Thai Artist Stages Modern Day Gold Rush

Acclaimed Thai artist Surasi Kusolwong is challenging art lovers to get down and dirty for the chance to get their hands on a real gold necklace.

Kusolwong’s latest art installation, called Sickness, is one big pile of colorful wool and yearn, but it contains precious treasures in the shape of gold necklaces planted by the artist himself. Lucky visitors at the Bangkok Art and Culture Center have the chance to get down on all four and look for one of the ten gold necklaces hidden withing the sea of thread waste. There is no info on how long a person is allowed to search for the precious necklaces worth hundreds of dollars, but I’m thinking it’s not a lot of time, considering only one of the ten necklaces has been found since the Sickness exhibition opened, on August 21. If someone manages to find one of the small treasures they are allowed to keep it.

Read More »

World’s First Pig Fat Museum Opens in Ukraine

Pig fat is considered a tasty treat in central and eastern European countries like Belarus, Russia or the Czech Republic, and the Ukraine has even opened a museum dedicated to it.

Known as salo in the Ukraine, this traditional food is often translated as ‘lard’ or ‘bacon’ in English, but there are some subtle differences between the three. Unlike lard, salo isn’t rendered, and unlike bacon, it contains little or no meat. Just like Coca Cola in America, the wurst in Germany, Ramen in Japan or oatmeal in England, salo is a big part of Ukrainian culture, so it’s only natural they honor it with its own museum. Located on Svobodi Avenue, in Lviv, the Salo Museum features all kinds of exhibits dedicated to the greasy delicacy.

Read More »

Summer Night Horror – Japan’s Creepy Yokai Monster Train

The Yokai Train is a somewhat scary summer attraction in Kyoto, Japan. One of the electrical trains is boarded by creepy monsters that try to scare children out of their wits.

If you were looking for a way to scare a spoiled brat into submission, look no further that the monster train of Kyoto, an eerie attraction where yokai (Japanese monsters) become real. For kids at least, because any grown-up can tell they’re actually actors wearing white kimonos and scary masks. The custom was introduced by the Keifuku Electric Railroad company, in 2007, and was so popular that it became an eagerly awaited yearly tradition.

Read More »

New York Steampunk Apartment Can Be Yours for $1,750,000

One of the coolest homes in new York City, film-maker Jeremy Noritz’s steampunk-themed apartment is now for sale for the “modest” price of $1,750,000.

It sounds like a lot of money, I know, but keep in mind this is the Big Apple and we’re not talking about your average apartment. Featuring a beautiful steampunk interior complete with submarine-style front door and colorful zeppelins flying down from the ceiling, this truly is a geek’s dream home. Noritz, and American film-maker, bought the open-space loft in 2006, for $1,3 million, and even though it was in good condition, it was just too conservative and compartmentalized for his taste. Inspired by steampunk design and photos of zeppelins, he set out to turn his pad into a unique experience for visitors and himself.

Read More »

The Creepy Taxidermy Creatures of Andrew Lancaster

Andrew Lancaster is a New Zealand taxidermist who has taken the art of stuffing animals to new heights by creating impossible hybrids like three-headed chickens of winged possums.

Lancaster has been creating his creepy creatures for about two years, but he began practicing taxidermy after he moved to New Zealand, from England, 14 years ago. After seeing heaps of dead animals on the side of the road , he thought to himself “what a waste”, and decided they were good material for his art. Now whenever he drives past roadkill, he backs up and puts in his his trunk. At home, he either puts them in the freezer, “right under the ice cream and vegetables” or on top of the hot water cylinder, to dry.

Read More »

Chinese Inventor Takes Off in Home-Made Flying Saucer

Shu Mansheng, a Chinese farmer with no mechanics or electronics educations has managed to pilot a flying saucer he himself built.

The simple fact that he only has a basic school education hasn’t stopped Shu Mansheng from fulfilling his dream of building his own flying machine. He taught himself everything he needed to know about mechanics and electronics and finally completed a successful flight in his own flying saucer. I say finally because this isn’t the first time the resourceful farmer tried his luck in aviation. Last year, on April 30, Shu completed his first home-made aircraft and though he managed to take it off the ground, he got injured on the second trial flight.

Read More »

Woman Converts Old Caboose into Comfy Home

When she bought a 1909 Soo Line caboose in 1975, Marcia Webber never thought she’d end up living in it full time, but she’s now happy to call this collector’s piece home.

Marcia and her husband bought the old caboose from the Turnerville Station, in Whippany, New Jersey, after responding to an ad in the Wall Street Journal that said “wooden cabooses for sale”. At first, the couple used it as a vacation home, but after a going through a divorce and losing her job, Marcia had to move into the caboose permanently. Electricity had been installed a few years back, but with no indoor plumbing and heating, going through the first winter was a pretty rough experience.

Read More »

Coolest Finds of the Week #6

Craziest Japanese Music Video (Youtube)

Scandybars: Candy Bars Cut in Half, Scanned (Scandybars)

10 Most Beautiful Urban Parks on Earth (Environmental Graffiti)

Eiffel Flower – Sunflower Soars to 23 Feet into the Air (Daily Mail)

Formula 1 Fan Gets Mercedes Bionic Hand (SWNS)

40,000 Watt Car Audio System Makes Girl’s Hair Go Crazy (Youtube)

German BOy Told to Clean Up Calls Cops over “Forced Labor” (MSN)

Real Fairy Captured in Mexico (AOL)

World’s Fastest Guitarist Pumps Out 600 Beats per Minute (Dvice)

Driving Motorized Beer Cooler Gets Australian Man DUI Charges (NBC)

 

Japanese Artist Creates Structures from 30,000 Post-Its

Japanese artist Yo Shimada, of tat-o architects, has created a series of fragile structures using thousands of brightly-colored post-its.

This isn’t the first time someone has used the good old post-it as an art medium, but it may well be the first time it serves as a building material. Aided by students from the Kyoto University of Art and Design, Yo Shimada painstakingly glued around 30,000 colored post-its to create building components which were later assembled to create a wall-like structure currently exhibited at the Gallery Artzone, in Kyoto.

Visitors were given the opportunity to engage in a dialogue with the post-it structure by writing their thoughts on post-its and sticking them to the facing gallery walls.

Read More »

New Yorkers Can Now Rent Backyards for $50 an Hour

If you’re living in a crammed New York apartment but always dreamed of relaxing in a green backyard complete with white picket fences and a barbecue, you’ll be glad to know backyards are now available for rent right in your own city.

The Participation Agency, a group that unites “brands and investors with creative ventures that shape and challenge the cultural landscape.” has come up with a brilliant business idea that allows New Yorkers to experience life in the suburbs by renting an urban backyard, for $50 and hour. For the eight million people living in New York finding an open space where they can chill out and relax can be a challenge, but thanks to the Timeshare Backyard concept, that’s about to change.

Read More »

Man Sleeps in Coffin to Honor His Dead Friend

Zelli Rossi, from Sao Paolo, Brazil, has been sleeping in a coffin for the last 23 years, as a way of honoring the memory of a friend who died in 1988.

The story of Zelli Rosi and his bizarre sleeping habit would have probably remained a family secret if his 14-year-old grandson hadn’t decided to write a story about it in the school newspaper. Apparently, he and a childhood friend once promised each other to buy the coffin of whoever of them died first. In 1983 he was involved in a serious car crash, and his good friend, who had heard rumors he had died, honored their agreement and bought a casket for Zelli. But he wasn’t really dead. A speeding car had crashed into him while he was sitting on his bike and he was hospitalized for four months. He tried to return the casket but his friend wouldn’t take it back, so he kept it in his home. Read More »

Meet Beau, the Canine Calculator

Beau the Labrador knows all the usual tricks like “sit”, “roll over”, but he prefers something a little more challenging like subtracting, dividing, multiplying. Yup, you guessed it, this pooch is a canine mathematician.

The 12-year-old black Labrador retriever is probably smarter than a lot of people when it comes to math, considering he can multiply, subtract and even bark the square root of some numbers. Vince Devlin, of the Missoulian, visited Beau at his summer retreat on Lake Flathead, Montana. He lives with his owner, Melissa Canady, in Augusta, Georgia, but during the hot summer months he spends his time with Melissa’s parents, Dave and Patti Madsen. Dave is actually the one who taught him everything he knows about math, after the man noticed he was brighter than the average puppy.

Read More »

The Awe-Inspiring Paper Sculptures of Allen and Patty Eckman

Allen and Patty Eckman create detailed cast paper sculptures inspired by Native American culture, using a special technique they themselves invented.

Allen Eckman took an interest in art and design after returning from Vietnam, where he served as a Sargent. He attended the Art Center College of Design, where he met Patty, who obviously shared his passion for the arts. They married, had kids and managed an advertising company in the Los Angeles area for about 12 years, after which they decided they had had enough of their stressful careers and agreed it was time for a fresh start in something they were truly passionate about, art.

Read More »

At Long Last – Underwear That Hides Your Beer Belly

Beer-mongers around the world, your prayers have finally been answered – English supermarket Asda has launched aspecial underwear that promises to sculpt your beer belly, tone your behind and hide love handles.

Called Manx, after the female underwear brand Spanx, this miracle undergarment will save you the effort of having to suck in your belly every time you go out. They may not be the sexiest underpants you’ve ever seen but if you’re not big on diets and exercising they may be the only way to get that streamlined silhouette you’ve always dreamed of.  Asda claims its specialists have been working on Manx underwear for an entire year, getting fabric percentages just right and adding control areas in problem areas.


Read More »

Beautiful Panographies by Mareen Fischinger

Panographies are wide-angle pictures composed of several individual photos manually stitched together. They give the impression one would get when looking around and putting the images together in his head.

Mareen Fischinger, a talented photographer from Dusseldorf, Germany, has come up with a technique that allows you to capture an entire scene, by assembling dozens of photos of that scene. Here’s how she does it: first she picks something interesting to photograph, than searches for the perfect spot to shoot from and doesn’t move from that position until the process is complete. Next she manually sets the white balance, focus, f-stop and shutter speed of the camera so that all the photos are identically exposed. Then she points and shoots, making sure she moves the camera lens to cover all positions. The more her shots overlap the easier it is to assemble her panography.


Read More »