Calling all tasteful Canadian mountain men: we’ve found the Montreal loft of your dreams.

The project was completed in 2015 by designer Manon Bélanger. Once a fire station, the building was eventually converted to condos. This particular apartment hadn’t been renovated since the 1970s, but in Bélanger’s capable hands, it transformed into a thoroughly modern, masculine, and inviting space.

The designer’s intention was to leverage the richness of the architecture and materials, while giving it a man-approved makeover. Dark and light are balanced throughout the loft. Dark wood ceiling beams, dark leather furniture, and exposed brick walls contribute a masculine air. White walls and a white finish on the wood floor, along with a steel spiral staircase replacing the old wooden staircase, ensure the dark colours never feel too heavy.

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Jorge Lorenzo is smiling for the cameras but he’s in serious pain.

“I’m very sore,” the three-time MotoGP champion tells us of his latest high speed crash in Japan.

“My left leg, I have a lot of plain. It’s very blue. All blue.”

And yet, the 29-year-old Spaniard is putting on his best poker face today, sitting down and shaking hands with fans who’ve come to meet him in person at the Cosentino Sydney City Centre. Surrounded by immaculate quartz and flashy ultra compact surfaces, Lorenzo couldn’t be further from the buzz of the greasy pit garages, suicidal seagulls and sweeping corners of Philip Island.

Today he’s in Sydney chasing the sun and blue skies, a past time which he says is different to what he usually gets in Europe. He gazes out the window for a split second.

“I always say, Australia has a different skyline.”

“The hardest thing about MotoGP…it’s the injuries. It’s still very dangerous.”

Lorenzo isn’t just here to lose himself to the ether though. MotoGP is the world’s premiere sport contested on two wheels and when we quizzed Lorenzo on the scariest moments of his career, he only spoke of one – the very track he was here to race.

“Philip Island, 2011. I had a big crash on the second last corner and injured my finger tip. It was scary because it was very visual. Lots of blood.”

Lots of blood is an understatement. Google ‘Lorenzo finger’ and you’ll find a man grasping a hand which is missing a quarter of a fourth finger – complete with exposed bone. This is the kind of stuff punters can expect when things go gnarly in MotoGP.

Compounding this further is the fact that Lorenzo can’t even recall how many bones he’s broken to date. The best ball park figure he could give us?

“Too much. More than ten for sure.”

“The hardest thing about MotoGP…” he says. “It’s the injuries. It’s still very dangerous.”

Thankfully this is a guy who has demonstrated steely determination and immense talent behind the handle bars.

Not only has this allowed him to push forward whilst remaining relatively unharmed, it has also earned him three world championships with Yamaha in a span of just five years.

With continual speculation of team mate rivalry reaching boiling point between himself and Italian rider Valentino Rossi, Lorenzo’s decision to move to Italian rival team Ducati in 2017 has done nothing to quell these rumours.

Is he optimistic about taking on an old team mate as a new rival in 2017?

“Well, I don’t think too much about that because I still have to race with Yamaha and have to fight for second place in the championship, but obviously you think about the future,” he says.

“It’s a great challenge. It gives me a lot of ambition and motivation. My dream will be to win a championship with Ducati.”

“To be a second rider after Casey [Stoner] to be able to do it. Not so many riders win with two different bikes and two different factories in history. There’s five [riders], I want to be the sixth one.”

Given that Australia’s Casey Stoner retired at the ripe old age of 28, it would be interesting to know where Lorenzo stood on this subject of hanging up the helmet if he had his way with Ducati.

“At the moment I have good motivation, good health and physical condition and I’m still fast, so for the moment I will keep competing,” he says.

“I understand Casey. As a child he had a lot of pressure to become world champion for himself and his family. This pressure and tension he feels, maybe it was too much for him. He loved to race but not the other parts that’s involved of being a rider – like interviews and that kind of stuff.”

“It was more like work for him, not a passion. So he had a family and baby.”

Staying grounded with a family hasn’t entered Lorenzo’s vernacular just yet either. To stay grounded in the jet-setting world of motorcycle racing, one needs to unwind with activities off the track.

Lorenzo says that cycling is kind of a hobby, but it’s more for his race preparation.

“My real hobbies are cinema, golf, tennis, soccer and video games. Ah, Halo! Yes, yes, Halo.”

He’s a big kid at heart after all.

Regardless of his mixed fortunes this season, Lorenzo continues to count his blessings in a sport which can either break your bones or your spirit. The only real gripe he has is his time away from friends and family, but other than that he considers himself pretty lucky.

And in reality, who wouldn’t when you’ve just picked up the new 2016 Porsche GT3RS worth AU$387,300.

What else is in Lorenzo’s garage?

“Wow. It’s kind of big,” he smiles.

“My first car was a BMW X5. I have been lucky to have a great car from the beginning. And then I have the Porsche GT3RS, McLaren 675LT, Lamborghini, Ferrari…”

Lorenzo pauses to think. Surely a man who needs to pause to think about what cars he has in his garage has won at life.

His best advice for those wanting to enter MotoGP then is simple: “Start soon. At 3 or 4-years-old. And be careful.”

Looks like we missed that bus then.

The post Jorge Lorenzo Talks Broken Bones & Life At 250km/h appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

Feeling a bit light headed and lofty after your friendly weekend of football? It’s no coincidence.

A new study has discovered that heading a football can significantly affect a player’s brain and memory function for up to 24 hours. This startling finding comes via a group of researchers at The University of Stirling who published their results in the scientific journal, EBioMedicine.

Furthermore, the study outlined a “small but significant changes in brain function” after players headed the a ball 20 times. Looking at the statistics closer revealed that the human brain’s memory performance was reduced by between 41% and 67% following the routine heading often encouraged in football and practice sessions.

Even though the effects were found to wear off after 24 hours, medical experts were still harbouring concerns over the potential damage it could be doing to the human brain in the long term. In the worst case scenario the doctors were looking at the increased risk of dementia.

RELATED: Tim Cahill Chats Exclusively About Style, Family & Football

Dr Magdalena Ietswaart who is a cognitive neuroscientist at the University of Stirling said that the research was carried out to determine the link between brain injury and the globally received sport. To reach their conclusion, the researchers fired footballs from a machine which was designed to simulate the force of a corner kick.

They then asked the players to head the ball 20 times before comparing their brain activity which was measured before and after the header.

“Using a drill most amateur and professional teams would be familiar with, we found there was in fact increased inhibition in the brain immediately after heading and that performance on memory tests was reduced significantly,” Dr. Ietswaart said.

“Although the changes were temporary, we believe they are significant to brain health, particularly if they happen over and over again as they do in football heading.”

“With large numbers of people around the world participating in this sport, it is important that they are aware of what is happening inside the brain and the lasting effect this may have.”

Hypothetically speaking, would you have scored that goal if no one could remember you scored that goal? Easy on the heading, guys.

The post Researchers Discover That Heading A Football Can Affect Your Memory appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

BMW producing action films without a ‘Bond’ moniker attached? You heard right. The German marque which is more accustomed to delivering driver-focused sedans have re-commissioned the talents of Clive Owen to lead their latest short film, ‘The Escape’.

The first BMW short starring the English actor as a professional driver came about way back in 2001 to resounding success (10 million views) at a time where Youtube wasn’t even that prolific. Fast forward fifteen years and Owen has again teamed up with BMW alongside some of Hollywood’s most distinguished actors including Dakota Fanning and The Walking Dead‘s Jon Bernthal and The Departed‘s Vera Farmiga.

The formula is simple. Borrow District 9 director Neill Blomkamp to make an action film which elevates itself beyond the norms of an advertorial – whilst featuring a BMW vehicle as the hero car of course. In this case it’s the unreleased 2017 5 Series sedan being flung around town on a high speed mission which involves countless bullets, chases, explosions and helicopters.

The post Watch BMW's New Action Film Starring Clive Owen & Dakota Fanning appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

2017 will be here before you know it, and with it a whole new wave of travel trends crowding your social media feeds. Some may be forgotten before the year is out; others may grow into forces that shape the direction of the industry.

More Solo Travel

The rise of solo travel is set to continue. Fifty-one percent of the survey’s participants said they plan to be their own travel companion on their next holiday. Germany led the way with 80% of German respondents indicating they’re up for going it alone, followed by 69% of UK respondents and 67% of Canadians. If you plan on capitalising on the stag travel trend in 2017, check out our guide to the best destinations for men travelling solo.

Fewer Travel Agents

The solo travel craze is present in another form, long before adventurers leave home. The use of travel agents has been steadily declining over the years, with just 6.25% of respondents saying they will use one in 2017. Once upon a time, booking through a travel agent was essential if you wanted the best deals and minimum hassle. Today, expert travel hackers have figured out how to game the system themselves. You can build your own travel hacking skills with our guides: Level One and Level Two.

Deeper Immersion

Travellers are increasingly interested in having immersive, enriching experiences. More than half of the people surveyed indicated interest in exploring local life and developing a deeper understanding of the culture. In contrast, just 4% said they’ll travel to find good parties and nightlife. and only 10% said they plan to travel to see family and friends. What would you like to immerse yourself in next year? If the answer is Mother Nature, try one of the world’s wildest camping spots.

Even More Instagram

Those #wanderlust photos aren’t going anywhere any time soon. Almost 80% of respondents said they will use social media while on vacation, with 25% checking in daily. Unsurprisingly, the same enthusiasm didn’t apply to work – 75% said they hope to completely unplug from their jobs while travelling. For a regular dose of social media travel inspiration, follow along with our weekly best travel Instagrams series.

The post Jetsetters Predict The Top Travel Trends Of 2017 appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

Jordan Belfort, the wild child ‘Wolf of Wall Street’, clocks in at number one. Don Draper, suave ad man and serial adulterer, is number four. McDreamy, House, Sean McNamara and Christian Troy of Nip/Tuck – these docs and their colleagues take the third spot.

No, it’s not a list of professions most likely to be portrayed by Hollywood. Folks in these fields, according to a new survey, are more likely to cheat on their partners than other occupations.

Victoria Milan, a UK-based dating site for affairs, asked 5,658 of their female clients to spill the beans on their jobs and the extracurricular activities they get up to at the office. Sixty-five percent said they’ve cheated at work because it’s the easiest place to find someone. Eighty-five percent, however, said they don’t recommend sleeping with a colleague. There’s the potential for the tryst to end badly, and if it does, you’re stuck making nice with that person by the water cooler every day.

Despite the obvious risks, only ten percent of the survey’s participants expressed concern that mixing work and pleasure could hamper their job performance. Not exactly encouraging numbers if you’re the lovable Jim Halpert type, who wants nothing more than to find his Pam and ride off into the mockumentary sunset.

The post People In These Professions Are More Likely To Cheat appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

This story was originally published on Gizmodo

The winners of this year’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition have been announced.

From death-defying orangutans and bratty sea lions through to hostile parakeets and frozen pangolins, this year’s crop features some of the best wildlife photography we’ve seen in a while.

Browse through the cool photos, animations and diagrams in Gizmodo’s Image Cache here.

The winners of this year’s contest were selected from nearly 50,000 entries from 95 countries. The competition’s panel of judges are comprised of industry-recognised professionals, who chose the winning photos based on their creativity, artistry and technical complexity. Here are the 10 winning images.

Gizmodo explores the smart design, breakthrough science and awe-inspiring tech shaping your future.

Follow Gizmodo on Facebook and Twitter.

The post See The Winners From This Year's Wildlife Photography Awards appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

The following article has been produced in partnership with Alfa Romeo

Laying claim to the world’s fastest sedan is no easy feat. This year Alfa Romeo stepped up to that challenge and proved that it could be done when it lapped the gruelling Nurburgring in record time, beating out its closest rival by a full six seconds.

What does is take to build a four-door super saloon like the Alfa Romeo Giulia? We went behind the closed doors of the fabled car maker to find out.

Meet The Mad Scientist

Klaus Busse has only been at Alfa Romeo for six months but one would be foolish to assume this eloquently spoken German is a novice amongst the hallways of the fabled Italian marque.

Hailing as a top designer for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles in Detroit, Busse last year left Motor City in search of greener pastures in Europe. He eventually landed the top role of Head of Design for Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Abarth, Lancia and Maserati.

“As much as I want to say they’ll love the design, I think they’ll be blown away by the performance.”

In the short period since he’s been there, Busse has shaken up the European performance car scene with the latest Alfa Romeo Giulia coming to life under his careful watch.

The controversy, it would seem, is that we have a German in charge of designing Fiat Chrysler’s most exciting cars to date. Cars destined to take on competition in the form of German performance cars.

Crisis of identity? Perhaps. But more importantly we wanted to know what Busse plans to bring to the game as the new driving force behind a heritage carmaker. Here’s what he had to share with us in the world of Alfa Romeo design secrets.

Why Alfa Romeo?

To Busse, Alfa Romeo has always been a brand which he dreamt of working for as a kid. It has something to do with the signature Italian lines which can only be understood by physical touch rather than a conventional eyeful.

More importantly though, Busse says that his new design role comes from a place of pride driven by his peers from other European carmakers who are watching his moves carefully. And when the competition is watching, you simply deliver the results that are most likely to stun.

“They said ‘Klaus, we’re all watching you now.’ I said ‘What do you mean?’”

“You work at Alfa Romeo and we’re all affected by Alfa Romeo.”

If this isn’t enough to convince a man to prove his worth then nothing else is. Busse is in this game to make waves in a modern era of Italian automotive design.

Definition Of Modern Italian Design

Bringing a rich heritage of Italian design into the modern era of car making is no easy feat. To get acquainted with the brand on a deeper level, Busse headed straight to the Alfa Romeo Museum to connect with the brand’s iconic cars of yesteryear.

“We’ve all seen Alfas, all individual ones but it’s quite an impact when you see them all condensed in the one time and place,” he says.

“Suddenly you see a pattern; the rhythm, the beauty, the sculpture and the visual lightness of the cars.”

Busse is a diplomatic leader though. He is quick to point out that the final result is only as good as his team’s efforts, admitting that he’s still learning himself.

“It’s a democratic debate and discussion. We get together as a team with people who have been wirth Alfa for 20 years and people as fresh as myself and we have beautiful discussions about where we want to take the brand.”

Where the brand is heading under Busse’s guidance is towards a resurgence in cars which demand envy from onlookers and smiles from drivers.

“The performance leads to certain package and certain proportion we work with. In my humble view, the Giulia has the perfect proportions.”

Achieving this involves beginning with a goal as a team. Even before the sketching starts, Busse brings together his teams under product planning, branding and engineering to define what they’re trying to do.

Three recurring criteria always comes into play at these discussions: 1] The car, 2] the proportion and 3] the performance.

“We talk about what can we do to elevate the brand of this product,” explains Busse.

“Rather than just doing a product in isolation, we think about how it fits into our vision of where we want to take the brand visually.”

According to Busse, even images which have nothing to do with Alfas are encouraged. This is an exercise in inspiration and the man says that it can only be done right when there is debate. Once the points have been ironed out, a clear vision of a car will almost begin to design itself.

“What you do then is put the pen down and execute it in a process which can take 2-5 weeks.”

“From there we go into 3D and start designing the car knowing that it’s going to be something amazing.”

Enter The New Giulia

Make no mistake, Busse is calling the new Alfa Romeo Giulia a “performance machine” – something we discovered first hand when we got behind the wheel of one at the car maker’s hometown of Milan earlier this year.

This performance aspect of the car has always been typical of vintage Alfa Romeos but for the modern era Busse says he wanted to bring that essence back by targeting a certain vision and expectation in regards to performance.

“The performance leads to certain package and certain proportion we work with. In my humble view, the Giulia has the perfect proportions.”

These vehicle parameters he’s referring to include short overhangs and a solid planted look on the road. The second phase which ticks the performance box is in the heavily sculpted body.

“We refer to art, the human body and beautiful objects but at the end of the day we condense it into a single object to become a true Alfa Romeo.”

“Hence, the sculpture, the proportion and performance goal make the Giulia part of the Alfa family.”

At the end of the day, driving emotions is what the new Giulia is really about. Busse and his team have aimed for a very unique performance saloon worthy of taking on the world’s best and it’s about time they proved it with the Giulia.

Busse swears by his words when he says that punters will be amazed by the performance of the car whether it’s in the base model or right up to the menacingly beautiful Quadrifoglio.

“As much as I want to say they’ll love the design, I think they’ll be blown away by the performance.”

The post An Exclusive Look At Designing The World's Fastest Sedan appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

We throw the word “failure” around easily. Failed marriages. Failed startups. Failure to uphold New Year’s resolutions. Millions of #fail memes crowding the internet.

The word hasn’t just lost its sting, it’s become an entirely misunderstood concept. The world’s most successful men know something about failure that other men don’t: it doesn’t exist.

If you write 10 drafts before publishing your novel, the first 9 aren’t failures. A brainstorming meeting that ends in more questions than answers isn’t a failure. Nothing is a failure if you learn something valuable from it.

Letting Fear Win

The surest way to fail is to talk yourself out of trying in the first place. Fear should never make decisions for you. Those 10 novel drafts only happen if you have the courage to put the first word on paper. When you allow fear to keep you paralyzed, you instigate a negative cycle it’s difficult to break out of: “I failed at this project. I’ll probably fail at the next one. So why bother trying?” You’ll rack up defeat on top of defeat, compounding the negative effects of each one, always playing it safe instead of playing for the win. It doesn’t mean you’re not allowed to feel fear; it means you must learn to work through it when it appears.

Surrounding Yourself With Naysayers

Perhaps you’ve heard the adage that who you hang out with is who you become. In the case of success and failure, it’s absolutely true. Surround yourself with people who are positive, with people who lift you up and inspire you to take action, with people who make you believe that what you’re working towards is possible. If you surround yourself with people who accept failure, you’re much more likely to join their ranks.

Refusing To Seek Help

No man is the proverbial island. We celebrate the Elon Musks and the Richard Bransons and the Mark Cubans of the world as though they are solely responsible for their achievements. While there’s no doubt that they are bright and brilliant innovators, they could never have ascended to such high levels of success without the right team in place. First, admit that you need not and cannot go it alone. Second, determine exactly where your weak points are. Third, ask for help. It doesn’t make you weak. It makes you smart.

Setting Unrealistic Expectations

Speaking of smart… are your goals SMART? It stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. If your goals do not fit the framework, you’re at a disadvantage before you’ve even started working. Set reasonable expectations. Your app idea probably won’t be bought by Google for billions in the first year if it’s a side hustle you’re cranking out on weekends. Wherever you end up when you begin with unrealistic expectations is doomed to be considered failure.

Talking Without Doing

You can huff and puff all you want, but if you never actually blow, the house will remain standing (no tasty bacon snacks for you). Talking about something is not the same as taking action. Is it important to craft the initial idea? Yes. Is it important to plan and get organised? Yes. But there’s a point where it becomes procrastination, a ploy to avoid fear and never risk actual execution. Rubber must meet road eventually or your journey is over before it even began.

The post 5 Unconscious Habits That Are Setting You Up For Failure appeared first on DMARGE Australia.