Forced by the downfall of the American housing market, Fred Milani had to put his backyard replica of the White House up for sale, for just $10 million.

American Iranian property developer, Fred Milani, says he doesn’t really want to sell his beloved replica of the iconic White House, but he has to. The mini-house is built in the backyard of his Atlanta residence and comes complete with its very own Oval Office and Lincoln Bedroom, as well as a backdoor pool.

If you’re expecting an interesting story about how Mr. Milani decided to have the White House replica built in his backyard, you’re in for a big disappointment. He just wanted a house and the architect just asked him “How about I build you the White House?”, he agreed and the rest is history.

The 16,500 square meter building was built seven years ago and has managed to split the neighborhood. There are those who feel lucky to be living next to such an impressive edifice, but most find it excessive and are annoyed by the high number of tourists flocking to their peaceful neighborhood to take pictures of the White House replica.

via Daily Mail

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Scarlett’s Magic, an 18-months-old F1 Savannah cat, is the new record holder for the world’s tallest domesticated feline, measuring 17.1 inches from shoulder to toe.

The adorable pet is also awaiting the result of a second nomination for the world’s longest cat,from the tip of the nose to the end of the tail, but for now she and her owner, Kim Droper, are more than happy with the Guinness World Record for the Tallest Cat.

Miss Droper, a passionate Savannah breeder, says Scarlett’s Magic and her kind are the smartest, most obedient cats a family could have. The breed is becoming more and more popular in California, thanks to their beauty and advanced learning capabilities.

Together with Ashera and Toygers, Savannah cats are as close as you can get to actually having a wild feline as a pet.

via Daily Mail

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Covered in around 200 swastika tattoos, ManWoman welcomes pilgrims to his Swastika Museum and tries to “detoxify” the hated symbol used by Hitler.

Born to a Polish immigrant mother, at the start of World War 2, ManWoman (Manny, for short) hated the swastika as much as any other westerner. But that all changed when he turned 27 and started having bizarre visions involving the symbol. During these mystical experiences, Manny appeared as a half-man half-woman (thus the weird name) surrounded by a white light that represented everything good: love, peace, god, eternity. An old man would appear and mark his neck and arms with swastikas, instructing him to reclaim the sacredness of the ancient symbol.

At the time he didn’t know much about the history of the swastika, just that it was a symbol of evil, used by the Nazis. After some thorough research he learned the crooked mark dates back to the year 4000 BC and was associated with many religions, including Buddhism, Hinduism and Judaism. The Sanskrit word “svastika” means “conducive to well being”.

That’s when re realized his destiny and started a quest to make the swastika known to the world as the sacred symbol it was before being tainted by Nazis. He got his first swastika tattoo in 1969 and, over the years, gathered an inked collection of over 200.

Although there are those knocking on his door, asking to see the Swastika Museum he set up in his own home, most people still feel uncomfortable around him, associating him with the terror of the Holocaust. He is aware the war to restore the sacredness of the swastika is far from over, but he presses on. Read More »

Aiming to become an ambassador for freaks all around the world, La Negra has experimented with tattoos, branding, scarification and body suspension.

Her adventure in the bizarre world of body modding began when La Negra was only 14 years old. She simply walked into a tattoo-shop, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and had a very common design needled on her right shoulder. Now, at 30, the Latin modding enthusiast is still experimenting and trying to push the envelope even further.

La Negra says having an idyllic childhood, in the Argentinian countryside and two encouraging parents are what pushed her to explore the limits of body enhancing. At 16 she took a break from modding to focus on school and dedicate herself to a steady relationship, but “when the simple, happy life wasn’t working anymore” she rediscovered her passion. She tried face piercing, branding and things just went on from there.

The horns she had implanted beneath the skin are her trademark, but La Negra plans to have them removed, so she can finally wear a hat or a wig, but plans on experimenting with other types of body modding, because the transmutation never ends.

If you want to know more about La Negra, check out this article on Bizarre Magazine. Read More »

It was bound to happen sooner or later, right? With plastic surgery becoming more and more popular, enhanced babes yearned for a chance to show off their improvements. And so, Miss Plastic Beauty Contest was born.

Miss Plastic, the world’s first “plastic” beauty contest, takes place in Hungary and any woman aged between 19 and 38 can participate. As long as she is a resident of Hungary and, more importantly, has at least one cosmetic surgery in her medical history. A boob job or facelift will do just fine.

Instead of focusing on looks, the judges pay a lot more attention to the sugeons’ work on the contestants. Both the contestants and the doctors who operated on them will be rewarded with valuable prizes.

The final of this very first edition of Miss Plastic takes place on October 9th. Below, I’ve posted photos of all 18 finalists that will be battling for the grand prize, a brand new apartment. Which one do you think deserves to win?

via Miss Plastic Hungary

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The Buffalo Fighting Festival is held annually, on the northern coast of Vietnam and draws huge crowds, eager to see a display of violence.

Buffalo owners train the peaceful creatures and even pray on the night before the festival, to ensure their beast is victorious. To the crowd’s disappointment the animals often do nothing more than look at each other and go about their business. On rare  occasions they cros their scythe like horns and push each other like sumo wrestlers.

The victorious buffalo is cheered by thousands of people, while its owner displays it for all to see and collects a prize of 40 million dong. But the winner has little time to enjoy his success, as both buffalos are sacrificed and their meat offered to the spectators. The owners are allowed to take a keepsake, like the animal’s head. Read More »

Two weeks after the Tokyo Gundam statue was dismantled, a new robot statue was unveiled in Kobe, Japan. This time it’s the Tetsujin 28-go aka Gigantor.

This mean looking machine was set up in Wakamatsu Park, Kobe and unlike the RX78 Gundam statue it will remain here permanently. The funds for the construction of Gigantor were not supplied by big-time corporations either. The approximately 1.5 million dollars were raised by local shop owners, in hope that it will bring commerce and people to Kobe.

The city of Kobe was seriously damaged by an earthquake, in 1995, and its population has decreased to around 80% of what it was before the cataclysm. Mitsuteru Yokoyama, a legendary manga artists, was born in Kobe and helped design Tetsujin 28-go.

via Mainichi

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Why spend your money on a boring apartment when you can live the rest of your life in a cool abandoned missile silo?

Bruce Townsley, a former social worker from Chicago, got the idea of turning a missile silo into a comfortable home in the mid ’80s, while watching the Johnny Carson Show. One of the guest had actually set up a home inside a nuclear missile base and Bruce just knew that’s he wanted for himself.

It wasn’t until 1997 that he actually got his hands on a missile silo, but since then he turned into real dream house. The living space is around 1,000 square feet and is basically a huge concrete bubble suspended from a central pole. He did a nice job decorating, but he also kept some of the old stuff around, like the massive blast doors.

the owner says his missile silo home couldn’t withstand a nuclear strike these days, but it handles the strong Texas storms just fine.

Head over to Wired for more info and pics on this truly unusual house.

Photos by Jim Merithew/Wired.com

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He Wenjun, an artist from China, was recognized by Guinness Book of Records for creating the world’s largest paintbrush.

The artist claims he used the tails of 300 horses to make the 12-foot brush, which weighs 115 lb and almost double that when it is soaked in ink. He Wenjun said it took him a year to make the brush and another year to learn how to control it.

The proud new Guinness record holder took part in a special exhibition in Nanchong, where he displayed his calligraphy talents, using the giant paintbrush.

Photos by CEN via Europics

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PC Case modding is really hot right now and modders are going out of their way trying to come up with the most original designs. The man behind this miniature room is definitely on the right track.

Featuring a sofa, armchairs, coffee table and even a working lamp, this miniature room seems created especially for the little guys in The Borrowers movie. And accessories like the gumball machine and the New York Times newspaper make it look like a real home. Let’s just hope he decides to keep the side panel open, or the inhabitants could melt to death.

It seems East-European modders are on a roll these days, you might remember other cool works like the Wall-e case mod or the Cooker Computer that also came from that area.

via Modding.ru

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If you thought nations like Luxembourg, Monaco or Lichtenstein were small, wait until you learn about the microscopic republic of Molossia.

It may have a surface of just half a hectare and look like any normal house hold in the American desert, but Molossia is a real country, with a leader and everything. The smallest country in the world is located near Dayton, Nevada and has been ruled for over 30 years, by President Kevin Baugh. But his great nation ( 2 sons and 3 dogs) has yet to file a complaint.

Molossia is the world’s smallest republic, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have laws. If you set foot on Molossian soil, you have to have your passport approved and stamped. The microscopic nation even has its own postal service, currency (made from poker chips), bottled water and the national dish is raw cookie dough.

Unlike other countries, Molossia has a simple, but well developed health-care system: every citizen can just go to the first-aid box and get whatever they need, for free.

Kevin Baugh, together with a friend came up with the idea of establishing their own micronation when they were teenagers, after watching The Mouse that Roared. Throughout the years Baugh even took his country to a “tongue-in-cheek” war with the neighboring microstate Mustachian, ruled by Sultan Ali-Ali Achsenfree, and won.

Molossia doesn’t pay American taxes and even wants to develop its own electric system to be even more independent.

Photos by CHRIS LOBINA/ REX FEATURES

via Telegraph.co.uk

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Fans of Battle Star Galactica are going to love this. A do-it-yourself Cylon Pumpkin is the perfect Halloween accessory for any fan of the series.

All you need to make your very own Cylon jack-o-lantern is a big, fat pumpkin and the new Larson Scanner kit. I’m sure you can find your own pumpkin, as for the kit, you can buy at from Evil Mad Scientist, for just $13.  That’s pocket change for a true Battle Star Galactica fan. Actually, that’s pocket change any way you look at it.

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That’s right, Berkeley Pit is one of the few places in the world where you have to pay to look at a giant pool of toxic waste.

Located in Butte, Montana, Berkeley Pit is a former open-pit copper mind turned weird tourist attraction. It’s one mile long over half a mile wide and 1780 feet deep, 900 of which are full of extremely toxic water. On the surface, the poison looks a lot like blood and is so saturated with copper, miners were able to harvest the metal directly from the water. From 13 million gallons of water, 400,000 pounds of copper were produced.

The acidic water includes chemicals like arsenic, cadmium, zinc or sulfuric acid and, if you were to drink some, it would corrode through your digestive system before getting a chance to poison you. In 1995 a flock of migrating geese landed on Berkeley Pit and never took flight again. A total of 342 carcasses were recovered. Since the incident a bird watch program was implemented.

But, interestingly enough, good things can come out of toxic waste. Scientists have discovered new types of bacteria that have adapted to the harsh conditions of Berkeley Pit, by producing highly toxic compounds that improve survivability. These chemicals have proven very resilient to cancer and further research is currently ongoing.

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An impressive replica of the original Batmobile has been turning heads on the streets of Sweden, recently.

Batman undoubtedly one of the most comic-book hero of all times and fans are always trying to find or build the coolest memorabilia. Not long ago we featured some photos of a home-built Batman Tumbler built from scratch and of a Tumbler built from a Go Kart. Now a Swedish dude apparently spent around one million dollars over 3-5 years to convert a 1973 Lincoln Continental into an awesome replica of the original Batmobile.

A result of over 20,000 hours of work, the Batmobile replica comes with voice recognition, DVD players, height adjustment, reversing cameras and other gadgets. It’s definitely one of the coolest Batmobile replicas I’ve seen.

via Like Cool

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Chinese create a giant flag of China made from thousands of red hot peppers and corn cobs.

These days, there is a nationwide celebration going on in China, with just a few hours left until the country’s 60th anniversary and its people are going out of their way to prove how much it means to them.

In the village of Daxinzhuang, a giant Chinese flag is spread all over the road side. Nothing odd about that, only it’s made from hot peppers and corn cobs. If Israel has the world’s biggest flag, I think it’s safe to say China now has the world’s spiciest.

via ImagineChina

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