New York Knicks star Amar’e Stoudemire has returned to the team’s lineup after missing four games due to the sad death of his older brother Hazell in a car accident at the beginning of February.  Stoudemire was very close to his brother as he is with the rest of his family and at the time his coach said that it was “a trying time” and that his “thoughts and prayers were with the family”.  In honour of his brother, star forward Amar’e Stoudemire has had a teardrop design inked just under his right eye. The Message Behind the Tattoo The teardrop tattoo was inked locally prior to the Knicks game in Toronto.  Although the Knicks have had a run of successes in recent weeks, Stoudemire wanted to let people know that although he is back in form he has not forgotten his brother.  After the game in Toronto Stoudemire took to his Twitter page to say “That game was for you bra, forever crying inside”.  He also spoke about his loss to the New York Post saying that the tattoo is a sign that although his life will go on, he is still crying inside. The Brotherly Relationship Stoudemire also told the New York Post that it was his brother who introduced him to the sport of basketball.  His brother was a standout basketball star whilst at High School in their home state of Florida but his career did not progress due to him getting into trouble with the law at a young age. Following a string of prison sentences Hazell crashed his speeding car into a tractor trailer and died instantly.  Stoudemire had hoped to visit his home state for better reasons (the All-Stars are playing in Orlando) and although we are not sure whether he will make the team he told the New York Post “he is part of my success so I’m always crying inside”.  With a brother who was a mentor, a father figure and such a large part of his life, his emotions at this time are completely understandable. Honouring Family Members with Body Art Amar’e Stoudemire is not the only basketball star to have chosen to honour family members with a tattoo.  Toronto Raptors player Leandro Barbosa has a tattoo of his mother’s name  that honours his mother inked on his lower left rib whilst another Toronto Raprots star DeMar DeRozan has a tribute to his grandmother on his right forearm.  Josh Harrellson of the New York Knicks also has a tribute tattoo to a loved one – he has a large cross that covers his back in honour of his late grandfather. The trend of honouring family members with tattoos doesn’t seem to be one that will end any time soon, and why should it?  Family is at the forefront of many basketball stars’ minds with many family members being linked to the success and encouragement that has led to many of these men becoming stars.

Since her debut 1997 film Nowhere, Mena Suvari has gone on to become somewhat of a popular actress, starring in American Beauty, American Pie, Day of the Dead and The Mysteries of Pittsburgh.  When she isn’t busy appearing in films and television shows like HBO’s Six Feet Under, she is busy involved with charities whose cause is breast cancer, taking part in the “End Violence Against Women” campaign, being an activist for the African Medical and Research Foundation that is an African relief organisation, modelling for Lancôme cosmetics and appearing in fashion magazines such as Vogue.  She has even branched into fashion design, designing a limited-edition three scarf collection.  She will even travel to high schools and encourage kids to quit smoking.  With as busy as she is, you would think it would be hard for her to find time to get questionable tattoos done, but somehow she manages. The Tattoos On the back of Mena Suvari’s neck, she has the etching of a lion, which itself isn’t that bad.  However she made the regrettable choice of getting “word sound power” inked on directly underneath it, which certainly makes sense to her.  At least she doesn’t have to spend time staring at it.  After having her ink done in 2010, ahead of her wedding to the Italian concert promoter Simone Sestito, with whom she had been engaged to since 2008, she made a point of talking about what she would do to cover her tattoos up to avoid offending his family, since on his mother’s side there are two nuns who would not approve and that is why she “isn’t too keen” on showing them off, despite what the countless open backed dresses she wears would say. One has to wonder if these tattoos had something to do with her divorce from Sestito after a mere 18 months citing “irreconcilable differences” as the reason.  Shortly after, she was seen back at Mr. Cartoon’s tattoo studio in LA having additional words added above her lion tattoo, which doesn’t leave too much room between the original tattoo and her hair.  The world will be waiting on baited breath to see what genius insight this latest ink will reveal to the world. Mena Suvari also has a number 13 inked on her chest, which Simone Sestito also got a matching version of on his chest for some unknown reason back when they were engaged.  Whatever the reason, one thing that can be said for sure is hers looks a lot better and more stylized than his really generic and ugly 13, which looks like a cut rate prison tattoo, or something that some idiot NBA player would spend $1200 on when it’s more like a $40 30 minute job. The Future It will be interesting to see whether her tattoos will affect what future film roles she receives, or how digital technology will be able to cover them up since not only Mena Suvari but many other celebrities have tattoos that might mean a lot to them personally but seem like just a bad decision to outside observers, like Megan Fox’s Marilyn Monroe tattoo for example.

Did you think she’d disappeared?  After news of her affair with brother in law Ryan Giggs hit the headlines last year and after appearing on Celebrity Big Brother things have been quite quiet on the Natasha Giggs front in recent weeks.  She had apparently got back with her husband Rhodri Giggs and the pair of them were getting things back on track… or so it appeared.  So we wonder what he thinks of her new piece of artwork that let’s face it, is not hard to miss. The Tattoo Unlike most Z list celebrities, Natasha’s tattoo is hard to ignore.  Whilst most Z listers may have a small inking, Natasha clearly knew she was going to grab the headlines when she headed to the Flecky’s Tattoo Studio in Manchester and emerged with a tattoo that stretches the whole length of her back.  Made up of nine stars and a selection of “swirly things” that connect everything together this is one tattoo that would be a killer to remove should she decide she no longer likes it in a few months’ time.  Instead of opting for feminine colours to be added to the stars, Natasha opted to have them darkened – we’re not sure this was the best decision. Photographs Throughout The whole tattooing process was photographed in its entirety which we’re sure Mrs Giggs wasn’t complaining about.  Covering her modesty was a small pink towel which she kept on for the duration of the inking.  She put a brave face on things as the tattoo was lined and then coloured in and reportedly drank from a bottle of Coca Cola in order to “keep her energy levels up”.  When the inking was complete, Natasha looked proud as punch as she left the tattoo studio grinning from ear to ear.  She left the tattoo studio wearing a grey hoody with the slogan “I’m the black sheep” emblazoned on it – we wonder what that relates to… Follow Your Heart Also tattooed on Natasha’s back, right under her neck, is a small heart tattoo with the words ‘follow your heart’.  This is thought to be her first introduction into the world of body art and it’s clearly a slogan that she follows if you think about her scandalous past.  Her latest design out shadows her small heart quite sizeably though so maybe she’s looking to follow her brain in future months… one can only hope. Instead of resting her tattoo and letting it heal Natasha headed out for a manicure and pedicure in preparation for a photo shoot which she had on Friday.  She did however have time to log on to Twitter to let her “fans” know about her new inking.  “My new ink is siiiiiick!  My back is on fire tho haha” she wrote.  Only time will tell what her next attention seeking move will be – let’s face it, now she’s had a taste of “fame” she’s not the kind of girl to want to get left behind.