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THE BATTALION
A walk on the
WfU> site
BY JULIA RECINDUS
The Battalion
W hen a student packs up and makes his or her
way to a university, dreams of freedom mid
personal self-expression seem like they are
about to come true.
Decorating one’s body with piercings is one form of
expression that is very popular, especially with the col
lege crowd. The mind reels at the seemingly endless pos
sibilities of numerous body parts available for piercing:
the nose, navel, lips, eyebrow, tongue, nipples and more.
“Facial piercings are the more exotic piercings. A
few years ago, if someone had their eyebrow pierced, it
was very unusual. Now it’s
becoming more common,”
said Jerry Stuwart, an artist at
Aggieland Tattoo.
He said artists at Ag
gieland Tattoo have also
pierced septums, the bridge
of the nose, and the skin
above the lip.
Stuwart said the most
common piercings done at
Aggieland Tattoo are
tongues and belly buttons.
Stuwart said these piercings make up about 75 per
cent of the job.
Once one has decided where to be pierced, another
decision looms ahead — choosing a piece of jewelry'.
Choosing a piece of jewelry is a very personal deci
sion that reflects a person’s interest or add more flare to
their personality. Some go for simplicity and choose a
barbell or a ring. Accessories such as charms and chains
can be added; one popular accessory is the belly chain,
wrap around the person’s waist and is connected to the
navel piercing. Charms, such as dragons or suns or flow
ers, are also added to rings for more personality.
Adrian Gardea, a junior psychology major, has
two tongue piercings, one eyebrow and a labret
(chin) piercing.
Gardea said at one time he had a slave bar in his
tongue. A slave bar is like a barbell, except that one end
has a ring on it. He said when a couple kisses, the ball
of the barbell gets stuck in the ring of the slave bar and
the two have to work them apart with their tongues, sim
ilar to Chinese finger cuffs.
Rubber tops can also go on the end of barbells in the
tongue, known as a “french tickler” or a stimulator.
He said most of the exotic and unusual jewelry must
be special ordered out of a catalog, otherwise it will just
sit in the store.
When the piercing is actually done, surgical-steel
jewelry is used because most people are not allergic or
have rejection problems with the material.
Once the piercing heals, customers can then return
to purchase jewelry. One piece becoming very popular
is the glow in the dark jewelry. It can be charged on an
incandescent light making it glow for a certain amount
of time, or it will illuminate under a blacklight.
Different gauges, or sizes, of jewelry are also avail
able to allow people to stretch their piercings. The high
er the number the thinner the metal, for example, a 20
gauge piece of jewelry is .81 mm thick, while a 8 gauge
piece is 3.26 mm thick. Jewelry comes in a w ide range
of sizes — one gauge size, called the “double all” has
a gauge that is thicker
than the width of a ball
-point pen.
Those most com
monly stretched are
the ears, tongues and
belly button piercings.
Larger gauges can be
place gradually into
other body piercings.
Stuwart said it is
very unusual for peo
ple to get large-sized
piercings like the double all.
Now that body piercings are becoming more com
mon, Stuwart said customers are walking through the
doors of body art establishments more often and are get
ting piercings on a whim.
“Almost everybody who’s come through my door
has been scared to death or nervous,” Stuwart said.
He said he thinks the reason so many are coming in
to be pierced is because of peer pressure.
“[Some say] ‘My buddy did it, so Fm going to do
it,’” he said, “ [but] 1 did it for myself. I likethe look and
the feel of it. A lot of it’s the adrenaline rush. It’s a real
ly good natural high. You feel like you can conquer the
world; it’s something you have to experience yourself,”
Gardea said.
There have been occasions when something out
of the ordinary has happened in the process of get
ting a piercing.
“One girl came in not intending to get pierced, but
we got to talking and she brought up that she had three
breasts. Sure enough she did, and we pierced her third
nipple. Another girl had an orgasm when we pierced her
nipples,” Stuwart said.
He said a few customers have passed out.
“Everybody’s different. And it’s like they say, your
body’s a temple — decorate it,” he said.
"Almost everybody
who's come through my
door has been scared to
death or nervous."
— Jerry Stuwart
Aggieland Tattoo artist
PHOTOS BY GUY ROGERS
Page 3
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5 Reed McDonald 60*’
The Whole Nine Yards
Starring: Bruce Willis and
Matthew Perry
Directed by: Jonathan Lynn
Bruce Willis and Matthew Berry hit the bulls-
eye with the sharp and witty comedy The Whole
Nine Yards.
Dr. Oseransky (Berry), or Oz for short, is an
American dentist in Canada married to a
woman who drives him crazy and stuck in a
country that drives him crazy. Just when he
thinks his life isn’t going anywhere, he discov
ers his new next-door neighbor is Jimmy “The
Tulip”Tudeski (Willis), an ex-Mob assassin
hiding out from his old boss. After spending
sometime together, Oz learns to like Jimmy;
then Jimmy’s wife offers him the divorce he has
been wanting — if he goes to Chicago and rats
out Jimmy to the mob.
The adventure and laughs begin as Oz con
tinues to get himself in situations that are over
his head.
The plot sounds like it should have been a
thriller, not a comedy. However, thanks to the
deft touch of director Lynn {Greedy, Sgt. Bilko)
the humor comes to the viewer in a ceaseless
barrage. The script writers must be given a lot
of credit for taking twists and turns not com
monly found in such comedies.
Fast and furiously funny, this movie gives
Perry the chance to showcase his sense of sar
castic timing. Make no mistake about it, this
movie is all Berry.
Willis is more of a supporting character and
really plays the straight man to Berry’s humor
ous antics. That is not to underrate Willis’s per
formance; he delivers a lethally deadpan perfor
mance as a hitman with a heart. Factor in a
supporting cast which includes the charming
Michael Clarke Duncan, the funny Kevin Pol
lack, and the up-and-coming Amanda Beet and
this movie has wonderful chemistry.
Willis continues his run of “non-action”
movies in this pleasantly surprising film which
he also co-produced.
Though it is not the sort of movie to win
Academy Awards, The Whole Nine Yards is
pure fun and definitely worth catching at the
theaters. (Grade: B-)
— Matt McCormick
Hanging Up
Starring: Meg Ryan and Walter
Matthau
Directed by: Diane Keaton
Hanging Lip is the first must-see movie of
2000. Touching and funny, this movie is ab
solutely wonderful.
Eve (Ryan) has a new business, a father in the
hospital, two sisters she hardly ever sees and she
always seems to be on the phone trying to keep
up with everything. This is the story of one sis
ter’s efforts to hold her family, as well as herself,
together as the family seems to drift further apart.
Brilliantly directed by Diane Keaton and writ
ten by Nora and Delia Ephron {You’ve Got Mail),
this movie is based on Delia Ephron’s book of
the same name. Keaton brings an interesting style
to the film, particularly in the flashbacks which,
while mainly visual, tell a whole story by them
selves. This film is a pure joy as it takes viewers
through the ups and downs of a family that is
unique yet oddly familiar.
Sweet and touching without being preten
tious, this movie is more than just a comedy and
it is more than just a drama. This movie is a little
slice of life made a bit more charming and a bit
more poignant because it is on the big screen.
Ryan is absolutely radiant as the big-heart
ed Eve. In her most lovable and surprisingly
deep role in years, Ryan elevates her acting.
Matthau turns in the performance to beat for
next year’s best supporting actor Oscar as the
gruff but lovable father of the girls. Keaton is
great as always, but possibly due to her direct
ing duties, she has a smaller part in this film.
Lisa Kudrow continues to grow as an ex
tremely talented movie star.
Wann, humorous and poignant in one, Hang
ing Up offers viewers the chance to experience
one of the most enjoyable and satisfying movie
events in a long time. (Grade: A)
— Matt McCormick
Pitch Black
Starring: Vin Diesel and Radha
Mitchell
Directed by: David Twohy
Sometimes movie production costs exceed
their allotted value and the cast must be thrown
together like a WB sitcom, but somehow that is-
PHOTO COURTESY OF USA FILMS
n’t even the case here — production costs
couldn’t have been that high.
With an obvious stab at this sci-fi thriller’s
actors, the real problem wasn’t the acting, it
was the screenplay. This is one of those flicks
that must have been invented in someone’s
dream, but when the “great idea” gets to the
drawing board all excitement is gone.
Awkwardly, the movie begins in deep space
without a hint of time relevance, or back
ground. The audience simply goes along with
the story line involving a spacecraft’s dramatic
crash on a far away planet. No one ever finds
out what year or galaxy this mini-nightmare
takes place in.
In reality this lack of knowledge works in
the movie’s favor, because the audience can •
now believe anything that happens on this plan
et to be real (it’s a nifty loop-hole for a movie
that would be full of plot holes).
Upon landing on the planet, the crew dis
cover three suns in the sky and conclude the
(Top) (L to R) Lisa Kudrow, Meg Ryan and
Diane Keaton pay an unannounced visit
to their father in Hanging Up.
(Left)(L to R) Keith David, Rhiana Griffith,
Radha Mitchell and Vin Diesel star in
the David Twohy film Pitch Black.
planet must have perpetual sunlight. Two suns
shine yellow light, or a yellow camera lens
makes it look yellow, and the third is a blue
sun.... This attempt at coloration is very ele
mentary. But the movie’s title definitely gives
away the natural progression of this story.
This is when the movie trailers boast “don’t
be afraid of the dark, be afraid of what is in it.”
The film could have been great if the director
would have simply killed off every character in a
unique, gory manner, but unfortunately the audi
ence has to settle for only a few bloody deaths.
And it concludes like any predictable hor
ror/thriller — no, not sequel ready — but too
convenient for reality (if there is a sense of re
ality in this film).
This movie wasn’t a complete loss, it had a
couple entertaining moments, but when it
comes to thrills The Beach produced a bigger
jump and that isn’t saying much. (Grade D+)
— JeffKempf