Brought to you by...

.. the number 2

The last time I checked in person there was only one, but since you talk, and that is good, I understand that there is another is the family.

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X1

I LUVVV Piercings....

Guess how many I have, X1?

A Little herstory for yah from Lori Wilkerson:

Body piercings have seen a resurgence of interest in the last ten to twenty years and are becoming more and more a part of the mainstream Western culture. Take a look at any fashion or entertainment magazine and you’ll see plenty of well-known celebrities with body piercings like navel rings or a labret. You might be surprised to find out that piercing is actually an ancient form of expression that most cultures have practiced at some time or other for thousands of years.

Egyptian body piercings reflected status and love of beauty

The earliest known mummified remains of a human that was pierced is over 5,000 years old. This worthy gentleman had his ears pierced with larger-gauge plugs in his ears, so plugs may be one of the oldest forms of body modification there is! We also know that the Egyptians loved to adorn themselves elaborately, and even restricted certain types of body piercings to the royal family. In fact, only pharaoh himself could have his navel pierced. Any one else who tried to get a belly button ring could be executed. (Tell that to Britney Spears!) Almost every well-to-do Egyptian wore earrings, though, to display their wealth and accent their beauty. Elaborate enameled and gold earrings frequently portrayed items in nature such as lotus blossoms.

Body piercings are also mentioned in the Bible. In the Old Testament it’s obvious that body jewelry is considered a mark of beauty and wealth, especially for Bedouin and nomadic tribes. In many cases, body jewelry was given as a bridal gift or as part of a dowry. It is clear that piercing was a sign of status and attractiveness in Biblical times.

Romans were practical piercers

Romans were very practical people, and for them piercing almost always served a purpose. Roman centurions pierced their nipples not because they liked the way it looked, but to signify their strength and virility. It was a badge of honor that demonstrated the centurion’s dedication to the Roman Empire. As a symbol, it was important and served a specific function, unifying and bonding the army. Even Julius Caesar pierced his nipples to show his strength and his identification with his men.

Genital piercing through the head of the penis was performed on gladiators, who were almost always slaves, for two reasons. A ring through the head of the penis could be used to tie the organ back to the testicles with a length of leather. In gladiatorial combat, this prevented serious injury. With a large enough ring or bar, it also prevented the slave from having sex without the owner’s consent. Since the gladiator was “property,” a stud fee could be charged to another slave owner for the highly prized opportunity to raise the next generation of great fighter.

Making love or war, piercing makes it better

Going across the ocean at around the same time, the Aztecs, Maya and some American Indians practiced tongue piercing as part of their religious rituals. It was thought to bring them closer to their gods and was a type of ritual blood-letting. The Aztec and Maya were warrior tribes, and also practiced septum piercing in order to appear fiercer to their enemies. Nothing looks quite as frightening as an opponent sporting a huge boar tusk thrust through his nose!

This practice was also common among tribes in New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. Some of the materials commonly used were bone, tusks and feathers. Hundreds of years later, French fur trappers in Washington State discovered American Indian tribes who wore bones through their septum and called them the Nez Perce, meaning “Pierced Noses” in French. It’s interesting that civilizations separated by thousands of miles and even centuries often developed a love for the same kind of body piercings to enhance certain features, isn’t it?

In Central and South America, lip labrets were popular for purely aesthetic reasons – women with pierced lips were considered more attractive. In fact, the holes were often stretched to incredible size as progressively larger wooden plates were inserted to emphasize the lips as much as possible. (Kind of like collagen today). The Aztecs and Maya also sported lip labrets of gold and jade, many of them elaborately carved into mythical or religious figures or sporting gemstones. These were seen as highly attractive and to enhance sexuality.

As the world moved into the dark ages, interest in piercing died down somewhat and the medieval church began to condemn it as sinful. For a few hundred years, Western civilization abandoned the practice. As the Renaissance went into full swing, however, interest in piercing began to pick up again.

A new era and a new interest in body piercings

Sailors became convinced that piercing one ear would improve their long-distance site, and so the site of a sailor with a gold or brass ring became common. Word also spread that should a sailor be washed ashore after a shipwreck, the finder should keep the gold ring in exchange for providing a proper Christian burial. Sailors were both religious and superstitious, so they generally spent a lot for a large gold earring to hedge their bets.

Men became much more fashion-conscious during the Renaissance and Elizabethan eras, and almost any male member of the nobility would have at least one earring, if not more. Large pearl drops and enormous diamond studs were a great way to advertise your wealth and standing in the community. It could also designate royal favor if your earring was a gift from a member of the royal family.

Women, not wanting to be outshone by the men in all their finery, began to wear plunging necklines, with the Queen of Bavaria introducing the most outrageous, which consisted of not much at all above the waist. In order to adorn themselves, women began piercing their nipples to show off their jewelry. Soon they began wearing chains and even strands of pearls draped between the two.

Men and women both discovered that these nipple piercings were also delightful playthings in bed, adding sensitivity to the breasts and giving the men both visual and tactile stimulation. Men began getting pierced purely for pleasure as well. While not entirely mainstream, piercing of the nipples and, occasionally, the genitals, continued to hold interest for members of the upper crust of society in Europe on and off for the next few hundred years.

The next resurgence of interest was, surprisingly, during the Victorian age, which is usually seen as very repressed. Prince Albert, future husband of Queen Victoria, is said to have gotten the penis piercing that is named after him in order wear the tight-fitting trousers so popular at the time. The ring could then be attached to a hook on the inside of one pant leg, tucked safely away between the legs for a neat, trim look. Although we have no record of Victoria’s response to the piercing itself, there is ample evidence she was wildly in love with her husband and almost never left his side after their marriage!

Soon, Victorian men were getting Prince Albert's, frenums and a variety of other piercings purely for the pleasurable sexual effects, and women were doing the same. By the 1890’s, it was almost expected that a woman would have her nipples pierced. In fact, some doctors at the time suggested it improved conditions for breastfeeding, although not all agreed. It was an interesting double standard –- plenty of people were doing it, but no one was talking about it.

Modern-day body piercings

In the last hundred years or so, body piercings in the Western world have mostly been limited to the ears, a standard hold-over from the fact that both men and women wore earrings during Elizabethan times. The Puritan movement did away with men wearing earrings, however, and it didn’t really regain popularity until recently.

Nose rings found new interest when young people (they were called hippies then) from the U.S. began traveling in India extensively looking for enlightenment in the 1960’s. They noticed the nostril rings that most women had been wearing there since the sixteenth century. In India, this was a form of traditional, accepted adornment and was often linked to an earring by a chain. For rebellious teens from America, it was a great form of rebellion.

After bringing nose piercings back to the U.S., the interest in body piercings of all kinds quickly caught on during the 1980’s and 1990’s. Celebrities, sports stars and singers all began sporting a variety of piercings. Soon, high school students and even stay-at-home moms were flashing new body piercings. And the rest, as they say, is history!

This article on the "History of Body Piercings" reprinted with permission.
Copyright 2004 Evaluseek Publishing.

Mid-Life Crises

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X1

Oops, He Did It Again

...Ralph Lauren that is. Link provides full article in the UK Telegraph.

Seems the company ad department has photoshopped another ad image to create another unrealistically thin model.



the one on the left is the touched-up image, the right is the original. Yep, there's a difference, and it's visible to the naked eye.

From the article by Nick Allen in Los Angeles, published: 6:15PM BST 20 Oct 2009

"An image of the Russian-born model Valentina Zelyaeva appeared in a shop in Sydney, Australia, and on the clothing label's Australian website, with her waist digitally squeezed to appear impossibly skinny.

It followed a case last week when a photograph of another Ralph Lauren model, Filippa Hamilton, looking so thin that her waist and hips were smaller than her head, appeared in a department store in Tokyo.

The digitally altered picture of Miss Zelyaeva appeared on the fashion house's website alongside one of her that had not been altered that showed her with a noticeably wider waist. In the altered photograph her shoulders are clearly wider than her hips."

Got to wonder how many more of these altered ads exist in the world and have yet to be discovered.

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X1

The Man Song

I'm keeping things light this morning. The news provided no tidbits of entertainment, for me today and the 'to do' is a mile long, so fun it is.

This is Milton singing "The Man Song". Milton is apparently a character created by Sean Morey, a comedian who also composed the song. His web is seanmorey.com

/

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X1

More DIY...

...only this time it's better, it's latex.

Stumbled across this site some time ago and there are some great tutorials on working with latex for the purposes of redecorating household items and creating fashionable wearable goods.

Making Latex Clothing is an ideal site for the frugal fetishist.

Pix-napped of course, but here's an example:



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X1

On the subect of...

Forcible Male Genital Mutilation:

This is taking the DIY movement to an absurd level. Circumcision is not synonymous with knitting, or replacing a worn hinge. It's not taught at the local craft or hardware store. What was this guy thinking, 'cause it's not once but twice?

Dad convicted for botched circumcision on son

The Canadian Press

Date: Friday Oct. 16, 2009 6:58 AM ET

VANCOUVER — A Vancouver-area man has been convicted of criminal negligence causing bodily harm for a botched amateur circumcision he attempted on his four-year-old son.

However, Justice Marion Allan acquitted the man, who along with his family can't be identified under a publication ban, of aggravated assault and assault with a weapon.

The child, now aged six, was treated in hospital for what doctors said was an incomplete circumcision and has since made a full recovery.

The boy's father, who subscribes to a religious philosophy that incorporates Hebrew elements, previously tried to circumcise himself and also had to seek medical help.

He learned about circumcision on the Internet and sent away for special instruments.

Court heard he put his son on the floor on some clean garbage bags and towels, with Band-Aids and a veterinary powder used to stop bleeding standing by.

The man tried to drug his young son with wine and told him lie still, but he apparently jerked during the procedure, causing the man's hand to slip while cutting the foreskin.

In his judgment posted Thursday, Allan said the man's first experience with home circumcision should have told him it was a serious, risky procedure.

Surgery was required to remove hardened layers of the veterinary blood-stopping material caked on the boy's penis and repair damage from the botched circumcision to prevent permanent disfigurement.

But the judge said the father's actions did not rise to the level of aggravated assault, nor could the razor instrument he used be considered a weapon that could cause death or injury.

The man's lawyer, Doug Christie, told Allan at the outset that he would try to have the case tossed out on constitutional grounds, saying his religious motive negated any criminal intent.

Allan said Christie had not given the Crown sufficient notice leading up to the trial but the lawyers for both sides were now free to address it.

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X1

It Wouldn't REALLY be a Birthday Without the Spanking, Would It?

Thanx, X1! ;--)

Just for Y1

Happy Birthday to a special friend, we'll be thinking of you this weekend ;)




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X1

WTF???

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/fashion/fashionnews/6334941/Barbie-doll-Christian-Louboutin-to-redesign-fat-legs.html

From the article:


Barbie doll: Christian Louboutin to redesign 'fat legs'

Three new Barbie dolls being designed by French shoe designer Christian Louboutin to celebrate the doll's 50th anniversary will have slimmer legs and ankles after he decided they were "too fat".

By Nick Collins
Published: 11:54AM BST 15 Oct 2009

Barbie is no stranger to controversy, having been attacked in the past for being too thin and sending out the wrong message to young girls about living healthily.

But fashion designer Mr Louboutin, whose luxury shoes retail for up to £1,500, thinks the model has 'cankles', or fat ankles, and is planning to make his three new dolls even slimmer.

A Louboutin spokeswoman told Metro: "They're completely wild and even come with mini Louboutin boxes for the shoes." But, she added: "He found her ankles were too fat."

Barbie manufacturer Mattel has previously been attacked for making her too top-heavy, while studies have revealed she also has too little body fat.

In 1965, Slumber Party Barbie came with a book entitled How To Lose Weight, which advised children: "Don't eat".

Mattel was also criticised in 1980 for releasing a black Barbie which lacked African facial features, and simply looked like a white Barbie painted black.

I am so impressed with Louboutin. NO ONE, ever, looks like a Barbie doll without extensive cosmetic surgery, body modifications, and intensive dieting. Yes, this is just what we need, another designer telling us what is wrong with being normal by telling us that the idolized Barbie is "FAT".

Thanks dude, I'm looking forward to the next generation of anorexic girls trying to fit into mommy's Louboutin's.

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X1

Mixed Bag

Coffee as art. Being very fond of our java in its many forms, this caught my attention, because it is coffee that appeals to the visual sense as well as taste and smell.


I do enjoy 'art' that does have sensation for more than one sense, visual that is tactile, taste and smell, sound and vision, for example. Perhaps that's why 'scratch & sniff' advertising became so popular.

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Now this just confuses. Let's try to follow it: Design house Ralph Lauren hires a model, uses her as a face of Lauren for some time as she has appeared in many Lauren shoots over the years. Recently a photoshopped ad disaster was shown with this particular model appearing unbelievably thin, so much so, that one would believe the only thing going for her is a fat head. Lauren came under attack for the ad. It started to receive web attention, going viral, and they issued cease & desist orders to ISPs hosting webs that spread the image under what would appear to be fair copyright use of the image. Lauren had to back off their cease & desist tactics and actually admitted to being involved with the ad image being manipulated to a point of obvious unreality. The real topper for this is that they fired the model in the picture.

The reason: They fired me because they said I was overweight and I couldn't fit in their clothes anymore," she said. (Fillipa) Hamilton, a 5'10'' model, reportedly weighs only 120 pounds.

So let me get this straight. Ralph Lauren fired the model because they had to photoshop the ad image of her to the point where she looked totally emaciated because they only want people with anorexia to buy their line and since Fillipa Hamilton is only genetically blessed with a thin body, she doesn't qualify to work with them anymore because she doesn't fit the ideal Lauren image.

Other links on this, all of which contain images of the ad:
http://boingboing.net/2009/10/06/the-criticism-that-r.html
http://www.boingboing.net/2009/10/08/searching-for-the-sk.html
http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/fashion/2009/10/14/2009-10-14_model_fired_for_being_too_fat.html#ixzz0TueSS2PX
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/14/filippa-hamilton-ralph-la_n_320396.html

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Yes, I really needed to read that modern mankind does not measure up to it Neanderthal predecessors. Thank you for the head shot.

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X1

Just because...

Tim Horton's, iconic, Canadian, serves the troops...



... at Fort Knox, Kentucky, USA.

I vote for Tim's for next year's Nobel Peace Prize for wanting to bring hot coffee to people around the world.

(pix-napped from here)
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X1

Mixed Bag

An answer to one question that we've all had lately:

Nobel jury speaks out in defence of Obama prize, calls critics patronizing
October 14, 2009 - 5:42
Ian Macdougall,Karl Ritter, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

"To those who say a Nobel is too much too soon in Obama's young presidency, "We simply disagree ... He got the prize for what he has done," committee chairman Thorbjorn Jagland told The Associated Press by telephone from Strasbourg, France, where he was attending meetings of the Council of Europe.

Jagland singled out Obama's efforts to heal the divide between the West and the Muslim world and scale down a Bush-era proposal for an anti-missile shield in Europe.

"All these things have contributed to - I wouldn't say a safer world - but a world with less tension," he said.

In summation, I still think Obama got the award because he's not George Dubya, and the rest of the world likes that very much.

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This is still happening, and it always saddens that we can't live and love as we choose, safely:

Surveillance video captures brutal beating of gay man, Jack Price, in Queens; Both suspects arrested
BY Rocco Parascandola
DAILY NEWS POLICE BUREAU CHIEF

Updated Wednesday, October 14th 2009, 1:22 AM

A shocking video shows a gay man trying in vain to fend off two thugs who repeatedly punch and stomp him on a deserted Queens street.

Jack Price, 49, tries again and again to get to his feet and escape, only to have the cowards knock him back down in their brutal onslaught, the footage shows.

Two men have been arrested in the beatdown.

Daniel Aleman, 26, was nabbed Sunday night, and Daniel Rodriguez, 21, was captured Tuesday night in Norfolk, Va., police said.

The attackers walk away from Price at one point, only to return. One of them slugs Price one last time in the face before they leave for good, the video shows.

Late Tuesday, however, he remained in critical condition at New York Hospital Queens, hooked up to a respirator. His lungs are collapsed and his jaw and ribs are broken.

"It's a despicable crime," Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said of the assault in College Point, where the victim and his alleged attackers all live.

"The individual was attacked simply for his orientation, and we're just not going to tolerate it in this city."

It shouldn't be tolerated in any city in any country that considers itself to be free, democratic, tolerant, for equality, first world, need I go on?

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This kind of medical work makes me wonder what kind of physical mutants humanity will have become in 25 or 50 years.

Genetic manipulation shows promise in preventing heart failure from aging:

In a paper published in the journal Circulation, Tetsuo Shioi, lead researcher and assistant professor of medicine at Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine in Kyoto, and his team described how they managed to suppress a variety of the P13K gene in a group of elderly mice.

Compared with another group of mice in which the gene was left intact, mice with the suppressed gene had improved cardiac function, less fibrosis (which makes the heart inflexible) and fewer biological markers of ageing.

I think this is promising research for people that have a heart... now if someone could just figure out how to give Canada's political elite a heart to start with...

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Perhaps this speaks to Obama's popularity in France. It also makes one ask, just what the hell were they thinking, were they thinking?

French Vogue, the fashion magazine, has prompted outrage by featuring pictures of a Dutch model with her pale skin painted a dark colour.

Published: 8:00AM BST 14 Oct 2009

The photo shoot, which was styled by the magazine's long-time editor, Carine Roitfeld, presents pictures of model Lara Stone "blacked up" alongside normal photographs of the model.

The magazine is no stranger to controversy and has run images of supposedly pregnant models puffing cigarettes in the past.

Yep, I remember that controversy too, we covered hearts in the last article, maybe we need research on how to give fashion editors a brain?
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On the bright side, Punk seems to making a strong revival in mainstream fashion. Studs and leather and goth look have been seen on a number of runways for the past year, but it has just been noted that the UK Telegraph is writing on "how to" get the look punk with make-up. Like anyone who saw it the first time around is going to forget the black eyeliner with the fuchsia and turquoise eye shadows with the glittery black nail polish and deep red lips on deathly pallid skin.

They also just covered studs. Those shiny, pointy, square, round, grommetted, metallic things for shoes, boots, jeans, coats, gloves, hats, or anywhere that they can be fastened without necessarily having them adhered to flesh. Now that's a look I can do.

...and to wrap it all up in a warm blanket, we can rely on the Canadian twins of Dsquared2 to promote the rugged Canadian look in men's fashions during their Milan Spring/Summer 2010 show. At least men aren't going to have to work too hard to be fashionable men. A beer, boxers, and a blanket in the woods should do the trick.

Pix-napped from here.

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X1

...and this

Forgot about the Nine Inch Nails video Happiness in Slavery, which I think only makes sense to those familiar with Bob himself.



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X1

Bob with Super-Cystic

...and I remember Bob for this:



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X1

If you pull out Fakir, I pull out...BOB!

Bob Flanagan aka the "Supermasochist", suffered from Cystic Fybrosis and shouldn't have lived as long as he did. He credited sadomasochism with keeping himself alive and sane. His poem "Why" Sums it allll up:

Why

a poem by Bob Flanagan

Because it feels good; because it gives me an erection; because it makes me come; because I’m sick; because there was so much sickness; because I say FUCK THE SICKNESS; because I like the attention; because I was alone a lot; because I was different; because kids beat me up on the way to school; because I was humiliated by nuns; because of Christ and the Crucifixion; because of Porky Pig in bondage, force-fed by some sinister creep in a black cape; because of stories of children hung by their wrists, burned on the stove, scalded in tubs; because of Mutiny on the Bounty; because of cowboys and Indians; because of Houdini; because of my cousin Cliff; because of the forts we built and the things we did inside them; because of what’s inside me; because of my genes; because of my parents; because of doctors and nurses; because they tied me to the crib so I wouldn’t hurt myself; because I had time to think; because I had time to hold my penis; because I had awful stomachaches and holding my penis made it feel better; because I felt like I was going to die; because it makes me feel invincible; because it makes me feel triumphant; because I’m a Catholic; because I still love Lent, and I still love my penis, and in spite of it all I have no guilt; because my parents said BE WHAT YOU WANT TO BE, and this is what I want to be; because I’m nothing but a big baby and I want to stay that way, and I want a mommy forever, even a mean one, especially a mean one; because of all the fairy tale witches, and the wicked stepmother, and the stepsisters, and how sexy Cinderella was, smudged with soot, doomed to a life of servitude; because of Hansel, locked in the witch’s cage until he was fat enough to eat; because of “O” and how desperately I wanted to be her; because of my dreams; because of the games we played; because I’ve got an active imagination; because my mother bought me Tinker Toys; because hardware stores give me hard-ons; because of hammers, nails, clothespins, wood, padlocks, pullies, eyebolts, thumbtacks, staple-guns, sewing needles, wooden spoons, fishing tackle, chains, metal rulers, rubber tubing, spatulas, rope, twine, C-clamps, S-hooks, razor blades, scissors, tweezers, knives, pushpins, two-by-fours, Ping-Pong paddles, alligator clips, duct tape, broomsticks, barbecue skewers, bungie cords, sawhorses, soldering irons; because of tool sheds; because of garages; because of basements; because of dungeons; because of The Pit and the Pendulum; because of the Tower of London; because of the Inquisition; because of the rack; because of the cross; because of the Addams Family playroom; because of Morticia Addams and her black dress with its octopus legs; because of motherhood; because of Amazons; because of the Goddess; because of the moon; because it’s in my nature; because it’s against nature; because it’s nasty; because it’s fun; because it flies in the face of all that’s normal (whatever that is); because I’m not normal; because I used to think that I was part of some vast experiment and that there was this implant in my penis that made me do these things and that allowed THEM (whoever THEY were) to monitor my activities; because I had to take my clothes off and lie inside this plastic bag so the doctors could collect my sweat; because once upon a time I had such a high fever that my parents had to strip me naked and wrap me in wet sheets to stop the convulsions; because my parents loved me even more when I was suffering; because surrender is sweet; because I was born into a world of suffering; because I’m attracted to it; because I’m addicted to it; because endorphins in the brain are like a natural kind of heroin; because I learned to take my medicine; because I was a big boy for taking it; because I can take it like a man; because, as somebody once said, HE’S GOT MORE BALLS THAN I DO; because it is an act of courage; because it does take guts; because I’m proud of it; because I can’t climb mountains; because I’m terrible at sports; because NO PAIN, NO GAIN; because SPARE THE ROD AND SPOIL THE CHILD; because YOU ALWAYS HURT THE ONE YOU LOVE.

Body Modifications

"Wilhelm Stekel believed that fetishism was not only a religion but a form of true asceticism in that it avoids so-called 'normal' sexual intercourse." from here

Tight-lacing
with corset designer Pearl, which leads back to Fakir Musafar.

A photographer and "father of the modern primitive movement" that explore spirituality though the body, which bring us back to needle and suspension play: Fakir Musafar, "Perfect Gentleman, Self Portrait", 1959, Edition 25

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X1

Not to needle you...

...but you'll appreciate this:



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X1

Foot Fetish

‘Just advertising departments with legs and high heels.’ — Richard Avedon

How nice that you finally have something in common with Tarantino. I found something you might enjoy Y1.

These are portfolio images from Bela Borsodi, who obviously does a fair number of advertising shoots among which is this one.

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X1

Back up a sec, to that picture of the Clunkies feet, X1....

Ever notice that nearly EVERY Quentin Tarantino movie references foot fetishism? Well, I did....(blush multiple shades of red)

Kill Bill

Jackie Brown

Death Proof

From Dusk Till Dawn

Pulp Fiction (BLATANTLY obvious...Uma Thurman's)

Inglorious Basterds

Well, Uma noticed too....

"Hollywood beauty UMA THURMAN is convinced maverick film-maker QUENTIN TARANTINO has a foot fetish because he is more interested in shooting his female stars' feet than wrapping up scenes.

The 35-year-old first spotted Tarantino's penchant for feet when they shot PULP FICTION in 1994 - and when he based an entire scene around her toes in 2003's KILL BILL: VOL. 1 she was amazed he still denied having a foot fetish.

She says, "Well, it started in Pulp Fiction with that foot massage speech. He denies his foot fetish, but he's accused of it regularly. I don't think it's me in particular.

"Many people commented during Kill Bill that he could release a whole version entirely on the foot-shots that he took of all the actors, shoed, un-shoed."

(Thanx to: http://www.contactmusic.com/new/xmlfeed.nsf/story/thurman-tarantino-has-a-foot-fetish )