Don't ever think you can't Transform Your Body. You can. Positive or negative? The choice is yours :)
1. The Zombie Boy who underwent amazing make-up transformation for a commercial
With almost 80% of his body covered in skeleton tattoos, fashion model Rick Genest is best known by his stage persona Zombie Boy, but the Canadian artist hit the headlines for a different reason in an incredible video for Vichy's Dermablend foundations. Genest is currently starring in the brand's "Go Beyond the Cover” campaign. The video opens with an unrecognizable tattoo-less Rick with a flawless complexion. However, as he takes off his shirt and begins scrubbing with make-up remover, his extensive tattoos gradually begin to appear. (Link | Via)
There's no airbrushing, and the whole video was done in a single take. Dermablend says it took three makeup artists and four tubes of Dermablend Leg and Body Cover, along with Leg and Body Tattoo primer and setting powder, to take Genest from sexy zombie to cute, if not as remarkable, dude.
Behind the scenes:
2. The personal trainer who gained 40kg (88lbs) to understand obesity
Paul ‘PJ' James, a high-fashion model and personal trainer from Australia, gains an extra 40kg (88lbs) of fat, quits all forms of exercise and documents his journey from 80kg (176lbs) up to 120kg (264lbs) and back again, as he sets out to understand obesity and how difficult it really is to go from fit to fat and back!
He ploughed through the junk food - up to 30 slices of pizza in one binge sitting - and the money. "It's just very expensive to be unhealthy (…) "I used to spend about $80 on food a week. I could easily spend $300 now." (Link)
3. The former skinhead who underwent 25 surgeries to remove his face tattoos
A former white supremacist gang leader has undergone months of painful laser treatment to erase hate-filled tattoos from his face. Bryon Widner, for years an "enforcer" for some of America's most notorious racist groups, shunned his beliefs after marrying but struggled to get a job due to his appearance. He was so desperate to hide his tattoos he even contemplated using acid to disfigure himself but eventually found a sponsor for expensive laser treatment.
The process, which cost $32,400 (£20,233), was so painful that he had to be put under general anesthetic each time and it took 25 operations over 16 months before it was complete. Now his face is completely clear and scar-free and his hair has grown back.
His arms and torso are still extensively tattooed but he is inking over the "political" designs such as Nazi lightning bolts. (Link | Via)
4. The website that collects amazing before and after pictures of convicts addicted to meth
We all know that drugs are bad for you, but how much damage do they really make? Here you have some mugshots of drug addicts that use meth, it is part of the project “Faces of Meth” by Multnomah County Sheriff's Office. You can see two mugshots of each person, and they show different time periods so you can see how much drugs can change your appearance in just some years or even months.
All of these drug addicts use some drug called Methamphetamine or “meth” as everybody calls it. This drug has high potential for abuse and addiction, so when you take it once there is no turning back, you are just going to take more and more. The faces of these people show what chronic abuse of this drug can do to you. (Link | Via)
5. The forensic artist who can predict your face in 10 years based on your drinking, smoking and eating habits
When it comes to cigarettes, alcohol, and junk food, the focus is often on the impact on health, but not necessarily how it will affect appearance in the long term. Besides staining your teeth from red wine or smoke, or putting on a few pounds from excess carbs, how bad can it possibly make us look?
Pretty bad, according to 42-year-old freelance journalist Anna Magee. She was guest-editing a magazine called Expert Beauty when a surgeon named Charles Nduka commissioned a piece on smoking. He put Magee in touch with Auriole Prince, a forensic artist who creates digital images of what people will look like over time based on their lifestyles. While Magee herself has noticed small signs of aging and has received cheek fillers and Botox injections, she wondered what she'd look like 10 years from now given different lifestyle factors.
Prince created three projected images of Magee showing her face one decade from now after smoking a pack a day, drinking two glasses of wine a day, and indulging in sugar, cakes, junk food and refined carbs. (Link)
6. The woman who had a full face transplant after being attacked by a chimp
A mum whose face and hands were ripped off by a crazed pet chimp had a revolutionary face transplant op. Charla Nash, 55, was trying to catch her boss's escaped monkey, Travis, in February 2009 when he lashed out. In a frenzied attack, the 200lb ape blinded Charla while severing her nose, ears, lips and both hands – leaving the single mum close to de*th.
Travis, 14, was shot dead by police while Charla was rushed to hospital in her hometown of Stamford, Connecticut. Seven hours of emergency surgery saved Charla's life – but left her hideously disfigured. Two years later, she is finally on the mend after the pioneering face transplant operation. She was the second person in the world to undergo this surgery. Her wounds were said to be so horrific that local hospital staff received counselling after treating her. The painstaking op involved dozens of doctors and took 20 hours.
The work on her face was deemed a success although an effort to reattach hands to her injured arms proved unsuccessful – as her body rejected the new limbs. (Link)
7. Brazilian's most famous transsexual who was dubbed "the world's most beautiful model"
Roberta Close (born in Rio de Janeiro on 7 December 1964) was the first pre-operative transsexual model to have posed for the Brazilian edition of Playboy. She is probably Brazil's most famous transsexual woman. As an adolescent, she began to adopt feminine attire and secretly began taking female hormone injections. By the age of seventeen, Close's career as a model and actress was beginning to take off. For a period of time, she was associated with the travestis, a Brazilian subculture of biologically male transgendered prostitutes.
Close won the "Miss Gay Brazil" beauty pageant at the age of twenty. That same year, she made headlines and was dubbed "The world's most beautiful model". She has played a cabaret singer on a popular soap opera, starred in the 1986 movie Si tu vas a Rio... tu meurs, hosted a late night talk show, and was the inspiration for a hit song by Roberto and Erasmo Carlos.
In 1989, Close underwent sex reassignment surgery at Charing Cross Clinic in London, England. Afterwards, she appeared in an extensive photo spread in the Brazilian men's magazine Sexy, and was subsequently voted the "Most Beautiful Woman in Brazil."
Roberta's Portuguese-language autobiography, Muito Prazer, Roberta Close ("Pleased to meet you, I'm Roberta Close") was published in 1998. In it, she claims to have been involved with numerous American celebrities including Eddie Murphy, George Clooney, and Robert De Niro. It has not been published in the United States.
Close was involved in a lengthy legal judicial battle to challenge the Brazilian laws which prevented her from declaring her sex as female on official documents. On March 4, 2005, Roberta Close acquired legal status as a female in Brazil after Judge Leise Rodrigues de Lima Espiritu Santo of the 9th Family Court of Rio de Janeiro legally recognized Close as a woman. She was issued a new birth certificate by the Office of Public Records of the 4th district of Rio de Janeiro, which states that on December 7, 1964, a child of the female sex was born and was given the name of Roberta Gambine Moreira. (Link)
Hidden passages have a long history of appearing in fictional novels and films but an even richer past in reality dating back to Egyptian tombs passages for Christians to worship in hiding from Romans. Over the years hidden passages have been used to arrest kings and evacuate popes, hide shogun warriors, facilitate guerrilla fighters, enable drug smugglers and conceal serial k*llers.
In recent times, however, many more modest individuals have created (or discovered) secret passages in ordinary everyday households and there are even companies dedicated to designing secret doors, rooms and passages in middle-class houses. In some cases the discovery of a secret room is a wonderful find but it can also be a twisted nightmare.
7. Mat Hidden Wine Cellar
Ever wanted a wine cellar but didn’t have the space to build one? Here’s a secret solution! The cellars are kept at ideal temperatures, insulated on the sides and top. Cool air is piped in and warm air is piped out. Even when no air flow is needed for temperature purposes it is kept moving to keep the air fresh. People have had these installed in all kinds of ways, from flush- and hidden-door versions to entrances that intentionally boast their presence. (photo)
6. Staircase Hidden Door
When Louise Kircher, a retired teacher, and her husband, Dennis, a former accounting manager at Boeing, moved into their year-old, 4,300-square-foot contemporary home in Mesa, Ariz., the staircase in the master bedroom was something extra that came with the house. It rises to reveal a hidden room, where she and her husband store an antique bedroom set and a replica of a gilded mummy's coffin. A remote control amazingly lifts an entire staircase out of the way revealing the hidden passage. (Link / photo)
5. Painted Wall Hidden Door
This one speaks for itself, I’d say. (photo)
4. Bookcase Hidden Door
The bookcase, holding rows of books, a stuffed dachshund and a volleyball, silently swings outward, revealing a tiny, well-lit study room. (photo)
3. Victorian Façade Hidden Garage
Not sure about your neighborhood, but mine has strict codes about what you can and cannot do to the facade under our historic preservation laws. Same in San Fran. By hiding the space behind a retractable facade indistinguishable from the rest of the historic Victorian apartment house, theses owners were able to avoid running afoul of the city planning department strict appearance codes. (photo)
Here’s how it works:
2. Home Theater Ticket Booth Hidden Door
Do you like unique hidden doors and cool home theaters? Well this one is orderable from Creative Building Resources. CBR’s elaborate hidden door features a programmable, scrolling LED sign built into the top of the frame, while the interior of the hidden door functions like your traditional ticket booth. For those who intend to staff the ticket booth, or at least fill it with a costume-draped dummy, the interior is accessed through a full sized cabinet door at the back. (photo)
1. Wardrobe Hidden Playroom
Like something straight our of Narnia, this wardrobe is actually a secret entrance to a playroom. The owner of the house had the wardrobe and figured he might as well add a touch of magic to the house for a pretty amazing result. (photo)
Check out these seven spectacular sculpture gardens from around the world.
Annmarie Sculpture Garden & Arts Center—Dowell, Maryland
Photo: courtesy of Annmarie Sculpture Garden and Arts Center
At the Annmarie Sculpture Garden in Dowell, Maryland, visitors can ride bikes or walk (even with their dogs) through 30 acres alongside St. John’s Creek while enjoying magnificent works of art. The attractions include tree art, permanent sculptures, temporary spotlight pieces—over 30 currently on loan from the Smithsonian Institution and National Gallery of Art—and even the "Women’s Walk," featuring bronze statues celebrating the female form.
Cass Sculpture Foundation—West Sussex, United Kingdom
Photo: courtesy of Cass Sculpture Foundation
The Cass Sculpture Estate, a 26-acre garden at the Cass Sculpture Foundation in Goodwood, West Sussex, has commissioned 160 monumental works from over 120 artists, which have been placed in public and private collections all over the world. The works on display, which can total as many as 80 statues at one time, currently include artist Judith Cowan's “Touching Earth and Sky."
Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park—Grand Rapids, Michigan
Photo: courtesy of Frederik Meijer Garden & Sculpture Park Photo by William J. Hebert.
Grand Rapids, Michigan prides itself on the more than 40 sculptures found in its Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park. The gardens feature artists including Aristide Maillol, Jacques Lipchitz, George Rickey and Nina Akamu, who created one of the most famous structures on the grounds, a 24' and 15,000-lb bronze piece called “The American Horse."
Minneapolis Sculpture Garden—Minneapolis, Minnesota
Photo: courtesy of Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen.
A popular Minneapolis tourist attraction, the most recognizable piece at this garden is the iconic "Spoonbridge and Cherry" by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen. Originally called the Armory Gardens, the art park has expanded to 11 acres, and has attracted more than 7.2 million visitors over the 22-year period it’s been open.
Nek Chand Rock Garden—Chandigarh, India
Photo: courtesy of Nek Chand Rock Garden
Artist Nek Chand started erecting sculptures illegally 36 years ago on public land he cleared in the northern Indian city of Chandigarh. Luckily, when local officials found out, they decided to pay him for his work instead of destroying it. Expanded to over 25 acres of mosaic courtyards, linked by walled paths and deep gorges with several thousand sculptures, the garden has attracted 12 million visitors since its creation.
Olympic Sculpture Park—Seattle, Washington
Photo: courtesy of Olympic Sculpture Park, aerial view with Richard Serra’s Wake / Photo: © Benjamin Benschneider Photography
The Olympic Sculpture Park, opened in 2007 in an effort to preserve the downtown area of Seattle, is known for such sculptures as "Eagle" by Alexander Calder, "Eye Benches I, II, III" by Louise Bourgeois and "Bunyon's Chess" by Mark di Suvero. Laid out in a Z-shape, and broken into four separate landscapes, the park mixes art, landscape, architecture and infrastructure.
Sculpture Garden at Burghley—Stamford, England
Photo: courtesy of Sculpture Garden at Burghley
Situated on an Elizabethan-era estate north of London, the garden at Burghley was designed by Lancelot Brown in 1754. After being handed down through the generations, the grounds have since been turned into an attraction, which includes "Garden of Surprises," a modern take on traditional water gardens that uses mirrors, mazes and water jets, as well as an annual exhibition in the Sculpture Garden, currently featuring works by the artist Julian Wild.
