cheerleading from Booby. So it was only right then, that she became my cheerleader yet again 7 years later when I got my first tattoo.

At Ernesto's shop

Once again I became interested in tattoo’s a long while before I finally got inked.

I think it must have been around the time I got my piercing, I was surfing the net and came across a tattoo design which I fell in love with.


It’s hard to describe but it looked kinda like a heart-shaped wreath of flowers with a tiny cross at the end. It wasn’t too sweet looking – it was pretty but it had a bit of edge to it too and it was perfect.


I filed it away under the ‘Maybe’ list of all the things I have to do in life, again uncertain about sharp, pointy needles, the possibility of being disowned, even religious implications and I guess the finality of getting a permanent tattoo........I wasn’t sure if it was just a phase.

Placing the stencil

Finally on the 16th of September 2007, Booby initiated plans with Kogs, J and I for a holiday in Kuching, designed specifically for us to meet Ernesto Kalum, the master tattooist.


For me this was it!


After 7 years I still yearned for a tattoo and being on the brink of major changes in my life, I was finally ready to be inked!

The design.....my butterfly

My issue with pain was dealt with promises that the pain is addictive and that I didn’t actually need to see the needles – in fact I looked away the entire time Ernesto worked on me!

The master at work

As for my parents, I wasn’t sure about how they’d react (more about that later) but I was hopeful that after years of hearing me and my sister (a champion campaigner in opinion reversals) talk about it, they might become immune to the idea.



Might sound odd that I needed mummy and daddy’s approval but if you lived on my planet you would. As for my faith, a little reading, a lot of talking to different people and some soul searching - I was ready.

Ernesto Kalum

So the day soon arrived.

I had wanted to get ‘my’ tattoo design from 7 years before done but my fiancée asked me to get another one instead as he wanted to get a tattoo as well and wanted me to save ‘my’ design for later when we do ours together.


So I decided on wings, on my ankle to symbolise freedom and independence, even as I was getting ready to be married.



Cliché I know, but I wanted it anyway.

I had picked a few styles of wings that I liked but Ernesto, being the artist that he is told me that :


1. I had to choose between a fairy or butterfly as wings alone wouldn’t look nice so I picked a butterfly


2. He would design it himself with tribal strokes which I was delighted about


3. The size I wanted, a teeny tiny one wouldn’t cut it, it had to be much larger.



When he showed me his sketch it was a real shock to my system as I wasn’t ready for something so obvious!

Trying to avoid looking at the needle!

Had I had come to Kuching wanting my original design I might have been disappointed with a redrawn version of it. Instead I loved the butterfly Ernesto had designed for me and suddenly the size didn’t seem to matter.

In the words of Booby, your tattoo chooses you as much as you choose your tattoo.

The process itself wasn’t as painful as I had expected it to be.

Being near the ankle there were times when I dug my nails into J’s hands (Sorry J!) but for the most part I looked away and tried to hold a conversation with Ernesto and the girls.

Admiring my first tattoo!

The next few days I kept admiring it and lo and behold mum actually thought it was pretty.


Dad on the other hand took 2 weeks to ask, ‘What’s that scribbled on your leg?’

My butterfly!

Even now, every time I look at my tattoo or when someone mentions it I smile.


It’s not just that I think its pretty; it’s the entire process, the memory and the meaning of it that just comes flooding back to me.

Thanks for the submission babe :p