Author name: communityoflights

Despite not attending, Queen Elizabeth II has made her presence known in a heart-warming sketch with Paddington Beat, one of the highlights of an epic star-studded concert outside Buckingham Palace.

You could probably argue that the mind of the architect has never dreamed up a style of building quite as romantic as the Gothic fortress. There is something about its points and precision – sharp turrets pointing towards the heavens, a room at the top perfect for a trapped princess or a fairytale character in some curious peril – that sings across the centuries. What, after all, is the Cinderella Castle – the fibreglass fantasy which adorns Disney theme parks across the planet – but a modern evocation of this grand design?

“Brazilian Modern: The Living Art of Roberto Burle Marx” has taken over the New York Botanical Garden — and offers an exuberant gust of tropical modernism that will thrill anyone caught in the concrete jungle. Burle Marx, Brazil’s greatest landscape designer, hasn’t lacked for institutional attention lately; just three years ago the Jewish Museum presented a retrospective of his paintings, tapestries, jewelry and designs for green spaces and public thoroughfares in Rio, Brasília, and even Miami. But that show could not offer what this one does: a full-scale, fragrant, enchantingly lush garden, complete with numerous flowering plants and philodendrons that Burle Marx himself first identified.

While Mexico holds conservative views when it comes to gender roles, flexibility in this area was common in the country prior to being introduced to Catholicism. And even now, attitudes towards sexuality and gender are open in the state of Oaxaca. Instead of being ridiculed or judged, the homosexual crossdressers in the town of Oaxacaqueno de Juchitan in southern Mexico are revered members of their community.

Until this summer, Norway was one of 19 European countries that required transgender individuals to undergo surgery and sterilization before they could legally change their gender. Now, all people — including children as young as 6 — need to do is sign a form, thanks to legislation passed in June. Argentina and Malta are the only other countries that allow minors to transition, but they require them to go to court first.

See how movie stars have gone through the years with this before and after fotos of the rich and famous including Paul McCartny, Tom Cruise, Clint Eastwood, Brad Pitt, Richard Gear, Julia Roberts, Will Smith, Leonardo DiCaprio, George Clooney, Jennifer Aniston, Mick Jagger