We’re in love with Margaret Cho. We admit it. The lady rocks. Check out The Cho Show on VH1 and enjoy her imeem playlist.

My buddy Brian Grosz, beautifully tattooed by Mike Rubendall of Kings Ave Tattoo, has bribed me to come down to DUMBO, Brooklyn tomorrow with beer, food, freaky masks, and a preview of the new Dogs of Winter album (one of his many music projects) for a video shoot of Player Piano, an unreleased song from their upcoming album.

He’s extended the invite to Needled readers because he knows just how cool you are. It should be a blast and the masks will hide your identity when the debauchery gets covered by the cams.

Shooting starts tomorrow at 1pm in DUMBO (near the A/C/F trains or by the Brooklyn/Manhattan bridge if you’re driving) and should run about 4 hours. In addition to beer and food, Dogs of Winter will probably perform a preview set of their new material.

“Dark clothing and good attitudes are encouraged.” If you wanna join me in the fun, email Brian at dogs [at] dogsofwinter [dot] com with “video shoot” in the subject heading. From there, he’ll send you the address and his cell number (which you will need to get into the building).

Check out the Dogs of Winter on MySpace, which features their 2005 Cut Down to the Quick album and their sexy rockin cover of Chris Issak’s Wicked Game.

For those who like their comic book heroines tattooed, bloody and naked, there’s the Hack/Slash Annual: Suicide Girls.

The Devil’s Due comic created by Tim Seeley premiered on SG as a sexy illustrated photoset, with its leading lady Cassie becoming a Suicide Girl. Seeley says:

“I have had an account for five years now, and Hack/Slash is a perfect fit for Suicide Girls because people are also always asking me if they can see her naked.”

In the Annual, which you can buy on SG’s online store, the story goes like this: “A heartbroken killer gets a new lease on life from a freak electric chair accident and a Suicide Girl becomes his next target. When Cassie and Vlad come to the aid of the Suicide Girls, things get deadly — and extremely sexy — as Cassie agrees to pose for her own photo set if that’s what it takes to stop this slasher.”

Yup, nakedness always saves the day!

I asked my girl Fractal Suicide what she thought about being a 2D succubus, to which she replied:

I feel like Fractal always has been a two-dimensional demonic character! There’s always been a pretty distinct difference between the online persona and the 3D versions of myself, so seeing Fractal being possessed by a binary demon was a fun new adventure to have. I spend the majority of my time at home with my cats, so having (mis)adventures like that is welcome.

The other Suicide Girls featured are Nixon (and her dog), Vivid, Salome, Drake, Kyra, Sash, and SG co-creator Missy.

Oh, and while we’re on the topic of SG, watch out for my four-part series on sex and tattoos called Erotic Ink on SG’s news page starting next Wednesday, September 3rd. Remember that tattoos and sex survey I started ten months ago? Yeah, it took me a while but I put together all the amazing responses (almost 600) to find out just how much sex plays a role in getting needled. I’ll post the link next week when it goes up.

Celebrating 30 years of rock-n-roll fashion, the legendary Betsey Johnson revived some punk pieces from the past for her Fall 2008 collection, offering up clothing and accessories designed with the 1988 tattoo flash print Mark Mahoney, a legend himself, designed for her.

Check out pieces like the cotton/lycra tattoo top and pencil skirt. There’s also the rose tattoo sunglasses and hobo bags (on sale at Hot Topic) (although the satin skull clutch remains my fave).

I admit, when first seeing the revamped line on the Betsey site, I wasn’t feelin it on the pale, bony model, but then I saw how Fashion Kitty rocked the tube dress and her smokin hotness changed my mind.

Can’t afford the price tag? Head to eBay and search for listings like this one for the original vintage pieces.

I’m pissed that I missed the Rumblers 8th Annual Kustom Kills & Hot-Rod Thrills in Brooklyn this past Saturday but Deirdre Shoo photographed the hot rods and hot tattoos for the Village Voice, presented in a fabulous slideshow of the car club’s event. You got your rockabilly daddies and pin-up princesses vamping in and on their vintage rides, plus bikers and barbers all hanging under the BQE. I supposed there was alotta pigeon poo dodgin (or maybe that’s the secret ingredient to gravity defying pompadours). Nevertheless, I’ll be bravin the bird droppins for their next bash.

No foreplay today, my friends. The tattoo news was so hot and delish this week — from big tattooed guys scaring animal abusers to digital tattoo effects for films — so, let’s bang it out:

The NY Times has two must-read tattoo stories. The first is an article and photos on Rescue Ink, which you may remember from this Needled blog post.

Rescue Ink are a wonderful group of tough lookin tattooed dudes who can be “very convincing” in having abused pets (like fight pit bulls) released into their custody where they find care and homes for the animals. The article says of their work:

The men rescue pedigreed animals sold for a pittance to buy drugs, animals used for fighting and bait, and colonies of feral cats that angry neighbors have tried to shoot or poison. They have received calls from Australia (“Dingoes, I guess,” Angel said) and reports of a serial cat killer in Pennsylvania.

In an uplifting article like this one, what was sad is that two of the men have lost their jobs because the volunteer work takes up more hours than a full time gig on its own, and all men have taken on considerable cost for vet bills and pet food. If you’d like to donate to Rescue Ink, check out this page of their site.

Also in the NY Times, this article on tattooing in China with another great photo show. While we’ve been reading about Olympic tattoos, this story features the tattoo artists themselves and how tattooing is evolving in China. Here’s a taste:

A decade ago, tattoo parlors were rare in Beijing. Most Chinese tattoo artists are self-taught, having experimented on their own bodies or on willing friends. Because the industry is largely ignored by the government, tattooists must rely on their own knowledge regarding hygiene and safety issues.

Although every Chinese child is taught the legend of Yue Fei, a 12th-century general whose mother tattooed “serve the country with utmost loyalty” on his back, tattoos were considered disreputable in China for centuries. Imperial courts tattooed criminals’ faces before sending them into exile. By the 1949 revolution, the tattoo was the favored mark of crime syndicates and subsequently condemned by the Communist Party. Today, tattoos remain taboo for many of China’s elder generation, which sneers at the sight of a sun or lotus inked on the back of a trendy neighbor.

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As I mentioned in the previous post, this is the premier blog post of All Things Not Tattoo [ATNT] where our fabulous new blogger Gypsy reviews her front row experience at the G Love and Special Sauce and John Butler Trio show. As a side note, if there was a soundtrack to my law school experience, it was G Love. That began in 1994, a year after the band formed. [I think Gypsy was 7 at the time.] But I never saw them play live and Gypsy did. I promised not to mutter expletives under my breath but if I was going to it would be now — that is, if she hadn’t written up such a great first post.

By Gypsy

A week ago last night I was contemplating potential ruin at the hands of several serious looking bouncers, as I tried to decide whether or not to sneak my digi cam into the G. Love and Special Sauce concert in Boston, where “no cameras allowed” was clearly threatened all over the venue.

How do I take amazing pictures of this badass concert with no camera? Acting like the naive unworldly dweeb that I hope to never manifest again, I decide to obey the bureaucratic nonsense and leave the camera in the car. Shit. My first post for Needled and I can’t add a pic.

[Thankfully, their sessions trailers like this one for their latest (and tenth album) Superhero Brother can easily be ripped from their YouTube page.]

[Read more →]

I recently interviewed the wonderful JK5, born Joseph Ari Aloi, for Inked magazine — one of the most elegant letterers I know as seen from his work above. During our talk he said that he’s a big geek for music, also noting that in the 14 years he’s been tattooing, he’s never worked for a studio or met a tattooist who wasn’t a serious music lover or even musician. Beyond tattoos and music, we talked toys, film, clothing, graff and of course fine art.

Now, tattoos and fine art — their intersection and culture — are the reasons Needled was created. But as my JK5 interview punctuated, tattoo lovers have interests well beyond them.

And so, we’ve added a new feature to the blog: All Things Not Tattoo. Tada!

We’ve been using this category so far for our Needled Imeem Playlists (many more to come) but today marks the inception of a new regular blog feature where Gypsy, our modern-day tattooed Anais Nin, will head to concerts, skate parks, maybe even a monster truck rally to combat our snob image, in search of all-things-not-tattoo cool.

While in my mind, my 35 years still constitute brazen adolescence, I’m starting to hear more and more “Oh, but you don’t look your age.” Who ever says that to a young person? And so I’m truly thankful to have Gypsy offer a fresh, young perspective on culture that plays heavily among the tattoorati.

[I promise not to mutter "little bitch" under my breathe too many times when a grey hair reflects off my screen while blogging myself.]

Gypsy is fabulous, smart and you’ll love her. Her first post is up next. Enjoy!

While sophisticated Needled readers have shunned popular television in lieu of nights reading Proust, some of us just ain’t that fancy. For my American TV lovin peeps, not one but two shows tonight feature tattoo goodness.

At 10PM EDT, The Works on the History Channel focuses on, well, how tattoos work: “From a 5,000 year old tattooed mummy to the latest in flash tattoo technology, get an inside look at how tattoos are designed, applied, and where the latest inks and hardware are being developed.”

You’ll also see scenes from Hell City, interviews with artists including Philadelphia Eddie, and at the end, Troy Timple even tattoos the show’s host Daniel H. Wilson.

Then, at 11 PM EDT, change the channel to VH1 for the first episode of The Cho Show. Granted, it’s a comedy not tattoo joint but just look at how fine Margaret looks flashing her tattoos at the show’s premier last week in NYC [Photo by Steve Mack/FilmMagic]. I just dig a funny, smart, political heavily tattooed hottie representin. You can even watch the first episode free online. Those outside the US, can download it from iTunes.

If you haven’t seen it yet, check out our Needled video with Margaret talking about the show and her tattoo obsession.

By Miguel Collins

“But there is magic, though. I don’t mean to sound real hardcore. There is magic because there’s magic in tattoos. I’m the person I am today because of my tattoos. I can’t tell you why or what, but I just know that.”

–Capt. Don Leslie quoted in Tattoos.com

On August 16, I went to check out Canvas LA’s The Life and Times of Capt. Don Leslie retrospective.

The show, a collection of his art and personal effects, captured moments of days past: his art displayed the oddities and intricacies of the circus and sideshow world, and of his effects, it was delightful to see his famous colorful chests covered in stamps of the far away places he’d been.

The show inspired me to look further into the life of the man born Donald Paul Leslie on December 26, 1937 — a life fully lived for 69 years.

Capt. Don Leslie ran away and joined King Brothers Circus at 14 to escape a troubled childhood. He received his first tattoo by Carol Nightingale (a tattoo pioneer and author of The Tattoo Baron). Taught to breath fire by Alex Linton and swallow swords by Carlos Leal in the mid 1950s, Don Leslie’s work ethic was amazing: he would do 18-22 performances a day, swallowing up to 15 swords in each performance.

This came at a price. His greatness is mixed with the tragedy of his passing of mouth and throat cancer due to years of ingesting fire-eating fuel. He died on June 4, 2007.

After reading all the tales and interviews of Don Leslie on the web, he quickly became more than a legend but an everyman to me. A man with the same strengths and frailties that all of us have. Throughout his life, he battled alcoholism [ironically the reason he first ran away to the circus]. Yet, with a smile and open heart, he stood with those who some would call outcasts.

Don was a man who sacrificed all for his profession, entertaining the public. The retrospective is a celebration of his life, highlighted with pieces from the collections of Permanent Mark, the Triangle Tattoo Museum, Dave Singletary, Timpac and Shelby Cobra.

Canvas LA has a short video of the show but if you’re in LA, see it for yourself. It runs until September 7th.