Body Modification

18 Responses

1. Speaking of Ötzi the Iceman and his scratch-n-sniff tattoos, here’s a new article about him and his living relatives in Austria today:

   http://www.nbcnews.com/science/scientists-say-otzi-iceman-has-living-relatives-5-300-years-8C11392771

2. Really nice episode, as always. But I was expecting you guys to sing the intro live 🙁 May be next time.

   I remember the history about the girl and the 56 starts tattoos, but maybe is not caustic enough: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2128662/56-stars-tattooed-Belgian-womans-face-visible-year-planned-laser-surgery.html

   “n June 2009, Miss Vlaeminck lied to family and reporters that she had asked tattooist Rouslan Toumaniantz for just three stars near her eye.

   As her regret sank in, she claimed he kept adding more and more after she fell asleep at the Tattoo Box in Coutrai, Belgium.”

   ALSO
   I was looking for caustic soda on reddit and couldn’t find anything.. WHAT?
   Knowing that Joe is a redditor, I was expecting to find something, but since I found nothing, I started one!

   http://pt.reddit.com/r/causticsodapodcast/

   Maybe we can get some people there the discuss the episode and have our owns Less Of Two Evils!

3. Kermit sings a wonderful version of Lydia, The Tattooed Lady in the first season of the Muppets (Miss Piggy punches him out for that, of course — the Muppet Show is remarkably violent). It’s a very clever song.

   Is it not ironic that the celebration for putting a hole and a plate in your mouth is a feast? I can speak from experience of ulcers that the last thing I want to do when I have a hole in my mouth is eat! I guess they get by though.

   Other massive pop culture references are Tyler’s kiss from Fight Club and the final treatment of the nasty guy in Inglourious Basterds. Both very memorable body mods, though arguably not voluntary. Oh, and what about Xander in season 7 of Buffy (nasty Nathan Fillion)? Probably skating on thin ice there.

   There’s a possessed tattoo in the X-Files too: Scully decides to let her hair down and go on a date, but it turns out the date has a tat of a very jealous girl on his arm or leg, who attempts to kill Scully for trying to take her beau away. I always thought it was a very interesting idea. (S04E13: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Never_Again_(The_X-Files)).

   Another great stomach churning ep, and I haven’t even looked at the pics yet! 🙂

   1. Oh, once you get a look at the pics you might have to go back and listen all over again to play along with the live audience….

4. What’s the name of that KISS guy who split his tongue? I’ve seen vids of a girl who did the same thing and could control both sides independently, so she could get the tips to wrap around each other. Very alluring in a bizarre sort of way. Will dig up links tonight.

5. How the hell could they not at least mention bradbury’s illustrated man?!?!

   1. Easy! Ran out of time.

   2. Here’s a free copy on the interweb:

      http://greenhumanities.edublogs.org/files/2012/09/Bradbury-Illustrated-Man-1wytglb.pdf

6. This mummified Siberian princess had some awesome tatts too

   http://siberiantimes.com/culture/others/features/siberian-princess-reveals-her-2500-year-old-tattoos/

   And the Unambal people of NW Australia have a cringe-inducing initiation ritual

   http://www.bradshawfoundation.com/unambal/circumcision_initiation.php

   1. This gives me an idea for a new episode: “Initiations” – should be nice & caustic, thanks for the suggestion!

7. To answer Toren’s question about whether there is such a thing as circular jails:
   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panopticon
   (Conceived of by none other than that skeleton-in-a-closet at University College London, Jeremy Bentham!)

   Also, in the pop culture section, I couldn’t help but think of the character Raven in Neal Stephenson’s book “Snow Crash”. The story takes place after civilization as we know it has collapsed, and a pseudo-anarchic system of enclaves (or “franchulates”) has emerged. Each enclave has its own social norms and local laws, and punishment by expulsion has generally replaced incarceration. Raven, who is very physically imposing (and a homicidal maniac if I remember correctly) has in his past been expelled from a franchulate for some unmentioned, but probably very violent, crime. As part of the expulsion, and as a warning to everyone else, he had the judgement “Poor Impulse Control” forcibly tattooed onto his forehead.

8. I gotta say I appreciate the correct punctuation in “Katie’s revenge”. Well done, given the circumstances.

9. This is pretty amazing footage from a tattoo and body modification festival in Sydney in early 2014. Lots of eyeball tattoo footage:

   http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-03-11/meet-the-people-pushing-their-bodies-to-artistic/5313896

10. I’ll assume that the tattooed monk was left out due to time constraints. I can’t imagine such seasoned DnD players forgetting it otherwise.

11. Meep! This guy got temporary night vision. That’s commitment.
    http://io9.com/this-biohacker-used-eyedrops-to-give-himself-temporary-1694016390?utm_campaign=socialflow_io9_facebook&utm_source=io9_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow

12. Oh my gosh, I totally thought the “SS” on the back of his head was a tribute to tetris.. I’ve obviously never been to jail.

13. Am I crazy or is there a strange clicking sound in the background of this recording?

    1. Possibly both! As a live recording at a venue with an audience we had less control over sound than in studio.