ovticartmy

Saturday, January 30, 2010

10 Worst Plastic Surgery Disasters

1.Hang Mioku: injected cooking oil into her own face

Hang Mioku, a 48 year-old woman from South Korea, became so addicted to plastic surgery that she was left unrecognisable after her obsession led her to inject cooking oil into her face. She had her first plastic surgery procedure when she was 28. Following operation after operation, her face was eventually left enlarged and disfigured, and the surgeons she visited refused to carry out any more work on her and one suggested that her obsession could be a sign of a psychological disorder. So Hang resorted to injecting cooking oil into her face. It became so grotesquely large that she was called "standing fan" by children in her neighbourhood - due to her large face and small body.

As Hang's notoriety spread she was featured on Korean TV. Viewers seeing the report took mercy on her and sent in enough donations to enable her to have surgery to reduce the size of her face. During the first procedure surgeons removed 60g of foreign substance from Hang's face and 200g from her neck. After several other sessions her face was left greatly reduced but still scarred and disfigured.

2.Jocelyn Wildenstein: a US$4 million monster

Known by the press by the nickname of "The Bride of Wildenstein" --a reference to The Bride of Frankenstein--, Jocelyn Wildenstein has allegedly spent almost US$4,000,000 on cosmetic surgery over the years, ending up as one of the worst and most famous cases of plastic surgery addiction. But who did that happened?

Once upon a time, in the late 70’s there was a beautiful women named Jocelyn Wildenstein. Jocelyn really had it made. She was a fresh-faced mother of two and married to an extremely rich art dealer. That is until she caught her husband in bed with a 21 year old Russian model. Now, any normal person would just leave her husband and take all of his money with her, right? Not Jocelyn Wildenstein! Instead she decided to win back her husbands love and make herself more beautiful by going under the knife. Well, her husband left her anyways, but Jocelyn will always have her plastic surgeon.

3.Michael Jackson: more than 10 nose surgeries

Does this really need to be explained? It’s incredible to forget how absolutely normal Michael Jackson looked back in the 70’s and 80’s, attractive even, before turning into the sideshow freak that he is today. He is rumored to have had more than 10 nose surgery procedures on his life. BuE o d e b appened?

Once upon a time, in the late 70’s there was a beautiful women named Jocelyn Wildenstein. Jocelyn really had it made. She was a fresh-faced mother of two and married to an extremely rich art dealer. That is until she caught her husband in bed with a 21 year old Russian model. Now, any normal person would just leave her husband and take all of his money with her, right? Not Jocelyn Wildenstein! Instead she decided to win back her husbands love and make herself more beautiful by going under the knife. Well, her husband left her anyways, but Jocelyn will always have her plastic surgeon.

4.Pete Burns: famous singer, spent almost all of his life savings on reconstructive surgery

Pete Burns, former frontman of the British band Dead or Alive --famous for their single "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)"--, has had extensive polyacrylamide injections into his lips, along with cheek implants, several nose re-shapings and many tattoos. He revealed in early 2006 that he had spent almost all of his life savings on eighteen months of reconstructive surgery after a procedure on his lips went horribly wrong.

5.Dennis Avner: the Catman

Dennis Avner, also known by "Catman" or his native american name of "Stalking Cat", has undergone incredible extensive surgery in order to look like his totem animal, the tiger. Modifications include extensive tattooing, transdermal implants to allow whiskers to be worn, subdermal implants to change the shape of the face and the filing and shaping of the teeth to make them look more like a tiger's.

6.Eric Sprague: the Lizardman

Born Eric Sprague in 1972, the Lizardman was one of the first people to have a split tongue and in some circles is seen to be wholly responsible for the recent popularity of this particular modification. This 37 year old man has transformed himself into a reptile via 700 hours of tattooing, five Teflon horns implanted beneath the skin of his eyebrows, filing down of his teeth into sharp fangs, bifurcation of his tongue, and stretching of his septum and earlobes.

7.Donatella Versace: a caricature of herself

Since taking over for her brother Gianni Versace, platinum blonde fashion designer Donatella Versace has gone through some drastic changes thanks to plastic surgery, turning herself into a caricature. Although nose jobs are usually done to make a nose smaller, Donatella’s has grown larger over the years. It is also wider and flatter and slightly crooked, indicating that at least one bad nose job took place. In addition to her big nose, Donatella also has large lips, like the trout pouts of the Hollywood divas the designer dresses. Although the fashion icon has always had big lips, the oversized upper lip indicates that fillers, like collagen, have been used liberally. For a 53-year old, Donatella’s skin is very firm, indicating a possible facelift. She probably also uses dermal injectables like Botox to eliminate wrinkles, even when she smiles. Her tight face is a strong contrast to the loose skin on the rest of her body. And yes, Donatella’s weight loss also revealed her breast implants. Anything left?

8.Jackie Stallone: facelift, brow lift, cheek implants, nose job...

The mother of famous actor Silvester Stallone, Jackie was also famous for claiming she can talks to dogs about the future, she also once set up a psychic hotline which would charge callers for advice. Now she’s relatively famous for what looks like a little too much plastic surgery, as she has tried everything: facelift, brow lift, cheek implants, nose job and, of course, lip jobs. pl9 n e b to her big nose, Donatella also has large lips, like the trout pouts of the Hollywood divas the designer dresses. Although the fashion icon has always had big lips, the oversized upper lip indicates that fillers, like collagen, have been used liberally. For a 53-year old, Donatella’s skin is very firm, indicating a possible facelift. She probably also uses dermal injectables like Botox to eliminate wrinkles, even when she smiles. Her tight face is a strong contrast to the loose skin on the rest of her body. And yes, Donatella’s weight loss also revealed her breast implants. Anything left?

9.Amanda Lepore: world's most famous transexual

Once a poverty-stricken young boy, Amanda Lepore's countless surgeries have made her one of the world's most famous transexuals. She had her first plastic surgery at the age of 15, getting a sex change in her last year of high school, and countless surgeries after that. faH f , e b t, cheek implants, nose job and, of course, lip jobs. pl9 n e b to her big nose, Donatella also has large lips, like the trout pouts of the Hollywood divas the designer dresses. Although the fashion icon has always had big lips, the oversized upper lip indicates that fillers, like collagen, have been used liberally. For a 53-year old, Donatella’s skin is very firm, indicating a possible facelift. She probably also uses dermal injectables like Botox to eliminate wrinkles, even when she smiles. Her tight face is a strong contrast to the loose skin on the rest of her body. And yes, Donatella’s weight loss also revealed her breast implants. Anything left?

10.Michaela Romanini: italian socialite, famous for her collagen abuse

Last but not least. Meet italian socialite Michaela Romanini. This lip collagen abuser is only 40 years old, and became famous after her many surgeries.

10 Craziest New Types of Tattoos

1.Palate Tattoo

This type of tattoo is very uncommon.BME user, Gnomoweb, has a sketchy star tattooed on his palate. His was done by Franca at Tattoo Way in Sao Paulo, Brazil. (Link)

2.Eyeball Tattoo

Forget about every weird tattoo or piercing you have ever seen, there's a bod mod trend being used by some cell mates that's definitely going to get you attention. Twenty-seven-year-old David Boltjes was the first prisioner to be brave enough to let his prison mate stab him in the eye with an unconventional, untested, tattoo method. The tattoos change the sclera (the white part of the eye) to be blue or even red and really change the look of the eye. A Canadian man (he calls himself Pauly Unstoppable) who got a similar tattoo treatment in 2009 said that he received nearly 40 injections of light blue ink in his eyes. He even let The Sun document it!

Although it seems like a new trend, corneal tattooing has been known and done now for over 2,000 years — it became almost commonplace in the late 19th century and into the 20th century to correct defects such as corneal scarring and leucomas. These days, it is done less often because contact lenses are very effective at covering these defects, and prosthetic technology is also more accessible. However, not everyone can wear contact lenses, and not everyone wants their eyeball popped out even if it is blind; hence cosmetic tattooing of the eye.

3.Tongue Tattoo

There are various types of tattoos you can select from to express yourself and one of the latest is the trend of tongue tattoos - Yes, you heard right - We're talking about art on your tongue. Practitioners admit it hurts a lot and speech is initially difficult, but they claim the surprise factor of sticking out their tongues at unwary persons is worth the effort. The new technique has the same durability as any regular tattoo, but has the added aspect of eliciting a specific taste to go with the design. "They come in chocolate, vanilla and garlic”. (Link)

4.Teeth Tattoo

A US dental technician is blazing a trail as one of the world's first tooth tattooist. Steve Heward is also a trained tattooist and hand paints minute works of art onto crowns. His company, Heward Dental Lab, based in Utah, US, has been established for 20 years and his team of technicians are trained to be artists first, and taught to construct crowns afterwards. Prices for the permanent tiny tooth etchings range from $75.00 up to $200.00 for more complicated designs which include anything from Mickey Mouse, Elvis and Abraham Lincoln to eagles, bowling balls and spiders. (Link)

5.Fluorescent Tattoo

Fluorescent tattoo ink, sometimes referred to as UV ink or black light ink, is a cool type of tattoo that glows under black light (it does not glow in the dark). If the entire tattoo is made with fluorescent ink, it can be only seen in the dark. Sometimes this type of ink is used in only small parts of a large tattoo just to give it some sparkle. (Link)

6.Tattoo on Pigs

Wim Delvoye has been tattooing pigs since the 1990s. In the early 21st century a tattooed pigs project was set up in the Art Farm in China, where there are fewer strictures regarding animal welfare than in most parts of the Western world. In 2005 his colleague, artist Danny Devos, spent several months at the farm, reorganizing, managing and rebuilding. He is a vegetarian. The tattoos range from traditional flags and lions kind of stuff to Louis Vitton logo patterns. The skins are not used as formal art objects until the pigs die, at which time, the skins are removed and displayed on walls in various art venues. (Link 1 | Link 2)

7.Tattoo on Cats

A controversial “body enhancement” was carried out on Mickey – a rare Canadian Hairless breed also known as a Sphynx cat. His female owner was said to be delighted with the Tutankhamun design inked on to his chest at a tattoo parlour. She said: “I wanted something new and different for the times we live in.” Horrified animal rights campaigners slammed the sick fad in Moscow as barbaric – and fear it could catch on among wealthy pet owners in the West. The cat was dazed after being anaesthetized for three hours. (Link)

8.Inside Lip Tattoo

As far as weird places for tattoos this may top them all: the inner lip. Lip tattoos are generally on the inside of the bottom lip, but occasionally on the inside upper lip. These tattoos are pretty unique and unusual, and are generally done by people who want to have one word, a small phrase, or a few numbers tattooed in a fairly hidden area. (Link)

9.Accessories Tattoo

If you don't have money to buy sunglasses you don't need to worry, just have a pair of them tattooed on you! A man apparently had a pair of sunglasses tattooed to his face and posted the video on the internet. The one-and-a-half minute clip, titled "Guy Has Glasses Tattooed On His Face", features a young man reportedly named "Matthew" sitting back in the tattoo artist's chair. Matthew already had extensive ink on his arms, hands and neck.

The video was posted on YouTube by Ray-Ban through Never Hide Films. Viewer comments are currently split as to whether the stunt was real or a hoax.

10.Hair Tattoo

If a UK company has its way, men suffering from hair loss will turn to needles and ink to mask their baldness. Birmingham, England-based HiStyl uses what it describes as “a mild form of medical tattooing” to simulate the look of shaved or closely cropped hair. The procedure, which HiStyl calls “hair follicle replication,” takes three hours to complete and requires an additional follow-up session. Clients have to shave or cut their hair in order to blend the tattoos with their natural follicles. (Link)

12 Awful Celebrity Tattoos

Why would anyone want to get Britney's worst phase permanently on their skin? Luckily for Britney, hair grows back; unfortunately for the owner of this tattoo, ink is forever. (Link)

This tattoo of Pope John Paul II looks so real that it got a first prize in a Brazilian Tattoo convention. (Link)

Out of all the stupid things this guy could have had tattooed on himself, he decided to go with Frank Zappa picking his nose. (Link)

The ultimate science tattoo: Jack Newton, 23, decided to have his right leg inked with the theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking's face after reading his best-selling book A Brief History of Time. (Link)

Apparently, celebrity tattoos are for amateurs. Real fandom means tattooing a celebrity's adopted offspring in a prominent and permanent place of one's body. Andy Bowling, a 42 year old Texan man, has got both Brad and Maddox tattooed on his body. (Link)

Tattoo of Henry David Thoreau sitting on a pumpkin, surrounded by his famous pronouncement "I would rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself than be crowded on a velvet cushion" typeset - well, inked, rather - in Webster Italic WF from the Minuteman Printshop. (Link)

This person has Harry Potter portrayed in his limb! (Link)

This guy grew up watching Bob Ross with his Grandmother. After she passed away he got this as a funny reminder of their time together. How sweet! (Link)

Man with Madonna's Tattoo Postcard by Photographer David LaChapelle. I bet Madonna would love this tattoo. (Link)

We know everybody loves Oprah, but this tattoo is far off the limits.

Pretty girl + Hope Poster + Tattoo = not a very nice combination. (Link)

Nixon's Tattoo (Link)

10 Misspelled Tattoos

Nothing says forever like a misspelled tattoo

And he'll juge your spelling

Possibly the most famous misspelled tattoo. Instead of Chi-Town as the man requested, he got "Chi-Tonw". He later sued the tattoo artist.

Does he means the spelling system?

You're ambelievable!

Tomarrow never knows how to spell tomorrow right

Can you spot the three misspellings?
ANSWER: freinds, straind, surley

CNN reported that Joseph Beahm paid $100 for this tattoo, which was supposed to read “Why Not, Everyone Else Does”. Instead it came out as, "Why Not, Everyone Elese Does." He sued the tattoo parlor to pay for his laser surgery.

Don't know if this is Comedy or... Tradgey

To bad you don't own a dictionary

Your alive? No, sir, that's my alive. Give it back!

My views on views...and taller buildings

A number of people have been asking me what I thought about the two reports dealing with heights and views. While I have previously shared some of my opinions publicly (on this blog, on Frances Bula's blog, at the SFU forum, and most recently on CBC's On the Coast) and privately (Brent Toderian and I have had a few genuinely constructive chats) I would like to summarize my thoughts since this topic is not going to go away, and some unsettling issues remain unanswered for me.

As I mentioned on CBC, when I first saw the view corridor report and the proposal for 4 strategically located ‘tall buildings’ I was reminded of the New Yorker cartoon of the man and woman looking at the New York skyline with all its construction cranes. The woman turns to the man and says:

“I just can’t wait until the city’s finished.”

No one should deny that views of the mountains and water are exceptionally important in Vancouver; they are. And in many cases, the view corridors have been beneficial in keeping open certain public views that might otherwise have got lost. But in other cases, the view corridors (which were established at fixed intersections or points along the waterfront and bridges) have been eroded by trees and low rise buildings. In a couple of instances they have become little more than tiny vertical slivers.

One might say, so what…surely they are better than nothing. The problem is that those slivers are sterilizing, if you’ll pardon the pun, the development potential of some key properties. Why the pun? Because one such property is the St. Paul’s Hospital Site, which one day will need to be redeveloped in whole or part, to fund new hospital facilities.

This, in my opinion, is a very good example of why it was called a ‘View and Capacity study’. Unfortunately, and this is not a criticism of anyone in particular, I don’t think many people fully understood the trade-offs that needed to be considered.

Do you want to protect views? Of course!

My advice? While an important decision has been made (for the time being), some independent entity should be charged with the responsibility of carefully filming with movies, not stills, the view corridors that we have decided to maintain (and the new ones we have just created) so that over time we can properly evaluate their benefits.

Indeed. I would suggest that if we were to sit together in the Fifth Avenue Cinema and look at the film version of some of the view corridors we have just protected, and then be told of the building design and financial consequences for some of the property owners (like St.Pauls and a few of the recently designated office building sites ) we would not likely be so adamant or joyful that the right decisions had been made.

As for the proposal for 4 tall building sites, I was opposed to this for two reasons: as the New Yorker cartoon so beautifully illustrates, the city is never finished. Yes, we established a few sites a few years ago (including the Shangri-la and the Ritz Carlton sites) and we might establish 4 more now, but realistically there will be and should be many more to come over the years. (Some might even violate a particular view corridor.)

However, I think it will be better to evaluate each one on its merits at the time. (We weren’t really able to evaluate the trade-offs for these 4 sites).

The future evaluations could be accomplished with the aid of dynamic view analysis and hopefully one day in a CITY URBANARIUM with a giant model of the city and life-like visuals. Singapore and Shanghai have such Urbanariums…why even Havana has a wonderful giant model of its Old City to review and evaluate what’s happening and likely to happen.

Ray Spaxman proposed this concept for our city decades ago, and as a former director of the Urbanarium Society, I would like to see the city, community and private sectors start to again plan for such a centre now…perhaps as part of the new development around BC Place, or wherever…(There’s a report going to Council this Tuesday requiring a $522,000 contribution from the property owners to the city to fund the planning work for this area….let’s see if we can’t use some of this money to investigate the requirements and financing structure for an Urbanarium as part of the development.

(Ironically, if it was built, it would likely support some different planning visions for this area including, yes, some taller buildings protruding into current view corridors in order to allow better major park designs!)

Finally, with respect to Heights in Heritage areas, I was and am still opposed to the proposals for taller buildings. To be honest, I’m not entirely sure I like the 12 and 15 storey heights.

While there are some nice 12 storey buildings in Kerrisdale surrounded by mature trees, depending on the floor plate dimensions, sometimes it is difficult to tell whether a 12 storey building is a short tall building, or a tall short building.

I still prefer a 10 storey height limit with a more continuous 'street-wall' building form for these neighbourhoods for aesthetic reasons. While the number may seem arbitrary, anyone who has been to Washington DC or many European cities knows this is the upper limit for a mid-rise character.

( I initially supported this character for SEFC (and feel that it was compromised by going up to 13 storeys)

To those Chinese merchants who said this isn’t enough ‘density’ to revitalize the area, I would say you are wrong…you can achieve very high densities within 10 storeys…

To get a sense of how this character works, just look at some of the fine 10 storey buildings developed by DERA and others in the area, and imagine them continuing along the streets, with some of the older important heritage buildings maintained.

So I am a bit nervous about the recent approval for greater heights, but we can monitor the situation, and maybe I’ll be proven wrong. I am glad that we did not agree to a few really tall buildings in this area now, since that would have compromised the possibility of creating neighbourhoods with a different character.

As to the social implications of the decisions, while I do not agree with those who feel more condos will be the end of the DTES, I do agree with the call for an overall master plan and defined socio-economic vision for the area.

I would like us to try and determine what we collectively think is the right mix of new market and non-market housing over the next 20 years; where new parks should be built along with other amenities; and where new commercial can be encouraged. I don’t think any of us really know how we want this area to turn out.

Unlike the former director of the UofT School of Architecture, Peter Pragnell, who once said good planning is simply good architecture, side by side, I believe there are benefits in overall master plans, even though they will need to be changed over time as the city is ‘finished’.

PS. Here's the actual Council decision.

A. THAT Council affirm the View Protection Guidelines and the critical role that they have played for the past 20 years in protecting public views that enhance Vancouver's world-renowned image of a vibrant city in a unique mountain and ocean setting

B. THAT in order to strengthen and improve existing protected public views, Council approve the View Strengthening for existing View Corridors from Granville Bridge to Grouse Mountain (Views 12.1.1, 12.1.2, 12.1.3), Charleson Park to the Lions (View B1), and Alder Terrace to Mount Seymour (View A), generally as described in Appendix A.

C. THAT in order to protect additional important views as the city grows, Council approve in principle the New Views, generally as described in Appendix A, and direct staff to report back on implementation following further technical analysis and Council’s direction on the Heritage Area Height Review.

D. THAT staff assess and report back to Council detailing available higher building opportunities within existing policies and past practices that consider potential community and economic benefits.

E. THAT Council affirm the current, rigorous application of Cambie Street and Cambie Bridge view corridors (Views 9.1, 9.2, E1) and allow “build out” to occur up to the existing, flat plimsol line, generally as described in Appendix A – Varied Building Line – MAINTAIN CURRENT POLICY

F. THAT Council direct staff to report back with an amended General Policy for Higher Buildings that expands requirements for potential higher building sites to include the “demonstration of green building design performance (in particular energy performance) that significantly improves local knowledge and results in green design beyond prevailing policy” and “that establishes a significant and recognizable new benchmark for architectural creativity and excellence, while making a significant contribution to the beauty and visual power of the City’s skyline”.