The Beer Bottle Buddhist

GreenUpgrader.com brings us an article about Thai monks from the Sisaket province that have used over one million recycled glass bottle to construct their Buddhist temple. The Wat Pa Maha Chedi Kaew temple is about 400 miles northeast of Bangkok in the city of Khun Han close to the Cambodian border. Using Heineken bottles (green) and Chang Beer bottles (brown) the monks were able to clean up the local pollution and create a useful structure.

Acronym FAIL

The National Organization for Marriage is against gay marriage and created a new initiative called 2 Million for Marriage which they have abbreviated to 2M4M which is also craigslist speak for 2 gay men looking for a third. Who knew the NOM was so kinky?

From Cynical-C.

Stop Motion Moview with Wolf and Pig

Condoms Aren't Bad

Even Jesus says so:

Charles Manson Answers a Question

How to Grow a Pansy

While it has a good heart, this is really just so horrible: The singing. The "Duck!...Duck!...Duck!...Duck!...Quack!" The "3 Deep It Out!"

Kudos, Master Eastwest, you taken this whole thing to another level!

The Twilight zone experience

There are some FAILs you just have to blog...

Someone forgot to put the container down on the truck...let's watch and see what happens!

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

If they do this might be the result. Alternatively, this is what happens when you crossbreed geeks with Welsh farmers.

I believe this was part of an ad campaign for Samsung.

Transparent Headed Fish

Macropinna microstoma via Discovery News' Born Animal Blog.





The common name for the fish is "barreleyes." It has tubular eyes and a see-through head. Monterey Bay Aquarium
Research Institute investigators recently figured out why this species
has such an unusual head. Its eyes can actually rotate within its
"skull," so the transparency allows the wary swimmer to keep a literal
eye on happenings above it, as well as to the sides and directly in
front.Although the fish has a tiny mouth, it possesses a large digestive
systems. Two net-caught individuals contained fragments of jellyfish,
which must have been their last meal.Such a potentially painful dinner requires incredible stealth, so it's
now thought that barreleyes carefully maneuvers its body near such
stinging organisms, keeping its "eyes on the prize," as the researchers
said, throughout the entire hunt. Its tiny mouth then picks at the
victim while a transparent shield protects the fish's eyes.To see more images of the transparent-headed fish, please visit this MBARI website.

A Scientist at the Creation Museum

A Creation Scientist talks with someone about evolution, etc.

Parked Car Fail

Obliviousness is amazing here... Watch till the end:

More Heavy Equipment Skills

I know, I know... that post about doing endos got you all excited. So here is some precision work with another piece of heavy machinery...

Mobile Nuclear Power from Russia

Russian engineers constructed mobile nuclear power plants that were successfully deployed to distant parts of Russia. These small, self-moving, atomic power plants on tracked and regular wheels were mothballed after the Chernobyl accident.






I guess when you have a totalitarian government the lack of concern for the welfare of your people, is not a concern at all.

Holy Crap Architecture

I will let you place the punctuation in the title yourself...



Alternate views are in the design patent that the designer got for this, available from Google.

The Untold Story of the World's Biggest Diamond Heist

A great story to read: In February 2003, Leonardo Notarbartolo was arrested for heading a ring of Italian thieves. They were accused of breaking into a vault two floors beneath the Antwerp Diamond Center and making off with at least $100 million worth of loose diamonds, gold, jewelry, and other spoils.
The loot was never found...

Prada Transformer

The Prada Transformer is an architectural structure created as a collaboration between starchitect Rem Koolhaas and the fashion powerhouse Prada. The project built in Seoul, South Korea, takes the shape of a tetrahedron, a pyramid, with a different shape on each side: a hexagon, a cross, a rectangle and a circle to form a single pavilion:



Now the interesting part. Each of the sides of the pyramid can become the floor of the building. Depending on what the building is to be used for, the building is flipped using cranes to reconfiguring the building. As the press release says "Each side plan is precisely designed to organize a different event installation creating a building with four identities. Whenever one shape becomes the ground plan, the other three shapes become the walls and the ceiling defining the space, as well as referencing historic or anticipating future event configurations."

Awesome 4x4-ing

Mermaids and Demons, Mummified

Japanese mummies from around the world. Most of these are cobbled together (a la modern taxidermy art that has previously been seen on this blog), but are interesting as an expression of the ideas, beliefs and fears of humans, as well as an window into the mind of some of the capitalists who created these for sale.

And the idea is certainly not limited to Japan. For example, the Jenny Hanivers created by Dutch sailors from cuttlefish to look like mermaids to sell as a means of creating additional income:
 


With a tip of the hat to Cynical-C for introducing us to Jenny Haniver.

Dammit I’m Mad

A 224 word palindrome (it says the same thing read forwards as it does backwards) by Demetri Martin.

    Dammit I’m mad.
    Evil is a deed as I live.
    God, am I reviled? I rise, my bed on a sun, I melt.
    To be not one man emanating is sad. I piss.
    Alas, it is so late. Who stops to help?
    Man, it is hot. I’m in it. I tell.
    I am not a devil. I level “Mad Dog”.
    Ah, say burning is, as a deified gulp,
    In my halo of a mired rum tin.
    I erase many men. Oh, to be man, a sin.
    Is evil in a clam? In a trap?
    No. It is open. On it I was stuck.
    Rats peed on hope. Elsewhere dips a web.
    Be still if I fill its ebb.
    Ew, a spider… eh?
    We sleep. Oh no!
    Deep, stark cuts saw it in one position.
    Part animal, can I live? Sin is a name.
    Both, one… my names are in it.
    Murder? I’m a fool.
    A hymn I plug, deified as a sign in ruby ash,
    A Goddam level I lived at.
    On mail let it in. I’m it.
    Oh, sit in ample hot spots. Oh wet!
    A loss it is alas (sip). I’d assign it a name.
    Name not one bottle minus an ode by me:
    “Sir, I deliver. I’m a dog”
    Evil is a deed as I live.
    Dammit I’m mad.

Ghost Busters!

Via Cynical-C

>

New Alternate Ending to Back to the Future

Today, in the strange news category

Somewhere in the world this is probably a delicacy.

Cool Dollhouses

Via and excerpted from DarkRoastedBlend:

Colleen Moore's Fairy Dollhouse
One of the more celebrated doll houses lives in the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. Created by legendary silent picture actress Colleen Moore with the set designer Harold Grieve, the fairy castle is a magnificent work of art as well deliriously scaled precision. Towering more than eight feet tall, the house features murals painted by someone you may have heard of (Walt Disney), chandeliers with real diamonds, the tiniest Bible ever written, tapestries featuring the smallest recorded stitches, a library of more than 100 hand-printed books, a pure silver bathtub (with running water), and still more amazing treasures and exquisite details.



Queen's Miniature Windsor Castle

Created in 1924, Queen Mary’s Dolls' House has a pedigree worthy of any stately home in England; the queen’s cousin, Princess Marie Louise, commissioned the famous architect Sir Edwin Lutyens to construct it.But the Queen’s dollhouse was more than a plaything. It was, and still is, a frozen moment in British history, a miniature collection of the pride of the empire with works and features showcasing the best the country had to offer. Like Colleen Moore’s castle, the library had an extensive collection of handwritten books, but because she was the queen, after all, the royal doll house’s library had unique works by Kipling and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.Moore’s house had running water, but the queen’s house not only had that but a flushable loo, too. And that’s not all: the floors were done in fine woods and marble, the kitchen sported a working coffee mill, and even the wine cellar featured bottles containing real wines.

Helicopter Aerobatics

Charlie Zimmermann, German helicopter aerobatic champion. A slightly long video, but amazing how close he gets to the ground and the trees. At one point you see the blades of the chopper just a few feet from the ground as he banks. Almost like being in the channel leading to the Death Star's reactor.

Narrow escapes and lucky shots

La Chance
by Jessysid

Hyundai Car Stunts

Syncronized driving, jumping and other stunts, similar to those in The Saab Suite, Isuzu Dancing in Paris Ad and the earlier Synchronized Off-Roading posts.

Skydiving from one plane to another

Apparently this is not just for James Bond anymore...

Skydiver Greg Gasson from the Discovery Channel's Stunt Junkies show

10 Illusions in 5 Minutes

Hans Klok and the "Divas of Magic"

Superb Dressage

Andreas Helgstrand on Blue Hors Matine at the Freestyle Dressage event of The World Equestrian Games. Beautiful.

Synchronized Motorbiking

Human Slinky

It gets better after he warms up half way through...

Butthead

If you can't afford fireworks

Just splash hot molten metal against a wall:

A hot and dangerous celebration at China's traditional Lantern Festival, as metal scraps are heated to 1,300 degrees centigrade, splashing sparks during the night of China's full moon. Less expensive than fireworks, "Dashuhua" is a tradition at risk, as none of the younger generation are yet able to perform the art.

Brick-cicles

What happens when you test napalm in brick tunnels? The brick melts and forms icicles of course!

Redneck Bungee Jumping

I was surprised that this didn't end with a splat.

Don't honk

Its rude!

Water Surge

Blows off the top of a drainage manhole and disables a car, and then afterwards nearly drowns out the guy in the car...

Just when you've made it to the top of the world...

Life can remind you how you suck:

Strange Snowglobes

More at My Modern Metropolis.

Cool Drawbridge

A bridge in the Netherlands. From Jalopnik where you can see more pics.

The Danger of Working Out

FINISH HIM!

Poor kid...

No nead for the Breathalyzer,,,

Never Leave Your Ass Hanging...

Being angry only makes it worse...

A guy is unhappy about his speeding ticket but loses the argument with the police officer, and goes to drive away. Apparently he was still to angry to think straight.

Dollars and Cents

Sadly, not even the manager understands...

Cool new toy

Pretty awesome.

More Failure...

Um... Oops?!

Dude?! Holy crap! You ok?! Oh, good, good... so, uh, yeah... whenever you are ready, we should talk about how that'll be coming out of your paycheck...

Pretty Amazing Harmonica-ing

Russian Flying Fortress

Unfortunately these are only renderings, but the plans were real, and from the Soviet era.









Via EnglishRussia.com

Snowmobile Double Backflip

Doesn't count. But DAMN....

No Bed? No problem!

This is pretty pro.

Now that's a real wrestling move!

Snicker...

Awesome Pic 2

I gotta say these folks from the Dark Side do drive some awesome cars!

No, no, that's not how it happened!

For those of you who feel that Star Wars was ruined by the three prequels, at least the original three weren't redone by this sweet young thing...

Star Wars: Retold (by someone who hasn't seen it) from Joe Nicolosi on Vimeo.

Best Products Building

From Tom Spaulding's photostream:

A 1977 project in Sacramento, California, called the Notch showroom, continued SITE's use of fragmentation and subtraction.The 'Notch' showroom uses reductions as additions. In this case the building is penetrated by a 14' high raw-edged notch which serves as a main entrance. The 45-ton wedge extracted from this gap is mounted on a rail system incised into the paving and mechanized to move a distance of 40' to open and close the showroom. Understandably, crowds of spectators assemble to watch the morning opening and evening closing.

Here is a panoramic shot of the Indeterminate Facade Building, another famous Best Products building, which looks like it is falling into rubble, the same way it did when it first opened. The building was demolished in April of 2003.

You can learn more about other interesting Best Product buildings at SITE's website and here in an article from MetropolisMag.com.

Abandoned Russian Polar Nuclear Lighthouses

The Soviet Union built a chain of autonomous lighthouses to guide ships finding their way in the dark polar night across uninhabited shores, hundreds and hundreds miles away from any populated areas. They were powered by small lightweight atomic reactors. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the unattended automatic lighthouses continued to work for some time, but soon they started to disintegrate, mostly from copper and other metal looting. The looters either didn’t care or didn’t know the meaning of the “Radioactive Danger” sign and ignored them, breaking in and destroying the equipment. They even broke into the reactors, causing the lighthouses to become radioactively polluted.

Nice recovery!

Hi Voltage Electricity Repair

From a helicopter. With thousands of volts surrounding you. At great heights. As the band Alabama once sung: Hats off to hard workin' cowboys...

High Voltage Cable Inspection
by monnotman

I particularly like the man's voice. It is so calm and collected, and at peace with himself -- "There’s only three things I’ve ever been afraid of: electricity, heights, and women. And I'm married too."

Now that is an awesome pic!

Your House Just Got Pimped!

Crow 2.0

They are getting smarter... next thing you know, it will be like Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds with an intelligent hive-mind twist...