There are plenty of reasons to feature a portrait here on the scarblog; all easily justifiable as to why we’re not featuring someone bleeding. Today’s justification? I miss Sarah. Posting this wonderful portrait (taken at SW2 in LA by Rachel) is a reminder to send her my love.

I’ve told the story dozens of times now; but in place of a standard “happy birthday”….

The first time I met Dave Gillstrap, I happened to be exposing myself to a lady (she asked) and David walked up and SLAMMED me in the testicles. Before the shock could hit me, he started singing “yat-dat-dat-dat-daaaa” in a Carney-esque tone and was smiling from ear to ear.

I still love the guy. And today is his birthday. So there ya go. Happy birthday, ‘ol Blackballs- hope it treats you well!

(ps: I still owe you one)

When I was preparing the second SW in late 2005 I received a letter in the mail from a young lady who was confirming her invite for the West Coast event. Most people took care of that online, but Sam went oldschool with actual mail and, in a move that I still find adorable, included a photocopy of her driver’s license so I’d be able to recognize her at the event.

I was fortunate enough to have booked my friend Rachel (owner of BME and all around renaissance woman*) as the portrait photographer for that event; while the photo on Sam’s driver’s license was good, the pictures Rachel captured of her are, I think, much more flattering. (I think I still have that photocopy somewhere)

(PS: you can see more of Sam here, here, here and here. Her lotus cutting was done by John Joyce and Brian Decker.

*Rachel would like it mention that, despite my claim of her being a renaissance woman, she will not be eating any turkey legs at the Renn Faire.

We try to photograph everyone who comes to the SW events; even if they don’t have scars or aren’t covered in blood. Our goal is to document people who support our community. The portraits we take every year are usually my favorite pictures taken.

The Lovely Rachel took this shot of my friend Gregg at SW2 in California back in 2006. On my infrequent trips to Southern California Gregg always makes it out for a drink and for good times.

Today is his birthday, so I’m returning the good times and my wishes for a great b-day. If you have access to the iam.bmezine.com site, swing by and give him some love: KungFuGreg

I’m watching the original G.I. Joe cartoon. If you’re old enough to remember the show from it’s original run you, like me, are probably terrified about the upcoming live action movie.

Not that the cartoon was amazing really. In retrospect, watching it as an adult (or as much of an adult as I can claim to be) is quite painful. Terrible voice actors cold reading equally terrible one liners during impossibly silly plots; it’s not as awesome as you remember.

That said, it did have one saving grace: Zartan.
Originally described as suffering from Paranoid Schizophrenia and Multiple Personality Disorder, Zartan turned green in the sun and wore KISS makeup.

If you’re wondering “what in christ’s name does this have to do with Scarification” the answer is simple: It’s Ryan Ouellette’s birthday today. While I can’t be 100% certain that Zartan is Ryan’s favorite G.I. Joe character… I can almost bet he is.

Happy birthday, buddy!

IAM.BMEZINE.COM members can swing by his iam.blog and wish him a happy birthday.

My good friend Joy will be going into surgery tomorrow to fix a few misbehaving discs in her back; I’d appreciate it if you guys could send some “good vibes” (feel free to smack me for talking like a hippie) her way and wish her a speedy recovery.

We love you, sweetie!

Photo from SW2 by Rachel.

Brian has been one of my best friends for going on a decade; The Dr. Gonzo to my Raoul Duke, if you will; the Ricky to my Lucy… the moral compass that always points to “do it if it’s funny, don’t worry, we’ll clean up the mess” and more.

He’s been instrumental in holding together all three SW events (as well as smaller events that we throw here on the East Coast) and always goes out of his way to make sure that, at the end of the day, everyone goes home happy and that all the loose ends are tied up.

Happy Birthday, buddy!

Portrait of Brian from SW2 by Rachel Zimmerman. Special birthday princess photo by Atom Moore following the break.

That’s why love looks like.

Rachel photographed my old friend Bella Vendetta at our west coast SW event in 2006.

The cuttings- which were done approximately five years ago by Brian Decker, were rubbed with ashes from Bella’s mother. She had this to say about them:

“One of my favorite pieces and one that means the most to me, are two deep cuts on my ribs. Kind of like gills. They were very deep cuts and I had my mothers ashes rubbed into them so she could be with me all the time.”

You can read Bella’s blog at IAM.BMEZINE.COM.

More after the break. (Click read more about it!)

Ashes rubbed into the fresh cutting.

Rachel managed to get Brian, Scot, Peck and Atom to stand still/remained clothed for the 10 seconds it took to snap this photograph at SW2 in Los Angeles.

One of the things I was glad to see come out of the SW events was our photographers capturing portraits of the people who get cut/branded that focused on more than just their cuttings. Seeing the finished piece is important but the balance has to be there so we have more than an anatomy book!