SeaWayBLOG: Bizarre

Showing posts with label Bizarre. Show all posts

Braunlage Nude Sledging World Championship 2011

(Matthias Bein/DPA/Lapresse)

Here we are again! Like in 2009 and in 2010, thousands of people (more than 17000 this year!) have gathered in the little german town of Braunlage for the third edition of the world championship of the craziest winter sport ever: Nude Sledging!

(Matthias Bein/DPA/Lapresse)

[More]

The marvelous pink hippo!

©Burrard-Lucas.com

Will and Matt Burrard-Lucas are two brothers from UK and two talented wildlife photographers. A couple of months ago, while they were taking pictures of the wildebeest migration in the Masai Mara region they stumbled across a very unusual guy: a pink hippo!

[More]

The bubblesmith

Sterling Johnson is a "bubblesmith", better, he is The Bubblesmith!
According to his own website he is the only performer who specializes in blowing bubbles using only his hands.

[More]

The perpetual sinking boat

This boat may look like it's sinking fast, but don't worry, it's perfectly upright. That's because this boat, called "Love Love," was designed by artist Julien Berthier to look like it's in the process of going under!

[More]

Surfing Dogs

©GETTY IMAGES

Huntington Beach hosted the second annual Surf City Surf Dog competition last Sunday, raising money for animal charities while letting dogs strut their stuff in a costume contest, a one-mile walk, and of course, a surfing competition.

[More]

Paul is dead!

The most famos Paul after Sir McCartney, also known as the Oracle Octopus, passed away in the night aged two and a half years, when all three of his hearts ceased to beat at once. He was unmarried and leaves no larvae so unfortunately he couldn't transmit its magical genes leaving the world without its unerring forecastings.

[More]

Carl Warner keeps on building edible worlds

©Carl Warner
I've always been a great fan of Carl Warner's foodscapes, those wonderful landscapes made up with just... food!
He is getting more and more famous thanks to his creative idea and many food-producing brands has used his masterpieces for their advertising campaigns. Obviously at the same time many other photographers are trying to copy the idea but, as usual, Warner's work, with ten year experience and a lot of passion, is always the best.

[More]

The amazing Air Umbrella

I've seen many many bizarre umbrellas in my life, but this is by far the most unconventional one and, if it works, I really would like to have one!
Imagine the faces of your friends, when during a rainy day you draw an umbrella with no canopy... you push a button and a sheet of air becomes a barrier between you and the raindrops!

[More]

A big skull

Have you ever wondered how big is the skull of a blue whale? well the answer is in the picture here above and it's a BIG answer...
After all, Blue Whales at over 33 metres (108 ft) in length and 180 metric tons (200 short tons) or more in weight, are the largest animal ever known to have existed (that means also larger than Tyrannosaurus, Brontosaurus and Whatever-saurus).

[More]

Alpina Surfover 2010

©Carlo Borlenghi
If you are close to the Alpina Hütte, Corviglia, St.Moritz, Switzerland and skiing in one of the most beautiful mountains all over the world isn't fun enough for you, you may evaluate the idea of taking part to the Alpina Surfover. What is it?

[More]

Chicago's river dyed green for St.Patrick Day

©Flipped Out

If you're one of the readers of SeaWayBLOG, looking at the picture here above, you may think that I'm going to speak about some environmental issue concerning river chemical pollution but if you're a Chicagoan you already know that this is a completely different (and more pleasant) story...
Two days ago it was St.Patrick Day, the yearly holiday celebrated on 17 March, named after Saint Patrick (AD 387–461), the most commonly recognized of the patron saints of Ireland. It began as a purely Catholic holiday and became an official feast day in the early 1600s. However, it has gradually become more of a secular celebration of Ireland's culture.
During their celebrations Chigaoans dye their river green and have done so since 1962 when sewer workers used green dye to check for sewer discharges and had the idea to turn the river green for Saint Patrick's Day. Originally 100 pounds of vegetable dye was used to turn the river green for a whole week but now only forty pounds of dye is used and the colour only lasts for several hours.
Chicago is not the only American city celebrating this way:
Indianapolis also dyes its main canal green. Savannah dyes its downtown city fountains green. In Jamestown, New York, the Chadakoin River (a small tributary that connects Conewango Creek with its source at Chautauqua Lake) is dyed green each year. Columbia, SC dies its fountain green in the area known as Five Points (a popular collegiate location near the University of South Carolina).
The picture above and the two following were taken on this year celebration. Unfortunately weather was dark and gloomy.

©Getty Images via Daylife

©Getty Images via Daylife

The following pictures instead were taken in previous editions and the sun makes them really spectacular:

©multisanti

©jshueh

©multisanti

©yuan2003

[More]

Gone fishing to spice up your dinner table

One of those cool design ideas I like so much: aach piece in this stainless steel cutlery set is whimsically fish-shaped, right down to tail, fins, mouth, and eyes.
The playfulness of this pattern will reel you in hook, line, and sinker. Not surprisingly, Gone Fishin' claims a place in Yamazaki's Museum Collection... and there's everything: Teaspoon, Salad Fork, Soup Spoon, Dinner Fork, Dinner Knife, Appetizer fork, Teaspoon, Salad Serving Set..and so on

Here you can buy them
and if you like this kind of thingd there's a nice collection of Creative and Unusual Cutlery Designs on Toxel.

[More]

The church that resurfaced

The image of a church emerging from the water just with the bell tower is quite distinguishing indeed, but it's not so rare, there are at least half a dozen example in the world (and a wonderful one, I've already spoken about, is in Italy) and the story behind it's more or less always the same: a dam built for hydroelectric purposes causing an entire village to be submerged. The bell tower, which often is the highest spot of a village remains as a picturesque recall (of economic interests overwhelming people's interests).

©Reuters

This time however, even if the first part of the story is just the same, there is an unexpected (and somehow worrying) turn in the plot. The church has resurfaced!
It's in Venezuela and the cause is a severe drought which is hitting the nation, exposing a church, pictured in 2008 (left) and on February 21, 2010.

©Reuters

The 82-foot-tall (25-meter-tall) church and the Andean town of Potosi were flooded in 1985 to establish the Uribante-Caparo water reservoir to power the plant, which is currently operating at just 7 percent of its capacity.

©Reuters

The church is now an ominous symbol of energy shortages in the country, which gets around 68 percent of its power from hydroelectricity. The droughts spurred Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to declare an energy emergency in February.

©Reuters

In a little over a year, the Venezuelan church went from almost fully submerged to bone dry.

The drought that caused the rapid decline has been linked to El Niño, a climate phenomenon that occurs every two to seven years and changes worldwide weather patterns. During an El Niño event—such as the current one, which began in summer 2009—the Pacific Ocean warms up near equatorial South America and disrupts large-scale atmospheric circulation.