I don’t think that I could ever be accused of being intrigued by what celebrities do.  By celebrities, I guess I mean actors and actresses.  For this reason, you’ve probably noticed that there isn’t a lot of information on Tattoo Blog about which celebrities got which tattoo last Wednesday and so on and so forth.  Don’t get me wrong, there has been the odd celebrity update on here, but in general, I tend to stay away from it.

Well not today!  Ooh boy!  How exciting!  Today I decided that news of Megan Fox’s tattoos should take precedence.  Why?  Well, I just found it kind of interesting that Fox, who has long been a very vocal supporter of tattoos, has begun laser treatments to have the Marilyn Monroe tattoo removed from the inside of her forearm.  Say it ain’t so, Megan…

The photos in this news piece show that Megan Fox is definitely losing her Marilyn tattoo, although her other tattoos are still intact.  Who knows why exactly she’s getting rid of Marilyn, but most likely it has something to do with Fox’s work for fashion icon Armani.  It probably also has a lot to do with the constant makeup that Fox must undergo when filming, in order to cover up the tattoo.  At present time, she hasn’t given any particular reason.

The biggest surprise in all this however, isn’t that Megan Fox is getting her Marilyn Monroe tattoo removed, no.  The biggest surprise is that both her acting career and marriage outlasted her tattoo.  Wow.  I guess tattoos aren’t always so permanent…

Not that many people venture into Nepal.  Despite its close proximity to the Himalayas and its once prominent status as a hippie getaway in the 60’s and 70’s, Nepal has in more recent times become something of a dubious travel decision.  Part of this is attributable to the civil war that raged there from 1996-2006.  That period certainly wasn’t much for luring in travellers and even today there has been problems with Maoist insurgents who create a somewhat unstable environment for visitors.

Regardless of these setbacks in hospitality, Nepal is once again on a mission to lure back the tourists that had previously arrived in hordes.  Their solution?  A series of newly created and funded state initiatives called Nepal Tourism Year 2011.  The first part of this was bringing Canadian singer/songwriter Bryan Adams over for a concert.  Once state officials realised that no one actually wanted to see Bryan Adams, they came up with the next idea, this one much better suited to bringing in new and different people and points of view.  So, this past weekend, Kathmandu was the site of the Nepal International Tattoo Convention.

‘Despite being an integral part of some of Nepal’s ethnic cultures, tattoos have had a sketchy reputation in the nation’s past.

They were once synonymous with the “free love” ideology made popular by the hippies who strolled Kathmandu’s backpacker hub known as Freak Street during the late-1960s and 1970s.

Another reason for disparagement was cultural. For centuries, members of Nepal’s lower castes would decorate their bodies with stars and moons in the belief that once their soul left their body they would be recognised in heaven.’

The first thing that I think of when I see Mike Rubendall’s superb tattoo work is the sense of flow in pretty much everything he does.  It’s always there, a natural looking fluidity between image and flesh that highlights not just his own artistic ability, but also his ability as a tattoo artist.  After all, tattooing isn’t just about the quality of the image on the flesh.  Sure, that’s a big part of it all, but any truly accomplished and skilled tattooist understands the relationship between positioning of the image on the body – where and how the chosen image will look once it’s inked in.

The tattoo work of Mike Rubendall is hardly some sort of underground secret.  The guy is booked for up  to 2 years in advance, with requests from all over the world.  He’s been tattooing since he was 16-years-old (he’s 33 now), and came up in the tattoo scene when it still had that edge to it – that is, before shows like LA Ink and Miami Ink exploded into the mainstream.

These days, Rubendall tattoos from his tattoo studio, Kings Avenue Tattoo in Massapequa, New York.  He was born and raised in Massapequa, went to high school just seven blocks away from where Kings Avenue Tattoo now stands.

Although Rubendall’s work is more of the Asian variety, the odd menacing snake or laughing skull can still be spotted amongst his portfolio and these images are given the same amount of careful positioning, flow, colour and definition as the most complex Asian themed back piece is.  There is a focus to Rubendall’s work that makes the eyes follow the images to their completion, inviting or perhaps drawing you in to examine every last inch of it before making you silently mouth the word “wow” in appreciation.

This may sound a tad naive, but I am continually surprised by the amount of people in this world who are willing to permanently alter their appearance with a tattoo for cash or some other sort of material incentive.  That’s not to say that I disagree with someone getting a tattoo across their forehead in exchange for a fistful of cash or a lifetime’s supply of laundry detergent, though.  I mean, if that kind of stuff is that valuable to you, then by all means, tattoo away.

The latest in the tattoo-your-face-for-a-prize scheme comes from the Czech Republic where an unnamed man has had the name of a restaurant listing website tattooed across his forehead.  In addition to a year’s free lunches at any of the restaurants listed on the Czech website Obedvat.cz, the man also received 200,000 Kč (just over $12,000 USD) for his trouble.  And, according to the unnamed and now tattooed man, he’s more than happy with the arrangement.

‘”I feel fine and checked myself in the mirror, and I like it,” he said. “I don’t regret it at all, and I will certainly enjoy the money.”

He admitted he had been getting some strange looks when he went out in public, but seemed unperturbed, if not pleased, by the extra attention.

“People have slowly started to turn around and see what I have on my forehead,” he said. “It is strange and extravagant, and I like that.”‘

Glad to see that he’s happy with that tattoo because as we all know, money isn’t permanent.  A tattoo however…

More news out of Hermosa Beach today where city residents have been making a great deal of effort to chase tattooist and tattoo studios from the area, despite a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision last year which stated that tattoos and the business of tattooing are forms of expression protected by the First Amendment.

If you’re familiar with this story, then you’ll probably also know that back in March, the Hermosa Beach City Council asked the Hermosa Beach Planning Commission to hold a public hearing this month in order to determine what can be done about the city’s current tattoo ordinance.  Here’s the list of proposed regulations that concerned residents came up with, which will be discussed at the next planning commission meeting on May 17th.

Tattoo businesses in the Hermosa Beach area will be required to:

1. Not be within a 100-foot buffer zone around residential property.

2. Not be within a 200-foot buffer zone around parks, schools and religious facilities.

3. Operate between 8am and 9pm.

Honestly, can’t these whiney city residents just let it go already?  They’ve lost.  Tattooists are protected by the First Amendment.  It is their right to open and operate their own businesses.  Imposing the above restrictions on tattooists is not only unconstitutional, but it further stigmatises these legitimate artists and businesses.

What the concerned group of citizens and homeowners in Hermosa Beach don’t understand is that it’s they who are maintaining and adding to the bad reputation of tattooists.  These people believe that tattoo studios are going to create a criminal element and drive down the real estate value.  Obviously these people are not aware of how much money tattooists make.  They’re also only serving to keep a negative stereotype alive by trying to push the tattooists out.  While the tattooists quietly go about their business, these obsessive residents are carrying on about how undesirable tattooists are.  Get it residents?  You’re creating, maintaining and spreading the lie that tattooing is somehow dangerous, morally corrupt and detrimental to your living space.  Let the businesses flourish for a year and then try and tell me that tattooists are bad for your community.

I guess we’ll see what happens at the next meeting in May, but something tells me that there is no way in hell that these residents are going to win.  And that’s a very good thing.

No offence to the Australians out there, but something tells me that Sydney isn’t the best place to open up a tattoo studio. Of course, I could be wrong (believe it or not, it has happened before), but it seems like there is a lot of violence toward tattoo studios over there. Typically I’m not too interested in news that revolves around crime and tattoo studios, but in the case of Australia, there just seems to be incident after incident that catches my eye. Check this out:

December 29^th, 2010: A tattoo studio in Coogee is firebombed.

January 13^th, 2011: A car is rammed through the front entrance of a tattoo studio in Mount Druitt.

March 26^th, 2011 : A 40-year-old man is shot and killed inside a tattoo studio in West Ryde.

And now, as of April 19^th, someone broke into a Sydney tattoo studio during the night with a sledgehammer. They then doused the premises in some sort of flammable substance and lit the entire place on fire.

Sheesh, those are a lot of bad incidences for the tattoo folks of Australia. Is it due to some sort of fanatical anti-tattoo group? Well, no. It’s actually a result of Australian motorcycle gangs (or bikies as Australians seem to call them). I’m not sure exactly what these guys have against tattoo studios, but my guess is that it’s probably not something very nice. The violence is most likely over turf or something of that nature. I’m not an expert. All I do know is that it’s slightly troubling any time that a consistent streak of violence seems to plague tattoo studios for no clear reason. Really gives tattoo a shitty name and reputation.

Get up to anything interesting this weekend?  Norwalk, Ohio residents Robin H.M. and Jeff Garton certainly did.  Surviving on a steady supply of bananas and orange juice, the two set a new Guinness World Record for the longest tattoo session.  How long is long?  Well, the tattoo started on Friday, April 15th at 9:05am at Norwalk’s 546 Tattoo Studio and it didn’t end until Sunday, April 17th at around 9:30am.  All told, the running time was 48 hours and 26 minutes.  That’s a long time to tattoo and that’s a long time to sit still for a tattoo.

The tattoo was a design by Robin H.M. and it was done on Garton’s thigh.  Though Guinness has not yet officially recognised the feat, Robin and Garton’s tattoo marathon beat the old Guinness record by 11 minutes.  Throughout the tattoo, Guinness records stipulated that neither participant could sleep, though they could take occasional 2 minute breaks.

In addition to breaking the Guinness record and gaining recognition for their achievement, the event had an entirely charitable purpose:

‘Robin, who has been a tattoo artist for the past 14 years originated the idea as a way to generate donations and raise awareness for the current and baffling cancer cluster in the nearby area of Clyde. A case that has affected scores of lives, including many children. “It just seems like there are more and more of them all the time, and something needs to be done.” says Robin who has been frustrated with the tragic medical mystery for years.  Meanwhile, Jeff Garton, says he was doing the event to raise awareness for a local rehab center in the Norwalk area.’

Nice work, guys!  Hope you’ve caught up on your missed sleep.

The Swedes continue to invade the tattoo world.  The weirdest thing keeps happening to me lately where I’m seeing the work of tattooist, then looking more into who that tattooist is and finding out that they are Swedish.  Again and again it happens.  I don’t want to give the impression that I’m favouring the Swedes over everyone else out there, slaving away in their shops.  Oh well, when all is said and done, it doesn’t matter where someone comes from.  It’s their work and only their work that truly matters.  Right?  Right.

When I was a kid, there used to be this arcade game called Dragon’s Lair.  It was unlike any of the other video games in the arcade because it was literally a cartoon that you could control.  It pretty much blew my ten-year-old mind and even though the game itself wasn’t that great, I was incredibly drawn to the game’s animation.  I hadn’t thought about that game or its crazy cool animated graphics for years.  And then, I saw the tattoo work of Emil Edge and I was instantly reminded of the Dragon’s Lair animation style all over again.  I love the fact that Edge’s work also retains a kind of creepy three dimensional aspect to it – something that works especially well with skulls and creepy little dudes with skinny fingers.  That’s what I think, anyway.

Edge has been tattooing since 2004 which obviously isn’t that long, yet it’s apparently been long enough for him to come up with his own particular style.  Between 2006 and 2008, Edge was running a shop called Dedication Ink, but these days he can be found at Fisheye Ink in Karlstad, Sweden.

Check out more of the tattoo work of Emil Edge here!

Not to say “I told you so”, but I’ve always had my suspicions about tattoo removal creams.  I mean, first of all, any cream that is claiming to be capable of removing ink from beneath your skin has a daunting task ahead of it.  Mainly because it’s ink under your skin and the thought of some cream that you smear around on your skin being able to just make that ink vanish just kind of reeks of a whole lot of impossible.

But wait!  A lot of these creams have really strong chemicals and “peeling agents” in them that work overtime to take that ink right out.  Great.  But doesn’t rubbing strange and obviously very powerful chemicals into your skin seem like a bad idea?  Well it sure as hell does to me.  And apparently, it does to the Australians as well.

According to some skin experts, some tattoo removal creams can end up making your tattoo look worse instead of removing it.

‘But experts warn that the creams, some of which contain the bleaching chemical hydroquinone or the skin-peeling trichloroacetic acid, may not meet Australian standards for health and beauty products and can end up costing much more than professional removal.

Pramod Parmar, a laser specialist from the Manly Cosmetic and Laser Clinic, said bleaching creams could make tattoos look worse.

”The ink has basically gone inside and penetrated the dermal layer, and a cream cannot go deep enough to release the pigment from there,” he said.

Dr Parmar said creams or other removal methods, including the injection of other chemicals to break down the tattoo, could cause the ink to smudge instead of removing it.’

Granted, the skin experts interviewed in this article all seem to work for various different laser removal joints and would arguably not want people using products cheaper than laser removal simply because it affects their business. But regardless of that idea, I’m going to go ahead and say that if you’re thinking about removing a tattoo and you don’t have the cash to get it lasered, wait until you do.  This cream stuff just seems like a really bad idea.

Every time that I think I’ve seen all and heard all of the ridiculous biases against tattooists, a brand new one catches me off guard and smacks me in the face.  The most recent one comes from Christchurch, New Zealand where somewhere in the neighbourhood of nine tattoo studios were destroyed back in February during the Christchurch earthquake.

Tattooist Kevin Wills, owner of Christchurch tattoo studio Black Rose Tattooing, was unfortunate enough to have sustained a great deal of damage to his shop after the quake.  Because of an ancient manner of doing business, most insurance companies in New Zealand will not insure tattoo studios.  So, after the quake when Wills’ Black Rose Tattooing burnt down, he was left with absolutely nothing.

Fortunately however, the local electric company has acknowledged that they did play a role in the accidental fire caused in Wills’ studio.  They have now said that they will offer some form of compensation for Wills, but what that will be remains to be seen.  For the time being, Wills is still tattooing, opening a new small studio called HIVIZ Tattooing.  I wish Wills all the best, but – and I don’t mean to nitpick here – but it seems to me that HIVIZ Tattooing isn’t exactly the most charming name.  Especially the way the sign on the building is set up – it looks a little too much like HIV IZ Tattooing.  Kind of a bad choice.

None the less, all the best to Kevin Wills and let’s hope that he finds himself with a nice cash settlement sometime soon.