This is not the standard type of Bod Mod. This is more of a native tradition that falls under body modification.

There is a place in Asia that is known for the old tradition of neck stretching using brass rings.

The Padaung, or Ka-Kaung as they call themselves. Ka-Kaung means ‘people who live on top of the hill’. Padaung women are often referred to as ‘giraffe’ or ‘long-necked’ because of the custom of placing brass rings around their necks from when they are young girls.

The practice is fast disappearing. In fact it is not the neck which has stretched but the shoulders which have been forced down by the weight and pressure of the rings.

The way this works is that a few rings are put around the neck of a young girl, as the girl gets older, more rings are added and after time her neck has the appearance of looking very long due to the compression caused by the rings over time.

At about age 5, girls were introduced to the first neck ring. Their shoulders were pushed down, making the neck look longer. By the time the woman was full grown, she may have as much as 20 lbs. of metal around her neck that is now 10″ - 15″ long. Having that much weight on top your shoulders is not comfortable and very restraining making ordinary tasks such as drinking water from a cup or looking up impossible.

Today the neck rings are mostly seen on the elderly woman that still hold the tradition. Some young woman also participate in the practice, but today they do so for financial and commercial purposes and tourists.

There are many different accounts of why the Padaung practice this bizzare custom. Their own mythology explains that it is done to prevent tigers from biting them!

But there are other reports, another explanation is that it is done to make the women unattractive so they are less likely to be captured by slave traders.

The most common explanation is the obvious one, that an extra-long neck is considered a sign of great beauty and wealth and that it will attract a better husband. The rings also gave the men of the tribe more power over the women. For instance, adultery, though, is said to be punished by removal of the rings. In this case, since the neck muscles will have been severely weakened by years of not supporting the neck, a woman must spend the rest of her life lying down or may even die of choking.

However, that is not totally true and the rings may be removed without harm in most cases with the muscles soon strengthening.

Whatever the origin of the custom, one of the more common reasons it continues today, particularly in Thailand, is tourism.

Unfortunately, the “giraffe woman” are such an oddity that the woman need to go through this to make a living. Tourists flock to see them, photographers pay for pictures, and they are now pretty much a side show exhibit.

One of the women had this to say

“I want to keep my people’s traditions but we are suffering because of these rings,” she said. “We are denied education and the Thai authorities will not let us go abroad, although some of us have been invited to leave for Finland and New Zealand. The authorities say the long-necked people are not allowed to go, that they will lose business.”

Other women complain the camp administrators pressure them to keep the rings on so the tourists will keep coming. Women are paid 1,500 baht a month (about $42) to wear them. The average wage for a field laborer is about $3 a day in this part of Thailand, although Kayan complain they don’t receive the medical and education benefits alleged in a leaflet

handed out to tourists.

There has been some talk over the practice of putting young girls through this for

increased tourism and many people, even in Thailand, many see this as child abuse and some tour guides even refuse to go there in protest.

The practice deforms the shoulders. The rings do not really stretch the neck, the rings

compress the shoulders and ribs causing the illusion. The rings may be taken off, but the muscles need time to strengthen and there is a risk of choking if the head is not supported for a few months after removal.

The rumored risk of death has caused many of the elderly ladies in the region to still keep the rings.

I saw a TV documentary about this and the elderly ladies rings were removed after 60

years. She was fine after removal and did not need any help holding up her neck.

The point is that she had been terrified to do so for many years because the rumor is that if removed, the woman will die. That type of propaganda has been used for a long time to make sure the women do not remove the rings.

The neck stretching is not the only form of body modification in the area. The people of

that region also have other traditions suck as earlobe stretching, a practice that is also becoming a trend in western cultures today. The other native traditions of body modification practices is always out shadowed by the oddity of the “Giraffe” Woman.

I guess by many musical standards of 80’s punk, I was lucky to grow up in LA and remember hanging out in back yards and garages with many of the now famous 80’s bands. Being in that Los Angeles punk scene during High School really was alot of fun. We got away with a hell of a lot more than any kid can today and we saw bands like the Red Hot Chili Peppers playing in our back yards when our parents went to Vegas and left us the house to look after.

Now, we had to rotate houses because the folks came back and were mad, mad, mad. Yep, after one or two times of coming home to broken windows, broken furniture, and some very angry neighbors, the folks took away the house key and made us stay at a friends for the next trip. Well, at least ’till we got back into their good graces and were able to do it all again. Luckily, 20 years later, I think I am forgiven… however, they still do not trust me with the key to the house.

So in my state of high school reminiscence (no idea if I spelled that correctly) I started looking through sites for articles about the 1980’s punk rock scene and I found a list of top 5 80’s punk bands (as voted by a bunch of people in some forum). The list goes as so.

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1 Circle Jerks
2 Black Flag
3 Subhumans
4 Dead Kennedys
5 Bad Brains

I also found a list of the top ’80’s punk rock anthems, here are a few below… remember these?

Download Oi Oi Oi - Cockney Rejects

Download Dead Kennedys - Holiday in Cambodia

Download Ramones - Blitzkrieg Bop

What surprises me is that one of my favorite bands was not listed anywhere on these lists - Social Distortion. Now how do you have a top 50 punk rock list without Social D in in it? Even more so because their old-school music is still played regularly on radio stations nation wide.

Download Social Distortion

wait, check out the pics I found

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I never have looked at the Social Distortion site, ’till now that is, but they still tour, have shows coming up and have some great content on their site including music and videos

This is the history of the band from their site socialdistortion.com

A BRIEF HISTORY OF SOCIAL DISTORTION

In the late 1970s the first raw, sloppy, speeding guitar chords began to blare from the garages and backrooms of a Southern California suburb called Orange County. They echoed a sound forged in the preceding years in the seminal punk undergrounds of New York City and London.
By 1979, a 17 year old kid named Mike Ness had formed Social Distortion with drummer Casey Royer and brothers Rikk and Frank Agnew. The band’s world centered around Mike’s one-bedroom pad, dubbed “the black hole,” in a nondescript Fullerton, CA apartment complex. After meeting Dennis Danell, a punk loving classmate, Ness insisted Danell, who at the time didn’t play an instrument, join the band on bass. Royer and the Agnew’s soon split from the band and eventually form The Adolescents.

Local Los Angeles KROQ-FM deejay Rodney Bingenheimer embraced Orange County music, playing highlights from its major local bands, including Social Distortion, on his Sunday night radio show. In 1981, Social Distortion released their first single, “Mainliner/Playpen,” on the Posh Boy label. Around the same time, Mike Ness developed a reputation as a brawler resulting in a chunk of his left ear being bitten off during a confrontation at the Cuckoo’s Nest bar.

In 1982, Social Distortion, along with LA’s Youth Brigade and DC’s Minor Threat, are the subjects of the documentary “Another State of Mind,” which captures the band’s first stormy cross-continental tour in a beat up school bus. By late 1983, Social Distortion’s line up consisted of Mike Ness, Danell (now on rhythm guitar), bassist Brent Liles, and drummer Derek O’Brien. Released on the 13th Floor label, their debut album, Mommy’s Little Monster, gained the band a national name in punk circles. Returning home, the line up now included a nasty heroin habit for Ness. The madness that followed resulted in Brent Liles and Derek O’Brien bailing out of the band in the middle of a New Year’s Eve 1983 show.
Ness and Danell soon recruited John Maurer, another old school buddy from Fullerton to play bass and Christopher Reece, of the San Francisco band The Lewd, came in on drums. This lineup weathered Social Distortion’s toughest years, as Ness struggled with heroin addiction and the resulting series of jailings and detoxes, which finally ended in 1985. Ness is able to continue writing and hold the band together to being work on a new album. In 1988, Social Distortion emerge with the release of Prison Bound, an album whose moving title cut about a wasted life is one of the greatest songs ever to come out of Orange County. Ness turned Social Distortion’s albums into an ongoing dialogue about impulsiveness, its consequences and the hard struggle to overcome.

In addition to the early punk of The Ramones and The Clash, the band’s sound was culled equally from Ness’ love of roots music, specifically early country music greats like Hank Williams and the early blues recordings of the South. As Ness would later declare to Social Distortion audiences, “Without good black music, there would be no good white music.”
The self titled Social Distortion album followed in 1990. It is SD’s first release on a major label. The success of singles “Story Of My Life” and “Ball And Chain,” along with their remarkable cover of Johnny Cash’s “Ring Of Fire,” make the album Social Distortion’s first Gold record. The band are asked to join Neil Young on tour, beginning the process of bending punk expectation. They soon return with 1992’s Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell lead by the blistering single “Bad Luck,” the album also goes Gold. A co-headlining tour with The Ramones follows.

The band took an extended hiatus following the release of Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell, and did not return to the studio until the fall of 1995. Earlier that year, Time Bomb Recordings re-issued Mommy’s Little Monster, Prison Bound, and released the single compilation Mainliner, Wreckage from the Past. Social D return in 1996 with a new album, White Light White Heat White Trash, and a new drummer, Chuck Biscuits of Black Flag and D.O.A. fame. The album is a success atop radio favorites “I Was Wrong” and “When The Angels Sing.” The band sign up as one of the main draws of the 1997 Warped Tour and then record and release the live album Live At The Roxy in 1998.

A solo record, Cheating At Solitaire, was released by Mike Ness in 1999. The album is an homage to the classic country, blues, rockabilly, and folk that shaped him as a songwriter. Later that same year Ness released Under The Influences, a collection of cover tunes further showcasing his love of American roots music with songs written by legends Hank Williams, Marty Robbins, and Carl Perkins among others.

On February 29, 2000, then 38-year old guitarist Dennis Danell dies suddenly of heart failure. At the time Mike is quoted: “I am saddened beyond any possible form of expression. Dennis and I have been friends since boyhood, starting Social Distortion while we where in high school. My deepest regrets to his family.” In the Fall of 2000, Jonny “2 Bags” Wickersham (guitar) and Charlie Quintana (drums) officially join Social Distortion. 3 years later Social Distortion head into the studio to record a new record - their first full-length studio record in 7 years and the first record without Dennis Danell. A live DVD, Live in The Orange County, is released in 2004. On August 5, 2004, after 20 years of serving as Social Distortion’s bass player John Maurer decides to leave the band for personal reasons after having completed the recording of Sex, Love and Rock’n’ Roll, the new Social Distortion album.

The album is well received nationwide, bolstered by the success of the single “Reach For The Sky.” Brent Harding of Ness’ solo touring band joins Social Distortion as their full time bassist. In 2005, the band go on to sell out a record 6 nights at The Wiltern theater in Los Angeles, that’s in addition to the record 37 shows sold out as part of their regular year end multi-night stands at House Of Blues clubs across the Southwest - an almost annual tradition since 2001

Another really cool thing I found on the Social D site were some of the old flyers - serious old school punk rock flyers, like hand written and xerox copied. Its surprising any still exist! I used to have tons of those in a drawer, wow, makes me sad now because I could have sold that shit on Ebay, haha, just kidding

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Celtic Symbols in tattoos - the meaning (I hope)

MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE

Song: 1
Download “THE BLACK PARADE” - - - - - - - ->

Song: 2
Download
“FAMOUS LAST WORDS” - - - - - - - ->

My Chemical Romance (often shortened to MCR or My Chem) is an American Music Award-nominated American rock band that formed in 2001.

Image Gallery

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Current

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Former

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Touring

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• “Capricorn (A Brand New Name)” (2002) from 30 Seconds to Mars
• “Edge of the Earth” (2002) from 30 Seconds to Mars
• “Attack” (2005) from A Beautiful Lie
• “The Kill” (2006) from A Beautiful Lie
• “From Yesterday” (2006) from A Beautiful Lie
• “A Beautiful Lie” (2007) from A Beautiful Lie

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So where did flesh art and the “modern” tattoo originate from? hmmm… I doubt anyone can really say for sure, many would say that what we now know as the modern art of tattoo came from Polynesia and who am I to contradict that?

But tattoos can be found in cave paintings, relics and even ummies all over the world with some going back as far as 2000 - 3000 BC. I just read something that stated that the world’s most spectacular tattooed mummy was discovered by Russian anthropologist Sergei Ivanovich Rudenko in 1948 during the excavation of a group of Pazyryk tombs about 120 miles north of the border between China and Russia.

Anyway, we have seen a huge comeback in “tribal” styled tattoos many of which are Polynesian styled. Tribal style flesh art has become rather trendy in many urban places far from the Pacific Islands that the trend originated from.

It’s hard to walk down the streets in NY or LA without running into people who have “tribal” style tattoos on visible places of their bodies. Any tattoo shop you walk into no matter where it is will have 100’s of these designs and patterns available on their walls, but few people know the meaning behind them, the history or the traditional methods used for centuries. And, yes, the designs are very cool looking which is most likely why we are seeing the trend.

Most of these “polynesian” style tatts are done in the modern method using sanitized equipment and the tattoo gun.

Though few of us who are not from the Polynesian islands would be willing to undergo the painful and lengthy procedure that real Polynesian tattoos necessitate, we might well be attracted to elements of the traditional tribal designs and wish to incorporate them into our own tattoos – using modern methodsThere are still some artists out there that employ traditional techniques, though most people go with the moderm method now for a few reasons…

1. The pain involved in traditional tribal tattoos is far greater then the modern counterpart.

2. The price, traditional tattoos in Island shops that still offer them are many times more than the modern one. read the pricing from one of the island shops below:

• Regular Tattoo prices: The starting price for a regular tattoo is approximately $100 USD. On average, I would say people spend about $100-200 USD for a regular tattoo.
• Traditional tattoo prices: The starting price for a traditional tattoo is $600 USD. The reason for the difference in price has to do with the amount of labor involved. First, I have to make the traditional tools. I usually use wild boar tusk. Making the tools is time consuming and the tools I make for you, are only for you. You actually get to keep the tools. In addition, I need to hire an assistant to hold your skin flat while I tattoo. I would say most people spend about $1000-1200 on a traditional tattoo.

By tradition the tattoos are very painful and created using a needle. There are other methods involving an instrument that is basically a needle or an object that pierces the skin. The needle is attatched to a match head or bone chisel(very painful) are some other methods. By stretching the skin and using a bone chisel the tattoo is imprinted deep into the skin and also shows bravery due to the pain it causes. It is hit into the area by a small mallet.

In Samoa, the tradition of applying tattoo, or tatau, by hand has been unbroken for over two thousand years. Tools and techniques have changed little. The skill is often passed from father to son, each tattoo artist, or tufuga, learning the craft over many years of serving as his father’s apprentice. A young artist-in-training often spent hours, and sometimes days, tapping designs into sand or barkcloth using a special tattooing comb, or au. Honoring their tradition, Samoan tattoo artists made this tool from sharpened boar’s teeth fastened together with a portion of the turtle shell and to a wooden handle.
Polynesia is a group of islands spread over the Pacific Ocean (over 1000; Polynesia is the Greek word for many islands).

The Beginning: Tatau in Samoa

Your necklace may break, the fau tree may burst, but my tattooing is indestructible. It is an everlasting gem that you will take into your grave.

Verse from a traditional tattoo artist’s song

The legacy of Polynesian tattoo began over 2000 years ago and is as diverse as the people who wear them. Once widespread in Polynesian societies across the Pacific Ocean, the arrival of western missionaries in the 19th century forced this unique art form into decline. Despite the encroachment of Christian religious beliefs that vilified tattooing as unholy, many Polynesian tattoo artists maintained their vital link to their culture’s history by preserving their unique craft for generations. he pain of traditional tattooing is extreme.

Check out these images below that go back many many generations

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Samoan society has long been defined by rank and title, with chiefs (ali’i) and their assistants, known as talking chiefs (tulafale), descending from notable families in the proper birth order. The tattooing ceremonies for young chiefs, typically conducted at the onset of puberty, were elaborate affairs and were a key part of their ascendance to a leadership role. The permanent marks left by the tattoo artists would forever celebrate their endurance and dedication to cultural traditions. The pain was extreme and the risk of death by infection was a great concern. But to shy away from tattooing was to risk being labeled a pala’ai or coward and reviled by the clan. Those who could not endure the pain and abandoned their tattooing were left incomplete, wearing their mark of shame throughout their life.

In the earlr 1980’s, Tahiti began the resurgance which soon spread to the Marquesas and all over. Samoa is one of the few places that never really quit tattooing. It has several dichotomies in that it is very Christian, yet still drink kava, have tattoos and so forth from their traditional ways. They are still using mostly traditional styles, but as with most places the Western world has had an influence on some. New Zealand is another country that had a continuous tattooing trend, although it was almost entirely western styles. Today it too is having a resurgance in traditional ways. The maori people have full body tattoos, although not in the way the movie Once Were Warriors potrayed them. Some women have even began to get the chin and lip tattoos that their distant relatives once wore so proudly. Easter Island or Rapa Nui has probably the largest proportion of tattoos. 1 in 5 peope have tattoos and many are of traditional patterns.

Here are images of more tribal tattoos some are done with modern tattoo techniques while others used the traditional method.

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Tattoos have many meanings in these cultures. In Samoa it is an initiation into manhood. No matter what accomplishments one might have, the males are still considered boys until their tattooing is complete. Women here also have more tattooes than in other areas. Although not as elaborate as the males, it is still of great importance. There are also tattoos for criminals, which might be a good idea to implement here in are western society. The most extensive and exquisite tattooing takes place in the Marquesas. Tahiti and many other places have adopted their styles. Some have tattoos with very intricate detail, while others tell a story, and yet others might be very extensive and cover the entire body.
New Zealand: Aotearoa (Maori for NZ) is where the Maori people live. Tattoo art or Ta Moko as they call it, is a very important aspect of their culture. Discover all about Maori Tattoos here

Hawaii: Hawaiian tattoo designs are distinct from other Polynesian tattoos in that sense that they have a more personal meaning. Popular today are Hawaiian flowers, turtles and abstract tribals. Learn more about Hawaiian Tattoos

Easter Island (Rapa Nui): the tattoo designs of the inhabitants of the Easter Island have a huge variety: stylized boats, vaginas, spears, birds, geometrical patterns, …. Women and men had a combination of bold lines and dots on their forehead, from one ear to the other. The tattoos made their skin sacred and enabled them to communicate with the gods.

Samoa: Samoan tattoos are generally very large and denote the social status and rank of the man or woman who wears it. See further.
Tonga: the Tongan tattoo is similar to the Samoan tattoo.
The Cook Islands: the tattoo designs of the Cook Islands were spread over the entire body. Each tribe had its own tattoo sign.
French Polynesia (Tahiti): traditionally, only people of a high social ranking had tattoos. Tahitian tattoos covered the whole body, except the face. Women as well as men were tattooed. The women were tattooed at a very young age. Later they are tattooed again when they reach sexual maturity. When they desired a man, they would show their tattoos by lifting their skirts.

The Marquesa Islands: a group of islands in French Polynesia with a deeply rooted tattoo tradition. The people of the Marquesa islands were the most heavily tattooed of all the Polynesian tribes.
Several other islands which now house distinct ethnic groups.

Though they are distinct, a lot of cultural similarities remain. For example, practically all of these people practice the art of tattooing, and they do so in startlingly similar ways. Tattoo art was very important in the Polynesian culture. Because they had no written language, tattoos were used to depict social status, family history and spirituality.
The Motives For Polynesian Tattoos

Reasons the Polynesian people had tattoos:

• The tattoos were a symbol of courage. The tattoo process was very painful and a lot of perseverance was needed to endure the long tattoo sessions.
• Getting the first tattoo marks the transition between childhood and adulthood. It is a rite of passage.
• Tattoos added to the sexual attractiveness of a man.
• Tattoos offered protection, they were a talisman.
• Polynesian tattoos read like a book. By looking at a tattoo, insiders get to know the social status and rank of the tattooed person.
• Samoan Tattoos

Typical Samoan Tattoo Design

Samoan tattoos received a lot of attention since the time of first contact with people in that region.

There is no doubt that the Samoan tattoo is particularly impressive for several reasons – including the intricacy of the design and the painful process that those being tattooed had to undergo.

The tattoos for men are called pe’a. Samoan tattoo designs would be impressive regardless of their size, but when they cover almost half of a man’s body, starting from just under the ribcage, and continuing down to the ankles, they are particularly striking.

The tattoos for women are called malu. They can be as big as the male tattoos, but they don’t have the large black areas. The Samoan women also had tattoos on their hands.

On Samoa the art of tattooing stayed alive throughout history, where in other parts of Polynesia tattoos disappeared after missionaries banned them.
Samoan Tattoo Patterns

Samoan tattoo patterns are highly meaningful to those of that culture, and that is something we can grasp just be looking at a Samoan tattoo, even without knowing what its precise meaning is. The tattoo patterns and symbols are complex and abstract, consisting of a lot of interlocked, interwoven shapes and patterns.

As mentioned before, they are also remarkable because of the sheer expanse of skin that they occupy – and especially when the tattooing is done using the traditional methods, this is a real endurance test for the person being tattooed. Instead of needles, the skin is punctured using a pig’s tooth or shark’s tooth.

Not finishing a tattoo once it is started is a source of shame.

Though few of us would be willing to undergo the discomfort necessary to get real Polynesian tattoos, incorporating some of the symbols and patterns into a modern tattoo is a different matter. Polynesian tattoos certainly have a striking, timeless appeal.

A traditional polynesian tattoo artist - Lesa Moli Li’o

Lesa Moli is a Samoan farmer and tattoo artist. He learned to make the tools of the trade from his father, who was also a tattoo artist. These tools are made from sharpened boar’s teeth fastened together with a piece of turtle shell, tied together with Mautofu wood. The dye he uses is created from gasoline because it is readily available and burns easily.

Lesa Moli Li’o

From his father, Moli received instruction on mentally designing tattoos and envisioning on what parts of the body they would look best. He would then go around his village, Siumu, to look for men to practice on.

In Samoan tradition, a person needs to complete his cultural body tattoo in order to fulfill his traditional duties. According to Moli, in order to do this one must visit the Matai’s gathering abode to be taught the traditional ways of conduct and service that is synonymous with completing his new tattoo attire. He is then ordained to enter the realm of the Alii’s for his final approval. If he is unable to complete his tattoo, he is branded a coward and shames his family and his children.

Samoans keep their traditional values sacred, and Moli feels only Samoans should receive Samoan tattoos. In his opinion, people should not receive tattoos from cultures that are not their own.

In many Indian cultures it is still in use today using a variety of pigments.

Staining the nails, skin and hair with henna is the favorite way of enhancing beauty among women in the Middle East and is becoming increasingly popular in the United States. Mehndi, commonly referred to as henna, is the powder form. Henna is the dye that comes from mixing the powder with catechu, an astringent substance, obtained from various trees and shrubs. The red powder form of henna can be obtained by crushing the berries from a certain plant. Henna is a popular way to make semi-permanent decorative designs on the skin. There are two types of henna: black and red.

The Tlingit of southeast Alaska used face painting at gatherings.These face stamps carved with the emblems of clans, were dipped into paint and pressed onto the cheeks of women before going to a potlatch, a type of annual community feast. At the feast, it was easy to identify the clan a woman belonged to by looking at her face.

The most common form of body painting in America is also the easiest to overlook: cosmetics. A daily ritual for most women and the envy of small girls, wearing cosmetics is undoubtedly the most prevalent type of body painting in the world today. It’s a multi-billion dollar industry — with an increasing male market as well.

Artists and dancers have taken advantage of the artistic points of body painting and using it as an art media to highlight the dance shows.

They use body paint and art as painted on costumes for an extreme look that is just an amazing illusion. They use colorfull body paint to create a sick awsome look that probably cannot be achieved through traditional costumes

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Here is a bit about the show and dancers:

Art Color Ballet - Contemporary Dance Company was founded in 1998 in Krakow by a dancer and choreographer Agnieszka Gli?ska. Her long - term experience in dance combined with plastic imagination let her create such an unusual company connecting three elements: colour, sound and Movement.

The Company cooperate with talented dancers, artists and stylists.

Dance of Art Colour Ballet is a new approach to a modern style; it is the choreography varying from classical ballet through modern jazz to ethnic elements.

The whole choreography is adapted to the best body painting presentation, usage of special lights type such as ‘moving heads’ type and ’scanners’ which makes a reception of a performance more unusual.

It is the only dance company in Poland which wins many awards on International Festivals thanks to body painting.

It also makes body painting sessions, during which body painting techniques are presented.

In its repertoire there are choreographies to classical and film music and also styling to cabaret pieces of music such as: Moulin Rouge, Kankan, Chicago and other.

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In its newly - open head office at the Main Square (Rynek G?ówny) in Krakow , the company organizes dance workshops: modern, eoclassic ballet, afro-dance.

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To check out the website of this artistic dance group click here

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If you can live with a company logo for the rest of your life (hopefully you love the product) then you too can become a walking ad and get some small percks in the process.

Tattoo ads turn people into ‘walking billboards’
Offering up some skin to advertisers can come with perks such as free tires

Tattoo artist Justin McRoy of Bad Apple Tattoo in Las Vegas inks Fernando Diaz of Houston with his second Dunlop tattoo. For three years, Dunlop has offered a set of free tires to anyone who will get the flying-D logo tattoo.
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NEW YORK - Associated Press - What does Angelina Jolie have in common with Joseph Stalin and Thomas Edison as well as two out of every five Americans between the ages of 26 and 40?

They all have tattoos.

Once seen as a silent cry of rebellion, tattoos now posess a status so firmly mainstream that advertisers are using them to market everything from tires and shoes to wine and energy drinks. That has its downside, though. The more acceptable tattoos become, the more they lose their edginess — and their value as advertising.
Story continues below ?advertisement

“There is always an element of rebellion or rite of passage with these things,” said David Crockett, assistant professor of marketing at the University of South Carolina. “What makes them interesting is how the marketplace appropriates that rebelliousness and serves that back to you in the form of an energy drink.”

The 7-Eleven convenience store chain recently started selling an energy drink called Inked, aimed at people who either have tattoos or those who want to think of themselves as the tattoo type. The company plans to market the drink at motorcycle rallies and tattoo conventions.

“We wanted to create a drink that appealed to men and women, and the tattoo culture has really become popular with both genders,” said 7-Eleven’s manager of non-carbonated beverages, Michele Little. “The rite of tattoo passage isn’t only limited to the young, but also to those who think and act young,” she said.

As the attention of young consumers gets spread between TV, blogs, online video and other distractions, marketers have resorted to alternative methods to get their interest.

Marketers use tattoos both as a cultural icon and as the method to deliver the message, said Kevin Lane Keller, a marketing professor at the Tuck business school at Dartmouth College.

“It’s an attempt to do something different in a fresh way,” he said.

On a never-ending quest to appeal to the young and young-minded, companies from Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. to Volvo are using tattoos in advertising and promotion. Even wine sellers have adopted the tattoo, with managers of the popular Yellow Tail brand sending 600,000 temporary tattoos out with an October issue of the New Yorker magazine and wine importer Billington Wines taking the name Big Tattoo Wines for its $10 a bottle brand.

The tattoos on Tattoo Man’s body spell out the coordinates of an undersea location where Volvo had sunk $50,000 in gold coins and keys to a new car.

For three years, Goodyear’s Dunlop tire unit has offered a set of free tires to anyone who will get the company’s flying-D logo tattooed somewhere on their body, and 98 people have taken up the offer. Some of them are brand loyalists who already own Dunlop tires, while others were tattoo fans who wanted to add to their body art, Dunlop brand marketing manager Janice Consolacion said. One returned for his third Dunlop tattoo this year.

For those friendly to the idea of being a walking billboard, the Web site Leaseyourbody.com connects advertisers with people who want to be paid for sporting tattoo advertisements.

Volvo recently utilized tattoos in another way, by creating a fictional character whose tattoos spelled out the coordinates of an undersea location of $50,000 in gold coins and the keys to a new car. Linda Gangeri, national advertising manager of Volvo Cars of North America, said the tattoo man was a way to get people to think differently about the Volvo brand.

Tattoos are becoming so pervasive that some see them as less effective in marketing to trendsetters.

Nathan Lin, a tattoo artist and organizer of the annual Boston Tattoo Convention, said the event’s sponsors reflect the shifting demographics of tattoo culture in the U.S. This year, it was Toyota Motor Corp.’s Scion brand and Anheuser Busch Cos.’ Budweiser. Next year’s convention has gotten sponsorship interest from Internet service provider NetZero among other corporate names, he said.

“It puts it far outside the stereotypes of bikers and rough types,” Lin said. “People think of urban moms having tattoos.”

A study done last year by the Pew Research Center shows that 36 percent of 18- to 25-year-olds have at least one tattoo, while an even higher 40 percent of 26- to 40-year-olds have at least one.

Once corporations use tattoos, it’s clear they have lost some of their edginess, Crockett said.

“You’ve got this constant game of cat and mouse, of youth culture and these companies. That lifecycle just gets shorter and shorter and shorter,” he said.

General Mills has been selling Fruit Roll-Ups with tattoo-shaped cutouts that let children make temporary tongue tattoos. Shoe maker Nike Inc. has employed celebrity tattoo artist Mister Cartoon to design six lines of limited-edition shoes. And just this month, the glass and crystal seller Steuben Glass announced it would sell tattoo-inspired vase and crystal sculpture designs by artist Kiki Smith.

“I would certainly say it has lost most of its social stigma,” said Vince Hemingson, a writer and documentary filmmaker who runs the Vanishing Tattoo Web site. The American stereotype of tattoos being for military types has become passe, he said.

American consumers watched as rock stars of the 1980s got tattoos. Their supermodel girlfriends followed, and that, Hemingson said, made tattoos visible on the women who are seen by many as icons of beauty.

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And the mother of all Hollywood monsters, Alien… check out a few of these Alen theme tatts

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Download Aboard The Leper Colony check it out >

Kane Hodder’s song “Aboard the Leper Colony” will be appearing on the soundtrack for NHL 2K8, published by 2K Sports and Take-Two Interactive. Also on the soundtrack will be Early Man, Comeback Kid, Only Crime, The Apostates, Bloc Party, and more!

“Aboard the Leper Colony” also appeared as the theme song for MTV’s “Homewreckers”.

Heres a clip of Kane Hodder singing some of there new shit in Seattle!

So here we go with some images of different tattoo work, by different artist in mant themes for you to check out!

Tribal tattoos have really gained p[opularity in the last few years, especially as arm bands, check out the image gallery below for some sample tatts.

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celtic styled art is also hot these days

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For the more traditional, you can check out the lions, tigers and bears … do I need to say “Oh My”? hey, I just watche the Wizard of OZ remake on TV last night, its called “Tin Man”, its a bit long.

Speaking of Wizards, and I will add elfs, dwarfs and warriors

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For the hard-core, check out the skulls

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monsters

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and dragons

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