Expect More.

This morning  CBC Radio's World Report newscast included a report on a Quebec tattoo removal salon that is under fire.  18 customers have complained that they now have permanent scars as a result of the salon's methods, which the company disputes.  Given the rising number of people with tattoos and other forms of body modification these days I suspect we're going to hear an increasing number of such stories over the next few years.  Given the processes involved in such things an inept or negligent operation could get a lot of people hurt.  The biggest risk comes from anyone who doesn't follow health precautions rigorously, so hopefully we won't hear of a bad tattoo shop infecting a bunch of people with something like hepatitis.

Check, Then Check Again.

If you're going to get a tattoo in a foreign language you'd best do lots of research.  Especially if your tattoo artist doesn't read the language.  Actress Hayden Panettiere is apparently having work done on a tattoo after finding out one of the Italian words was misspelt.  It makes you wonder how many other people are running around with such tattoos, especially those using characters the tattooist isn't familiar with.  

Mr. Gueguen Predicts!

Today I was walking downtown when I noticed a young woman walking towards me.  She came to a stop beside me as we both waited for the crossing light.  Getting a bit better look at her I had a vision of her future.  What did I see in that vision?  Plastic surgery.

No, I hadn't suddenly fallen victim to wooitis.  Rather I noticed that she was one of those folk who decided piercing her ears and then sticking ever larger things in the hole to distend the earlobes was a good idea.  She had a pair of disks in the holes that looked about the size of quarters, if not bigger.  That's not the kind of thing that will just go away if you remove the jewelry, unlike more modest piercings.

Remember, kids, extensive tattooing and elaborate body modifications are hard if not impossible to get rid of, and what looks good at 25 may not look so good at 45.