Surprisingly enough, the world’s largest organ isn’t located in a cathedral or a church, but in the center of Macy’s Center City Store, in Philadelphia.

The Wanamaker Grand Court Pipe Organ is the largest playable pipe organ in the world. Its console alone weighs 2.5 tons and the entire installation weighs 287 tons. It was bought by John Wanamaker in 1909 and installed in his store, but, unsatisfied with its size, the owner built an organ factory in the store’s attic, in order to enlarge the Grand Court Pipe Organ.

The Wanamaker Pipe Organ was played in 1911 for the first time and has been entertaining Philadelphia shoppers 2 times a day, Monday to Saturday and even more often during winter holidays.

This giant organ has 28, 482 pipes. 6 manual keyboards, 42 foot pedals and is able to deliver incredible sound power. The organist, Peter Richard Conte has 729 color-coded buttons to choose from, just when he wants a different rank of pipes to be played.

Photos by REUTERS/Ray Stubblebine (UNITED STATES SOCIETY BUSINESS ENTERTAINMENT)

via Drugoi

In order to show how intimate they are with bees and as proof of their apiculture supremacy, a couple of bee keepers covered themselves with bees.

On July 16, in Ning’an City, northern China, Li Wenhua and Yan Hongxia, two passionate bee-keepers, pulled-off a stunt many would consider insane. Using the queen-bee as bait, the two managed to cover themselves with over 10,000 bees.

Photos by Xinhua/Zhang Chunxiang

via People.com.cn

Of course, when I say modern transportation, I don’t really mean modern…

Say what you will about Philippino entrepreneurs, but one thing is for sure, they are quite original. In order to make a living in The Philippines’ capital city of Manila, some rather resourceful characters built what look to be trolleys and use them to get commuters around the city.

These improvised trolleys are made of bamboo, so they can easily be removed off the track if a train approaches. Commuters pay between 6-10 pesos ($0.16-$0.21) for one trip and they get to enjoy the…not-so-fresh air of Manila.

You have to wonder how those people manage to push a full trolley across the city.

Photos by Reuters

via Drugoi

If you thought you were going to see a hand-sown flag, then I’m going to have to disappoint you, but this is something way cooler.

The “left behind children” of migrant workers  went to work in China’s larger cities or abroad, together with volunteers from the University of Science and Technology, have made a 60-square-meters flag of China, using their hand imprints. The artwork was unveiled at Lintou middle-school, Hashan county, on July 21, 2009.

This is was their way of celebrating the 60th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China.

via China.org

If you thought Spiderman lives only in Marvel comics and Hollywood movies, think again. Spiderman is real, his name is Jyothi Rai and he lives in India.

The 22-year-old former builder spends most of his time entertaining tourists by acrobatically climbing Chitradurga Fort. He fearlessly and effortlessly goes up 300-feet-high walls without a safety harness and hundreds of eyes watching from down below.

Young mister Rai says he developed his climbing skills by watching monkeys climb trees and trying to reproduce stunts from his favorite films. He hopes he’ll soon be recognized as the world’s greatest climber.

The real Spiderman says he has never wore safety equipment and has never had one accident. He believes his ability to see footholds others can’t is proof he was born to climb. He practices every day and does Yoga to maintain his flexibility.

A big fan of French climber Alain Robert, Jyothi Rai hopes to achieve his success and one day open a school for climbers.

Be sure to watch the video at the bottom, it’s really something!

via Telegraph.co.uk

Robert Burck, known by most as The Naked Cowboy has announced his decision to run for mayor of New York City.

Claiming he “can do more with less”, The Naked Cowboy promised $10,000 loans for small companies, at no interest, call buttons for taxis at street corners and a wedding chapel in Times Square.

The Naked Cowboy has been hanging around Times Square, since 1998, dressed in nothing but a pair of white underwear, boots and a cowboy hat. Over time he became quite the celebrity, making appearances on hit TV shows like TRL and getting photographed with other celebrities.

He reportedly makes as much as $1,000 every day, collecting tips from passers-by in Times Square, working from 11 am to 2 pm.

Photos by Getty

via Telegraph.co.uk

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Rats have been called many things, but… talented? That doesn’t happen very often, but these two rats aren’t ordinary either. Just like the surfing rats, they do cool tricks.

Trained by Dutch photographer Ellen van Deelen to hold different musical instruments and pose for the camera, the Roosendaal Rats are considered very talented by their owner. She confesses rats weren’t exactly her favorite creatures, but, after buying these two, she realized they are highly intelligent creatures.

They simply grab the instruments, hold them in a professional manner and aren’t camera shy at all. On the contrary, they listen to their trainer’s commands to the letter, during photo-shoots.

Now, Ellen aims even higher and wants to teach her furry pets to play the instruments  and wants to turn the duo into a larger band.

via Ellen van Deelen

via Telegraph.co.uk

Designed by the people at Innerspace, The Seabreacher is a luxury, two-person submarine that looks and acts like a dolphin.

To tell you the truth, when I first saw photos of the Seabreacher, it reminded me of that super submarine Lucas piloted on Seaquest. Tou remember Seaquest, right? I loved that show.

The Seabreacher was created as a toy for millionaires in search of marine thrills. It comes in different colors and can execute jumps and rolls, just like a real dolphin, thanks to a 1500 cc engine, that can develop 215 hp. This beauty drives like a jetski when it’s on the surface, but can also go underwater for long periods of time.

The Seabreacher is anything but cheap, ranging from $48,000 to $68,000

Photos by REX FEATURES

via Telegraph.co.uk

35-year-old Liu Bolin, from Shandong, China, manages to camouflage himself in any surroundings, no matter how difficult they might be.

Liu works on a single photo for up to 10 hours at a time, to make sure he gets it just right, but he achieves the right effect: sometimes passers-by don’t even realize he is there until he moves.

The talented Liu Bolin says his art is a protest against the actions of the Government, who shut down his art studio in 2005 and persecutes artists. It’s about not fitting into modern society. Despite problems with Chinese authorities, Liu’s works are appreciated at an international level.

Photos by CATERS NEWS and Liu Bolin

via Telegraph.co.uk

Already an accomplished, world-renown painter, 45-year-old Federico Uribe thought he’d try creating artworks from everyday objects like pencils, sneakers or mops.

For one of his exhibitions, Uribe used 1,500 pieces of footwear and 25,000 shoe laces to create a collection of animals, including a cow, a zebra and a swimming duck. He also managed to create a very realistic sheep out of cleaning mops. The artist  said he wanted to recreate nature from its own raw materials.

Federico Uribe also works with thousands of pencils and carefully ties them together with rubber bands, to create amazing works of art. The Colombian master uses up to 5,000 pencils to create his characters.

Uribe says 10-12 hours every day, six days a week, but, thanks to his skill, spends a lot less time working on his art, than people believe.

Photos by Federico Uribe/REX FEATURES

via Telegraph.co.uk

In her new jewelry collection, “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”, Alidra Alic showcases some of the weirdest rings I’ve ever seen.

But I mean that in the most positive way possible, the rings look very original, and even though you couldn’t wear on a day-to-day basis, Alidra Alic’s rings are perfect for a fantasy-themed party.

Photos by Dorte Krogh and Katrine Rohrberg

via  Cool Hunting

The Cloud Project has found the perfect way to get people more involved in the burning issues like cloud seeding and nanotechnology.

Normally, most people would be less than interested to discuss such problems, but when ice-cream is involved, they become a lot more communicative. Using an old ice-cream truck with an industrial water-spray mounted on top, Zoe Papadopoulou and Cat Kramer managed to attract quite a crowd. Their plan was to shoot out liquid nitrogen mixed with ice-cream flavors, thus creating ice-cream flavored clouds.

In reality cloud making is really not that simple, but the concept really attracted the public and made them more aware of the problems we are facing. Real ice-cream was handed out together with important information regarding nanotechnology and its use in our society.

via Like Cool

Looking at photos of the Zombie Parade that took place on July 18, in the streets of Frankfurt, Germany, I couldn’t stop thinking about the Resident Evil games I used to play when I was in high-school and how they scared the living crap out of me.

Luckily, the zombies in the photos don’t really want to eat your brain or hurt you in any other way. I have to say the make-up on these guys is simply amazing. I’m sure I would totally have a heart-attack if I walked into any of them in a dark alley, at night.

Zombie parades are becoming more and more common, as they are held in different countries around the world. The first zombie parade was organized back in 2003, in Toronto and, in 2005, there 80 zombie parades, attended mainly by horror movie lovers.

Photos by Johannes Eisele/ REUTERS

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This 103-years-old mansion in Rhode Island is built on a small, rocky island far away from any nosy neighbors. Just like this house, built close to Oslofjord Island, Norway, it offers total privacy.

Clingstone mansion was built in 1905, for a cost of roughly $36,000, by J.S. Lovering Wharton, a distant cousin of 79-year-old Henry Wood, the present owner of the house. He and his ex-wife bought it in 1961, for $3,600 and managed to bring it back to life after it had been abandoned for two decades.

Mr. Wood and his family found an ingenious way of preserving this 23-room architectural wonder: the Clingstone work weekend. Every year, around Memorial Day, the Wood family and up to 70 friends gather at Clingstone to clean the mansion and fix any of its problems. Practically, any volunteer workers are welcome.

In winter time the boats and floating dock are stored at the nearby Jamestown Boatyard, in exchange for a week’s stay at Clingstone, during the summer.

viabookofjoe

51-year-old David Reynolds, a dormer oil rig worker, spent 15 years of his life creating a matchstick replica of the Brent Bravo oil platform, from the North Sea.

The 21-foot-long, 12-foot-high wooden model weighs over half a ton and contains more than 4 million matchsticks, each of them polished and glued into place. David started working with matchsticks when his son bought him a matchstick train to build. He completed it in a few weeks, then started working on an oil rig.

He first built a smaller replica of an old platform he worked on for five years, before starting work on the big one. He calls them the Cathedrals of the Sea and spent up to 10 hours a day creating the finest details.

David Reynolds said he thought about destroying his masterpiece because he needed the space in his shed, but his wife convinced him to put it on display at the brickworks museum, in Southhampton. He also added he spent around 1600 British pounds buying matches from a wholesaler, buying them from a corner-shop would have put a 46,000 pound hole in his budget.

David’s matchstick oil platform is a worthy competitor for Patrick Anton’s matchstick Minas Tirith

via Telegraph.co.uk