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The 17 Most Awe-Inspiring Photos From This Week

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From an orangutan licking a mirror to thousands of swimmers taking the plunge, these are the best photos the world has to offer this week. Take a peek below:


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One Man’s Quest To Document The Highways That Tore His City Apart

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The Interstate Highway System, ushered in by President Dwight D. Eisenhower 60 years ago, was heralded as a groundbreaking public works project that connected the country like never before. But those 47,000 miles of federally funded pavement also decimated urban centers.


Photographer Michael DeFilippo has spent the last five months documenting freeways in his city of St. Louis. He completed the series this week, tied to the 60th anniversary, and ahead of his own 60th birthday Friday.


He says about half of the city’s neighborhoods are bordered or intersected by an interstate.  


“I wanted to show the unintended consequences and impact of the highway on a very beautiful and vibrant city,” he told The Huffington Post in an email.



DeFilippo, who mostly gets around by bike, got closer to the high-speed streets than most people do when they’re not driving. 


“I spent some time on the shoulders of busy roads, under highway overpasses, walking up and down access ramps at interchanges,” he said.


The experience reminded him of a 2011 assignment photographing a tornado in Joplin, Missouri.


“While standing on the edge of I-55 or I-44, looking down a barren ribbon of concrete with residential neighborhoods on both sides reminded me of Joplin after the tornado, except the cars on the Interstate were not stacked on top of each other,” he told HuffPost.


DeFilippo’s photos aren’t filled with decay, nor do they seem particularly grim at first glance. Many feature historic buildings and city landmarks under bright blue skies. But the freeways are still always present, and there are moments of dark humor: In one photo, a trick of perspective makes it look like cars on a flatbed trailer are driving in midair through houses. In another, a truck whisks a mobile home down the freeway juxtaposed with an abandoned building in the background. 



As in many cities, residents left St. Louis in droves in the second half of last century, cutting the population in half since 1970.


With no people besides the ones hidden in their cars, DeFilippo’s images are a reminder of how freeways helped empty out cities, displacing residents and allowing for suburban sprawl. (In past projects, he’s shown a more dynamic side of St. Louis.)


Urban planners used to consider freeway construction as a tool to cure city ills and clear “slums” ― overwhelmingly black neighborhoods ― Alana Semuels writes in The Atlantic. Communities were razed to make way for new roadways in cities across the country, from Detroit to Syracuse. Highways, along with housing restrictions that kept black residents out of the suburbs, fueled segregation and poverty, according to Semuels.


U.S. Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx announced an initiative earlier this year to push transit infrastructure that is more inclusive and not solely focused on cars.


The shift is shaped by Foxx’s experience growing up. His grandparents’ house in Charlotte, North Carolina, was just a few blocks from two interstates walled off by fences, according to news site Governing.


“My neighborhood had one way in and one way out, and that was a choice,” Foxx said in January.



More and more, urban planners and local officials are promoting walking, biking and mass transit. Making cities safe and accessible for pedestrians benefits the environment, local economies and residents’ health. 


Some cities have put that vision to work by actually tearing up freeways. One of the earliest projects is in Portland, which closed Harbor Drive in the 1970s and replaced it with a waterfront park.  


Others have “capped” them with pedestrian-friendly overpasses. One of these projects is in St. Louis, a park over I-44 that links the Gateway Arch with the rest of downtown.


DeFilippo’s series ends with a photo of that connector. 



It’s “a start toward undoing some of the damage done to Saint Louis by this highway system,” he said.


See more of DeFilippo’s photos below and in the full series on his site.



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Kate Abbey-Lambertz covers sustainable cities, housing and inequality. Tips? Feedback? Send an email or follow her on Twitter.   


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Balloon Athletes Star In Olympically Awesome Animation

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The Rio 2016 Olympic Games is over, and the Paralympics is yet to begin.


So why not use this downtime to watch a stunning animated clip which imagines athletes as balloons. The inflatable competitors wrestle, dive and run just like humans — but with some hilarious results.


United Kingdom-based animation studio Animade posted the wonderful “Olympops” video to Vimeo last week, and it’s now going viral.


Check it out in the clip above.


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New Play Finds Hope And Comedy Amid Struggles In Queer Lives

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New York actor-playwright J. Stephen Brantley and director David Drake are hoping to put an optimistic spin on the trials and tribulations of recovering drug addicts in the queer community with a new, introspective play.


The Jamb,” which is billed as a “punk-rock rom-com on crystal meth,” focuses on the lives of two gay men who grew up in a post-Stonewall era, but who came of age before the era of “Will and Grace” and all that followed afterward.


Brantley stars as Roderick, a former punk who has “gone straightedge” as he inches closer to 40, embracing LGBT activism and martial arts along the way. His pal, Tuffer (Nic Grellli), has had the opposite trajectory, and continues to abuse substances while dating ― and discarding ― a series of young lovers.


When things take a turn for the worse, Roderick stages an intervention that ultimately takes the pair to New Mexico, where they both “hit bottom on the high desert.”


The new play, which opens Sept. 1 at the Kraine Theater in Manhattan, echoes themes Brantley first examined in 2014’s “Chicken-Fried Ciccone,” which Drake also directed. That show saw the Texas-born Brantley recalling his struggle with heroin addiction and brush with homelessness through hit Madonna songs, including “Like a Virgin” and “Vogue.”



Similarly, “The Jamb” is inspired by music – in this case, punk rock – as well as many of Brantley’s personal experiences with addiction and sex. Still, the actor-playwright told The Huffington Post that he wrote the piece from the “perspective of those who want to save an addict from self-destruction” as opposed to that of an addict themselves.


“Even now, we don’t see a whole lot of queer characters over 30 that aren’t tragic or boring. Stories about gay men and drug use tend to end badly, and there is truth in that, of course,” he said. “But there’s also hope and resilience – I should know.”


The personal feel of Brantley’s work instantly appealed to Drake, whose award-winning solo play, “The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me,” was a landmark drama based on his own coming-of-age during the HIV/AIDS crisis.


Drake praised Brantley’s “inspiring way of zeroing in on the truth of a moment” and willingness to take “fearless leaps of faith” in his work. The pair first began working on “The Jamb” in 2008, and the eight-year process has “mirrored our own journey of wisdom and maturity,” he said.


Noting that he’s “really interested in representing LGBT people in all their complexity,” Brantley was also quick to stress the romantic comedy nature of “The Jamb,” noting that the relationship at the core of the story is partly inspired by the John Hughes classic, “Sixteen Candles.”


Ultimately, he sees the show as a reminder of “how much better life is when lived honestly, and shared with others.”


“Queer folks have struggled long and hard for their piece but, now that we’re finally at the table, we should split dessert,” he said. “Life is sweeter that way.”


J. Stephen Brantley stars in “The Jamb,” which opens Sept. 1 at the Kraine Theater in New York. Head here for more details. 

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'Dancing With The Stars' Season 23 Cast Includes Amber Rose, Ryan Lochte And Laurie Hernandez

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The cast of Season 23 of “Dancing with the Stars” was announced on “Good Morning America” Tuesday morning, and boy, are we in for a fun ride. 


Not only are fan-favorite pros like Maksim Chmerkovskiy, Derek Hough and Cheryl Burke returning to the ballroom after hiatuses, but the 13 celebrities who will grace our television screens every week are not too shabby either. 


We have embattled Olympian Ryan Lochte teaming up with Burke, fellow Olympian and gymnastics star Laurie Hernandez with Val Chmerkovskiy and model and female empowerment champion Amber Rose with Maksim. 


Also getting ready to rumba? Rumor has it Julianne Hough is back as a judge


See all the Season 23 cast members below:  


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Iconic '90s Band Helped This Couple Open Up About Their Sexuality

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A Polish gay couple repurposed Roxette’s new dance-pop single, “Some Other Summer,” as their coming out anthem and we can’t get enough of it.


Jacob Hajduk posted the above clip on Youtube July 16, which shows him lip-syncing the song with his longtime boyfriend, David, while vacationing in the Baltic Sea. Hajduk said he’d only intended to share the video with his close friends, but it soon caught the eye of Roxette, who shared it to their official Facebook page


Since then, it has received over 55,000 views.





Hajduk told The Huffington Post that he and his boyfriend wanted “to show people that gay love is no different than [any other kind of] love,” and they didn’t intend to make a strong political statement when they created the video. 


“We are just ordinary people. We have fun, we love, we care for each other the same way [everyone else] does,” he said. “That’s not so obvious for people in Poland.”  


The acknowledgement from Roxette, which is best known in the U.S. for ‘90s hits like “Joyride” and “It Must Have Been Love,” meant a lot to the guys, who are lifelong fans.  



“We were really amazed,” Hajduk told HuffPost. “I was a Roxette fan when I was a kid, and David likes them, too, so that’s really great that now, they like something that we do.” 


The men hope the impact of the video will resonate in their native Poland, where same-sex marriage remains illegal and recent efforts to expand anti-discrimination measures to include the LGBT community have gone nowhere. 


“In Poland, gay life is not easy,” Hajduk said. “So even such a small thing like a support from a music star makes you feel better and proud of being gay.” 


Kudos for creativity, guys! 

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23 Reasons To Love Having Natural Hair

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The presence of Black American Olympians dominating their respective sports this summer was a representative testament to our country’s diversity. The ongoing shaming of Gabby Douglas’ natural edges, however, portrays our country’s lack of acceptance of that diversity ― particularly when it comes to natural hair. 



What better way to combat that prejudice than with unapologetic and celebratory expressions of self love from the natural hair community? That’s why The Huffington Post asked readers to share a selfie of their natural curls, coils and kinks with a caption telling the whole world what their hair means to them using our hashtag #MyNaturalHairJourneyIs.


The submissions show that no two hair journeys are exactly alike. Some wear their hair natural as a declaration of defiance, a symbolic crown worn proudly against the status quo. Others do it to be true to nature, their heritage and their beautiful selves.


Check out all of the compelling photos below and join the conversation in the comments section, on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram using the hashtag #MyNaturalHairJourneyIs. We may even feature your selfie next time!








A photo posted by Aevin Dugas (@aevindugas) on




#MyNaturalHairJourneyIs natural by any means necessary.




A photo posted by Safi Mai (@eyeamqueenmai) on





#MyNaturalHairJourneyIs proof that I don’t have to follow rules to be accepted by society! My hair is loc’d, not my mind or the way I handle myself.






#MyNaturalHairJourneyIs glorious! My crown is a reflection of God’s creativity.






#MyNaturalHairJourneyIs hopefully an inspiration to women who need help accepting their natural beauty in a society that values Eurocentric beauty standards.




A photo posted by Denise (@dlsprat) on





#MyNaturalHairJourneyIs explorative. 








#MyNaturalHairJourneyIs responsible for my confidence. 






Growing my hair ― all of it everywhere ― makes me feel free, wild, and connected to the divine. 




A photo posted by Jassy Onya'e (@jassyonyae) on





#MyNaturalHairJourneyIs learning to be comfortable with my thick wool-like hair that I was born with. 






#NyNaturalHairJourneyIs is a great expression of self-love. 




A photo posted by Kenya W. Ross (@kenyawinifred) on





#MyNaturalHairJourneyIs cosmopolitan, not comical.




A photo posted by deecii (@deecii) on




#MyNaturalHairJourneyIs my return to to my ancestors.




A photo posted by Deb Gregoire (@heymommyabc) on





#MyNaturalHairJourneyIs big and fun! I love my hair! 




A photo posted by SASHA D. (@zuri_natturals) on





#MyNaturalHairJourneyIs feeling one with nature.






 Loving our coils helps us feel a closeness to our lineage.




A photo posted by Jasmine (@eenerenimsaj) on





#MyNaturalHairJourneyIs dauntless, deliberate me.




A photo posted by Lady Bizness (@ladybizness) on





#MyNaturalHairJourneyIs something that makes me feel proud, healthy, and happy that I made the choice to stop using relaxer.






























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A Photographer Captured Homeless Men And Women As They Dream To Be Seen

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When Romanian photographer Horia Manolache first came to San Francisco, the first thing he noticed was the city’s significant homeless population.


Researchers estimate that the total number of homeless adults and children residing in San Francisco in 2013 was 7,350. Statistics from 2015 showed a slight increase to 7,539, while a 10-year survey of data noted a 7 percent increase overall in the number of homeless individuals in San Francisco.


Manolache has worked previously on projects that took him up and down San Francisco’s streets, encountering those suffering from homelessness along the way. “I began to be familiar with the people that I saw everyday,” he explained in a statement. “I began to speak with them.”


Ultimately, Manolache, a student at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, began to ask himself: What brought these individuals here and how would their lives have been different had they been given the option to pursue their dreams? 


So began “The Prince and the Pauper,” a photography series that started as a class project and has since morphed into a self-published book, for which Manolache is currently raising funds on Indigogo. The dual portraits show his subjects ― homeless men and women living in San Francisco ― as they exist today and how they dream to be seen. 



Through conversations and interviews, Manolache learned that some of his subjects harbored concrete dreams of becoming beauty queens and chefs, while others just longed to be remembered for their military careers or their senses of humor. Along with providing food, clothing, money, and sometimes places to stay for his participants, Manolache acquired the costumes necessary to make their dreams reality for a brief photo shoot.


“The goal of my project was to show these people in an unlikely approach and from an unlikely distance,” Manolache explains in his campaign. “I’m trying to change a mentality, a generalization that has made its mark on the homeless people,” Manolache adds, citing the tendency for some to broadly categorize homeless individuals as lazy or lost victims of mental illness. “I hope my project will do some justice in this matter and I hope it is a part of a bigger movement.”


Manolache, influenced by projects like Jim Goldberg’s “Rich and Poor,” recognizes that photographing homeless individuals can be viewed as a controversial act. “Photographically, it is an over-exploited and, in some circles, obsolete subject,” he explains online. But he doesn’t see it that way, reiterating that he hopes his photos will provide the personal narratives necessary to overcome stigma.


“My project is about the dreams of the people who have forgotten to dream or couldn’t dream,” he concludes. “They reached a moment in their life when they don’t have food, water, they don’t have a place to wash themselves, the bank took their house, their mind is unsettled from war horrors or they are wanted by police for an unpaid bill. Now imagine you are in this moment and you want to dream.”


See a preview of the photos below, with captions provided by the photographer. For more on the campaign, head to Indiegogo. A portion of his campaigns funds will go to Taking It To The Streets, an organization dedicated to empowering homeless youth in San Francisco.


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It’s 2016, And Even The Dictionary Is Full Of Sexist Disses

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Define “shrill.”


It’s a noun or verb or adjective, depending on the context, meaning, “having a very loud, high-pitched sound.”


Great. Now, use it in a sentence.


“The rising shrill of women’s voices...”


This is just one of many examples of gendered assumptions made on Google’s dictionary service, which appears at the top of a search page if a reader uses the site to find definitions, origins and language trends. It’s one of Google’s “instant results” features ― much like its calculator add-on or Olympic medal count, both appearing above results from other sites.


Other entries, collected by Kiah Nicholas and Georgia Patch under a campaign to “#redefinewomen,” include “conniving” (“a heartless and conniving woman”), “flighty” (“her mother was a flighty Southern belle”) and “promiscuous” (“she’s a wild, promiscuous, good-time girl”).




In an interview with Pedestrian, the pair commented, “We realized that definitions were reinforcing prejudices against women. We knew we had to do something.” So, they launched Tumblr, Instagram and Twitter accounts united under their hashtag, urging Google to revise its dictionary entries.


Google used to provide a dictionary service as its own sub-brand, much like Google Books and Google Translate. At that time, it was suspected that its definitions were culled from the Collins Birmingham University International Language Database, or the Oxford American College Dictionary. But, cross-referencing a few of Google’s example sentences with either dictionary yields mis-matched results. It’s likely that the current dictionary instant results are plucked from Google’s Knowledge Graph, a huge database of cross-referenced information the site began using in 2012.


Regardless of its source, Google fails where other dictionary services usually succeed. If you look up “shrill” in Oxford’s online service, you’ll find example sentences about male and female subjects, whistles, and alarm clocks. There’s no evidence of malicious gender bias present. Likewise with Merriam Webster, which offers “The mud-splattered bystanders were shrilling with outrage at the inconsiderate motorist” as an example.


But more traditional dictionaries make mistakes, too. Earlier this year, Michael Oman-Reagan tweeted at Oxford about its example for “rabid, which was, “a rabid feminist.” Oman-Reagan shared more examples of gender disparity ― “research” belonged to men, while the female “psyche” was deemed unfathomable ― and Twitter was afire with rage and hurt. Oxford defended its choice, but eventually amended the examples to references to “rabid hometown fans,” and “a rabid ideologue.’


Nicholas and Patch rightly include more insidious examples of sexism in their roundup of example sentences; “sewing,” “housework” and “chore” are all attributed to women, upholding stereotypes about domesticity.


They may seem like harmless enough inclusions, but that’s the thing about small generalizations: they can pile up to form a big problem.

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Stunning Portraits Of Black Twins Prove There's Nothing Quite As Beautiful As Sisterhood

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Photographer Miranda Barnes never had the opportunity to take a picture of her grandmother, Joyce, together with her twin sister, Jean. However, she was struck by the archival images she accumulated depicting her Nana and great aunt, which showed with expressive power the bond between them. 


Inspired by their intimacy, Barnes embarked on a photography series of her own, documenting black sisters that, like Joyce and Jean, share a bond that cannot be broken. The series, called “Doubles,” was recently featured on Broadly



 “I find the need to challenge misconceptions of people of color in America as a black woman, highlighting themes of friendship and sisterhood in black communities,” Barnes explained in her introduction to the works. 


The process helped Barnes connect with her late grandmother, finding traces of her in the women she encountered throughout the series. “My Nana passed away in 2009, but the photos and memories left behind were more than enough to have me pursue this project and reconnect with her,” the artist explained in an email to The Huffington Post. “Additionally, it gave me the opportunity to highlight the warmth and beauty that black women have always represented to me.”


Barnes’ portraits feature beautiful black women in childhood and young adulthood. Shot in New York City with natural light, the straightforward images let the sisters’ love speak for itself. “I hope my photos communicate a sense of unity, sisterhood, and black empowerment through this series,” Barnes said. Sounds about right. 


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Controversial Photographer Terry Richardson to Release New Book

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This article originally appeared on artnet News.



The controversial fashion photographer Terry Richardson will launch a new book during New York Fashion week, which starts on September 8.


Titled Skinny, the book is a tribute to his assistant and girlfriend Alex “Skinny” Bolotow, and features intimate images of the couple’s private life. Unlike his previous work, which has drawn heavily on candid, sexualized imagery, Richardson will share some of his more personal, family photographs in his latest publication.


For example, the book features photographs of Bolotow breastfeeding the couple’s five-month-old twins, swimming, and reclining on a couch with the couple’s pet dog.



first family vacation

A photo posted by Terry Richardson (@terryrichardson) on




According to Page Six, publishers Angela Hill and David Owens of Idea Books encouraged Richardson to put together the publication, which will be on sale in a limited edition of 1,000 copies.


Skinny presents a markedly different image than that portrayed in Richardson’s previous publications including Terryworld, and Kibosh, which also included explicit images of Bolotow performing sex acts on Richardson.


Consequently, a 2014 exposé published by New York Magazine called Richardson “a proud pervert,” and described his work as “misogynistic,” “extremely explicit,” and “pornographic,” and reported that the photographer has faced numerous accusations of exploiting young models. Bolotow has always defended Richardson, however. “I think part of being a strong woman is owning the decisions that you’ve made in your life,” Bolotow told New York Magazine. “Trying to put the onus onto someone else for your own decisions is really cowardly and kind of dishonest.”



Somebody call the wahhhmbulance

A photo posted by Terry Richardson (@terryrichardson) on




Despite the accusations, Richardson has enjoyed sustained success driven by the fashion industry’s desire to be associated with the candor and rawness of his imagery. Meanwhile, the art world has also supported his forays into fine art, and he has recently enjoyed solo exhibitions featuring his portraits at Galerie Perrotin in Paris in 2015 and Hong Kong in 2016.


HuffPost Editor’s Note: You can read more about Terry Richardson’s history of sexual abuse accusations here, here and here.


Need help? Visit RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Online Hotline or the National Sexual Violence Resource Center’s website.

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Singer Calls Out Music Store's Sexist Sign (That Doesn’t Even Make Sense)

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Musician Kate Nash is fed up with one store’s sexist way of organizing its genres.


The “Foundations” singer tweeted Monday, a photo of a box of records at what appears to be a music store. The box’s label? “Females of all description.” Nash shared her frustration about the sign and noted that its description is an absurd way to categorize the many hardworking women in the music industry who make music in several different genres.


“This kinda shit drives me insane,” she wrote. 






It wasn’t long before Nash’s Twitter followers chimed in to express their disappointment with the shop’s sign.














Nash continued to call out the record shop’s sign with three more tweets where she pointed out the obvious double standard it encouraged in music and reminded the Twitter-universe that “female is not a genre.”










Then in four simple words, she offered her final thoughts on the ridiculous sign.






Get ‘em, Kate.

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President Obama Mourns The Death Of Juan Gabriel In Touching Statement

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President Barack Obama has joined the millions who are mourning the death of Mexican singer-songwriter Juan Gabriel, who died on Sunday.


The White House released a statement on the artist’s passing on Monday via Twitter and their website. Obama’s words on the Mexican icon highlight how beloved the singer was across the globe and his enduring legacy. 






The full statement reads as follows:



For over forty years, Juan Gabriel brought his beloved Mexican music to millions, transcending borders and generations. To so many Mexican-Americans, Mexicans and people all over the world, his music sounds like home.  With his romantic lyrics, passionate performances and signature style, Juan Gabriel captivated audiences and inspired countless young musicians. He was one of the greats of Latin music―and his spirit will live on in his enduring songs, and in the hearts of the fans who love him. 



Juan Gabriel was on his 22-city “MeXXIco es Todo” tour at the time of his death. 


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These Calendar Girls Reveal A Lot More Than Their Aging Bodies

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Photographer Chuck Smith, an expat living in Baja California, has for the past few years produced “The Gorgeous Women of Baja” ― a calendar of women 60 and older celebrating their sensuality and sexuality.


Inspired by the movie, the “Calendar Girls,” Smith told The Huffington Post that while his goal was to produce a calendar that would both raise money for various charities and show the beauty of older women, what he wasn’t expecting was how liberating the project turned out to be for the models.


Model Becky Moore, shown above, told him at the launch party how she had “lived her entire life believing she was ugly.” Her mother had instilled in her from age five that she was fat ― “and fat meant ugly,” Smith said. Smith said that in a self-fulfilling prophecy, Moore did become obese, eventually weighing more than 300 pounds on her 5’2” frame. She lost 130 pounds just prior to the shoot. “Her calendar photo was so stunning, just showing her REAL beauty, that she realized she is not ugly, and at 64, for the first time in her life, felt healed,” Smith said.


Other women also shared their stories with him, he said. One woman “came forward to tell me of her late-in-life rape, the ordeal she went through, and the healing she experienced by posing to be in the calendar.” Yet another told him that “her body had many metal and poly implants, due to a severe domestic beating, and two years in the hospital.”


Celebrating age comes across in Smith’s work.


Here is a sampling of the Calendar Girls:



 






Some of the Calendar Girls participated in this video made at the launch party.




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German Artist Gets Strangers Around The World To Exchange Data Offline

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Mom’s Parenting Cartoons Will Have You Nodding In Solidarity

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Adrienne Hedger has been drawing cartoons since she was a kid. Now that she’s a mom with two kids of her own (and a dog whom she also considers one of her children), the artist focuses her work on a exciting, frustrating and totally hilarious topic: parenting.


Hedger’s cartoons touches on past and present parenting experiences with her daughters, who are 10 and 13. From sibling clashes to mealtime meltdowns, her “Hedger Humor” cartoons don’t shy away from the nitty gritty of raising kids. And it’s totally relatable.



“I want my cartoons to create connections between people and foster a sense of ‘we’re all in this together,’” Hedger told The Huffington Post. “Hopefully that’s a relief, to know that so many others are facing similar experiences. I cover a mix of ages ― toddler all the way through teen ― so there’s a lot of material people can relate to.”


With support from Patreon backers, Hedger posts new cartoons on her website and social media pages every week. She’s also published illustrated books abut parenting, including Momnesia, The World According to Toddlers and If These Boobs Could Talk.



“It’s really fun when people leave comments with their own stories or examples. You realize pretty quickly that kids are crazy, parenting is hard, and it’s best to keep a sense of humor. I want people to read my cartoons, laugh and think, ‘Well, I feel better now.’”


Hedger said her kids are entertained by the cartoons, though they always have the option to veto a comic that involves them. “My youngest really likes them, and told her entire fourth grade class to check out my website,” the artist explained. “So I always have to remember that my audience includes kids!”


“My dog is NOT pleased about all the cartooning,” she added. “He would prefer that I focus on rubbing his belly.”


Keep scrolling and visit Hedger’s website, Facebook and Instagram for more spot-on parenting cartoons.




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High School Seniors Are Having A LOT Of Fun With Their Parking Spots

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High school students aren’t just decorating their lockers anymore. 


In states including Texas and Florida, students are personalizing their parking spaces, and the photos showcasing their creativity are going viral. 


Madi Bradley, who’s class president at Naaman Forest High School in Texas, says that at her school, the effort has a larger purpose. The spots and the permission to decorate them serve as a fundraiser for prom.


“We let everyone chose their spot, and it’s first come first serve,” she told HuffPost. “Everyone comes with their friends so they can pick out spots next to each other!” 






“We have the last week of summer to paint,” Bradley explained. “So all of the seniors come up and paint and it’s like a big parking lot party.”


Here are the best of the lot. 


A Drake fan created this pun-ny piece of pavement:






A father and son got together to make a truly dynamite sparking space:






Harry Potter inspired this magical space:






Clearly this teen thinks she’s got the sweetest spot at school:






Madi Bradley channeled the 1960s with her groovy piece of ground:






This student wanted to create a reminder to think outside the box (even though the message is in a box):






This wise teen knows that no one is perfect, but this space kind of is:






A student painted a positive mantra to read before she steps into school each day:






An Avengers-loving senior made a silhouette of superheroes:




This teen decided she can use a daily dose of flower power:






And this space’s creator clearly wanted their spot to make a splash:






Hat tip: Mashable

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Bob Marley's Son Reveals A Surprising Thing About His Father

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Perhaps given his notorious drug of choice, you wouldn’t expect Bob Marley to be much of an athlete. He was legendary at table tennis, but despite the needed reflexes, that still seems plausible.


More surprising is what Marley’s son Stephen told The Huffington Post about his famous father’s other sport of choice, following a conversation about Stephen’s new album, “Revelation Part II: Fruit of Life.”


The 44-year-old said that he remembers Bob’s ping-pong skills, but the thing that really sticks out in his memory:


Stephen’s father was a lover of running. 



Bob Marley, the man that, according to myth, smoked about a pound of weed every week, “used to sprint.”


“He was very fast,” said Stephen. “He was a very fast runner. I remember that we used to run races. I used to think that, ‘Oh, I can run faster than my dad.’ But wow, that man was fast.”


Stephen recalled his father would make a weekly running event for the family.


“We would go into the country [in Jamaica], we had some property in the country there,” explained Stephen. “We would go on Sundays and we would race. We would have relays. He would beat everybody.” The musician began laughing in recollection, adding that Bob was “very” athletic.


Ziggy Marley, another son of Bob’s, has said in the past that his father would go on morning runs, but didn’t mention that Bob would go so far as to organize family races.


Bob’s athletic ability actually shouldn’t be too, too confounding, as much more is already known about Bob’s love of playing soccer. He had similarly perplexing heightened abilities in the game and the official Bob Marley website now has a whole extensive photography section devoted to pics of him playing.


Bob once told a journalist, “If you want to get to know me, you will have to play football against me and [his band] the Wailers.”


Despite how pop culture has probably twisted your perception of the musician over the years, perhaps you should start thinking of Bob Marley as a sportsman. Still, Stephen is proud that his father has become so ubiquitous of a symbol, no matter the form. “You can’t keep a good man down, you know,” said Marley. “It’s always humbling and inspiring and keeps us focused when we see the image of our father all over the place.”


 


Here’s footage of Bob Marley playing soccer:




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Here's How To Look Like A Lisa Frank Folder This Halloween

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Let’s get technicolor.


If you’re like us and want a Halloween costume that’s pure ‘90s, then here’s the idea you’ve been waiting for. The folks at LiveGlam.com have put together a Lisa Frank-inspired makeup tutorial that is so totally awesome.




Take out your Caboodle and start blasting TLC because we’re about to get nostalgic.


To re-create the look on your own:




  1. Start with an eye primer (we recommend Urban Decay’s Eyeshadow Primer, $20), then add some Nyx Milk to your lid and blend out the edges with a white eyeshadow to get a smooth white base.




  2. Using a shadow brush and a rainbow palette, start creating a rainbow eye above your crease and below your lower lash line. Blend all the bold, bright colors together. 




  3. For more glam, add a silver shimmer shadow, false lashes and winged liner. 




  4. Grab any bold lipstick in any color from the rainbow ― we recommend Jeffree Star’s Velour Liquid Lipstick in Breakfast at Tiffany’s ($18).




  5. To complete the look, opt for water-activated face paints (Mehron Paradise AQ is used in the video) and start rainbowing your neck, décolletage, jawline, hair, earlobes. Use a small buffing brush to apply the color in a starburst pattern, then beat it with your beauty blender to smooth the transition.




  6. After you achieve your desired level of rainbow, go back in with some black AQ paints or your liquid liner and add in the cheetah spots. Fill in a few of the spots with more bright colors until you look like the successful crossbreeding of a unicorn cheetah.





Now, go make yourself fierce!

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Burning Man Live-Stream Lets You Look Upon A Dystopian Hellscape

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Didn’t make a trip to Burning Man, the festival of dust art that brings rich kids creative souls to the desert for a week of drug-fueled uninhibited revelry every year?


That’s OK. There’s a live-stream for that.





And, boy, is that live-stream dystopic-looking.


Ever wonder what a West Coast post-apocalyptic world might look like? Wonder no further. I can tell you three things: There will be bicycles. There will be effigies. And there will be bicycles.



If you’re unfamiliar with the ritual retreat to the Playa, aka Black Rock City, aka an otherwise undesirable plot of arid land in the middle of Nevada, that’s fine. You probably don’t have hundreds of dollars to throw around for a glorified camping trip.* 


But you might still want to spy on the frippery, especially if your considerably wealthier friends are there partying in tutus as you read ... from your office ... tutu-less. Just check out the YouTube feed above.



And happy camping to all the Burners who are undoubtedly very thirsty right now.



Take solace in the fact that, at night, it just looks like you’re in Cleveland, Ohio:



*Burning Man was founded on some admirable ideals: a belief in the power of a sharing economy, the infinite majesty of radical self-reliance, and the overall rejection of commercial culture. Today, there are luxury helicopters that fly Silicone Valley big shots into the desert to hang out with mostly white people. So.


You can check out the art on view this year here. And read a rebuttal to all those “Burning Man has jumped the shark” opinions here.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

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