Tattoo shriek, or do I mean chic?

Tattoos. I'm in a tattoo mood today since seeing this, while surfing for something else entirely:



I was searching for ebook software -- meaning, the kind of software that MAKES ebooks and lets you open them later, maybe even when you've done something daft and password protected the thing, and forgotten the password. So what pops up? Tattoos. Perfect, what else could you ask for? Well -- maybe this:



Viggo as art. Now, you have got to like that. Way to go, Mr. Mortensen. And while we're on the subject of the body as art --


Very, very nice indeed! So nice, in fact, let's have one more picture before we change the channel and get onto a new topic (don't worry ... it'll be dreadlocks next week):



Tattoos are very chic just now; makes you wonder what would happen if they stopped being chic next year, and it was considered gross to show them. There would be cause to rejoice if you'd just had 'em painted on, like this:



These are not really Maori tattoos, they just have that look. Maori cultural watchdogs are very hot on protecting their national icons, and will fight long and hard to keep their tattoos out of public usage.