Meet the people who love companies like Microsoft, Google and Atari so much they get their logos tattooed across their biceps, knuckles and buttocks. Artist James George uncovers the strange and obsessive world of high-tech body art

MySpace to Sega: unfortunate tech-themed tattoos in pictures

Technology is nothing if not tribal. During a three-month artist residency at Microsoft Research last year, I felt like an interloper anthropologist in the inner circle.

That feeling came to the fore one morning on the commuter shuttle to Microsoft when I spotted a young woman's tattoo. Peeking out below her T-shirt sleeve were four slanted blue squares, the inimitable symbol of Microsoft Windows. I was fixated. What would motivate someone to ink a logo on their body? What happens when they leave their job? Or that product becomes obsolete?

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The Hollywood star, currently appearing in the play Bakersfield Mist, joined us live to talk about her characters, from Peggy Sue to Jessica Rabbit or Chandler's dad in Friends, her life and her work with everyone from John Huston to John Waters

2.09pm BST

We're wrapping up! Thanks to everyone who posted questions and to Kathleen for kindly answering as many as she could. We hope you enjoyed this!

This was fun. Come to the show. And we'll enjoy each other more. Goodbye.

2.08pm BST

mhepton asks:

What is your favorite film and why?

My favorite film of mine would have to be Romancing the Stone because I really like how Joan Wilder changes. Change is what attracts me to a character and because I loved shooting in South America - it was like going home.

2.07pm BST

JujuC31 asks:

I had the pleasure of seeing you and Mr McDiarmid last Friday and I thought it was such a rare treat both in terms of script and acting chemistry. I was thinking that emotionally such charged roles must take their toll, how do you separate character and that emotional and psychological (and physical) charge from your day to day? Thank you

The character in Bakersfield Mist is a really intriguing one to me - she's had a harsh life in many respects and yet, retains a positiveness that I admire. I found myself thinking a lot about the class differences in my country. That if this women has received a better education, access to a better paid job, who she could have become.

Doing eight shows a week is all consuming it's like being an Olympic athlete in training. Everything you do all day long - eating, talking, rest - everything goes towards making sure you are the best you can be.

One of the joys of Bakersfield Mist is taking too such characters that seem almost to be cliches when you meet them and deconstructing them over the course of the play that you are forced to see them as people, rather than types and hopefully, this extends into our own worlds.

2.05pm BST

Isabellascs asks:

How do you see Hollywood today?

The fact that I have never lived in Los Angeles, never created a home there, is a significant reflection of my feeling about Hollywood. It has always struck me as a very self important enclosed world. I find the priorities askew - people take themselves too seriously - one reason I have always lived in New York is because I want to see myself as being part of the world, not closed of from it.

2.04pm BST

woodwardbernstein asks:

I particulary enjoyed you performances in Body Heat and in The Accidental Tourist,can you comment on the "screen chemistry" which you and William Hurt in my view generated to the max in both these films ,did you sense at the time that you and he had made one of the all time great screen couples in Body Heat?

Any chance you and Mr Hurt may work together on stage/screen again in future?

I loved working with Bill both in Body Heat and in Accidental Tourist, which is a film I truly love. He's a wonderful actor. I'm not sure what makes great chemistry other than liking and respecting the other person. We broke new ground in Body Heat when it came to sexuality in film. It was very scary. If you feel used it's not going to work. And you have to be very careful of that as a woman.

2.03pm BST

geraintdmorgan asks:

What line of yours do people most often say to you when they meet you?

I am really hoping it is "Are those pussy willows?"

The lines I honestly hear the most - either Jessica Rabbit: "I'm not bad, I'm just drawn that way." Or from Body Heat: "You're not too smart, I like that in a man."

2.02pm BST

ID3334123 asks about Michael Douglas...

Dear Kathleen, is Michael Douglas as magnetically sexy as I imagine he is in real life? Jack Colton is my role-model for ever. Love your work x

No.

2.00pm BST

Here is Kathleen, kindly posing for us in our London offices

1.56pm BST

OttoMaddox asks:

Has anyone ever proposed a reunion film with you, Michael Douglas and Danny DeVito? If so, what would the concept/plot have been?

The only sequel I ever made was Jewel of the Nile. I'd made a contractual commitment when we did Romancing. And that almost destroyed my friendship with Michael. At first I refused to do the first script that they sent me of jewel. It simply wasn't the same quality in terms of the writing. l But we worked it out, but not before they sued me for $25m dollars. Michael agreed to get the original writer back so we could continue. I have no desire for any sequels. If a terrific script came along that suited the three of us, it would be great fun. One thing is true - we had a lot of fun together.

Oh, but I am much younger that the boys so that should be taken into account!

1.41pm BST

thierrytt1 asks:

Shakespeare wrote some of the most powerful roles for women. Which would be your favourite to play? I apologise if I have missed some you have already played.

I had a wonderful experience many years ago playing Titania and Hippolyta in a Midsummer Night's Dream. I've often thought of going back to a Shakespeare production but now my mind is focused on playing Lear. The difference would be I absolutely keep the daughters as daughters because to me the least explore and some of the most interesting material is the relationships between women. I would also make the fool a woman. When Lear curses his daughter with sterility, how much more powerful coming from a mother than a father.

1.40pm BST

Peter_Rolf asks:

What are your life interests and what do you read?

I read a lot. I'd say probably five books a week. One I finished last night was Peter Brook's essays on Shakespeare which were really interesting. But in truth I read a lot of fiction _ I love science fiction, fantasy, mystery, historical fiction. I like fiction. I go nowhere without a book. Thank goodness for e-readers though. I used to pack a suitcase of books for touring. And now I can just load up my nook.

1.39pm BST

Galaxina asks:

Does being recognised all the time become normal, or is it always a bit strange?

I have a somewhat unique position that I'm not always recognised visually but as soon as I open my mouth that's when heads turn. It gives me away. I continue to think though that it is such a compliment to have people everywhere tell me how much they enjoy the work that I've done. This is not difficult to live with. People are so sweet.

1.38pm BST

sowasred2012 asks about her Californication role:

Hi Kathleen,

Whose leg do I have to pull to get somebody to create a Californication spinoff show focused on Sue Collini, and would you ever consider it?

I really enjoyed doing Californication even though I was in a constant state of embarrassment. Really, I felt like such an innocent, I would have to ask the writer what some of it meant. I also loved that on cable shows you work five months which then left me free to go back to theatre for the other seven. So yes, I would absolutely do that again. That schedule. As long as I can have most of the year for theatre, I'm happy.

1.36pm BST

Katewashere poses a rather unorthodox question:

What's the best way to kick a man's arse and still look classy. You're probably the only woman in Hollywood who can tell me.

ps you effing rock.

I have found that softly spoken blunt honesty is most effective. Just tell them to go away.

1.33pm BST

pegg76 says:

I admire you beyond words.

Are you done with Mother Courage? It must have been great!

Yes I've finished Mother Courage - it was one of the most extraordinary and hardest productions that I have ever been part of. It was also my singing debut luckily there was original music written specifically in my key. I am extremely fluent in Spanish from growing up in South America - Venezuela for five years. I keep asking Pedro Almodovar why he doesn't cast me. I keep running into him. I also understand that somewhere there's a Spanish translation of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf and I would love to play Martha in Madrid and Buenos Aires.

1.31pm BST

jack63 asks about her role in Friends:

Tell us about being Chandlers " Dad" in Friends. You were a hoot in that!

I was performing a one woman play Tallulah in San Francisco when one of the writer-creators of friends flew up to see the show, came backstage and asked if I would be interested in playing Chandler's father. And I thought: a woman playing a man playing a woman was something that I had not yet done. And I loved it. Matthew Perry still writes me notes saying Dear Dad!

1.29pm BST

Clariana asks about health:

Hello Kathleeen, I'm aware you've had a long personal struggle with rheumatoid arthritis... What did you find most effective for coping with the bad days?

Listen. I will not name any medications because I'm not a doctor and that must be to done in consultation with your own rheumatologist. However, the absolute key is to keep moving do everyday - swim, walk, do Pilates, do yoga, go to the gym. You have to keep moving to fight. Anyone who tells you to go to bed, kick them out of your life.

1.19pm BST

ID6903227 asks about theatre:

On Alec Baldwin's podcast Here's the Thing, you spoke about being more of a theatregoer than a filmgoer. What do you like about the theatre? And have any recent shows blown your mind?

Yes I definitely go to the theatre more than film, because as much as I enjoy some films, there's nothing like the participation that you feel sitting in an audience at a live performance. It's absolutely magic. You sit closer to a complete stranger than you would in your own homeland; if the pay is compelling as the actors good, you start to breathe together. You hold your breath together. You laugh together. You can come become something greater than just yourself.

I started going to theatre when I moved to London when I was 13. In truth it was here in London that I became determined to make acting my life work. Quite true.

At that time theatre was cheaper than film!

Before I started in Bakersfield, I got to see View from the Bridge and loved that. I got to see Handbagged and laughed a lot. I got to see Good People - Imelda Staunton was fantastic.

1.15pm BST

sarahgracebird asks about politics:

You come across as pretty politically-engaged - have you ever been tempted to switch acting for a career in politics yourself?

If only hypothetically - which role in your government would you want?

I am very politically engaged - I am the chairman of the board of Advocates for Planned Parenthood Federation of America. - for many years. I travel to our clinics across the country to create fundraising events heighten the profile. It's a not for profit organisation to give primarily women but also men the medical and educational tools they need to plan a family and their lives. Unfortunately in the United States there is still a very strong movement to control women by controlling their reproductive rights. This truly enrages me. I have a daughter and I intend to do whatever I can to make sure she has the same rights as possibilities as I had.

I have been asked several times to run for office but I am absolutely certain that I am in the job that I was born to do and I'm staying there.

1.13pm BST

IanCCampbell asks about Crimes of Passion:

Hiya Kathleen,

I always thought Crimes of Passion was a very underrated movie.

I have always thought Crimes of Passion was a very powerful film - some of my best work I think. Not an easy job though. Antony Perkins I can say because it was common knowledge on set was doing god knows what drugs and Ken at that time was still drinking heavily. So that created difficulties that didn't need to have been there. I walked into Ken's trailer at 6 o'clock in the morning and was asked if I wanted a glass of wine. No thank you, Ken.

1.10pm BST

zombiedeadhead asks:

Do you ever wish you could have been working in Hollywood in the 50's?

It's true that the 50s was a good period for strong women in film. But at the same time the studio system was so controlling that really being in charge of your own choices would have been extremely difficult. I'll take my time. If you look at the overall picture and chronology of my films, you'll see that each one is in great contrast to the one before. So I followed Romancing the Stone with Crimes of Passion and believe me they tried to stop that. But the couldn't I was America's sweetheart and suddenly I'm playing this 50 dollar hooker! Another incident of studio pressure was the ending of War of the Roses. Fox really didn't want use to die. The three of us Danny, Michael and I ganged up and said you cannot change the ending - we have to do it our way. And we did.

1.10pm BST

Grandier asks:

Dear Ms Turner,

I saw you recently in 'Bakersfield Mist' knock-out performance! But, in the programme I noticed you missed out 'Crimes of Passion' directed by the Master that was Ken Russell - was there any reason for this other than limited space in your bio?

I did not notice that Crimes of Passion wasn't listed in my bio. I'm assuming lack of space but it is a film and work I'm very proud of. Working with Ken Russell was not the easiest experience though I did welcome the feeling that he pushed me into new territory. Before Ken passed away I got a lovely letter from him offering me the Queen of Hearts - he was going to reshoot Alice in Wonderland. But he said not to worry  my court would be naked but not me!

1.07pm BST

Bishop_Basher asks:

Hello Ms Turner. Love your work generally, but in particular VI Warshawski.

Any particular reason why this was not a full blown series? (Or purely box office numbers?)

Yes there is a reason. That unfortunately Sarah Paretski sold the rights to the character to Disney and I don't like working with them! VI was a great character and the writer has aged her appropriately through the books but I think it's still very doable. But it's a problem with the rights.

12.52pm BST

Kathleen Turner is in the building and all set for an hour of cultural conversation with Guardian readers. Post yours questions for the Hollywood star in the comments below and stay tuned to see which ones she answers ...

Hello I'm here looking forward to your questions.

10.06am BST

Kathleen Turner is back on stage in London and this time shes swearing like a trooper and sparring brilliantly with Ian McDiarmid over a painting that just might be a Jackson Pollock in Bakersfield Mist. Its another knockout stage performance after her West End roles as Mrs Robinson in The Graduate and Martha in Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf? not to mention her recent turn in the US as Mother Courage, in David Hare's version of Brecht.

You can quiz Kathleen about her stage, film and TV career when she joins us on Wednesday 2 July for a webchat. Find out more about her roles, from prom queen Peggy Sue to the pistol-packing VI Warshawski; about seducing both Steve Martin and Bob Hoskins on screen; about her collaborations with John Waters, John Huston and Ken Russell; and about the irresistible 80s swashbucklers she made with Michael Douglas. Maybe shell let us know her own favourite line from a career packed with delicious dialogue.

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