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In retrospect, it may have been a bad idea for Anthony Garcia to commemorate his first killing by having it inscribed on his chest. When a LA County homicide investigator was later looking through pictures of gang members, he noticed something important:
Each key detail was right there: the Christmas lights that lined the roof of the liquor store where 23-year-old John Juarez was gunned down, the direction his body fell, the bowed street lamp across the way and the street sign — all under the chilling banner of RIVERA KILLS, a reference to the gang Rivera-13.
As if to seal the deal, below the collarbone of the gang member known by the alias “Chopper” was a miniature helicopter raining down bullets on the scene.
Lloyd’s discovery of the tattoo in 2008 launched a bizarre investigation that soon led to Anthony Garcia’s arrest for the shooting. Then sheriff’s detectives, posing as gang members, began talking to Garcia, 25, in his holding cell. They got a confession that this week led to a first-degree murder conviction in a killing investigators had once all but given up hope of solving.
Link via SayUncle | Photo: LA County Sheriffs
+1 for originality. This tattoo mashes up Cthulhu and Rich Uncle Pennybags, the mascot from the board game Monopoly.
Would you like to have pointed ears like a Vulcan or an elf? There are doctors and body modification artists who will do it for you. Doctors warn that it’s essentially permanent, so be sure of your decision before going under the knife. There’s a video at the link from ABC’s morning show, which is labeled “Spock Ears for Kids”, though they’re no indication that children are getting the procedure.
Link via io9 | Image: ABC News | Previously: Pointy Ears
When we first posted about Rick Genest AKA Zombie Boy back in 2006 (before he completed his tattoos) , some of you wondered who’d hire him for a job. Well, how about walking the catwalk? That’s right – he’s now a fashion model for men’s fashion line MUGLER:
Yatzer has more: Link (warning: self-starting video clip with music)
Previously on Neatorama: Skull Face Tattoo | Skull Facial Tattoo Update | Zombie Boy Update
A wedding ring is symbol of commitment and permanence. A tattoo is commitment and permanence in itself. Some couples are skipping the jewelry in favor of matching or complementary tattoos on the couple’s ring fingers. And why not? You don’t have to remove it to shower, work with machinery, or have an MRI. It can’t be lost or stolen. It will never have to be resized or replaced. And you can design your own unique symbols! See a variety of wedding band tattoos in this list by Shaun Usher. Link
The Spoctocus can neck pinch eight people simultaneously and squeeze itself through the narrowest of Jeffries tubes with ease. This tattoo has been attributed to artist Daniel Limon of Tuscon.
UPDATE 3/31/11: In the comments, truth points out that deviantART user stablercake may be the original designer of the Spoctocus. Thanks, truth!
The Enigma machine was a series of encoding devices used by Nazi Germany and broken by Polish and British military intelligence before and during World War II. Ross submitted this photo to Geeky Tattoos of his tattoo, taking the form a wiring diagram for one of the Enigma machines.
Shelley Jackson is publishing her short story “Skin” in a unique format — tattooed on human skin. For several years, she’s been recruiting volunteers to get one word each of the 2,095-word short story tattooed on their bodies. Each word is written in a classic book font in black text.
It’s a transcendent activity for the author and the participants, as Jackson expresses in an interesting stipulation presented at the end of the volunteer agreement:
From this time on, participants will be known as “words”. They are not understood as carriers or agents of the words they bear, but as their embodiments. As a result, injuries to the printed text, such as dermabrasion, laser surgery, tattoo cover work or the loss of body parts, will not be considered to alter the work. Only the death of words effaces them from the text. As words die the story will change; when the last word dies the story will also have died. The author will make every effort to attend the funerals of her words.
Link via Geekosystem | Image: YouTube user zzpiercedgirlxx
Photo: robstephaustralia [Flickr]
Remember the to-do list tattoo (that’s actually more like a notepad tattoo) we featured before on the blog? Well, Neatoramanaut Stephanie shared her own version here. She said:
I’ve got a to do list tattoo and I love it. It’s actually really useful. I figure that as long as I’m getting tattoos, I might as well have one that’s functional!
Reading Neatorama is curiously absent, but perhaps its so obvious that it doesn’t need jottin’ down Thanks Stephanie!
Update 3/22/11: Ah, that’s better now. Thanks Stephanie!
Photo: robstephaustralia [Flickr]
BTW, Stephanie said: "Tattoo by the wonderful Lelia at The Needle’s Kiss in Townsville, QLD"
Photo: overdue underdone [Flickr]
Flickr user overdue underdone has his own "Palm Pilot" (shouldn’t that be wrist pilot?) – a practical tattoo of a notebook/to-do list on his left wrist that lets him jot down notes and things to do.
Link – via Oddee, who has a list of other unusually practical tattoos
Miljenko Parserisas Bukovic, a newspaper seller in Mexico, is a big fan of actress Julia Roberts. So much, in fact, that he’s had her face tattooed all over his body 82 times:
He splashed out HUNDREDS of pounds on the tattoos after seeing Roberts in her film Erin Brockovich.
In the film Roberts plays a legal assistant who nearly single-handedly brings down a power company.
Miljenko, 56, said he wanted to get the tattoos after being inspired by various scenes in the Oscar-winning movie.
You can see several pictures of Miljenko’s tattoos at the link. I’ve left a puppy as the picture for this post because (1) The Sun doesn’t like other sites using their photos and (2) you might not want to see the pictures if you’re eating.
You’re welcome.
Link via MArooned | Photo by Flickr user tintedglass used under Creative Commons license
The real stories behind popular body-art symbols.
The Jerusalem Cross and the Dragon: A Royal Fad
England’s King E
dward VII started the royal tattoo craze in 1862. During a trip to the Holy Land, the then-Prince of Wales had a Jerusalem Cross inked on his arm. His son, the future King George V, followed in his father’s footsteps and got a dragon tattoo while visiting Japan. Then, on his way back to England, the prince stopped by the same Holy Land tattoo parlor his father had visited and got a Jerusalem Cross of his own. Other royal families soon followed the trend. During the Victorian era, the Grand Duke Alexis of Russia, Prince and Princess Waldemar of Denmark, King Oscar II of Sweden, and Queen Olga of Greece all went under the needle.
The Anchor: A Sailor’s ID Card
Nothing says “ahoy!” quite like an anchor tattoo. Popeye has one on each arm, and Sir Winston Churchill sported one on his right bicep. The tried-and-true symbol conveys the bearer’s love for the sea. But in the late 18th century, the tattoo also served a practical purpose. During that time, almost all sailors received a “sailor protection certificate,” which carefully documented the tattoos on their bodies. If a sailor went overboard, the tattoos were a lingering proof of his identity, should the body be recovered. Today, most military navies still catalog their sailor’s body art for the same reason. (Image credit: Flickr user K Sandberg)
The Teardrop: A Prisoner’s Tale
An entire gen
re of tattoos can be found behind penitentiary walls, and one of the most famous is the teardrop. Until the 1990s, the tattoo typically meant that the inmate had killed someone. But in recent years, the significance of the teardrop has softened. Prisoners get the tattoo to commemorate someone who had died while they were locked away, or simply to represent the time they’ve served behind bars. The design has also ventured outside the prison population in the past few years, although not all that far; you can see teardrops on the faces of rapper Lil’ Wayne and singer Amy Winehouse. (Image credit: Flickr user Photog*Phillip)
Asian Characters: Lost in Translation
If you’re going to get Chinese or Japanese characters permanently inked into your skin, consult someone who reads the language. Basketball player Marquis Daniels of the Boston Celtics thought he’d gotten his initials on his arm, but instead he got a tattoo that reads “healthy woman roof.” And when singer Britney Spears got a tattoo of the Chinese word for “mysterious,” it turned out to mean “strange.”
So why is it so many tattoos get lost in translation? Flash sheets -the patterns used by most tattoo artists- are rarely fact-checked. Instead, they’re passed around informally from one professional to the next. Legendary tattoo artist Lyle Tuttle, who started inking people in 1949, was known for a more cautious approach: He refused to tattoo foreign characters at all. If he didn’t understand it, he wouldn’t tattoo it. (Image credit: Flickr user Bobby Edwards)
Lambda: Gamer Pride
Recently, fans of Half-Life, a computer game series, have begun showing off new tattoos based on the series’ logo -a stylized, lower-case lambda. In the game, the Greek letter symbolizes resistance, but in the wider tattoo community, it signifies something quite different: “I’m gay and proud.” Back in the early 1970s, when the gay liberation movement was still growing in force, the homosexual community adopted the lambda as a symbol of pride.
__________________________
The article by Clay Wirestone is reprinted from Scatterbrained section of the January-February 2011 issue of mental_floss magazine. Subscribe today to get it delivered to you!
Be sure to visit mental_floss‘ website and blog for more fun stuff!
Well, at least this tattoo serves a practical purpose. English Russia brings us several pictures of one man who decided to get an eye chart tattooed on his back.
Link via Copyranter
About 1 in 2.5 adults under the age of 40 has been inked. The Washington Post presents an interactive infographic illustrating the major styles of tattooing that can be found in the United States today. At the link, hovering over any area on the statue’s body shows a closer view of each style.
Link via Nerdcore | Image: Wilson Andrews, Bonnie Berkowitz and Alberto Cuadra/The Washington Post
This image has been going around the Internet for a few days, but thanks to Anime News Network, we now know who acquired these Pokémon balls subdermal implants. His name is Alex Finch, and he is a hardcore fan:
Finch spoke with ANN and stated that he has been a fan of the Pokémon videogame and anime franchise since he was in third or fourth grade, and that he chose to get six Poké Ball tattoos in reference to the number of Poké Balls which can be carried in the original videogames. He also noted that the tattoos shown are “just the beginning” as he plans to get additional tattoos of videogame, cartoon, and anime icons on the rest of the arm, including more Poké Balls.
Link via Geekosystem
I like this guy’s sense of humor. He’s lost a toe, but he can joke about it.
Link (main site NSFW)
Need to beef up your baby’s street cred? There’s no faster way than a few nice tats! Here’s the easiest way to get your baby inked: Baby Tattoos temporary tattoos from the NeatoShop.
Link | More Baby & Kids Stuff | Gag Gifts & Pranks
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It’s a jungle out there in the blogosphere, and if you’re going to survive, you’ve got to be tough. Show the world you’re hardcore, like Geekologie reader Jian did by getting this tattoo.
Link via Geekologie
After Cathy Ward, 49, lost 70 pounds and dropped 14 dress sizes in six months, she decided to get a permanent reminder of the her inspiration: the Twilight series of books and movies. Ward spent 22 hours and $3000 to tattoo her favorite characters on her back. But the supermarket worker from Reading, England isn’t done just yet:
‘I wanted a permanant reminder of the amazing series so I got a small tattoo and that turned into what I have got now.’
Despite having her whole back coverered in Stephenie Meyer’s creations the sun has not gone down on her inky obsession.
She plans to save £2,000 more to spend another 12 hours under the needle as she eclipses her whole torso with the gothic tribute.
The Daily Mail has more: Link -via Geekosystem
Flickr user Nadia Prigoda-Lee snapped this picture at a Modest Mouse concert in Toronto. Two of her commenters say that it’s the lyrics to the Björk song “Bachelorette” written in Braille.
Link via Flavorwire
+1 for original thinking and creative use of body hair. Surely this is the epitome of playful elegance in body modification.
Link (main site is NSFW) via Great White Snark
A business operating from the Burj Al Arab luxury hotel in Dubai offers temporary tattoos made from gold:
Starting at AED200 for a small gold tattoo and AED400 for an equivalent platinum one, the temporary tattoos have been available in the emirates for just two months.
Originating from Japan, the tattoos are created from 99 percent gold or platinum foil that is applied directly to the skin. Application takes around 10 minutes.
200 AED is worth about 54 US dollars.
Link via Born Rich | Photo: Arabian Business
When life gives you lemon, make lemonade. How about when it takes away all your hair, except for a little tuft at the back? Well, this guy sure made the best of it!
Find this, and more crazy hairstyles over at Oddee: Link
Todd from Cleveland, Ohio submitted this picture of his latest tattoo to Geeky Tattoos. The only thing that could improve it is a cursor hovering over a right-click menu.
Last year, I mentioned speculation by some scientists that it might be possible to create LED tattoos. There’s been progress in the field since that time. Researchers have developed arrays that are 2.5 micrometers thick and 100 micrometers across:
The PDMS substrate is flexible enough that the circuits can still function even if twisted or stretched by even as much as 75 percent.[...]
The researchers successfully tested the LEDs by integrating a sheet into the fingertip of a vinyl glove, which they then immersed in soapy water, and they have also implanted an array beneath the skin in an animal model.
Link via DVICE | Image: Nature Materials
After Kim Mordue lost her son, she decided to carry him with her forever in her heart … and in her tattoos:
Three years ago, Kim Mordue lost her son Lloyd to a fatal run in with the party drug GHB. Kim’s husband runs a tattoo parlor, and together they’ve found a way to deal with her grief with ink. Lloyd’s ashes have been mixed with tattoo ink, and used to give Kim a new tat. When asked about the tattoo, she had the following to say:
As soon as I knew it was possible, I wanted to have the ashes tattoos as a tribute to him. Now, he’ll be with me for the rest of my life.
Link | Story by Richard Smith at Mirror
Junior Bio major, roller derby girl and Tumblr blogger iheartar got a new and very cool tattoo. Han would be proud! Link – via DBSW
Think your tattoos are cool? Well, can they protect your from bullets and possess your body?
Oddity Central has a fascinating look at the Thai Wat Bang Phra Tattoo Festival:
Each year, tattooed devotees come to Wat Bang Phra temple, a place famous for its tattoo masters, to pay their respects to the art of Sak Yant, in a special ceremony known as Wai Khru. Attended by tens of thousands of people, the event becomes quite a spectacle when the animal spirit possessions begin.
At one point, a loud and frightening growl is heard from somewhere in that sea of people, but only foreigners seem to react to it. Then monkey sounds are heard, and people start running towards the temple – specifically towards the shrine of Luang Poh Pern, a respected tattoo artist who served at Wat Bang Phra – waving their arms in the air and yelling like crazy. They are in fact being possessed by the animals tattooed on their bodies. If they have a tiger tattoo, they start growling, if it’s a snake, they start crawling on the ground, but eventually they all start running like crazy toward the shrine.
Link (Photo: Paula Bronstein)
Photo: Rich Marafioti (2009)
These bacon tattoos are so smokin’ hot that you can almost smell the sweet aroma of sizzling bacon. Almost.
Oddee has got the gallery of 12 Craziest Bacon Tattoos: Link | After that, be sure to visit the NeatoShop’s Bacon Store
deviantART user spaztikk designed this tattoo. It features Mr. Peanut, the advertising logo for Planters Peanuts, meeting an untimely but delicious end.
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