The Duggar Familly reminds me of that Steve Martin movie, “Cheaper by the Dozen”. Only this is real life, which makes it less funny and a lot weirder.

Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar met in 1980 and got married in 1984. It would be 4 years until their first son, Joshua, was born. After that, they decided to use birth control, but Michelle became pregnant and suffered a miscarriage. It was then that they decided to stop using birth control methods and let God decide how many children they would have. So far they have 18 children, 10 boys and 8 girls.

The Duggars are conservative Baptists who raise their children with very little television and monitored internet access. They are educated at home and use a buddy system, in which an older sibling is assigned to a younger one, taking care of him.

The Duggar Familly has its own reality show, on TLC.

via Duggar Family

You have to be insane or bored out of your mind to cover an entire van with photo cameras, but Harold Blank thinks of it as art.

It all started one night in 1993, when Harold Blank had a dream where he covered his entire van with cameras. When he woke up he thought his dream was an epiphany so he went straight to the store and bought all the cheap cameras he could afford. Shortly after, the Camera Van was born.

Blank likes to drive around the cities and take photos of people. he believes when passers-by see his creation they are under the impression the cameras are all broken, so they act more loosely. That gives him a chance to take some great shots.

The front of the Camera Van is covered with all types of Polaroid cameras, the driver’s side is a mural made out of Kodak Instamatic cameras, the passenger’s side has 32-inch LCDs that look like negative frames. The back of the van has 2 LCDs of kids waving to passers-by while the word “SMILE” sits atop the car, constructed from Kodak point-and-shoot cameras.

Harold Blank’s official site could be harmful to your computer, according to Google, but you can check it out if you wish. I hear he has been driving his Camera Van through Mexico and South America and hasn’t updated his site in over 2 years.

via Trendhunter

Wataru Itou, a talented art student from Tokyo, spent 4 years of his life building this trully incredible paper castle.

Named Umi no Ue no Oshiro (A Castle on the Ocean), this paper craft castle features electric lights and even a moving train, made of paper. It is set on exhibit at Uminohotaru, a service area between Tokyo and Chiba Prefecture and you can check it out with Google Earth.

Whether you’re a fan of paper craft or not, you must admit this paper castle is wonderful work of art. The Japanese like to take their time (see the LEGO Yamato Warship), but at least they deliver.

via Tokyobling

Rosemarie Fiore is a very special artist who paints her masterpieces using fireworks.

Armed with gloves and a gas-mask, Rosemarie lights the fireworks and releases them on a smooth concrete surface, creating abstract paintings over 2 meters wide. Of course she wouldn’t be a true artist if she just watched them rolling around and just take credit for whatever traces they left.

Miss Fiore uses several techniques to control the fireworks, including covering them up with a bucket, to contain them, tying them to the end of  a pole and restraining them with rails. The different sizes and colors of the fireworks-circles are the result of different chemical compounds.

Photos by Rosemarie Fiore/BARCROFT MEDIA

via Telegraph.co.uk

Sharing your bed with common pets like cats or dogs is so last year. Right now it’s all about big cats, and lots of them.

Riana Van Nieuwenhuizen thought she should do her part in saving cheetahs from extinction, so she bought one back in 2006. The 46-year-old South African left her job at the department of justice and found some temporary employment on a game ranch, where she could raise Fiela.

Now, Riana runs Fiela Funds Cheetah Breeding Project, a non-profit that fights to ensure the survival of cheetahs in their own ecosystem. Along the way, she also took in another 10 big cats, with which she often shares her bed.

Her four cheetahs, five white lions and two tigers are a handful, but Riana loves every one of them and puts up with all their naughtiness. Her 2 dogs have also grown quite fond of the felines and don’t mind snuggling up to them.

Photos by John Liebenberg/BARCROFT MEDIA

via Daily Mail

If you’re going to ride ina sidecar why not make it a really cool sidecar?

I bet that’s what Francois Knorreck said to himself when he started working on this unique motorcycle-car, 10 years ago. That’s right it took him 10 years and $20,000 to complete this masterpiece he calls the Snaefell. He used a Laverda motorcycle and put together the car using whatever parts he got his hands on.

Great effort, this crazy project is right up there with the 1967 Mustang Trike.

via Dvice

Some of the ugliest dogs in the world gathered at the Sonoma-Marin Fair, California to compete for the title of World’s Ugliest Pedigree Dog.

Just like last year. the contest was dominated by a pure breed Chinese crested hairless. 15-year-old Miss Ellie has only a few of her back teeth left, cataracts in both eyes and her hairless body is covered with moles and pimples. Her dream is to travel the world and prove that ‘ugly’ is just a word and says nothing about her great personality.

Having been rescued herself, Miss Ellie hopes she can be a spokesmodel for not-so-cute rescue dogs. Along with the title of World’s Ugliest Pedigree Dog, Miss Ellie also received a big trophy and $1,000.

I wonder if, Gus, World’s Ugliest Dog 2008 competed this year, he was a great deal uglier than Miss Ellie.

via Daily Mail

Chinese man stages what could be considered as the most romantic wedding proposal of all time.

Mr. Tian, from the city of Jinan, China used 9,999 roses to propose to his girlfriend, Ms. Liu. Don’t laugh, we only know their surnames. Anyway, Mr. Tian really planned this special marriage proposal to the smallest detail. He had a big rose-heart set-up in front of the hotel him and Ms. Liu were staying and had all of his friends and hotel staff waiting for his girlfriend with a big bouquet of roses on every floor.

Meanwhile, back in their room, Tian got down on one knee and popped the question to his girlfriend. You can imagine what Ms. Liu’s answer was, right? But with so many people in on this, could she really have said no?

via People.com.cn

The most amazing thing about this house is, you guessed it, that it’s made entirely out of cloth. You’ve got cloth walls, cloth kitchen-wear, cloth light switches, even a cloth toilet. The down-side is, you guessed again, nothing is usable. I mean, imagine using that cloth crapper…You’d have to burn that sucker down, and sew yourself a new one, not very practical.

Useless as it may be, this cloth house is pretty cool to look at, and that’s what art is all about…I think.

via Cool Buzz

Canadian needle-worker, Joanna Lopianowski-Roberts, spent eight years making what could be considered the most amazing replica of the Sistine Chapel paintings.

Inspired by a magazine cut-out of the Sistine Chapel, stuck-up on her bathroom wall, Joana spent eight years knitting Michelangelo’s masterpiece. She says starting was the hardest part, because she just didn’t know where to begin.

To make sure her knitted work-of-art follows every detail of the original painting, Joanna made close-ups of every section of the artwork and even bought some books from Rome. After a total of 3,572 hours of work, Joana Lopianowski-Roberts created a perfect 40 inches by 80 inches replica of Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel.

Her knitted masterpiece now sits safely in Joana’s home, but the artist says she would consider selling it for the right price. I’m sure she already has plenty of offers. The old-ladies who knitted their village managed to sell their creations, so finding a buyer for this should be a breeze.

Photos by BARCROFT MEDIA

via Telegraph.co.uk

Developed by scientists from Waseda University, Kobian can show emotions, perform tasks and is could be the nurse of tomorrow.

Kobian can express seven human emotions using his entire body. To show happiness this amazing humanoid opens his mouth and eyes wide and raises his arms. When it is sad, Kobian closes its eyelids, bends forward a bit and brings one of its arms to the forehead.

Researchers first presented Kobian in 2008 but back then he could only express emotions using its head. Some people complained its reactions were hard to read, so they constructed a more expressive body. Now this amazing robot recognizes its environment and is able to perform tasks.

Designed to take care of the elderly, Kobian might just be the future of nursing.

Photos by AP

via Daily Mail

Remember He Ping Ping, currently the shortest man in the world? Well, you’ll soon forget all about him as he’ll be stripped of his title by Khagendra Thapa Magar.

Nicknamed “Little Buddha“, by his fellow Nepalese villagers, Khagendra Thapa Magar is just 4 months away from officially becoming the world’s shortest man.He will be turning 18 and the Guinness Book of Records will have to acknowledge him as the tiniest human on the planet.

Khagendra has become quite  a sensation in  Nepal and even India and even his country’s politicians are fighting to see him recognized as the world’s smallest man. He travels Nepal as part of a dancing group only to let people know he will soon be in the record books.

Otherwise a very healthy individual, Khagendra has a malfunctioning pituitary gland that caused him to grow very slowly. His parents admit they were ashamed to be seen with him in the beginning, but now they feel proud to be the parents of the shortest man in the world. Khagendra Thapa Magar measures just 2 feet, 5 inches less than He Ping Ping.

A big karate and dancing fan, the petite Nepalese said he can’t wait to officially receive his title and fullfil his dream of traveling to the USA, to show the western world his dancing and karate skills.

via Telegraph.co.uk

From Michael Salter, the styrofoam master who also created the famous Styrobot, comes the styrofoam Formula 1 race-car.

Definitely the best styrofoam work of art I’ve ever seen, this race-car replica looks just like the real thing, without the engine. But hell, if I had these baby in my yard, I’d just place a speaker under it and just record the sound of a Formula 1 race-car.

The brilliant Michael Salter presented his styrofoam Formula 1 race-car and a few other styrofoam creations at the Portland John Ross Plaza Studio, so be sure to check them out if you’re in the neighborhood.

via Gizmo Watch

It’s amazing what some people can do with something as plain as plywood.

This amazing Apache Helicopter model was created by Jasper Knight,  an artist from Sidney, Australia, who uses materials such as plywood, Perspex, cardboard and old traffic signs for his art. Knight’s plywood creation measures six meters in length, almost half the size of a real Apache Assault Helicopter.

via Coolbuzz

Times Square is one of the most crowded places on Earth, but that didn’t stop 200+ people from practicing yoga right in the middle of it.

On the morning of the Summer Solstice, on June 21, 2009 more than 200 yoga enthusiasts gathered in the “Crossroads of the World” for the seventh annual free yoga classes. Participants probably thought it would be  a challenge to achieve total peace and calmness in the center of Time Square.

I wonder if yoga granny took part in this unusual yoga session.

Photos by REUTERS/XINHUA

via People.com.cn