Half Baked

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Here's the first of several half-morphs done over the years. I thought it would be fun to see a "before & after" in the same shot and Angela Mraz was the perfect subject to test it out.

Happy Holidays

Here’s a few of Santa’s Hardbody Christmas Elves to make you all holly jolly this season. Merry Christmas from Area Orion.

Danica Patrick Muscles Up

MailOnline: Danica Patrick like you've never seen her before! Racing driver displays bulky frame to film Super Bowl commercial... but it's just a muscle suit.

She is the most successful woman in the history of open-wheel racing in America – not to mention the most glamorous.

Fans of Danica Patrick were no doubt shocked to see her drastic new appearance on Wednesday.
The racing driver was spotted looking incredibly muscular while filming a commercial in Los Angeles.

But Danica’s bulging biceps didn’t magically grow overnight, and she was actually merely sporting a rather realistic muscle suit.

She is starring in the commercial for internet domain company Go Daddy, which will air during one of the highly coveted and expensive ad spots during February 2014’s Super Bowl.

With her glossy locks half pinned back and a big smile on her face as she jogged, you’d be forgiven for thinking those rock hard abs and burly limbs were real.

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One of my personal favorites from the early days. Amber DeLuca female muscle & breast expansion morph based on a photo from PhysiqueArt.com.

Originally published November 2008.

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Pia Johnsen.
Originally published November 2008.

Star on the rise

@cindytraining One of our favorite women in world, Cindy Landolt will portray Saba - Priestess of the Underworld in an upcoming Graphic Novel & feature film.

She writes, "I was informed through a friend of mine about anew project, to create a graphic novel and a full length feature film of the Irish hero, Finn McCool Now Finn's love was called, Saba, a Priestess, Warrior Women Supreme, I was told that I looked exactly like her from the novels artwork and it's true, I do, so I bid for the perk on the projects Indiegogo campaign and WON IT!.. Soon after I was contacted by the writer/producer of the Finn McCool project, Chris Brosnan, equally amazed by how much I looked like his vision of Saba! So from this moment on my image will be immortalized as that of Saba throughout the whole graphic novel series and then on to the movie when it's made, so exciting! This will be a whole new venture for me and something that has interested me for a while, but I’m a strong believer in waiting for the right opportunity to appear ... So here it is!.. Please watch the link below, it’s going to be great!.. you could even join me in the making of it! There's still lots of great perks on offer, so give the campaign your support, pass on the word and see me in the novel! Maybe even find yourself "Immortalized" beside me!! Great fun, great weekend, take a peek at: http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/finn-mccool-celtic-ireland-s-greatest-hero--2

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Originally published October 2008

1st attempt to push some size boundaries with Marja Lehtonen.

Where Is She Now?

  
Valerie Gangi began her career as the city of San Jose and the California State Body Building Champion. Winning her status as a professional athlete in 1995 at the USA Body Building Championships, she climbed the competition ladder all the way to the Ms. Olympia stage in 1997. She then took eleven years off from competition to be a family woman.

In 2008, Valerie re-engaged in the IFBB as a Professional Figure Competitor and model.

Buff Swedish Princess

Sweden's Crown Princess Victoria has been pumping some serious iron. While the 36-year-old might not be posing any threat to Iris Kyle any time soon Princess Victoria is one of the world's most photographed women and she is sporting a pair of proper gym-built biceps!

This might be unsurprising to those familiar with Princess Victoria's love-life – she married her personal trainer Daniel Westling after he helped her battle an array of eating disorders.

See more at RealFemaleBodybuilding.

Girly Man

Originally published October 30, 2008

I was reluctant, but brought in the modified images for Meg... under threat from administration. They're printouts since no external digital devices are allowed...no exceptions. I was expecting a disgusted look from her, but she looked horrified and ran out. I haven't seen her in a couple days now. The prints must have gotten around, 'cause my new nickname around Orion is "Girly Man". I'm not a weakling or have a big athletic build, but big enough to hold my own in a fight... and have on occasion. I'm embarrassed about the name, but I've had worse.

To make matters worse, tonight's my anniversary with Lily and I'm here working. Things have been rocky with her lately and this won't help things. Hopefully flowers will work this time.

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The very first Area Orion Breast Expansion only morph - Erin Ellington.

Originally published October 2008.

Abbye “Pudgy” Stockton

In our final Strong Women in History segment, I’d like to honor Abbye “Pudgy” Stockton - the Godmother of Modern Female Bodybuilding & Fitness.

Wikipedia - Abbye "Pudgy" Stockton (August 11, 1917 in Santa Monica, California – June 26, 2006) was a professional strongwoman and forerunner of present day female bodybuilders, who became famous through her involvement with Muscle Beach in the 1940s.

Abbye Eville was born on August 11, 1917, and moved to Santa Monica, California in 1924. She acquired the nickname "Pudgy" as a child, and the name stuck, even though she weighed approximately 115 pounds at a height of 5'2". She began dating UCLA student Les Stockton during her senior year of high school; they were married in 1941.

Stockton and her husband were frequent visitors to Muscle Beach, where they primarily worked on acrobatics and gymnastics. One of their most famous feats involved Pudgy serving as the "understander", supporting Les (180 pounds) over her head in a hand to hand stand. Pudgy quickly became a media favorite, and was included in pictorials in Life, Pic, and Laff. She was also featured in the newsreels Whatta Build and Muscle Town USA, as well as ads for Ritamine Vitamin Company and the Universal Camera Company. She estimated that she was featured on the cover of forty-two magazines by the end of the 1940s. She posed with many of the top male bodybuilders of the time, including John Grimek and Steve Reeves.

In 1944, Stockton began writing a regular column on women's training, "Barbelles", in Strength & Health magazine, then the most influential fitness magazine in the world. She also helped organize the first sanctioned weightlifting contests for women. The first of these contests with a sanction from the Amateur Athletic Union was held on February 28, 1947 at the Southwest Arena in Los Angeles. In that contest, Stockton pressed 100 pounds, snatched 105 pounds, and clean and jerked 135 pounds.

Physique contests for women were virtually non-existent in the 1940s, and Stockton held only one such title during her career - she was named "Miss Physical Culture Venus" in 1948. She was inducted into the IFBB Hall of Fame in 2000.Pudgy and husband Les had a daughter. Les died on April 19, 2004 at the age 87 from melanoma. Abbye died on June 26, 2006 at the age of 88 from complications due to Alzheimer's disease.