(no subject)

[cblj_backup]

I AM A VERY WET SAM.

Ye gods, the rain. Well, okay, the wind. Because I had an umbrella, but when the wind knocks you around from three directions at once (physics says no? screw physics) you get wet anyway. Also, you guys know me. Do I sound like the kind of person for whom umbrellas are safe?

Thank you for your lovely comments this morning, btw. Just what I needed :)

I did, finally, manage to get some books to the bookstore today and sell them. After Words is an especially good place to sell because while they are picky, if you sell for store credit you can buy anything -- used books, but also new books, and you can order books on credit too. So I said to the guy, "I'm looking for this book that isn't rare, but I doubt you have it in stock. Can you look into how much it would cost to order?"

And I slid a slip of paper across to him with the title and ISBN on it. He looked down at the slip of paper, and then at the books I just sold -- a mixture of popular literature and classical history -- and then at me, and he said, "Russian Prison Tattoo Encyclopedia?"

"It's not my usual reading material," I told him.

Which is a lie, in a way, because the strange and obscure is my passion, but it's true I don't often go looking for encyclopedias of Russian prison tattoos (volume one). Apparently it's pretty popular, though; it doesn't come cheap, so I forbade to order it this time.

This is a story I will tell in full in a couple of weeks, I think, but I've spent the last month buried in research on prison tattoos, riots, codes of ethics, gang structure, sexual practices, and food. It has certainly been interesting, and makes me very glad I am not in prison. Also, if you want to lose all faith in humanity, read the Wikipedia article on the New Mexico prison riot of 1980. It's like a horror novel, only it happened; inmates-running-the-asylum style madness.

Also, don't google Nutraloaf while eating. Especially while eating meatloaf.

Comments

[cobweb-diamond.livejournal.com]

i saw this article the other day on a company that's using russian criminal tattoo images in its fashion designs: http://www.boingboing.net/2010/11/19/russian-criminal-tat.html

also, nutraloaf: wasn't there a legit courtcase about it being outlawed as a violation of human rights? or am i just imagining that?

[schnoogle.livejournal.com]

I think the court case decided that it WASN'T a violation, because food is provided for nutrition not taste.

[copperbadge.livejournal.com]

The etsy shop for that place is actually where I first stumbled across the whole Russian Tattoos thing -- I like their shop but I want source material, and theirs is apparently the encyclopedia....

Yeah, prisoners have sued establishments over Nutraloaf, claiming it's cruel and unusual punishment. It's a difficult debate to choose a side on when one is neither a prisoner or a guard, but I guess it's better than bread and water. At least on Nutraloaf, your teeth won't fall out.

[introductory.livejournal.com]

Slate ran an article on Nutraloaf (http://www.slate.com/id/2193538/) two years ago. Gross to the extreme.

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

Nutraloaf is made differently in different prisons. Vermont's penal cookbook calls for a combination of vegetables, beans, bread, cheese, and raisins. I recently spent $15 on a nearly identical dish at a vegan cafe in New York—and it didn't even have raisins.

I think this may be my favourite piece of journalism I've read all year.

[copperbadge.livejournal.com]

Apparently it's not that disgusting in that it doesn't really "taste" of anything, but it sounds like the texture leaves much to be desired, and people who've eaten it say they feel gross for hours after and have digestive, uh, issues.

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

I am guessing Nutraloaf is not a meatloaf made from nutria (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nutria) ...

[copperbadge.livejournal.com]

AWWWW NUTRIA.

I <3 Nutria.

[ladytinyhelm.livejournal.com]

I AM ALSO A WET INDIVIDUAL. One thing West Michigan is good at is getting caught in every midwestern weather system EVER.

Are you researching the prison tattoos for any specific reason? Or just for shiny, shiny knowledge?

[copperbadge.livejournal.com]

Well, I'm not really researching russian tatts in particular, but prison tatts in general -- Russian prison ink is just a lot more attractive than most American ink. :D

[(Anonymous)]

This is completely off topic, but have you seen the Children in Need Dr Who Christmas Special trailer? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9coYEUjTfOI

The consensus in my house seems to be needs more Rory

[calliope-jones.livejournal.com]

Omg Squee! I've been having Doctor withdrawals.
Always needs more Rory though.

[juniper200.livejournal.com]

I've always thought nutraloaf sounded pretty good. I like bland food, and I like lima beans.

Something Awful historically has had some very good threads about prison culture. The goons who've done time are pretty open and frank about what they saw.

[copperbadge.livejournal.com]

I'm not all that big on mechanically-separated chicken parts, though.

I think I read one or two of those threads, once upon a time. On the one hand, it's great first-hand accounts; on the other, Goons have been known to bend the truth a bit :D

[snufflesdbear.livejournal.com]

You got windy, Rockford got Tornado!!!!

[yoiyami.livejournal.com]

I think either the Discovery Channel or the History Channel had a special about two people who studied prison tattoos. It was unexpectedly gory when it was revealed that they would go to prison autopsies to harvest prison tattoos that were unique... Have you seen it?

[copperbadge.livejournal.com]

No, but that's fantastic. If you think of the name, let me know!

[kallaneboi.livejournal.com]

I will be a very wet Kallan tomorrow. It is supposed to rain and storm and be generally unpleasant. (Also, I just turned on the AC in my apartment because it is hot and sticky here. IT IS NOVEMBER, WEATHER, GET WITH THE PROGRAM!)

Ahem.

[strange-selkie.livejournal.com]

You know if you need to know something about teh prizons and jailz to ask me, right? I have access, man.

*to the standards manuals, textbooks, and schematics I edit as part of my job. Not to, you know, any actual prisons. Although I could probably swing photographs.

[copperbadge.livejournal.com]

It's been weird because the stuff I'm working with is so focused and a lot of it's...anthropological, I guess? How men interact in prison, what triggers violence, how the food chain is established. Plus I have to walk a fine line between "This is yeah, how prison actually is" and "this is a terrible prison film" :D But I will poke you if I need informationz.

And yeah, Nutraloaf is supposedly tasteless and nutritious -- though apparently those who've tried it tend to spend a lot of time in the bathroom after...

[strange-selkie.livejournal.com]

Also, Nutraloaf is punitive, but it's not bad. What it does is take away the illusion of choice/selection/I can have two cheese sandwiches, two, goddammit. Which is not to say I advocate it as a foodstuff or a punitive sanction. But. If it actively tasted terrible, people would riot and sue even more often than they do. It's a hell of a lot more nutritionally complete than what many children in this country's food deserts ate for dinner tonight, which bears thinking over.

[iceshade.livejournal.com]

I AM A VERY WET SAM.
BUT DO YOU LIKE GREEN EGGS AND HAM?
...or are you allergic to them too?

::hugs Sam::

[copperbadge.livejournal.com]

Eggs and ham are actually pretty much the only meat-based protein I can eat, at this point :D

[sabra-n.livejournal.com]

I knew about Nutraloaf from watching Life, unfortunately. *shudder* Off to bake something infinitely nicer now.

[deepfishy.livejournal.com]

Ditto. *eats delicious strawberries in Charlie Crews' honour*

[canaana.livejournal.com]

This is a story I will tell in full in a couple of weeks, I think, but I've spent the last month buried in research on prison tattoos, riots, codes of ethics, gang structure, sexual practices, and food. It has certainly been interesting, and makes me very glad I am not in prison.

I have only just begun to research this kind of crap (damn you again for getting me into White Collar), and the first two days already have me shuddering. You have my sympathies. (And boy do I look forward to the story).

[copperbadge.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's not pretty stuff, though there's a point where I hit horrified fascination and just keep wiki-wandering. I tend not to research prison overmuch for White Collar simply because the writers for the show did not do a whole lot either (or if they did, then ignored it), but one does like at least to know what's being ignored.

[(Anonymous)]

Anonymous from snowy, snowy Seattle must inquire:

When you say "forbade" do you mean "forbore?" Otherwise this is new usage to me. (Like Tubal Cain: "And his hand forbore to smite the ore...")

Also curious: did you ever watch Oz? Beecher was kind of an office boy of ambiguous sexual orientation, at least in later seasons. Ridiculous plot lines aside, Oz had a big impact on me once upon a time. I was always disappointed that they didn't have a Nutraloaf plotline, actually.

[copperbadge.livejournal.com]

Apparently I do. I was pretty sure I meant forbade, but I guess it's not as common/correct as I thought.

I did watch Oz, a couple of years ago now -- I liked Beecher, though I couldn't really like him as much as I wanted because he kept making such dumbfuck choices.

[ihlanya.livejournal.com]

Have you seen the movie Eastern Promises?

[copperbadge.livejournal.com]

I haven't, though I did stumble over it in my research!

[saburi]

So it's not the $2000 3-volume special edition (?!), but there are lots of copies of this first volume in good condition for about $20. In case you're interested:

http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?tn=Russian+Criminal+Tattoo+Encyclopaedia

[copperbadge.livejournal.com]

I'm going to have to talk to the shop and see where they buy from -- if they have an abebooks account, great, otherwise I'll bite the bullet and cough up the actual $20 myself :D

[midgetgems.livejournal.com]

I walked to nursery yesterday and got so wet my coat was still damp this morning when I went to work. :( I spent all day trying not to sneeze into peoples coffee and muffins.

[eccentrikita.livejournal.com]

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS ARE YOU WRITING THE NOVEL THAT YOUR WC PRISON MAGIC FIC HINTED AT? PLEASE BE WRITING THE NOVEL THAT YOUR WC PRISON MAGIC FIC HINTED AT. I WANT TO READ THAT NOVEL ASAP.


<3<3<3<3

[copperbadge.livejournal.com]

*smug look*

Not so much am writing as have written...

[air-ocean.livejournal.com]

Russian (or Soviet, rather) prison tattoos are fascinating. I remember reading some stuff about them, but also I simply see them quite often on people (living in post-Soviet Ukraine), mostly on hands, of course. Russian movies and TV series at the moment also show a lot of prison-themed stories, so the tattoos crop up there as well.

The Encyclopedia sounds fascinating, I recall reading about it and wishing I could get a copy.

[copperbadge.livejournal.com]

Yeah, apparently in the Soviet Union one in three men had been in prison at some point? It's kind of astounding.

Here's my question -- when you see the tattoos, do you know they're specifically prison tattoos? Or is it just that "tattoo" signifies prison there?

[fitfool.livejournal.com]

ugh. that 1980 New Mexico prison riot is crazy. Just finished reading a book called Cooked by Jeff Henderson. Henderson was a cocaine dealer who ended up in jail and learned to cook in prison and is now a big shot chef. But one of the things he mentioned a few times in the book was how important food was to the prisoners. That Nutraloaf seems like it would make prison that much more demoralizing.

[copperbadge.livejournal.com]

Oooh, I'll have to check that out!

There have been studies done that seem to indicate that prisoners use food as a substitute gratification for things like sex and possibly even certain freedoms they no longer have -- food is definitely important to them.