Beckham-ize Me
Posted by Admin in Needled on 02 18th, 2009
The Internet, my friends. It’s a glorious thing.
We curse it when its never-ending Inbox taunts us, but oh how we weep like babes when we are deprived of its fiber-optic goodness. Such has been my life the past few days, but I’m back.
And being back means being BECKHAM-ized!
You too can make yourself into a soccer hottie ab tattoo via Photo Funia.
Play with that and the news will be up tomorrow.
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read comments (0)Friday the 13th Film Tattoos
Posted by Admin in Needled on 02 13th, 2009
On this day of bad juju, I like to taunt the spirits by immersing myself in gore porn ala Argento, Romero and their horror elite brethren. But tonight I can’t resist heading to the latest Friday the 13th sequel, which opens today.
As the trailer shows, Jason is back, not only pullin his best bloody hockey moves, but once again, out to inspire more tattoo homages — hopefully better than most of those in this gallery.
With so many tattoo artists that can rock a horror tattoo, like Jason Ackerman’s Friday the 13th work shown here, there’s no excuse to butcher your bod with bad work.
To check the tattoos of top artists in this genre, watch Needled’s Dark Side of Tattoo video for Imeem.
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Advertise on Needled.com
Posted by Admin in Needled on 02 12th, 2009While I promote tattooists, conventions, products, etc for free on the blog without any kickbacks or casting couch benefits, I’m now gonna open the site up to advertising — and on the cheap — to keep the tattoo goodness going.
Needled is read by people in 146 countries, primarily in the US, Canada, UK, Australia, Singapore and surprisingly, tons of Germans, French and Dutch have the hots for us — and it’s reciprocated baby! With dedicated visitor loyalty, our traffic continues to grow steadlily with more new visitors thanks to promotions as well as search engines (check “tattoo blog” on Google and we’re right there at the top).
The site is not only a great way to promote your shop to a very finely targeted audience of finely tattooed people but also conventions, goods, and other services. That, and you’ll get my undying love and affection. Again, on the cheap! [Bless this economy!]
Contact me — marisa at needled.com — for more info.
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Friday the 13th & Valentine Tattoos
Posted by Admin in Needled on 02 12th, 2009Friday the 13th & Valentine Tattoos
Lovers, haters, freakshows rejoice!
Tomorrow, Friday the 13th and Saturday, Valentine’s Day, tattoos that talk to your innermost John Waters’ film have been especially created, and even better, offered with reduced rates from coast to coast.
First up, on the West Coast, Vintage Tattoo in LA is having their Friday the 13th Special tomorrow. Baba says that he’s carrying on Oliver Peck’s Friday the 13th tradition and offering work from Peck’s original flash sheets for only $13 (first come first served). You may remember that Peck broke the world record of his ex, Kat Von D, last June by completing 415 tattoos (all “13″ themed) in 24 hours. Vintage thankfully won’t be doing a record attempt but will be offering quality work cheap so get there even before noon when the doors open as there’ll probably be a line.
On the East Coast, our friends at DareDevil Tattoo on the Lower East Side of Manhattan are continuing their own line-forming tradition of Friday the 13th tattoos for 13 bucks. Here’s what Father Panik wrote about it last July — advice that aptly will apply tomorrow as well:
On Friday the 13 they offer $13 Lucky 13 tattoos. On that day from noon to midnight hundreds of the broke beautiful and doomed showed up to choose talismans from a specially designed sheet of flash. All with the number 13, all with mojo useful the fight against whatever it is needs fighting.
Friday the 13th is coming around again. You will have your chance to get your mark. Show up early. You are going to have to take a number and wait. Face it, you need the help so get in line and shut up.
I got mine, and for now, the devil is back in his fucking hole.
For the love mojo, there are also Valentine’s specials…
At Tattoo Culture in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, the fabulous Gene Coffey has created two sets of flash — one for the love sick and those sick of love (shown above). For only $50, you can wear your bleeding heart on your bleeding sleeve from noon to 8pm on Saturday, also first come first serve. See the full two sheets here.
Then back in Manhattan, Sacred Tattoo is doing their own Valentines special with a set of love-themed flash including traditional, funky, bitter, and even a little perverted (like a “Thinking of you” condom tattoo). They’ll also be doing name tattoos starting at 20 bucks BUT keep in mind the name tattoo curse — family members are ok, lovers will get you burned. Instead, opt for their $5 temporary name tattoos for your paramour. A much better option! The shop also opens at noon and closes at 8pm.
There ya go. See, I’m taking my custom tattoo high snobiety and pimpin out flash tattoo specials. *gasp* Special times call for change and even in this economy, you still need new work, right? Yes, you can, baby!
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Skin Deep Now on Zinio
Posted by Admin in Needled on 02 11th, 2009
Now that I’m back in NYC, I’m missing fast access to one of my favorite tattoo magazines, the UK’s Skin Deep Magazine.
But now we can get it quick and easy online via Zinio’s online reader for only $4.97.
The Zinio platform is available for both PC and Mac and even has a great iPhone app so I can easily take the mag with me and send my favorite pages to friends.
Granted, I nerd out for the mix of ancient art and high tech, but for those Luddites out there, you can also order your paper copies here and have ‘em shipped worldwide.
In this March issue, there’s great coverage of the Berlin convention, profiles on Texas portrait pro Douglas Billiam, Seattle’s Japanese specialist Jeremy “MuthaFuckn” Justice and England’s own Hope & Glory tattoo. Check it.
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Russian Criminal Tattoo Vol. III
Posted by Admin in Needled on 02 10th, 2009Russian Criminal Tattoo Vol. III
I have a confession. My most fave porn film scene ever is the Eastern Promises Turkish Bath jammie where naked Russian tattooed mobsters wrestle on the sauna floor. Rowr!
Um, so what was the point of this post?
Oh yeah, the Russian Criminal Tattoo Encyclopedia Volume III.
This third edition continues to offer the mesmerizing images by Danzig Baldayev, a guard at St. Petersburg’s Kresty Prison who documented the tattoos of hundreds of prisoners there.
According to an article in The Nation, Baldayev produced more than 3,000 drawings of Russian criminal tattoos by his death in 2005. See sample images on Amazon.
The Nation also discusses the meaning behind much of the criminal tattoo symbolism. Here’s just a taste:
“Cats, I learned studying Baldaev’s drawings, connote luck and caution, except when tattooed on the chest, where they symbolize that the bearer is a criminal of established authority. The location of a tattoo sometimes influences its meaning, but just as often the placement is meaningless, as random as the location of a bored teenager’s doodle. Beetles can also represent luck, but more frequently they identify the bearer as a professional pickpocket. Ants, cockroaches, bees, flies and spiders are also the badges of pickpockets. Daisies represent gang membership, with the number of petals designating the number of years in the gang. The number of domes on a church signifies the number of sentences the bearer has received.”
More good stuff in that article.
Also featured in the book are photographs of the tattoos taken by Sergei Vasilyev, a couple of which are featured in the Moscow Times yesterday.
One caveat though:
Some of the tattoos photographed are indeed artful– even if inked with soot, urine and wire — and I can see how many would be inspired to copy them, but these are loaded symbols, so if you don’t want the Turkish bath beat down, keep your admiration to paper.
You can buy Russian Criminal Tattoo Encyclopedia Volume III for $25. It may not be the most romantic Valentine’s Day gift but it is damn sexy.
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Singapore Tattoo Convention Pix & Video
Posted by Admin in Needled on 02 9th, 2009Singapore Tattoo Convention Pix & Video
Dan DiMattia, Paul Booth, Bob Tyrrell & Chris Garver at Singapore Con.
Dan (DiMattia) sent me these photos from the Singapore Tattoo Convention, which he described as “the best convention ever.” Many of the photos are by Vincent Chan of Wizards of Light photography. [And yes, I'm totally jealous that I wasn't there, especially to witness the Jack Daniels fueled debauchery!]
Also head to Horinaka.com for more photos and this video from the pre-convention show.
The news is up next!
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Classic Tattoo Flash By Bert Grimm
Posted by Admin in Needled on 02 6th, 2009Classic Tattoo Flash By Bert Grimm
In 1912, at the age of 12 years old, Bert Grimm got his first tattoo gear and for the next 70+ years, tattooed masterful works. Works like Lyle Tuttle’s backpiece, shown on the Tattoo Archive. Chuck Eldridge of the Archive says about Bert:
“Bert is probably best remembered today for the shop that he operated at the Nu Pike in Long Beach, CA from the 1950s to the late 60s. The Nu Pike was a large amusement park that goes back to 1897 and was home for dozens of tattooists. Bert Grimm’s World Famous Tattoo was historic. It was the oldest continuously operated tattoo parlor in the continental United States where generations of sailors got inked up before shipping out.”
Today, generations of tattoo lovers can still have Bert’s art on their skin thanks to Prime Cuts Press and Lucky’s Tattoo Museum with their limited edition box set Classic Tattoo Flash by Bert Grim.
This is a gorgeous set of Americana with its handmade silkscreened hardcover (handbound), including 100-page spiral bound book of Bert Grimm’s acetate stencils, an 8″x10″ giclee print of a rare Grimm design, and — what I think is the coolest part — an audio CD interview with the legend from 1972.
It’s a must-have for serious collectors of tattoo memorabilia — only 1,000 copies will ever be made and then never republished again.
Order it from Lucky’s Supply for $300.
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February Conventions
Posted by Admin in Needled on 02 5th, 2009
Foot tattoo by Cool Aid.
February may be a short month but it’s long on top tattoo events worldwide, from Milan to Salt Lake City to Detroit to Philly. Check ‘em.
Milan Convention, Feb 13-15. This convention staple draws thousands of international tattoo artists and lovers every year who pack the three levels of the Quark Hotel Convention Center. It’s one of the few shows where you can watch Filip Leu, one of the greatest, innovating tattooists in the world. [I'm secure I won't be challenged here.] See my pix from past shows here, here, here and here.
Salt Lake City Tattoo, Feb. 13-15: With a line-up of stellar artists, the SLC show has positioned itself amongst the better tattoo conventions in the US. Whether you want the horror of Bob Tyrrell, Japanese mastery of Marcus Pacheco, new school trippiness of Tim Creed, or color realism of Megan Hoogland, top artists of every genre will be there working but make sure to contact them in advance of the show as appointments book out quick.
Motor City Tattoo Expo, Detroit, February 27-March 1st: This 14th year of the Motor City show by Eternal Tattoos not only draws legends like Jack Rudy and Brian Everett to the convention floor but also finds them sharing their extensive knowledge and experience in seminars offered to tattooists during the weekend. Over 200 artists will be in attendance including rock stars like Robert Hernandez, Tom Renshaw, Mike Devries, among other greats. Contests, concerts and commerce fill out the regular convention fare. View photos from past shows here.
Philly Tattoo Arts Convention, Feb. 27 – March 1st: Gonna try to make the Philly show myself, which borders on the low brow in terms of people getting drunk and doing dumb things in the hotels, but stays high brow on the artist list like the Good Faith crew, Cool Aid, and my boys from Tattoo Culture — Gene Coffey and Dave Wallin, whose infamous connect-the-dots tattoo is shown left.
Right now the only thing I can plan on is tonight. If you’re in NYC, join me at 8PM (sharp) on the Lower East Side at Fat Baby for Brian Grosz’s acoustic solo show, which includes new work as well as covers of Kelly Clarkson and Lead Belly. Yeah, you gotta hear it for ya self. Hope to see ya there!
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Needled Discount at Father Panik
Posted by Admin in Needled on 02 4th, 2009Needled Discount at Father Panik
In times of economic crisis, it’s tough to be a blinged-out badass, so our friends at Father Panik are offering 30% off all of their nameplates like Badass & Bitch.
What better way to say I Love You this Valentine’s Day!
And yeah, it’s shameless to be pimpin out the Panik crew after they made me their Person of The Month but my love can indeed be bought, especially if called a “Foul mouthed hard drinking Ivy League educated tattooed goddess soutzoukakia and blogger from Brooklyn’s deep end. She is our Consigliore. Giving great advice like ‘hide the knives and pour me a drink’.”
They used the Greek word for spicy meatball to describe me. So yeah, go buy their stuff.
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