I know it clearly says “robot” in the title, but there’s hardly anything robotic about Mitzy. She does look incredibly cute, though.
Designed and built by Will Wagenaar, mostly out of recycled metal parts, Mitzy has an antique camera and binoculars as a head, rusty wheels and a spring tail that actually wags if you flick it. As I said, of you’re looking for a high-tech robot dog, Mitzy is not for you, but if it’s a Steampunk dog you’re after, you won’t find a better one.
via Etsy
Sure, they’re not exactly members of the Balsoi ballet, but you have to admit fat guys never looked better in a tutu.
In an effort to raise awareness to the protection of Pinglu Wetlands, five Chinese members of the workers’ union dressed in ballet costumes and danced gracefully in front of the cameras. I have to say they picked a wacky way to protest against pollution, but hey, whatever gets people’s attention to the environment issue, right?
Here are the chubby performers:
Boxing in the hockey ring seems dangerous enough, but the Chinese take it one step further.
Wearing nothing but a pair of shorts and sneakers, a group of winter swimmers entertained passers-by during a series of boxing matches performed on a block of floating ice. Held in Harbin City, the wacky competition had contestants punch each other with over sized boxing gloves while struggling to keep their balance on the slippery ice.
One of the ice boxers lost his temper when the referee tried to stop him from hitting his downed opponent and knocked the “official” in the ice-cold water surrounding the ring.
It’s a crazy event, but the Chinese don’t even come close to the neon-fighting Japanese.
via ImagineChina
If you’re looking to surprise your friends and family this holiday season, then the apple-turned-wine-glass is just what you’re looking for.
I know this isn’t exactly an oddity, but I thought the idea was very cool and thought some of you guys would love it too. All you need to make yourself a totally edible glass is a nice green apple,a cinnamon stick and some hot caramel. You can find detailed instructions on Instructables, but basically it comes down to carving the apple, gluing the cinnamon stick and insulating the inside of the apple with some hot caramel, to prevent leakage. And there you have it, your own apple-glass.
Pretty cool, huh?
Named after Yama, the Tibetan God of Death, this bizarre camera was created using a real human skull, blessed by a Tibetan Lama.
Designed and built by Wayne Martin Belger “for the study of exodus and for the research of modern incarnations of historical iconic figures”, Yama looks nothing like a photo camera, but, according to the info on Boy of Blue Industries, it actually has a film loading system, so it must take photos.
Yama is made from aluminum, titanium, copper, brass, bronze steel, silver, gold and mercury and is studded with Asian and American turquoise, 4 sapphires, 9 opals and 3 rubies (the biggest one costs $5,000). With all the digital cameras on the market today, Yama can’t target the title of best photo camera, but it stands a shot as the world’s scariest camera.
All Peter Callesen needs to create his amazing artworks is a sheet of paper, glue and a sharp scalpel. Oh, and that special ingredient that makes it impossible for the rest of us, talent.
Peter creates his signature paper sculptures by cutting intricate patterns into a piece of paper and folding the cutouts into incredible shapes. But don’t think this kind of job is easy! The artist spends up to two weeks drawing the patterns, cutting and folding them. One shake of his hand and it’s literally right back to the drawing board.
His favorite work material is A4 paper, because he believes people can relate to it, since most of them use it on a daily basis. You might think a sheet of A4 paper is worth just a few cents, but after Peter Callesen is done with it, it will probably sell for about $4,000.
Oh yeah, if you love paper craft, then you’re going to love this awesome paper castle.
via Daily Mail
Talk about a cool way to ruin a perfectly good Xbox 360 Elite and make a profit. Although I have to say the end result does look like a creature form a horror movie.
Kenny Irwin is a an American artist who microwaves stuff, using the AMIR 9000 microwaving robot, to create weird-looking art pieces. In the past he’s been known to nuke a fully functional Nintendo wii and now he’s done it again using Microsoft’s console.
Except for the creepy prosthetic eyes that the artist applied himself, it’s all 100% microwaved Xbox 360 Elite and it can be yours for the symbolic price of $31,002! That’s right folks, $31 K for a broken gaming system, but at least you’ll be the proud owner of the world’s only microwaved Microsoft Xbox 360 Elite. Now this is what I call a bargain!
If your favorite doll suffered serious damaged that you can’t fix yourself, jump on a plane to Lisbon and take it to the Doll Hospital. They’ll fix it right up.
Located in Figueira Square, Lisbon, the Doll Hospital has been “treating” dolls since 1830 and it’s not going to go out of business anytime soon. Equipped with an emergency and operating rooms, this bizarre establishment has experienced doll doctors and a wide range of spare parts, in case you’re doll needs something replaced.
If people ever stop having their dolls repaired, the Doll Hospital of Lisbon will donate its entire collection of abandoned dolls and spare parts to a local museum. I’m sure they’d fit better on The Island of the Dolls, but…
Photos by REUTERS
via Xinhua
Using only a plasma-cutter, Cal Lane turns ordinary steel objects into intricate works of art.
She started out as a a hairdresser,toying with people’s hair, but she always felt more comfortable holding a blowtorch in her hand, rather than scissors, so she decided to mix her two vocations into her art. Now Cal Lane is an established artist who’s art reflects the contrast between the industrial and the fancy.
Miss Lane specializes in cutting intricate patterns in steel objects like barrels, wheelbarrows and shovels. She says she enjoys making art-pieces out of objects people normally ignore. Visit her official website for more of her amazing work.
You didn’t think these adorable purring fur-balls were going to stand by and let dogs show off their yoga moves without proving their own flexibility, did you?
Two months ago Dan and Alejandra Borris presented the amazing Yoga Dogs Calendar and now they’re blowing the minds of animal lovers everywhere, with the 2010 Yoga Cats Calendar. Alejandra, a former yoga teacher, borrowed her neighbors’ cats and coaxed them in yoga-like positions while her husband took the photos.
Because they didn’t want to force the cats into anatomically-impossible positions, the couple got them as close as they could get to the desired positions and then Dan used his Photoshop skills to get the right effect.
Have a look at the entire Yoga Cats and Yoga Dogs Calendars on their official site.
via Daily Mail
Guido Mocafico, a Swiss artist of Italian descent, uses one of the most feared creatures on Earth to create beautiful art.
Out of 2,700 species of snakes, just few are dangerous to man and Guido Mocafico used them in his art to show there is a less frightening side to snakes. Take a look at his amazing coiled-snakes artworks and know they can be purchased from Steidlville.com
Heineken has unveiled its original Christmas tree, made out of 1,100 FULL beer bottles, in Shanghai, China.
Created by stacking Heineken beer bottles on a custom-made armature, the beer-bottle Christmas tree has Nanjing Street passers-by drooling when they look it. It may not look like a traditional Christmas tree and beer is definitely not as tasty in winter as it is on a hot summer day, but Heineken’s Christmas tree is definitely my favorite for 2009.
via Inhabitat
Meet Oscar, the luckiest dog in the world. This year he and his master traveled across 5 continents and 29 countries.
Five years ago, Joanne Lefson found Oscar in a South-African kennel and took him in. In May of this year, Joanne sold her house and went on a trip around the world, accompanied, of course, by her beloved pooch. Their incredible journey was meant to inspire people everywhere to take stray dogs of the streets and offer them a home.
Here are some amazing photos of Oscar taken in some of the most amazing locations in the world. Oh, and check out the full of list of countries he visited, at the bottom.
Photos by CATERS NEWS AGENCY
via Daily Mail
Every year, the people of Singapore celebrate the coming of the New Year by launching wishing spheres in the Singapore River.
The tradition of the wishing spheres was launched years ago by Singapore’s authorities as a way to bring people together and now it’s become an international event. People travel from all over the world to write their wishes for the new year on a giant white sphere and throw it in the Singapore River.
This year, a record 10,000 wishing spheres were available for inking, but they still weren’t enough to cover demand. The wishing-sphere-covered Singapore River is quite a sight to behold this time of year, especially at night, when the spheres are lit.
Using thousands of permanent solar panels to harvest energy, the Solar Valley Micro-E Hotel is the largest solar-power hotel on Earth.
Built by Himin Group, China’s leading solar products manufacturer, the Solar Valley Micro-E Hotel opened its gates Dezhou City, eastern China. It covers 75,000 square-meters and features thousands of solar panels and solar heat pipe collectors that harvest and store enough energy to sustain 70% of the hotel’s needs.
The solar energy is used for a variety of functions, including air-conditioning and water heating.
via ImagineChina
