I've been watching TLC's new show, LA-Ink with the sensational Kat Von D, and it's provoked me to finally take the plunge on something I've been mulling over for years - to get inked! And I need some help and advice from you YBNBY readers.

Firstly I'm looking for some recommendations on the best tattoo artist in the NY/NJ area. I found a thread on Metafilter that asked the same question, although I have to say I wasn't overly blown away by the responses. I also found a link to Mario Barth who runs Tattoo shops in NJ, and while his portfolio looks amazing, he claims to have a waiting list of over a year, and I'd like to move on this a bit quicker.

So - have any of you got tattoos in the NYC area? Did you have good or bad experiences to share? Photos? Let us know and I'll chart my research here. I also have some upcoming trips to SF and LA, so those cities are possibilities too.

The other advice I need is subject matter. I'm looking at getting a fairly detailed large one - either a quarter or even half sleeve, from my shoulder down across my (meagre) bicep, and two subject matters are close to my heart. Firstly - comic book heroes, and I'm thinking that an Alex Ross style rendered Superman might look good. But I'm also leaning heavily to the idea of a vintage pinup girl, either after Elvgren or Vargas. So I'd love some input on imagery. And if there are any tattoo artists out there that want to pitch me, go right ahead.

Clearly what the image is and which artist I go to go hand-in-hand, so all thoughts appreciated. I'll document the research here on YBNBY, and finally post pictures and/or even video of the final tattooing here on the site for your enjoyment.

Ah, if it were only so easy!

(via Bits and Pieces)

When YesButNoButYes relaunched last week with it's comments reintroduced, both Jellio and Miss Cellania rushed to blog about the new spot for Cadbury's chocolate of the Gorilla (I won't spoil the surprise if you've been hiding under a rock for the last week and haven't seen it).

Well, imitation is the easiest form of viral video, it seems, and one week later the parodies and remixes have started. And in some cases they're as funny, if not funnier, than the original...

Over the last few months, I've been enjoying the short videos over at DotComedy.com, but for some reason haven't actually featured them a lot. I guess I figured they probably didn't need us to send them traffic. This week I had a great email exchange with a couple of the DotComedians (!) and realized we should probably redress that balance. (It probably doesn't hurt that they promised me free beer)

So starting tomorrow and for 7 days, it's DotComedy week at YesButNoButYes (yes, I'm easily bought). We'll be featuring a clip a day from their archive hand picked by yours truly. But if you can't wait that long, head over and check out some of their stuff.

OK CJ, mine's a Guiness :)

Follow me on this one, it's rambling.

One of my favorite guilty pleasures is listening to the music of Chumbawamba, a love that stems from the fact that I was the cameraman for them on three of their videos - Homophobia, Timebomb and Ugly Houses (not my best work, to be honest, but considering the budgets were all probably under $10k, no-one should be complaining). During that time I got to know them pretty well (and this was long before they started getting knocked down).

What has this rambling monologue got to do with rechargeable batteries, I hear you ask? Well, one of my favorite Chumba lyrics is "You think you're God's gift, you're a liar. I wouldn't piss on you if you were on Fire" (from the legendary track I can't hear you 'cos your mouth's full of shit)

Well, now you can save that piss and use it for more suitable purposes (assuming Madonna hasn't drunk it), because NoPoPo batteries can be recharged by immersing them in Urine (or Vinegar, or even, allegedly water - which of course is infinitely more boring a story).

You know, I really should have saved all this for a Top Ten Things to Piss On post. Hmmmm... come to think of it, isn't that a Japanese fetish?

Now, I'm really not sure why VH1 didn't come to us sooner, seeing as we ARE the greatest pop culture blog on the planet, and could have fielded a team that could have trounced the competition, but nevertheless.
By way of blogger outreach from James - Meet "The Juggernaut" - a supposedly super-tough pop culture trivia game. So how tough is it? Let's do a straw poll - take the quiz, and let us know how you did in comments. And don't forget to visit The World of Pop - probably the best pop culture site on the planet. Except for this one, naturally.

Over the last week, regular readers may have found themselves coming back here and being confronted with a home page from August 31st over and over again. I think it's the Internet's way of making us relive the Movable Type upgrade until we finally get it right. (And actually that's not far from the truth)

However, this morning we sacrificed 12 ceremonial goatses on the altar, and all being well, it shouldn't happen again.