The Knitted Village

These lovely old ladies have spent a long time knitting their classic British village of Mersham.

It all started 23 years ago when the 12 women were reading an article in Women’s Weekly about another group of women who had accomplished a similar feat. They said to themselves ‘we should give it a whirl’, but had no idea it would become such an important part of their lives.

These knitted masterpieces might not look like much to the untrained eye, but all the buildings are knitted to scale and took thousand of hours to complete. When it was finished, the knitted village was presented at craft fairs and raised 10,000 pounds for the Mersham village hall fund. This Saturday, it will be up for sale in the Mersham Hall. With the media coverage this fabric work of art has received so far, I’m pretty sure there will be plenty of buyers present in the Kent village.

I dare say the knitted village looks even better than the very original knitted bike

via Daily Mail

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Japanese Pregnant Doll

And I thought pregnant Trash Talkin’ Turleen was disgusting.

The pregnant doll and the models of human fetuses in different stages of development, were very popular items in 19th century Japan. They were part of educational and entertaining sideshows in Edo (present day Tokyo). The pregnant doll was originally created to teach midwives about giving birth, but the sideshows also attracted other people, curious about the human body.

In 1877, a hospital doctor showed off an elaborate set of models depicting various stages of fetal development. It was a big hit.

Source: Geijutsu Shincho Magazine via Pink tentacle

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World’s Smallest Fast-Food Meal

And here I though the normal McDonald’s hamburger was small. This thing isn’t even big enough for a smurf.

I can understand why people would go out of their way to cook the world’s biggest hamburger, but the smallest? You don’t even get a nice, filling dinner out of it. But, as an artistic achievement, I guess it deserves some praise.

via Daily Cognition

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Kodinhi – The Village of Twins

With 250 registered pairs of twins, the Indian village of Kodinhi, in Kerala, has six times more twins born than the world average.

Dr. Krishnan Sribiju has been studying the odd twin phenomenon in Kodhini, for the last six years and says that although 250 pairs have been registered, there may be up to 300-350 sets of twins. Villagers say an unusually high number of twins started being born three generations ago, and it’s been rising ever since.

Because the twins don’t present any deformities, Dr. Sribiju says the twin phenomenon isn’t caused by some pollutant, but by something the villagers of Kodinhi eat and drink. If that proves to be true, this magic element could turn into the next treatment for infertile couples.

via Telegraph.co.uk

Photos by Niklas Halle’n/BARCROFT MEDIA

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Famous Pizza Faces

With the help of professional food-artist Prudence Staite, the Daily Mail presented a tribute to various international celebrities, engraving their faces in pizza. Using tomatoes, cheese and other popular toppings, Prudence Staite created true edible masterpieces.

via Daily Mail

Marilyn Monroe  / Elvis Presley

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Elton John /                                                 Simon Cowell

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The Queen /                                              Camilla Parker Bowles

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Barack Obama /                            Victoria Beckham

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Margaret Thatcher /                         Tony Blair

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Today’s Generation in Porcelain

Barnaby Barford is a British artist who takes both mass-produced and antique porcelain statuettes and reshapes them into sinister figurines representing the world of today.

Mister Barford says his most recent collection is called ‘The Good, The Bad and The Belle‘, and represents how the today’s youth is perceived by older generations. The pieces depict scenes of teen violence, our fascination with junk food, graffiti artists, and each has a witty name.

via Telegraph.co.uk

Photos by NOAH COSTA/STOLENTNEWS.BIZ

‘Do It Again, I Didn’t Press Record’

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‘Happy Meal’

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‘Ring-a-Ring-a-Roses’

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‘Always The Best Way To Earn Your Wings’

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‘Wonderland?! What F*****g Postcode’s That?…’

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‘Family Feast’

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‘Cry Havoc And Let Slip The Dogs Of War’

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Donkey Basketball – Cruel Sport or Just Plain Fun?

Invented during the 1930s as a cheap form of recession entertainment, donkey basketball remains a popular sport in midwest America.

Basically, the tow four-player teams have to shoot hoops while riding on the donkeys. The animals often just lay down, crushed by the players’ weight and, in these situations, competitors are allowed to dismount and drag the donkey to the hoop. Donkeys can carry up to 68kg, but many of the donkey basketball players weigh considerably more.

This unusual sport is played mostly in school gyms, by school staff and local celebrities. PETA has denounced donkey basketball as animal cruelty, but the folks in Iowa, where these pics were taken, say they don’t pay much attention to that. ‘We’re just a bunch of good ol’ boys and farmers down here in rural Iowa, so we’re not worried about PETA.’ said Angela Stufflebeam, event organizer.

Before the beginning of a donkey basketball match, an announcement is made, saying the animals are treated humanely. But protesters say the donkeys are starved so they don’t defecate during the match, they are often kicked, pulled by their tails and ears, and get stressed by the chaotic atmosphere.

Donkey basketball has been banned in Portland, Oregon, Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania, but it’s still thriving in Iowa.

I say this is just as bad as riding ponies on thin ice.

via Daily Mail

Photos by The Associated Press

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Volcano Surfing in Nicaragua

Thrill-seekers have a new reason to be happy. Volcano-surfing, a new kind of extreme sport, is growing more and more popular.

Phillip Southan is the young owner of Green Pathways Tour, the company that organizes volcano surfing sessions on Cerro Negro, one of Nicaragua’s most active and dangerous volcanoes.

Dressed in protective gear, adrenalin-junkies climb 726 meters up Cerro Negro and slide down on specially-built plywood boards. Southan admits there is a chance the young volcano could erupt, but says the biggest danger is the volcano surfers might fall off the board and injure themselves.

The volcano surfing tour has only been around for 4 years, but 10, 000 people have already participated.

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via Telegraph.co.uk

The Heidelberg Project

The Heidelberg Project began in 1986 when Tyree Guyton and his grandfather Sam Mackey started painting houses in Detroit’s McDougall-Hunt neighborhood, which began to fall apart after the riots of 1967.

Guyton and Mackey painted the abandoned houses in bright colors and decorated them with salvaged items, similar to those used by Bogdan Litniansky for his trash house and garden, transforming it from one of the city’s most dangerous places, into a regular local attraction. The Heidelberg Project attracts over 270,000 tourists every year, making it one of Detroit’s most popular tourist destination.

The Heidelberg outdoor art environment project faced demolition twice since it was started, but Tyree Guyton and his supporters filed a civil lawsuit against the city of Detroit and managed to protect it. This year The Heidelberg Project celebrates its 23rd anniversary.

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Tim Burke’s studio gallery – Detroit Industrial Gallery

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The Heidelberg Project official site

50-year-old Barbie Gets Tattoos

The world’s most popular doll just turned 50 and celebrated her birthday by getting a few trendy tattoos.

Little by little Barbie is turning into Trash Talkin’ Turleen, one of the trashiest dolls ever. Mattel launched the newest Barbie with a tattoo gun and a collection of about 40 temporary tattoos, for girls to apply on their doll. Soon, we’re bound to see piercing Barbie, or pot-smoking Barbie sitting on retailer shelves.

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via Daily Mail

Tasty Edible Slippers

I always say true artists can make something beautiful out of anything, and these slipper-sandwiches are a perfect example. Food-art is one of my personal favorites, since I like art and love to eat, so you can imagine how happy I was when I stumbled over these pics.

Take a look, but be careful, they cause mouth-wattering!

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via mimibazar.cz

The Talented Showjumping Bunnies.

Sure, rabbits hop all the time, but not many do it over miniature fences, like showjumping horses.

15-year-old Matthew and Thomas Haslam are the proud owners and trainers of some of the smartest pets in Britain. Bubbles and Lilac are two of the twenty rabbits that like to jump over small fences, in the boys’ backyard. These two have shown particular skill and have participated in the Ultimate Pet Show, between the 2nd-4th May.

The two boys suffer from Asperger’s Syndrome, a sort of Autism and spending up to seven hours a day, for the last nine years, playing with rabbits has really helped them a greatr deal.

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via Daily Mail

The Adorable Honduran White Bats

Yes, you read right, some bats really are adorable. The tiny White Bats of Honduras are among the cutest rodents on Earth.

Also known as Ectophylla Alba, the Honduran White Bats are only 37-47mm long and can be found in Central America and The Caribbean. They cut the side veins of the Heliconia plant leaves causing them to fold into a protective tent. The small bats live in colonies of up to six individuals, one mail and a harem of females.

The natural tent protects the White Bats from rain and predators and they only take flight when their home is no longer safe.

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Shrek and Fiona in Real Life

Everybody knows the popular animation movie Shrek has a large fan-base, but some of those fans go as far as to get married dressed as their favorite characters.

British nurse Christine England and her fiance Keith got married last month, wearing the costumes of Fiona and Shrek. They spent over three hours putting on the costumes and green make-up, but it was worth it, since it was a wedding neither of them will forget.

Christine tried to get her 18 years old son to dress-up like Donkey, but “he wasn’t having any of it”. The 100 guests attending the wedding were also dressed in funky, fairytale costumes.

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via Daily Mail

The Train-Bar of Brno

Who new toy-trains could be so useful.

These photos were taken in a bar somewhere in Brno, the Czech Republic. It might look like a nice decorative addition, but that train has a very specific purpose. Its rail passes through the bar, stops at customer tables, taking their orders. Then it goes back to the bartender, who sends the drinks in the train carts.

It’s a very ingenious system that spares the customers the trouble of having to tip the waitress. I wonder how quick it is though, do the customers have to wait a long time for the toy-train to bring them their drinks?

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