We bandy around the term ‘lunatic’ a lot on DMARGE, but if there’s one group of people that (endearingly) deserve that title above all else, it’s Russian car enthusiasts.

Russia is known worldwide as the home of vehicular insanity. From wild dashcam videos to crazy car modifications, the world’s biggest country is home to some seriously larger-than-life automotive escapades.

The latest Russian ‘innovation’ comes from Detailing Alarm, a high-end car detailing studio in Moscow. The intrepid detailers there have come up with an intriguing paint job method for a client’s Bentley Continental GT: pendulum painting.

 

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A post shared by Detailing VIDEO (@look_detailing) on Jun 12, 2020 at 2:39pm PDT

Normally trotted out as a primary school art class exercise, pendulum painting involves filling a bucket or other receptacle and swinging it over your canvas, letting the paint drip-feed down in an abstract yet consistent pattern, mimicking the wild paint splatters of eclectic abstract expressionist Jackson Pollock.

Using the method on a car is actually a pretty novel idea. Sure beats a sh*tty vinyl wrap or Plastidip. Props to you, Detailing Alarm.

As one commenter on Instagram puts it: “How to depreciate the value of a bentley tremendously 101.”

Abstract art making its way onto luxury cars is hardly a new phenomenon. Take Andy Warhol’s famous BMW M1 Art Car, or Joshua Vides’ ‘sketchbook’ first-gen Honda NSX.

 

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A post shared by (@joshuavides) on Mar 10, 2018 at 8:00pm PST

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The post Bizarre Bentley 'Detailing' Technique Will Have Traditionalists Spinning appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

The travel industry came to a screeching halt early this year. The only words that have offered travellers much hope since March are the following: travel bubble. From talk of a Trans-Tasman agreement with New Zealand to a Trans-Pacific bubble with these idyllic islands, not to mention the invitation extended by Greece, Australia had its pick of half the world – or so it appeared.

Unfortunately, despite the various invitations and proposals, Qantas’ decision to scrap international flights (except New Zealand) until late October, and comments made by the head of Australia’s largest travel company have recently brought optimistic travellers’ ambitions back down to earth.

“With Australia’s borders set to remain closed for some time, we have cancelled most international flights until late October,” a Qantas spokesperson said in a statement.

“We still have some flights scheduled across the Tasman in the coming months, with the expected travel bubble between Australia and New Zealand.”

 

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A post shared by Qantas (@qantas) on Jun 4, 2020 at 7:08pm PDT

As Flight Centre CEO Graham Turner told Today, “Things can’t get much worse [but] maybe that’s the way we have got to look at it,” talking about the new situation, which DMARGE understands will likely involve domestic trips, plus a travel bubble with New Zealand, as Aussie leisure travellers’ only options for the remainder of this year.

He also said: “It is pretty tough for travel and tourism, it really depends on more bilateral arrangements with the international flights.”

“I think Qantas has made the decision that probably there is not going to be a lot of bilaterals agreed in terms of travel to and from until probably the end of September.”

That said, Qantas has signalled more flights could resume if things change: “Should travel between Australia and other countries open up and demand returns, we can add more flights back into our schedule,” a statement from Australia’s flagship carrier read.

As for the coming months, Mr Turner said the future of Australia’s travel industry would remain uncertain: “It’s bad enough now and the numbers of jobs, people on standby everywhere, but it is only going to get worse.”

“Particularly most people are predicting October/November is when everything really hits home.”

“I don’t think the predictions, particularly the Government’s, I don’t think they understand how bad it is,” Mr Turner added.

The upshot? Previously it was thought our only chance for international travel this year would be bilateral agreements between countries or a vaccine for The Virus.

This remains the case. However, given Mr Turners’ comments, Qantas’ cancellation of flights and the following comments by Morrison government Tourism Minister Simon Birmingham, any bilateral agreements that would actually be acted on, beyond New Zealand, look increasingly unlikely to occur.

When the National Press Club pressed Senator Birmingham on this, he suggested it is more likely than not Australians will be banned from overseas travel for leisure until 2021.

“But I do, sadly, think that in terms of open tourist-related travel in or out of Australia, that remains quite some distance off, just because of the practicalities of the volumes that are involved and the need for us to first and foremost keep putting health first.”

Asked if he was really talking about a travel ban until 2021, Senator Birmingham replied: “Honestly, I think that is more likely the case.”

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The post Qantas Cancellations Pop Australia’s Travel Bubble appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

Kylian Mbappé is one of the most coveted footballers in the world. The most valuable French player and forward worldwide, the 21-year-old Parisian is famous for his extreme speed, strength, and finishing.

Football and fitness nuts have spent countless hours wondering how the PSG star manages to maintain his incredible speed game after game. Now, a recent Instagram post by the man himself may shed some light on how he stays razor-sharp between matches.

Already known for being a cool operator, Mbappé posted a snap of him chilling in a cryotherapy chamber – at a crazy -146°C. We don’t know about you, but we’re not sure how he’s keeping such a straight face.

 

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Cryotherapy …

A post shared by Kylian Mbappé (@k.mbappe) on Jun 17, 2020 at 11:25am PDT

If you haven’t heard of it before, cryotherapy, also known as cold therapy, is a somewhat controversial treatment where patients are exposed to extremely cold air for a short period of time in order to combat fatigue after exercise. It’s basically the modern version of taking an ice bath.

Proponents of cryotherapy suggest that it helps with recovery and can provide relief for muscle pain, sprains and swelling. It’s not a cheap endeavour, either – but that’s not a problem for Mbappé, who’s worth about $25 million.

However, the science isn’t settled on whole body cryotherapy, and it can also come with some serious risks. NFL player Antonio Brown gave himself frostbite last year after wearing inappropriate footwear in a cryotherapy chamber, The Guardian reported.

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The post Kylian Mbappé’s Recovery Is The Ticket To Strength appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

Even as the Australian property market goes through one of the slippiest patches in years, buyers have been told it’s a great time to buy. Interest rates are low, the supply vs. demand dynamic has shifted and opportunities are arising.

That said, prices at the top end of town have remained stable (see: Maurice Terzini’s Bondi Beach Sale A Glimpse Of What’s To Come For Sydney Property). The upshot? Even if you have the dollars to spend, this isn’t the time to be making bad decisions (of course, it never is, but now is just particularly bad).

Enter: Gavin Rubinstein, founder of luxury residential real estate agency The Rubinstein Group and one of the Eastern Suburbs’ leading house movers. We recently got in touch to discuss what Sydney buyers of budgets from one million to five million should be looking at right now.

Here’s what Gavin said:

One Million

If you’ve got a budget of one million, Gavin says the top places in Sydney you can be looking at are “1 or 2 bedder in close to the beach preferably with parking.”

Two Million

If you’ve got two million budgeted to buy, Gavin reckons your options then expand to include a “2 or 3 bedder, close to the beach, with parking.”

Three Million

For those with three million on the cards, Gavin would recommend, as one of the top places to buy in Sydney, a semi in North Bondi.

Five Million

If you have five million shekels to play with then, Gavin says, a freestanding house in Bellevue Hill would be a great investment, “because in terms of proximity and convenience it’s hard to imagine prices going anywhere but up in the long term.”

For five million, also, Gavin tells us, Vaucluse homes are a good bet as well “because in terms of value for money and the lifestyle on offer being so close to private harbourside beaches this is hard to beat.”

As for the secret to scoring a beachside property in one of those golden ‘hotspots’ that are known to retain their value (relative to other places) even in a crisis (i.e. the Eastern Suburbs, Northern Beaches etc.), Gavin’s advice is, “Jump onto a well located property when the opportunity comes up.”

“If you have to compete with other buyers, this is a sign of confidence that the property will always be highly sought after in years to come.”

Spoken like a true real estate agent (but true nonetheless).

“Travel time is always an important part of the purchasing decision. It’s great if you’ve got the house, the gym, the pool, but if you’ve got to spend two hours to get to the city every day – is it worth it?”

“More and more people are moving to the central coast and the south coast because they have an hour and 10 on the train – where they can start work – and they know they can drive to the station and they get on at Wollongong or wherever, then get off and go straight to central and walk to the office.”

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The post Australian Real Estate Expert's Tips Could Be Your Ticket To A Home At The Top End Of Town appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

Controversial statement ahead: most people who dismiss the value of meditation aren’t just cynical bastards who despise anything with a whiff of patchouli oil and free love (although some certainly are).

Most people are simply not sure where to start, or have tried meditating before and not discovered any value out of it. And that’s totally understandable – it’s hard to approach meditation as a discipline.

While physical fitness and nutrition are hardly lightly debated fields, meditation and mindfulness appears, at first glance, to be such a subjective and personal experience that it’s hard to know what the ‘right’ way to do it is.

DMARGE spoke exclusively to Luke Macleod, meditation expert and founder of Soul Alive, Australia’s first live stream meditation platform. He shared with us how many Australians’ preconceived notions about practicing meditation need to be forgotten in order to benefit from it.

“Meditation shouldn’t be considered a skill that needs to be mastered,” Macleod shares.

“Guys in particular struggle with meditation because they want to see immediate results, and see what’s going to be next… If you treat meditation like a skill, it becomes a chore. And no-one likes doing chores.”

“Meditation should be a pleasure, not an obligation… It’s better when you’re ready to let go.”

“Don’t come into it with any expectations. Wipe the slate clean every time.”

 

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A post shared by Meditation & Good Vibes (@luke.mcleod) on Apr 22, 2020 at 1:37am PDT

The Meditation Mindset

A common misconception many would-be meditators hold is that you need to be switched off and totally unfocused in order to successfully meditate. Macleod says that’s actually the opposite of what you should be doing.

“Don’t switch off, switch on. Sharpen your mind [instead of] quieting it.”

“Meditation isn’t about just focusing on one thing. It’s like the whole ‘don’t think of a pink elephant’ thing. You say that, and someone’s immediately going to start thinking about a pink elephant! In the same way, if you’re too focused on trying to clear your mind and meditate, you’re not going to be able to meditate effectively.”

“The point of meditation is to become more self-aware. If your mind starts to wander, that’s not a bad thing. In fact, the catching of the wandering is the point.”

Macleod relates this experience of letting your mind drift and then catching to like a bicep curl for your brain. Being distracted whilst meditating isn’t necessarily a negative thing; it’s only negative if you fixate on it.

“Try focusing on something unimportant but consistent, whether that’s a mantra or weird noise. When you catch your mind drifting, just have a little laugh at yourself that you caught yourself drifting, and bring yourself back to that place of contemplation.”

 

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Who can relate? Slide 1 is what meditation is usually like. Slide 2 is what people say meditation is like . Let’s keep it real. Meditation is an exercise and just like physical exercise, the more you do of it, the better you will become at it. . Where most people go wrong with it, is when their mind wanders off during meditation , they think they are doing it wrong. This couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, it is an essential part of meditation. Each time you catch yourself drifting off that’s your brain doing a rep . The more reps you do, the stronger your brain becomes and the longer it is able to stay focused in the present moment. This then gives time for the more spiritual side of meditation to do its thing and that’s when it gets real interesting . If you’d like to know more about meditation. Last tickets are available to the Soul Alive Workshop this Sunday. Link in bio . #meditation #mindfulness #soulalive #goodforthesoul

A post shared by Meditation & Good Vibes (@luke.mcleod) on Feb 13, 2020 at 1:20am PST

Where Should I Meditate?

Many people both inadvertently and intentionally take advantage of their daily commute as an opportunity to meditate.

“I used to live in Newcastle but commuted to Sydney for work,” Macleod recounted.

“That wasn’t sustainable [laughs], but it was a great opportunity to meditate.”

Coronavirus has kept a lot of us working from home, and many people are missing that daily commute and daily routine of meditation.

“The consistency of a regular commute is super valuable,” Macleod commiserates.

Another common sticking point for mindfulness novices is approaching where one should meditate. Conventional wisdom would suggest that you need to find somewhere secluded and quiet to meditate, but Macleod says that’s less important than you’d think.

“Worrying about things disturbing you shouldn’t become your main focus.”

Don’t stress too much about having to dedicate an explicit time and place to meditate. For sure, discipline and routine are important, but they aren’t the be all and end all. If you can, find a consistent, quiet space, but don’t get hung up on it. You don’t need to have access to a Himalayan mountain temple to meditate like a monk.

Getting In The Zone

Regardless of where you meditate, Macleod recommends sitting on a chair or stool with a cushion, keeping your feet flat and your spine straight.

“Activate your core,” Macleod recommends.

“If you’ve ever seen a professional piano player, they sit very upright but don’t look uncomfortable. That’s what they do.”

His final recommendations? Be present, and don’t go into meditating with any expectations. Particularly about how relaxing it might be.

“Relaxation isn’t the goal, it’s the side effect,” Macleod imparts.

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The post Meditation Myths Australians Still Believe appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

Modifying high-end performance or luxury automobiles is an enterprise one shouldn’t half-arse. Engineers and designers spend literally thousands of hours (and dollars) crafting highly tuned pieces of mechanical excellence.

Take a look at the timeless design of the Porsche 911. There’s a reason it’s persisted for so long: why improve on perfection?

One common criticism levied at sports cars is that they’re often not very practical daily drivers. Many automotive Frankensteins have tried to address this shortfall by making… ‘Practical’ modifications to their luxury whips: take this M5 ute or Boxster shooting brake.

Some have gone even further, taking the ‘widowmaking’ reputation of some performance legends very, very literally, and turning sports cars into hearses. It’s a trend that’s taken the world by storm, like this first-gen Porsche Panamera that made headlines in South Africa.

The Panamera’s already a car some wouldn’t want to be seen dead in but this one takes the cake. The gull-wing doors are an especially ridiculous addition to what is already a deeply embarrassing final ride.

This Porsche is hardly the only example of wild hearse conversions. Other sports cars have gone under the knife – with varying degrees of success.

Maybe you’d like something a bit more modern. If you want to make sure your burial is good for the Earth, maybe consider a Tesla Model S hearse?

Or maybe you don’t care as much about the planet once you’re gone, and more about going out in style. Lech Kaczyński, the third democratically elected President of Poland, was transported by a Maserati Quattroporte during his grand state funeral in 2010.

Cremation is far more popular these days than burial, but maybe one of these chariots might make you reconsider your funeral plans… Or reaffirm the value of ‘ashes to ashes, dust to dust’.

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The post Porsche Panamera Hearse You Wouldn’t Be Seen Dead In appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

They may not be trusted to keep their voices down on holiday (or to solve a minor dispute without threatening legal action), but if there’s one thing you can count on US citizens for it’s their gun-wielding devotion to some old blokes 1989 ideals the constitution.

Half the country anyway.

We’re not here today though to discuss the risks and benefits of free speech and ammunition. We’re here because various airlines, as The Pandemic stranglehold loosens and flights start to resume, are banning alcohol on board.

As The Lonely Planet reported last night, “EasyJet and Virgin Atlantic have decided to temporarily ban alcohol on all flights to limit contact between passengers and crew, while British Airways will sell it on long-haul flights but not on short-haul ones.”

Meanwhile “American Airlines has removed alcohol from its main cabin but will serve it on long-haul international flights,” and Delta “is not offering it to passengers on US domestic flights and short international ones,” The Lonely Planet reported.

“Aside from limiting contact, ceasing or limiting the alcohol service may also address concerns over drink-fuelled incidents on board flights, which can cause additional interactions between passengers and crew.”

We’re yet to find the British complain about this temporary removal of alcohol on domestic flights (perhaps because you don’t need a plane so much to get around England), however, some US citizens are outraged.

In fact, Barstool Sports writer Ohios Tate has even gone as far as to (half) jokingly call it an un-constitutional decision.

“First question: doesn’t alcohol kill germs? Second question: does this include BYOB? Third question: how dare you take away my right to get drunk really fast on an airplane?” Ohios wrote.

“That has to be against the constitution somehow.”

“But alas, the suits minds have been made up. Alcohol is banned from both American and Delta Airlines to ‘minimize interactions’ between crew members and passengers,” he continued.

“What a sad, sad day in American history. Is nothing sacred anymore? Should we just cancel the entire civilization? End the the world right now?”

It’s not just Ohios who was perturbed. Underneath the following CNN Tweet outlining the change, many more travellers expressed their disappointment.

The alcohol ban on some airlines is part of a widespread revision of the industry’s food and drink service to minimize interaction between crew and passengers and to ensure a safer journey for all https://t.co/yfypPDCpMO

— CNN (@CNN) June 16, 2020

“Has nothing to do with minimising contact… and everything to do with saving money,” one wrote, while another wrote “BYOAB = bring your own airplane bottle?”.

Further comments included “like air travel wasn’t already crap enough” and “they can’t ban it if it’s already in my stomach.” In other words: we’re starting to sense a theme…

Sad day. My favorite thing to do on the plane is get a cocktail, read a good book and relax especially after a long business trip and a flight home.

— Julianna (@MzJuJu58) June 16, 2020

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The post Airline Alcohol Policy Set To Enrage Everyone appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

When you’re looking for some fitness inspiration, or an account to follow to get your daily workouts, you’re likely going to have a list of accounts or websites that you trust. But just in case you need one more, we’d like to pitch to you funnyman, Kevin Hart.

The American comedian and actor may be better known for his quick jokes, but he’s always been an advocate for fitness and keeping his body in peak physical condition. He had to take a break from working out in September 2019 after he was involved in a car accident that caused severe back injuries that required surgery and several weeks of rehabilitation.

Less than a year later he’s overcome that hurdle and has thrown himself back into the gym, and his latest workout – posted to his Instagram page – could be just the thing you need to help regain your fitness post-iso. Filming in his personal home gym – which as home gyms go is incredibly tricked out, but then he is worth US$200 million – Kevin takes us through a workout that will put pressure on your entire body.

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A post shared by Kevin Hart (@kevinhart4real) on Jun 16, 2020 at 9:19am PDT

He starts with sit-throughs – a move we’ve previously seen Aussie poster boy Chris Hemsworth recommend – for this move, start in a push-up position, bring one foot forward so it’s near your hand and step through the gap created with your trailing leg. Repeat on both sides. Kevin doesn’t say how many reps he performs, but 10 on each side should do the trick.

Next, it’s dumbbell butterfly curls, a major destroyer of the chest – and a move he’s performed previously to work his back and shoulders in the image above. For this exercise, you will need an incline bench at a roughly 45-55 degree angle. Hold the dumbbells out to your side with a slight bend in your elbow and move upwards, contracting your chest. Kevin puts a slight spin on this move by twisting the dumbbells, switching from a neutral grip to an underhand grip.

Butterfly curls done, it’s on to chin-ups, a great workout for your arms, back and basically entire upper body. Kevin employs a close-hand grip for his chin-ups – if you need extra help, check out Conor McGregor’s amazingly helpful guide – 10-12 chin-ups would be ideal.

Kevin’s next move proves he’s most definitely recovered from his back injuries and has retained some incredible core strength. Using a wide-hand grip and with his legs spread, Kevin manages to scoop his body up and round so his feet practically touch the chin-up bar. If that doesn’t display core strength, we don’t know what does.

Follow those ab crunchers with some tricep dips, with a bit more ab work through in with some knee raises, and finish off with some seated dumbbell bicep curls.

Again, Kevin doesn’t reveal reps or sets, but three sets of the entire circuit should have you sweating and aching, in a good way.

Watch how to get ripped like Kevin Hart below

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The post Kevin Hart Workout Shows Quickly You Can Get In Shape appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

The rise of photo-sharing social platform Instagram has spawned new career paths of influencer and Instagram model. What ‘goes’ within the world of Instagram models is relatively broad. Glamourous individuals could be posing ‘candidly’ in far-flung locations, accompanied by inspirational messages, or they could don their best activewear to promote the “only protein powder that works for me.”

While the debate that being an IG-model is a genuine career and not just a quick and easy moneymaker will last until the end of time (to be fair, it takes bloody hard work to succeed) the other modern debate that has been created relates to following said models.

We’d wager most guys on Instagram will follow at least one or two models, claiming to appreciate their particular aesthetic or they provide genuinely useful advice. What they likely really mean is they find them attractive.

It’s a topic that has been covered many times, with this one Reddit thread, in particular, catching our eye. Specifically, the comment “if you follow an IG model who you don’t have any relationship with and who isn’t following you back, you’re literally a joke of a man.”

The new normal? Not according to this commenter. In fact, the remark throws the idea of following IG models being a joke into the ring. Here at DMARGE, we’ve already covered topics such as how to talk to the Instagram girl of your dreams, and have even gone as far as asking the boyfriends of Instagram models what it’s like to be involved with them, but are you a “joke of a man” if you follow models who you have no involvement with yourself?

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A post shared by lauren bullen (@gypsea_lust) on Jun 15, 2020 at 5:07am PDT

The best way to answer this question is to find other forums and threads asking people how they feel about their partner following these models. For some, it’s perfectly fine for their partner to scroll, so long as they don’t stray.

“I don’t care who he follows as long as he’s respectful of our relationship. If he’s lusting over other women on IG it would be weird but following them and looking at their pictures doesn’t really mean anything.”

“I agree, it comes down to respecting the relationship. If something makes you feel disrespected, it’s an issue. If it doesn’t, not an issue. If he thinks you feeling disrespected isn’t an issue, bigger issue.”

However, for others, following and liking images could point to a trend in behaviour, such as cheating, “And for some reason actually kind of creepy if they were to actually like the photos, because they can access similar images literally anywhere else. Why just Instagram? Is it because they might respond?”

Or that their partner has settled for them as a back-up option,

“Those women are plastic and look nothing like me, seeing him lust after them would hurt. I bet my so wouldn’t feel good if I openly thirsted after men pumped full of steroids, who look nothing like him. It’s not the chance that he might sleep with those girls that bothers me, it’s being reminded that you’re a second choice and your partner really is attracted to something else.”

Other women are fine with it because you can’t have one rule for one and not the other, “They’re just models basically online. They usually have tons of followers. I wouldn’t be worried. It’s basically like me following male celebrities.”

“I honestly don’t mind! Celebrities are just that!”

I’d be a bit more uneasy if they were someone he knows in person and she’s constantly showing her ass off on IG and he’s liking her photos *shrugs*”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Gabrielle Epstein (@gabbyepstein) on Jun 9, 2020 at 12:35pm PDT

But we think this next comment summarises the debate best, saying it’s all about moderation.

“This isn’t on my radar at all. But I have to say, all things in moderation. If he follows 100 people, and all of them are female models, and all he is doing is looking at this images all day, and liking and commenting on them – I mean, I’d have a problem with that.”

“But if only a small portion of what he is following in models, and he isn’t trying to contact them, then I have no issues.”

Of course, fellas, there is always the option of getting over any Insta-crushes you may have if it will save your relationship. But for us, we agree with that last statement and believe the following of Instagram models to be entirely common behaviour, especially since it’s hard to follow any account (that aren’t of friends or family) to not feature any sort of ‘model’.

Read Next

• What It Means When Your Partner Starts Liking Your Insta-Crush’s Photos

The post Guys Who Follow Models On Instagram appeared first on DMARGE Australia.