Stop! Don’t even think about screaming “Photoshopped!” because Mike Libby’s Insect Lab is 100% real. And so are his incredible Steampunk insects.

Mike began his unusual project on a day like any other, when he found an intact dead beetle. Thinking about how the little bug functioned as a mechanical device, he remembered he had also found an old wristwatch and decided to combine the two. After dissecting the beetle and mounting the mechanical parts, he realized he quite liked his new craft and decided to stick to it.

Now Mike Libby creates all kinds of Steampunk insects, from scorpions to ordinary beetles and dragonflies. He only works with non-endangered species from all around the world, fitting them with mechanisms from antique watches as well as old typewriter and sewing-machine parts.

Check out Mike Libby’s Insect Lab and feel free to email him if you want to purchase any of his Steampunk wonders or place a special order.

Read More »

I’m a big Merc fan myself, and the SL600 is definitely on my “to get list”, but this Swarovski-covered neck-twister is not my style.

But, apparently, most Mercedes fans are crazy about Swarovski crystals and it was once again proven at the 2010 Tokyo Auto Salon, where the sparkling SL600, covered with 300,000 Swarovski crystals, stole the show.

Created by Garson/D.A.D, a popular car accessory company, the two Sworovski SL600 made their second appearance at the annual auto show in Tokyo, after they were first introduced last year. They were still the stars of the show, though.

via AsiaOne

Read More »

One of the most popular tourist destinations in Switzerland, the open air Ice-Palace features an impressive collection of castles, towers and grottoes made of ice.

The Ice Palace (Eispaläste) is located in the middle of a forest, near Black Lake, in western Switzerland. Designed by Karl Neuhaus, a talented ice sculptor, the Ice Palace celebrates its 23rd exhibition. The cold climate in the Freibourg area can only sustain this frozen masterpiece for around three months, from Christmas until early March.

The best time to visit the Swiss Ice Palace is after sundown, when all the structures and sculptures are illuminated with colorful lights. It’s a truly memorable sights that attracts thousands of tourists every year.

Read More »

British artist Adam Sheldon recreated Jesus’ crucifixion using some pieces of burned toast and a scraping knife. His work of art is now on display at the Anglican Church of St Peter, in Lincs.

33-year-old Adam Sheldon took on the project at the request of his mother, who worships at St. Peter’s Church. Before starting work on his 1.8 ,meters long, 1.1 meters wide masterpiece, Adam scraped the Last Supper on three pieces of toast, to perfect his technique.

He used a regular toaster to burn the pieces of bread, then dried and flattened them so they would fit in a giant frame. Using a scraping knife he managed to create the lighter parts of the artwork, and darkened the background with a blowtorch.

At first, the reverend and parishioners were stunned by Sheldon’s creation, because they didn’t expect something this…original, but now they’re thrilled to have such art on the walls of their church. The artwork was so skillfully scraped, some believed it was actually painted on tiles, before realizing the tiles are really pieces of bread.

The toast crucifixion of Jesus will be on display at the Anglican Church of Saint Peter until January 30, if the rats don’t get to it by then.

Read More »

Every year on January 17,the people of San Bartolome de Pinares celebrate St. Anthony by riding their horses, donkeys and mules through piles of burning tree branches.

The unique tradition of leaping over and through flames dates back 500 years, but the men and women of San Bartolome de Pinares still celebrate it religiously. They gather all the branches they find in the days leading up to the festivities, and when dusk falls on the eve of Saint Anthony’s, they light them ablaze. Riders lead their mounts through the burning piles of the village, accompanied by sounds of drums and Spanish bagpipes.

Jumping through the flames is said to bring the animals the protection of St. Anthony Abad, acknowledged as the patron of domestic animals, ever since the Middle-Ages. Locals believe the fire purifies their animals and protects them against illnesses, all year long.

Animal rights activists don’t buy the whole purification deal, but in a country like Spain, where traditions like bullfighting, Shearing of the Beasts or Day of the Geese, they don’t have too many hopes of putting an end to it. Plus, the owners say their animals remain unharmed…

Read More »

The folk art of Temari Balls began in China, but it was introduced in Japan roughly 600 years ago, where it flourished and evolved into a true art-form.

Legend has it, the first Japanese Temari Balls were made from old kimono threads, by mothers who wanted to make their kids something to play with. Silk strings would be wadded up to for a ball that would be wrapped in layers of string. In time, Temari makers started making intricate patterns and Temari slowly turned from a toy into a form of artistic expression.

Traditionally, Temari balls are given to children on New Year’s Eve, by their mothers. Inside the balls, women would put a small piece of paper with a written wish for the child. Since the kid could never find out what the wish was without him destroying the toy, the wish had a greater chance of coming true.

Also known as “gotenmari”, some Temari Balls have a variety of noise-makers inside, to make them more fun. They can be used in handball games and it is said the old Temari Balls were so tightly wrapped, they would bounce.

Read More »

Located inside the Olympic Stadium, in Beijing, the World Chocolate Dream Park is an Asian version of Willie Wonka’s Chocolate Factory, in real life.

Announced last year, as a way of pleasing the increasing number of Chinese chocoholics, the World Chocolate Dream Park is finally open to the public. As promised, the chocolate theme-park features a number of China’s historical and cultural symbols, including a 12-meter-long  chocolate replica of the Great Wall, an army of 560 terracotta soldiers of Emperor Qingshihuang made of chocolate, and a traditional Chinese painting of Panorama Along the Upper River During the Qingming Festival, in original size.

The chocolate terracotta army was announced as life-size, back in 2009, but the miniatures aren’t too shabby. According to a Chinese official, many European chocolate makers wanted in on the project, considering it’s a great way to advertise chocolate to a huge market that’s just discovering it.

Photos via Xinhua

Read More »

Stuart Haygarth uses thousands of spectacles and eyeglass lenses to create impressive-looking chandeliers.

The tiered chandelier made my Haygarth is called Spectacle and is made out of 1,020 spectacles attached to an acrylic frame. The artist believes using spectacles, tools once used for seeing, draws an analogy between their old purpose and the new one.

Optical is another chandelier by Stuart Haygarth, made from 4,500 spectacle lenses hanging on a monofilament line.

Stuart Haygarth via VeryVeryFun

Read More »

Over 650 unicyclists from 23 countries, and even more spectators gathered in Wellington, New Zealand, for the 15th 15th International Unicycle World Championships and Convention (UNICON XV).

UNICON is held every two years and welcomes anyone who can ride a one wheeled-bicycle. This year, the 10 day event took place between December 27, 2009 and January 7 2010 and hosted  all sorts of fun competition, performed on unicycles, of course. There were 30 different events, of which the most interesting were MUni (mountain-uni-cycling), Road Racing, Track and Field, Unicycle Hockey and Unicycle Basketball.

Yup, basketball and hockey played while riding a unicycle. Maybe you’ve seen this kind of display before, but it’s definitely new to me. I found some photos from UNICON 2010 and added a couple of videos, so you can better understand the game.

I guess these fall in the same weird category as underwater rugby.

Read More »

Ah, these knitted artworks take me back to my high-school biology classes. Come to think of it, these memories are kind of gross…

The Crafty Hedgehog,  a skilled knitting artist, decided to immortalize one of the most exciting moments in the life of a high-school student, the dissection of a frog or rat. Entitled “Knitting in Biology 101”, his project depicts dissected animals, made out of wool and pinned to a dissecting tray of a cork frame. They’re not glued,so you can pick them up and examine the work on both sides.

You’ll be glad to know The Crafty Hedgehog has taken his knitting art even further and is now making “dissecting” fetal pigs and even…the Easter Bunny. If you like this sort of thing, you can order one via The Crafty Hedgehog’s profile on Etsy.

via worldfamousdesignjunkies

Read More »

Around 3,000 people stripped down to their underwear, on Sunday, for the 9th annual No Pants Subway Ride.

Started in 2002, with just seven participants, the No Pants Subway Ride has turned into an international tradition. This year, people from 43 cities, in 16 countries joined their New York peers and boarded the subway in their undies.

Some participants to the New York event were met by protesters carrying banners and asking people not to strip, but the joy of the strippers quickly convinced the protesters to take of their pants and join the party. Wearing all kinds of underpants, from bikinis to male thongs, commuters braved the cold and spent No Pants Subway Ride 2010 talking or reading magazines, like they normally do.

No Pants Subway Ride was initiated by Improv Everywhere, an organization that made it its mission to create “scenes of chaos and joy in public places.”

[Photo Credits]

[Photo Credits]

[Photo Credits]

[Photo Credits]

[Photo Credits]

Just months after Lebanon set the record for the world’s biggest hummus dish, chefs from the Arab-Israeli village of Abu-Gosh snatched it away with an even greater achievement.

On Friday, fifty cooks mashed up ridiculous quantities of chickpeas, sesame paste, olive oil, lemon juice and garlic and created the world’s largest hummus dish ever, weighing over 4 tons (4,087,5 kg). It was put on display outside the Abu-Gosh Restaurant, on a 20-meter satellite dish, provided by sponsors.

When Guinness official Jack Brookbank acknowledged the new world record and applauded the chefs for not sacrificing quality over quantity,  Jawadat Ibrahim, organizer of the event and owner of the Abu-Gosh Restaurant, shouted that Abu-Gosh is the hummus capital of the world. Clearly taunting words meant for Lebanese chefs, who will most certainly respond with an even bigger hummus dish.

The hummus wars have been raging on between Middle-Eastern countries for a while now, with many of them claiming the tasty dish as a national delicacy. The origins of one of the world’s oldest culinary treats are lost in time, but when has that stopped people from fighting over stuff…

Read More »

The Bulgarian men of Kalofer celebrate Epiphany, an important Orthodox holiday, by performing a traditional dance in the freezing waters of Tundzha river.

On January 6, the small town of Kalofer, located 200 km east of the Bulgarian capital of Sofia, was the scene of an unique event. The men dressed in traditional costumes and, carrying national flags, headed for the neighboring Tundzha river. Here they entered its freezing waters and performed the customary Horo dance.

During the Epiphany ceremony, an Orthodox priest throws a metal cross in the water and young men plunge in to retrieve it. Whoever finds it first is said to stay in perfect health throughout the entire year. After a swim like this, I have my doubts…

Read More »

That’s right, at Ansan military camp for children it doesn’t matter if you’re a boy or a girl, they’ll make a manly man out of you.

Located about 25 miles from the capital of Seoul, the Ansan military camp gives civilians the chance to strengthen their minds and bodies, by training in extreme conditions. The camp is ran by retired Korean marines who don’t care if you’re in primary school or in college, they’ll have you carrying logs and exercising half naked in the snow.

You can choose to withstand the torture training at Ansan camp for periods ranging between three and fourteen days, depending on how tough you think you are. Check out some more photos of children training at Ansan, we posted a while back.

Photos by REUTERS via Telegraph.co.uk

Read More »

Better get a napkin and wipe the drool off the corners of your mouth, or you’re going to need a new keyboard.

In a tasty effort to remind people of how important drinking milk (especially vitamin-D fortified milk) is during the winter months, the American Dairy Association and Dairy Council heated up the world’s largest cup of hot chocolate, in Bryant Park, New York.

The giant mug was filled with 487 gallons of hot chocolate, covered with bags of marshmallows and heated to a perfect temperature of 120 degrees. Between 6,000 and 10,000 cups of delicious hot chocolate were distributed to passers-by, for free.

It seems hot chocolate is one of the best ways to stock up on vitamin-D, during winter. Who knew?

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a keyboard to clean.

via Blisstree

Read More »