Damn Amazing

The Most Bizarre Moments!

2008-12-22T05:02:00.000-08:00

Some Very Cool Moments Just For You.

Giant Donut Made of Donuts

2008-12-21T05:58:00.001-08:00

IF Homer Simpson thought heaven was the episode where he was in hell
with a never-ending supply of doughnuts, then Circular Quay this morning
would have come a close second. To celebrate the release of The Simpsons
Movie on dvd, the Simpsons family oversaw the construction of the world’s
largest doughnut.
And the numbers?
It took 40 people over nine hours to build, using over 90,000 doughnuts, half
a tonne of pink icing and 30kg of sprinkles from Donut King.
The giant doughnut measures six metres and weighs a whopping 3.5 tonnes,
which is the equivalent of two rhinoceroses.
Once the giant doughnut’s media duties are complete, the doughnuts will be
donated to Oz Harvest, a Sydney-based charity that collects excess food for
organisations that feed disadvantaged men, women and children.

Gifts for the Extravagant

2008-12-20T05:53:00.000-08:00

Still no ideas on what to get your special someone this Christmas, here are some suggestions…

Crystal-encrusted toilet bowl designed by Jemmah Wright.

21kg gold Christmas tree decorated with 240 pieces of jewelry including diamonds and pearls, made by Japanese jeweler Ginza Tanaka.

Your own personal bust made in bronze, silver, gold and other precious metal made by Wrightson & Platt.

Miracle Bra made by Victoria’s Secret and designer Martin Katz. It is adorned with 3575 black diamonds, 117 white diamonds and 34 rubies… only.

Champagne holder made of pure gold for your Christmas party?

Fragrance by Clive Christian sealed with a cap decorated with gold and diamonds.

Fuzzball table for the guys? This is made in Austria and covered with 150,000 crystals

Think this is a fragrance decorated with 6500 Swarovski crystals.

One for the tech geeks, golden headphones with 59 diamonds on each side.

Laptop designed by Aynao Kimera made in 24-carat gold and decorated with 12,000 crystals.

Another one for the geeks, a diamond-encrusted mouse? 59 diamonds in all.

An exclusive Teddy bear released on the 125-year anniversary of the birth of the famous producer of the bear campaign. This bear is made in golden fleece of lurex, sapphire eyes and golden nose and mouth. Be careful what your kids do with it

Swimsuit for $92,000 made by Japanese designer and jeweler Ginza Tanaka. It took more than a month to extract the finest gold threads and to join them together to make this swimsuit that is probably never gonna get wet.

How about a bra made with 630g of pure gold, 7.5-carats of diamonds and taking more than 2000 hours of work by a Chinese jeweler? $108,000.

Another bra for $160,000.

Linen lingerie made of gold for $260,000. It contains 950g of pure gold and was created by a Chinese jeweler that is not for sale but display only. Of course, with the right price, anything can be bought.

This bra is a whooping $1,890,000! It is made of gold and diamonds and made by a Korean company.

Fantasy Bra by Victoria’s Secret worth $6.5M and comes included with 2000 diamonds and 800-carats.

Another version of the Fastasy Bra by VS costing $12.5M made of white gold, 2900 small diamonds (101-carats) and 22 rubies.

Fantasy Bra for $10M made of white gold, diamonds and 2900 diamonds weighing a total of 70-carats.

Fantasy Bra for $10M made of diamonds, sapphires and other precious stones weighing a total of 500-carats.

Fantasy Bra - $4.5M.

Fantasy Bra - $15M made of rubies and diamonds.

Lacy gold bra made by Chinese designer Zhou Ningxin with a total of 458 grams of gold.

Nature's Fearless Fighting

2008-12-19T04:19:00.000-08:00

A pair of gulls fight in mid-air. Conflict is incredibly commonplace within the animal kingdom. Quite often the fights are short and based on display rather than actual physical contact and so it is difficult to capture on film. The photographer must be incredibly quick in order to get that photograph. This particular spat, for example, could have been over in seconds.

Often the fighting is between alpha males who are looking to secure dominance over a single female or perhaps even a group. The dominance of the alpha male will ensure that it is his genes that are passed on to the next generation. In many species, when a new alpha male takes over, he will deliberately seek out and kill and offspring which he has not sired. Why should he bring up other people's kids? In other species such as the meerkat and Prairie dog it may be the females who occasionally commit infanticide in the fight to get their genes in to the next generation. The Prairie Dogs above are play fighting - but this is as much to practice for the real thing as to pass some time having fun.

Many animals will avoid a fight and when they find themselves in a situation where they must there is an implicit ‘trust' almost between the two animals that the fight will not lead to life-endangering injuries or lead to death. Obviously, animals do not have Emergency Rooms where they can go to get their wounds healed! Horses are an example where the fight never results in the death of one of the antagonists. Sometimes fights are caused simply because the animals are in a bad mood, in this case possibly because of overcrowding.

The fighting is often about the right to mate. The old idea of the survival of the fittest is an everyday fact of life in the animal kingdom, It may seem unfair to our sense of fair play but when animals must seek out their own food they must ensure that they have the optimum ‘equipment' with which to hunt or to gather.

The male elephant seal will run his own harem and he must protect it with his life. On average male elephant seals live four years less than the females, sometimes reaching the age of twenty. This isn't too surprising when the fact is taken in to consideration that alpha status can be reached at the age of eight. That will mean at least a dozen years of continually fending off other males. No wonder the male does not live as long as the female.

The hippo's reputation has taken a battering over recent years with many nature documentaries showing them for the bad tempered and aggressive individuals that they truly are. These are animals that show no fear in attacking crocodiles should they get in their way. However, hippos will rarely kill each other when they fight, which is more often than not about territory. If a bachelor challenges the alpha male then the fight will be over as soon as it is clear which hippo is stronger.

Additionally, single males are allowed in to the ‘stretch' of a bull alpha male as long as their behavior is submissive towards the alpha male. In this way hippo ‘pods' can number up to a hundred. Due to the size of the pods - and the animals themselves - there can often be some bad-tempered jostling for space. The differences in gender behavior have been difficult to ascertain as they are not sexually dimorphic. This means that females and young males look incredibly alike.

In all three main zebra species, young males will live together in groups. Then, when they feel the need to reproduce they will challenge the alpha male who often has a permanent harem of up to six females (except Grevy's zebra which does not have social bonds of any permanency).

The fights between the competing males often look more violent than they are and the lesser of the two will usually retreat when he knows that he has lost. At least he can go back to the bachelor herd!

Everyone knows that kangaroos box each other and in less enlightened times they were used a fairground attractions. Most boxing is play-related but it can be done for dominance of a group or when there is competition in the great mating game. The forepaws can be used to grapple and punch but the real danger are the hugely powerful hindlegs of the animal. The toenails of the hindleg are incredibly sharp and it has been known for an opponent to be disemboweled. However, most conflicts between males do not result in life threatening injuries.

These Coots are fighting over who gets to pay attention to a female. Some species of birds allow the female to choose her mate and this is usually down to the song, plumage and sometimes the ‘dance' of the male.

Fighting among males is not only restricted to mammals. Dragonflies are highly territorial and if a male strays in to the wrong territory then it will definitely mean a fight. In years when the population is large that can mean that territory can be disputed by more than one dragonfly at a time.

George Bush shoe attack

2008-12-16T23:59:00.000-08:00

Sziget festival in Hungary

2008-12-15T06:06:00.000-08:00

The Sziget Festival is one of the largest music and cultural festivals in Europe, and more recently, in the world. The festival is held annually in August in Budapest, Hungary and takes place on Óbudai-sziget (”Old-Buda Island”), a landscaped island on the Danube, thus Sziget stands for Island. Currently it boasts more than 1000 performances each year.

The week-long festival has grown from a relatively low-profile, gap-filling 1993 student event to become one of the definitive European rock festivals by the late 1990s, with about half of all visitors coming from outside Hungary, including the Anglosphere and France (11 000 French visitors in 2007). Attendancy rates surpassed the 250 000 mark in 1997 and the 350 000 mark in 2001.
Following the end of the communist era 1989, there were no longer organized camps for musicians to meet up and play, and hence a music festival was proposed as a way to bridge this gap. The festival was started in 1993, originally called Diáksziget (Students’ Island)

Sziget Festival is notable in that it contains acts from many different genres. 2006 saw, among others, a blues stage, a jazz tent, a world music stage, alongside the main stage with more typical popular rock acts.

In 2008, Sziget Festival was from the 11th to the 18th of August. The festival, instead of 7+1 days as in 2007, was 5+2 days long, with a “zero day” where the audience can watch one big concert (Iron Maiden) and a special “minus one day” called “Hungarian Song Day” where several classic Hungarian bands (including LGT, Beatrice and others) play gigs during the day.

Being located on an island, some festival goers have tried to enter by swimming across the Danube or by paddling across in an inflatable raft. The organizers very much discourage these attempts claiming that it has never worked and that, due to the tricky nature of the fast-flowing Danube river.
This first event was organized by enthusiastic music fans in their spare time and ran well over budget, taking until 1997 to repay the losses. From 1996 to 2001 it was sponsored by Pepsi and renamed Pepsi Sziget. It has been called Sziget Festival (”island festival”) since 2002

As well as Iron Maiden, R.E.M., Babyshambles, Sex Pistols, Jamiroquai, Anti-Flag, Flogging Molly, Alanis Morissette, The Killers, The Kooks, Kaiser Chiefs, The Cribs, Pendulum and many other were also confirmed, the day of their performance is available at the Sziget website. The length of the festival was reduced so that the residents living in the neighborhoods nearby would have less trouble because of the noise. The organizers plan to take further steps to reduce noise: the metal stage will be open until 11 pm only and noise filtering walls will be built near the noisiest stages.

A comprehensive survey was done and published on the risk taking behavior and mood of Sziget visitors (2007) by the National Institute for Health Promotion (OEI). The survey revealed amongst others that the last sexual encounter of 9.4% of its participants was unprotected

The festival is popular with west Europeans. Around 50% of visitors come from outside Hungary, with the largest group coming from Germany. Many also come from the UK, France, Italy and The Netherlands

Steampunk Mouse

2008-12-14T04:59:00.000-08:00

Terrible stuff. It looks really scary. Would you like to have it in your office?

Huge Aquariums

2008-12-08T04:39:00.001-08:00

Amazingly Stunning Latest Laptop Designs

2008-12-04T05:39:00.000-08:00

Funny Pig Transportations

2008-12-02T08:16:00.001-08:00

Garbage sculpture

2008-11-30T01:06:00.001-08:00

Someone produces yearly the tons of garbage, and coto bark- that makes from this garbage the [ofigennye] sculptures

Creative Mouse and Mouse Pads (New Pics)

2008-11-28T00:10:00.000-08:00

Cosplay Chicks

2008-11-26T22:41:00.001-08:00

More bizarre Cosplay fashion and costumes of Japanese chicks. Pretty funky.

Al-Quran.. Islam's small book

2008-11-20T13:47:00.001-08:00

Believe It Or Not- Painting Elephant

2008-11-15T14:48:00.000-08:00

Tibetan Dogs (Do they look like Tigers )

2008-11-13T11:02:00.001-08:00

Amazing More Interesting Sculptures Around The World

2008-11-12T05:29:00.000-08:00

Pictures on pencils

2008-11-08T07:52:00.000-08:00

The World’s Most Unusual Plants

2008-11-07T01:38:00.001-08:00

Impressive Ice Sculptures (New Pics)

2008-11-05T08:41:00.000-08:00

Weird Burning Haircuts

2008-11-02T03:58:00.001-08:00

There are very weird and different ways to make your hair looks great.
Today, i came accross on the weirdest way of haircutting. Ladies and
gentlemans, take a good look of the new way of haircutting...
a FLAME haircutting...

Captured Lightning - Lichtenberg Figures

2008-11-01T05:10:00.000-07:00

Lichtenberg Figures are branching electric discharges (or electrical trees) that are sometimes preserved on the surface or the interior of a solid dielectric. They are named after the German physicist Georg Christoph Lichtenberg, who originally discovered and studied them.

One way that they can be produced is as follows: A sharp-pointed needle is placed perpendicular to a non-conducting plate, such as of resin, ebonite, or glass, with its point very near to or in contact with the plate, and a high voltage Leyden jar (a type of capacitor) or a static electricity generator is discharged into the needle. The electrification of the plate is now tested by sifting over it a mixture of powdered flowers of sulfur and red lead (Pb3O4 or lead tetroxide).

The negatively electrified sulfur is seen to attach itself to the positively electrified parts of the plate, and the positively electrified red lead to the negatively electrified parts. In addition to the distribution of color thereby produced, there is a marked difference in the form of the figure, according to the polarity of the electrical charge that was applied to the plate. If the charge was positive, a widely extending patch is seen on the plate, consisting of a dense nucleus, from which branches radiate in all directions; if negative, the patch is much smaller and has a sharp circular boundary entirely devoid of branches.

Modern Lichtenberg Figures can also be created within solid blocks of acrylic plastic (polymethyl methacrylate or PMMA) using a beam of electrons from a linear electron beam accelerator (or Linac, a type of particle accelerator). Inside the Linac, electrons are focused and accelerated to form a beam of high speed particles. Electrons emerging from the accelerator are moving an appreciable fraction (95 - 99+ percent) of the speed of light (relativistic velocities). The electron beam is then aimed towards an acrylic specimen. When the relativistic electrons hit the acrylic, they easily penetrate the surface, slowing down as they collide with the molecules inside the plastic, and finally coming to rest deep inside the specimen. Since acrylic is an excellent electrical insulator, the electrons inside the specimen are temporarily trapped. Under continued irradiation by the beam, the excess electrons form a plane of negative charge inside the specimen. As the charge builds, the effective voltage inside the specimen can reach millions of volts. Ultimately the huge electrical stress exceeds the dielectric strength of the plastic, causing it to suddenly become conductive in a process called dielectric breakdown.

On the Edge of the Cliff!

2008-10-31T00:52:00.001-07:00

Interesting Bus Stops

2008-10-27T23:01:00.001-07:00

Toilet Paper Brides

2008-10-24T00:03:00.001-07:00

Unusual chairs

2008-10-21T07:56:00.001-07:00

Amazing Led Clothing Fashion for Girls

2008-10-20T09:49:00.001-07:00

Green cars

2008-10-18T03:08:00.000-07:00

40 million people washing their sins in India

2008-10-17T07:40:00.001-07:00

World's Funniest Car Rally

2008-10-15T08:30:00.000-07:00

Funny sports action

2008-10-14T06:37:00.000-07:00

Stupid accidents

2008-10-13T02:23:00.001-07:00

The World’s Largest Roadside Attractions and Objects

2008-10-08T04:15:00.000-07:00

A teapot, a chair, a shoe - these obvious things may become powerful advertising tools if scaled up to such degree that they can be seen from space! Now each of these objects can attract more tourists than any kind of other advertising.

Husbands Of The Year

2008-10-05T03:22:00.001-07:00

Honorable mention

HUSBAND OF THE YEAR AWARDS:
3rd Place goes to: Greece

2nd Place goes to: Serbia

And the winner of the husband of the year is:
Ireland… You gotta love the Irish!

Ahhh… the Irish are true romantics! Look, he’s even holding her hand!

Heart Attack Grill

2008-10-04T12:43:00.000-07:00

Creating Art with Latte Coffee

2008-10-02T00:18:00.000-07:00

Girls & Vintage Rides

2008-09-29T07:46:00.001-07:00

Ah, what is better than to mix the sexiness of vintage cars with the sexiness of a true woman?

Amazing Art With Old Books

2008-09-23T11:21:00.000-07:00

Pictures made of Pictures

2008-09-18T05:21:00.001-07:00

And If Girls Wear A Moustache?

2008-09-13T10:23:00.000-07:00

The Great Robots of China

2008-09-12T15:05:00.001-07:00

The Most Funny Awkward and Weird Footwear

2008-09-11T12:29:00.001-07:00

Tommato Festival In Spain

2008-09-10T02:54:00.000-07:00

Well-Timed Photos

2008-09-09T13:29:00.000-07:00

Some of these maybe repeats, but it’s still funny to see all these photographs that were taken at precisely the right moment to make them so funny.

World's Geekiest Weddings

2008-09-06T12:12:00.001-07:00

Star Wars Wedding: I Declare You Mon Calamari and Wife!
Do you take this Mon Calamari to be your husband? There are Star Wars fan wedding, then there are hardcore Star Wars fan wedding! This one was documented by photographer Justin Winokur, undoubtedly one of the best Star Wars wedding ever

First Wedding Officiated by a Robot

On June 2007, a robot dubbed "Tiro" stood in as the Master of Ceremonies (MC) at a wedding in South Korea. The robot was reported to speak in a "sweet female voice" as to not creep people out more than necessary, and wasn't the only bot involved in the ceremony. Others lead guests to their seats and "performed," whatever that means. The use of a robot as the master of ceremonies at a wedding happened for the very first time in history; interestingly, the Tiro costs a whopping 200 million won (US $215,000).

Everquest Wedding: With this click, I thee wed

“With this click, I thee wed.” That’s the opening line on the wedding video of Nathan and Kelly, two big-time gamers who got married in a combination virtual and real time ceremony at the Sony Online Entertainment Faire in Las Vegas. Both big fans of the game “Everquest,” an online fantasy game, the pair were married by a Vegas pastor on stage at a buffet dinner at the end of the three-day gaming expo. Darth Vader and characters from “Everquest” were part of the bridal procession, and after sharing a real-life kiss on stage the couple was invited to “step into their future in Everquest.” Taking their game controllers in hand, the duo’s game characters, Lady Quaddra and Lord Garthan, were pronounced Mr. and Mrs. Stormslayer online.

Medieval Wedding

There hasn't been a wedding like it for quite some time. About seven centuries, in fact. The bride arrived riding side saddle on a white mare in a dress made from 270 feet of silk. And waiting for her was her knight in shining armour - £10,000 of hand-forged steel trimmed with brass and velvet.

The scene was the wedding of Sian Jenkins and Rupert Hammerton - Fraser, who are so fascinated by the Middle Ages that they recreated a medieval ceremony down to the minutest detail - the bride even promised to be "bonny and buxom in bed", a vow from a 14th century service. The £30,000 event at Lulworth Castle in Dorset ended with a banquet where guests many in home-made costumes were served medieval delicacies. The following day there was jousting, sword-fighting and even a full-scale battle re-enactment.

World War II-Themed Wedding

Jo Rowell and Tony Cox of Hartlepool, England were married in 2007 in style -1940s style

A blackout marked the beginning of the ceremony and the silence was broken by the sounds of Neville Chamberlain announcing war on Germany. The ceremony also included the sounds of sirens and Lancaster bombers flying overhead.

Spotlights lit up a trench scene in Normandy complete with a silhouette of an American soldier going over the top and glider planes above. Jo then made an entrance to the sound of Glenn Miller’s Moonlight Serenade and the touching ceremony went off without a hitch.

Zombie Walk Wedding

This couple was married during the annual Zombie Walk in San Francisco in 2007. Zombie Walks are organized public marches of participants dressed up like Zombies. Check out the related video section – turns out the zombie theme is quite popular at weddings!

And some more from around the world

Rapa Das Bestas - Spanish Horse Wrestling Festival

2008-08-30T17:33:00.001-07:00

An ancient festival in Galicia Spain, the Rapa das bestas is an old practice of ‘Taming the Beasts’ and is thought to date back to the Bronze Age. Men and women alike would wrestle the untamed horses to the ground with their hands and arms to cut their manes and tails.

It’s a noble tradition where man pits his strength against a beast without ropes or weapons and only using his bare hands and courage. This Spanish fiesta goes on for three days of which after the horses are sent up to the hillside again and it does not involve cruelty and death.

Intricate Rainforest Sculptures of Olinda

2008-08-30T09:39:00.001-07:00

ytruly

Hidden deep within a lush Australian rainforest are a set of mystical Aborigine sculptures seemingly merged into the natural surroundings. Moss covered torsos of men, women and children protrude from tree trunks and boulders. Some reach heavenward with widespread wings, others envelop each other protectively – all are symbols of the relationship the indigenous Australian Aborigines have with nature.

Travelling Pooh

These mesmerizing sculptures are the work of William Ricketts, a rare Australian born in 1898 who was in awe of the connection the Aborigine people have with the land.

shantavira

The clay figures, which Ricketts created on site in his home on Mount Dandenong, near Olinda, express his devout philosophy that all people need to act as custodians of the natural environment just as the Aboriginal people do.

jsarcadia

Ricketts gained his deep understanding of Aboriginal culture during frequent trips to Central Australia, where he lived with the Pitjantjatjara and Arrernte people from 1949 -1960. They soon adopted him as one of their own and willingly posed for the sculptures that would become their legacy.

jsarcadia

William Ricketts died in 1993 at the ripe old age of 94 but he will always be remembered as his figure, too, is dotted around the tranquil fern gully, forever connected to both the family and the land he so loved.

jamretsam

Skirt Wrestling in Bolivia

2008-08-29T04:34:00.001-07:00

I often get sick of watching WWE and their steroid fighters, that fake almost the entire show. So let us head to a new wrestling craze that’s sweeping Bolivia, South America and hopefully making its way to other continents. The Bolivian version of the American wrestling, known as cholitas luchadoras, is a freestyle wrestling that provides some distraction from the daily routine for just $1. Cholita is a term used to refer to the indigenous women in shiny skirts, filigreed jewelry and bowler hats. So here’s a show worthy of American television.

45 Beautiful Motion Blur Photos

2008-08-26T09:27:00.001-07:00

Photos taken with a camera do not represent a single moment of time. Due to technological constraints these shots stand for some scene over a brief period of time. This time frame depends on the camera’s shutter speed. In motion blur, any object moving with respect to the camera will look blurred or smeared along the direction of relative motion.

Motion blur is frequently used to show a sense of speed. You can artificially achieve this effect in a usual scene using cameras with a slow shutter speed. Also Adobe Photoshop can be used for this purpose, though sometimes images may look unnatural and unprofessional. You may want to take a look at resources provided in the end of the article — they show how one can add the motion blur effect in photos.

This article presents 45 beautiful examples of motion blur in photography. This showcase isn’t supposed to be the ultimate and complete selection of motion blur images — it is supposed to provide you with some inspiration of what can be done with motion blur. All pictures are linked to the author’s pages. You may want to explore further works of the photographers we’ve featured below.

Paper Anime

2008-08-25T09:53:00.000-07:00

Have you smiled today Let's smile together! Great positive!

2008-08-24T14:18:00.000-07:00

5 of the world’s best (drivable) wooden cars

2008-08-19T05:29:00.000-07:00

over the past year or so numerous wooden cars, some far more successful than others, have been appearing on the intertubes and seeing as i’m a sucker for wooden vehicles in general i thought it my duty to bring you a collection of the best that i’ve seen. the amount of effort and skill required to even craft a wooden door handle surpasses any possessed by myself.

the tryane II

first of all, the guy that built this wooden beauty goes by the name of ‘friend wood’, a fact that in itself deserves a round of applause. then there’s the car. using a technique called ‘cold-moulding’, wood has managed to build an incredible mahogany covered car over the space of 2000 hours, and it even has a wooden chassis. amazingly the 3-wheeler can reach a top speed of 101mph despite owning the engine of a citreon 2cv

the maniwa wooden supercar

japanese furniture maker sada kenbei co ltd decided to show off their carpentry skills last year when they produced this ‘wooden supercar’, a vehicle which somehow doesn’t deserve the ’super’ part of its name when compared to the splinter seen below, even though it still looks the business. valued at $32′000, the car can reach a respectable 50mph. there’s a video clip of the supercar in action below.

the wooden cadillac

here’s an example of a handcrafted masterpiece. jerry nickel spent 4 years building this beast after retiring from his waste collection career. the car is powered by 2 cadillac v8 engines - one for the front wheels, one for the rear - and materials used to build the car inlude 4183 hand-cut pieces of wood, 5 gallons of glue, 4 gallons of varnish and 60 pounds of drywall screws. the resulting vehicle is absolutely stunning.

vasily lazarenko is a madman, but in a good way. one day he decided he was going to build a car from oak, that alone being a difficult task, but with a twist. he wanted it split down the middle, enabling a different body style on each half. clearly mental but at one with a plane, ukranian lazarenko even quit his job to get it done without distraction. the end-product is exactly what you’d expect from the brief. a wooden car with a split-personality

extras
i just wanted to mention the next 2 vehicles even though they aren’t cars. one’s a wooden car-shaped boat and one’s a wooden motorcycle. they’re both fascinating. for more info click here for the boat and here for the bike.

Amazing Lava Photos

2008-08-11T04:43:00.000-07:00

Burj Al Arab Hotel, Dubai

2008-08-10T10:44:00.000-07:00