Argungu fishing festival

Argungu is am important Nigerian cultural event, to which thousands of fishermen take part.

Argungu takes place in the North-Western Nigerian state of Kebbi, where an army of fishermen gather with one goal in mind, to catch the largest fish. So at the sound of a gun they all plunge into the muddy waters of the Matan Fada stream, in teams of two, one armed with two calabash (used for flotation and fish storage) and the other with two giant fish nets.

The Matan Fada may not be very impressive but it’s full of fish, because people come here to fish only once a year. After the one our time limit is over, the team who caught the largest fish is escorted by the sultans’s guards to present their prize to him. The winners receive a brand new bus as a prize as well as one million Naira (around $7500).

Nigeria hopes the Argungu fishing festival will soon become an important tourist attraction.

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Longest nails in the world

I wonder how this woman bathes, cooks or even wipe her own ass…

Lee Redmond holds the record in the Guinness Book of Records for longest fingernails on both hands. She lives in Salt Lake City, Utah and has been growing her nails ever since 1979. She is frequently referred to as The Queen of Long Nails and she has made appearances on CBS and Ripley’s Believe It Or Not Museum.

Although she had planned to cut her nails on November 22 2006, so she could better tend to her husband, who suffers from Alzheymer‘s, she ultimately decided to keep growing them.

Both her hands’ fingernails add up to a staggering 7 meters and 51.3 centimeters.

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Harbin Snow Sculpture Festival

I have to be honest and start by saying I’m a huge fan of winter and all that it implies, snow, ice, cold weather, the whole enchilada, so I guess I was a little subjective in picking this piece over others. But even you sun worshipers have to admit that these snow sculptures, especially the castles are simply amazing.

These were all sculpted in blocks of snow and ice, during the Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival, in China by the most talented sculptures in the world. The festival dates back to 1963 and is one of the four largest ice and snow festivals, along with along with Japan’s Sapporo Snow Festival, Canada’s Quebec City Winter Carnival, and Norway’s Ski Festival.

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Sindi, the juggling dog

I’ve seen dogs pull off amazing tricks but one that can actually balance tea cups on its paws is definitely something new. Sindi is an 8 year old Cocker Spaniel from England that could easily be working in a bar or caffe, she could carry the coffees on its paws and the spoons in her mouth.

Blue building of Rotterdam

I guess the Dutch have a thing for colorful infrastructure, because the famous Yellow Brick Road is also found in Holland.

This blue building is set in the Delfshaven district, in Rotterdam and it used to be one of the towns least interesting buildings and one of the most unnoticed by the public. The administration asked an artistic firm to freshen the place up, or it would be demolished. They chose to paint the place blue and the deal with the neighborhood is that it will stay this way until the community comes up with a new plan for the area.

Funniest thing is the blue building has become the most photographed building in Rotterdam. That’s how important 2 layers of paint can be.

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3,2,1 launch piglet!

This is apparently how they used to test new inventions in the Soviet Union during the 50s and 60s (at least that’s when these photos are taken). In this experiment they got that little pig drunk by forcing it to drink wine (Kagor, maybe you heard of it) and launching it into the air using some kind of giant mortar cannon. Some of you might find it funny, but I just think it’s cruel.

I guess animal cruelty and animal testing are old issues that aren’t going away anytime soon…

Yellow Brick Road

The city of Schiedam was and remains to this day, the poorest city in the Netherlands and the Yellow Brick Road, that connects the center of the city to the new train station, is not only meant to make the city more beautiful, but also to symbolize the road to prosperity and success. Yellow Brick Road also has a shine that resembles that of gold.

Night sky of the underground

If you’re ever in New Zealand, don’t miss out the chance to visit Waitomo cave, the only place on Earth where the stars shine underground. Well ok, they’re not really stars, but thousands of glow-worms radiating their unmistakable luminescent light.

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The Banana Wall

How many bananas does it take to make a work of art? According to graphic designer, Stefan Sagmeister, the answer is 7200. He has a wall of 7200 stacked bananas on display in New York City, at 76 Grand Street, along with many other of his masterpieces, but if you are considering going to see it live, I suggest you hurry, I don’t even want to imagine what it’s going to smell like on February 23rd, when the exhibition closes, those bananas look a little too ripe.

Here are some photos if you can’t go and see it live:

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