Well, it’s not exactly the blonde we’re used to, but it’s as blonde as a black bear can get.

Known as a Spirit Bear or Kermode Bear, this polar-bear look-alike was thought to exist only in Indian mythology. Brave photographer Steven Kazlowski took some photos of a Spirit Bear, an achievement considered impossible among wildlife photographers. 39-year-old Steven went through a one-one-one encounter with one of these great white beasts, but managed to escape with his life.

It’s important to mention that Spirit Bears are not albino animals, they’re what you can call a blonde black bear. They are extremely rare creatures and because of extensive logging around coastal temperate rainforests, their habitat has shrunk even more.

Photos by Steven Kazlowski, BARCROFT MEDIA

via Daily Mail

Everyone keeps telling me about the beneficial effects of practicing Yoga, but this is too much.

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen what Yoga can do for older people, but that doesn’t make these photos any less impressive. I was around five or six the last time I was able to bring my foot up to the tip of my nose, and this guy puts his feet behind his back with ease, at over fifty years of age. I really have to start practicing Yoga!

via Moobol

It doesn’t happen as often as it would if the fight was actually fair, but it’s nice to see the underdog win for a change.

Israel Lancho had the misfortune of getting impaled by a bull, last Wednesday, in Madrid. The bull’s horn went in 8 inches and doctors said it was a miracle that it didn’t hit the matador’s heart. 30-year-old Israel is now recuperating. I wonder if he’s ever going to go into the bull-ring again.

UPDATE:  One of our visitors left a comment saying the matador died of complications. That is not true, but, while he received medical attention, the bull did in fact die as a result of his wounds. Others said this is tradition and should be accepted as such…Well, the shearing of the beasts, donkey basketball, Grindadrap or Afghan dog-fights are also old traditions, but I refuse to respect them. Read More »

The World Beard and Mustache Competition was held in Anchorage, Alaska, and crowned its winner from one of the locals.

Contestants from as far as Turkey or Switzerland traveled to Alaska to compete for the title of hairiest man…sorry, for having the most beautiful facial hair. That doesn’t sound very nice either, but you know what I mean. There were 300 facial-hair enthusiasts, from eleven countries, fighting for this coveted title.

David Traver, a local boy, won the competition with his 20-inch beard, grown for a period of two and a half years, before being braided into the shape of a snowshoe.

Photos by AP and

via Daily Mail

Pet fashion really took off in recent years, so I wasn’t that surpised to see these horses dressed in traditional Bavarian dresses.

Dirndl dresses are famous all around the world for being Bavaria’s traditional outfits, thousands of Bavarian women wear them, and now, apparently even horses. German designer Hildegard Bergbauer used to create drindl dresses only for women, but has recenlty began taking orders for house pets and even horses.

The horses do look elegant in their brand-new drindl dresses, but I do believe the young Bavarian beauties holding them look even better.

Photos by Alexandra Beier/REUTERS

via Sina

Cats are great climbers, that’s not a big secret, but a cat climbing up a 13-foot dry wall? Now that’s something you don’t see every day.

Charlie is a very special seven-year-old cat from Falkirk, Britain, who has the very special skill of climbing buildings. As you’ve probably guessed, this is the talent that got him the very cool nick-name Spider-cat.

Charlie began climbing up to his owner’s flat, on the first floor of an apartment-building, after he got bored of waiting for someone to open the front door of the building, after his daily walk around the bloc. One day he just went to the back of his owner’s home, took a long look at the obstacle in front of him and just jumped up the wall. Using his front paws for grip and his behind paws for leverage, he made it up to the first floor and started miaowing until someone opened the door for him. Since that faithful day, Charlie the Spider-cat has been climbing up the dry-wall on a regular basis.

Check out the incredible video of Charlie doing what he does best, after the photos.

Photos by PA

via Daily Mail

Primates and dogs don’t normally get along too well, but Suryia the orangutan and Roscoe, a Blue Tick hound have become best friends.

Their beautiful friendship began when Roscoe followed some of the caretakers at a South Caroline animal shelter through the gates. As soon as she saw him, Suryia ran to him and started playing. Since that day, there’s nothing the two love more than swimming and rolling around together. The friendly orangutan even takes her buddy on his daily walks and occasionally feeds him some of her monkey biscuits. When bored, the two take a ride on Bubbles, a 27-years-old African elephant.

Word of their bizarre but beautiful relationship reached the media and now Suryia and Roscoe will be featured on one of Oprah‘s special shows, called Amazing Animal Friendship. National Geographic also paid them a visit.

Their bond might seem incredible, but if tigers and pigs can be friends, then anything is possible.

Photos by Barry Bland/Barcroft Media

via Daily Mail

These lovely old ladies have spent a long time knitting their classic British village of Mersham.

It all started 23 years ago when the 12 women were reading an article in Women’s Weekly about another group of women who had accomplished a similar feat. They said to themselves ‘we should give it a whirl’, but had no idea it would become such an important part of their lives.

These knitted masterpieces might not look like much to the untrained eye, but all the buildings are knitted to scale and took thousand of hours to complete. When it was finished, the knitted village was presented at craft fairs and raised 10,000 pounds for the Mersham village hall fund. This Saturday, it will be up for sale in the Mersham Hall. With the media coverage this fabric work of art has received so far, I’m pretty sure there will be plenty of buyers present in the Kent village.

I dare say the knitted village looks even better than the very original knitted bike

via Daily Mail

With 250 registered pairs of twins, the Indian village of Kodinhi, in Kerala, has six times more twins born than the world average.

Dr. Krishnan Sribiju has been studying the odd twin phenomenon in Kodhini, for the last six years and says that although 250 pairs have been registered, there may be up to 300-350 sets of twins. Villagers say an unusually high number of twins started being born three generations ago, and it’s been rising ever since.

Because the twins don’t present any deformities, Dr. Sribiju says the twin phenomenon isn’t caused by some pollutant, but by something the villagers of Kodinhi eat and drink. If that proves to be true, this magic element could turn into the next treatment for infertile couples.

via Telegraph.co.uk

Photos by Niklas Halle’n/BARCROFT MEDIA

Sure, rabbits hop all the time, but not many do it over miniature fences, like showjumping horses.

15-year-old Matthew and Thomas Haslam are the proud owners and trainers of some of the smartest pets in Britain. Bubbles and Lilac are two of the twenty rabbits that like to jump over small fences, in the boys’ backyard. These two have shown particular skill and have participated in the Ultimate Pet Show, between the 2nd-4th May.

The two boys suffer from Asperger’s Syndrome, a sort of Autism and spending up to seven hours a day, for the last nine years, playing with rabbits has really helped them a greatr deal.

via Daily Mail

Everybody knows the popular animation movie Shrek has a large fan-base, but some of those fans go as far as to get married dressed as their favorite characters.

British nurse Christine England and her fiance Keith got married last month, wearing the costumes of Fiona and Shrek. They spent over three hours putting on the costumes and green make-up, but it was worth it, since it was a wedding neither of them will forget.

Christine tried to get her 18 years old son to dress-up like Donkey, but “he wasn’t having any of it”. The 100 guests attending the wedding were also dressed in funky, fairytale costumes.

via Daily Mail

83-years-old Bette Calman is living proof that the ancient art of yoga can do wonders on the human body.

Bette Calman has been practicing and teaching yoga for the last 40 years and, although other people her age can hardly move anymore, she can pool of difficult yoga moves that put teenagers to shame. She can execute the “peacock” a difficult position in which the body is held horizontally, using only the power of the arms,  the “bridge”, “lotus” and can stand on her head with unnatural ease.

Asked when she is going to retire, Calman said

‘You’re never too old. The body is a remarkable instrument.

‘It can stretch and stretch, and get better all the time. Forget age’

Ms Bette Calman teaches up to 11 classes every week, in Williamstown, Australia, teaching others the remarkable effects of yoga.

via Daily Mail

photos by Barcroft Media

29-year-old extreme balancing artist, Eskil Ronningsbakken has to be one of the world’s most amazing performers.

Ronningsbakken has performed the most dangerous balancing acts I’ve ever seen, riding a bike upside down, balancing under a balloon in plain flight and on cliffs thousands of meters high. He says ‘That’s the balance between life and death, and that is where life is.’

His balancing career began when he was only five years old and he saw a yogin serenely balancing. Now he is one of the most famous extreme balancing artists in the world. His next dream is to perform his breathtaking stunts on top of the Burj al Arab Hotel, in Dubai.

Read more on the amazing Eskil Ronningsbakken here.

Photos by Sindre Lundvold/Barcroft Media via guardian.co.uk

The traditional Neuburg Ice Swimming event is considered the biggest swimming event in Europe.

This year over 2,000 brave swimmers from all over Germany gathered in Neuburg an der Donau for the 40th anniversary of the event. Neuburg Ice Swimming 2009 took place on January 31. Europe’s biggest swimming extravaganza featured swimmers desguised as sea-gods, frogs, clowns and other crazy things, and funny messages referring to new US President Barack Obama and the international financial crysis.

As you can see from the photos, Neuburg an der Donau hosted quite a fun event this year.Seems like a breeze compared to the ice swimming in Russia

Photo credits: Johannes Simon (Getty Images)

For some Americans the Super Bowl was not the most important sports even of the past week, the Wing Bowl was.

You gotta love Buffalo wings, they’re delicious, but would you get up at 5 in the morning to eat as man as you can?That’s what the contestants of Wing Bowl 2009 had to do in order to win the 17the edition of the event, on January 30.

23-year-old first-timer Jonathan Squibb managed to eat his way through 203 delicious chicken wings, 23 more than the runer-up. Squibb‘s prizes were a brand new Mini Cooper and a very good meal, of course. he said he’ll be back next year to defend his title.

Wing Bowl 2009 took place at the Wachovia Center, in Philadelphia, a town that is said came up with this competition 17 years ago because the locals were getting tired of their sports teams never winning competitions.

I’d enter Wing Bowl over The Big Eat any day.

Image Credits: William Thomas Cain (Getty Images)