If you thought Miguelin, the giant baby at the Spanish pavilion was awesome, than the British pavilion’s Seed Cathedral will blow your mind.

By far the most popular structure, at the Shanghai Expo 2010, even before it was officially opened, the Seed Cathedral is a six storey high cube-shaped structure, pierced by 60,000 thin acrylic rods. Each 7.5 meter long rod sways at the slightest wind movement, adding the dramatic effect of the design.

Just like fiber optics, the acrylic rods draw in the light from the outside, and illuminate the inside. At night, the artificial light, on the inside, is projected to the outside, making the Seed Cathedral glow.

But Britain’s awe-inspiring building isn’t called Seed Cathedral, for no reason. On the inside, each rod has one or more seeds encased in it. Designed by Thomas Heatherwick, this architectural wonder has already won the hearts of its visitors, who have nicknamed it “The Dandelion”.

Photos via QQ

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Ji Jingyu, a 48-year-old stuntman, from China, is walking barefoot on a giant knife, during a performance, in a park in Nanjing. I knew China hosts some really weird events.but I don’t see how it can get any more bad ass then a dude walking on the sharp edge of a custom made giant knife. This epic event took place on May 2.

Photos via ImagineChina

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After seeing photos of himself and another supercar he built, back in 1981, Henrik I. Matevossian, from Armenia, sent Yaplakal forum some newer photos of his home-made Maserati.

Matevossian, a passionate motorist, started this project in 1985, and changed the design several times, trying to make his car look more sporty. He had to do everything himself, and progress was pretty slow. The building process stopped after the fall of the Soviet Union and the Armenian car enthusiast resumed work after 2000. He finished his masterpiece in 2007.

The engine, gearbox and rear suspension came from a real 1984 Maserati V6 BiTurbo. This home-made supercar also features a Weber carburetor, control unit for the turbines, altered front suspension and the steering wheel of a Toyota.

Matevossian’s greatest sadness is that Armeniean law doesn’t allow him to drive his home-made Maserati outside national borders, so he can show the world his creation.

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What looks like a bike rider waiting for the green light, in a motorcycle race, is actually a dead man at a wake, in Puerto Rico.

22-year-old David Morales Colon was shot to death, last Thursday, and his family wanted people to remember him doing what he liked most. As the young man had received a brand new Honda CBR600 F4 motorcycle, which he loved, his family asked the funeral home to embalm David and set him in riding position.

The guys at the funeral home did a great job, and David looks like he’s about to drive away any second, but this gesture caused a media stir, at an international level. Apparently this paves the way for other funeral firms to come up with original ideas for this kind of events.

As a guy living in a country where dead people are kept on the living room table, for three days, before being buried, I see this as just a cool way of honoring a person.

Photos by Vanessa Cerra via PrimaHora Read More »

Although London’t Hyde Park is famous for hosting a variety of tree species, Vitraya ramunong (better known as the Tree of Souls) was definitely not one of them. Until now, anyway.

Unlike the alien tree, indigenous to Pandora, this Earthly version is considerably smaller (only 5 meters tall), features a plastic-like bark, and its glowing tendrils look a lot like fiber-optic cables. Plus, it’s planted in gravel and asphalt, and it’s root is made up of just one cable that seemed to power the trunk withe electricity.

As you might have (hopefully) realized, we’re not talking about a real Tree of Souls, but about a man made avatar, if you will. It appeared in Hyde Park, last Saturday, for the launch of Avatar on DVD, and as a way of celebrating the 40th Earth Day. Unfortunately, this weird version of Vitraya ramunong was removed from the park, the next day. If you didn’t get the chance to see it live, these photos should compensate:

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You could say it happened just like in Disney’s “Little Mermaid”, only in this real life case, the mermaid needed a little help from a surgeon.

The appropriately named Milagros Cerron, is a Peruvian girl,born with a rare condition, known as sirenomelia, or “mermaid syndrome“, which left her legs bound together, fro her heels, all the way to her groin.

The Little Mermaid, as she is known, in her native Peru, has just turned six years old, and she has made great progress. Dr. Luis Rubio, head of the surgical team that managed to separate Milagros’ legs, and rebuild her knees, hips and ankles, said she was doing very well, physically, but that she still has a long way to go.

The young girl, who’s name means “miracles”, in Spanish, has suffered three major operations, in the last five years, and she will need to have her urinary and sexual organs reconstructed, in two years.

Sirenomelia is a rare congenital defect that occurs in one out of 70,000 births, and causes death in the vast majority of cases. There is just one other case, 17 year old American, Tiffany York, who has undergone successful separation surgery, before.

Born in a poor family, from a poor village in the Andes, Milagros Cerron is fortunate enough to have her health bills supported by the Peruvian municipal government. Read More »

Presented at the beginning of 2009, Marussia has finally hit the streets of Russia, and we have the pics to prove it.

You’re probably wondering what a car has to do with an oddities blog, but i figured it’s not every day you see a super car that’s made in Russia. We first reported on the Marussia, in January of 2009, but if any of you had any doubts this futuristic looking beast would ever hit the streets, you were wrong. Livejournal user, quantum, took some awesome pics of the Russian super car, and it looks a lot better than I expected.

Marussia is the brain child of Russian GT driver, Nikolai Fomenko, and it’s the first GT model built in Mother Russia. Most of the parts, are however imported. Marussia features an ingenious light body that can be changed whenever you’re sick of the colors.

If you’re wondering if there’s more to this super car, than the aerodynamic look, you should know it’s got a 3.5 liter engine, and 300 bhp, under the hood. Marussia reaches 100 km/h in 4.2 seconds.

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Toysaurus is the creation of Japanese artist, Hiroshi Fuji, a man with a ton of patience. That’s the only way to explain how he built that thing, one toy at a time.

Apparently, Hiroshi Fuji spent years collecting old toys, before he began working on this ferocious masterpiece. Toysaurus is on display, in Tokyo’s Rappongi District.

via Tokyobling

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No mother likes it when her toddler starts crying, but at the Naki Sumo baby crying contest wailing is actually encouraged.

Held every year, at the Sensoji Temple, in Tokyo, the baby crying festival is a 400-year-old tradition, believed to keep rug-rats in good health. Amateur sumo wrestlers hold the babies high in the air, and try to scare them into crying, while a sumo referee judges the match. The toddler who cries longest and loudest is considered the winner.

Japanese parents bring the babies to the contest, of their own free will, and truly believe the sumo induced crying keeps their children in good health, and wards off evil spirits. This year, 80 babies, all under one year old, participated in Naki Sumo. As you might have guessed, the whiniest contender won.

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Ann Conte and Jeanne Wiley have managed to renovate an old, beat-up car, by weaving it a new body, out of seat belt material.

The two artists set their sights on a 1960’s MG Midget that was used as support for firewood, in an American backyard. Their project was all about “recycling, reusing, repurposing and sustainability” so they decided to give their Midget a woven look. And what better material to use, than overstock seat belt material (over 500 yards of it). After weaving the body, the two simply bolted it to the car’s metal skeleton.

The seats of this woven vehicle are made of a partially recycled material, known as Corian Terra, and the headlights and tail lights are handmade ceramic. Conte and Wiley’s recycled car can be admired as part of a new exhibit at the South Shore Art Center, in Cohasset, MA.

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It’s true, cupcakes are one of God’s greatest gifts to man, and I like them just as much as the next guy, but i certainly wouldn’t pay $150,000 for one.

ROX, a Scotland based diamond and jewelry chain, teamed up with Cupcake Glasgow, to create what you might call a priceless treat. Their creation may look like any other small cupcake, but it’s actually sprinkled with tens of sparkling diamonds. That makes it worth 100,000 British pounds.

Creating the world’s most expensive cupcake was the best way to market “Glam in the City”, Scotland’s largest consumer show, which will take place between 18 – 20 June, 2010. If you’re interested, the outrageously expensive cupcake can be ordered at the ROX store, in Glasgow. But watch your teeth, I hear those diamonds are pretty tough to chew.

Photos via Xinhua

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Li Dasheng, one of China’s greatest performers, attempted to pull a 1.5 ton car,using only his lower eyelids.

Known as the “Prince of Stunts” , 22-year-old Li Dasheng is famous for being able to perform over 30 kinds of Qigong, an ancient Chinese meditation art, as well as several other stunts. On April 16, he shocked the audience, outside the Boying Art Museum, in Xuzhou, China, when he pulled a vehicle, with his eyelids.

The Chinese performer put 2 curved hooks, onto his lower eyelids, and attached them to the frame of the 1.5-ton-heavy car. He managed to pull the vehicle nearly three meters.

Some of Li Dasheng’s previous include having a drilling machine drill into his temple and ripping apart a metal basin, with his bare hands.

Photos by QUIRKY CHINA via Telegraph.co.uk

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Hemophilia is a serious condition,and over 2,000 Romanians suffer from it. To draw some attention to the hardships the 2,000 Romanians suffering from this disease, have to go through every day, the Romanian Association for the Problems of Hemophilia colored the water fountains, in the center of Bucharest, bloody red.

Passers-by did in fact notice the red water flowing in the fountains, but it’s going to take a lot more than this to inspire them to help hemophilia victims.

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Not long ago, scientists considered the capacity to create art one of the major differences that separates man from animals. But that was only because no animal ever had the chance to use a paintbrush. The animal kingdom has plenty of artists  more than capable of handling a paintbrush, and these seven examples are undeniable proof:

The Painting Elephants of Thailand

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Greenpeace activists are going to fall in love with the genius invention of Li Fan : curtains made of living plants.

Chinese inventor, Li Fan, has come up with a brilliant way to support the environment, and help people say “adios” to cleaning and washing curtains. Her living curtains are actually self-sufficient plants, on a supporting mesh.

Li Fan’s curtains filter light, like regular curtains, but also suck all the impurities out of the air, and smell fresh all the time. Living plants curtains are the hottest thing in Beijing home-design, right now, and Li Fan says business is booming.

No word on whether these living plant curtains are available outside China, but I’m sure there are people out there willing to pay top dollar to green-up there homes.

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