Grooming a poodle is not easy, but these photos go to show you just how complex this craft can be.

Ren Netherland is the owner of animalphotography.com, an online pet photography studio and the man who tours the country to take photos of winners at grooming competitions all over the United States.

Personally I never considered grooming to be an art, but more like something that needs to be done, but Ren’s photos prove just how wrong I was. And to think groomers complete these living masterpieces in just two hours, amazing!

via Telegraph.co.uk

Read More »

I knew cooked field rats were eaten in Asian countries like Thailand and Vietnam (they look very tasty too), but it seems they’re regarded as a delicacy in African countries like Malawi.

Living in one of the world’s poorest countries, the people of Malawi have to survive any way they can, so when they’re confronted with the choice of eating mice or starving to death, you can guess what they opt for.

Young children chase the “tasty” critters through the corn fields, right after the harvest, when the mice are nice and fat. To easily catch Kapuku, the most popular edible species of mice, locals set up traps throughout the fields. They fill large clay vats with water and smear them with fried corn husks. As the rats fight over the husks, some of them fall in and drown.

The mice are cooked, salted or dried, then strung on sticks and sold as delicacies. Yum!

Of course I already knew that, since this isn’t the first time I post about a goth wedding. I guess I just needed something to remind me of how bizarre these events are.

And these photos of a goth couple getting married in Russia did the trick. I’m sure they’re both nice people and I wish them a very happy marriage, but they scare the crap out of me. I mean she’s practically bald and makes Morticia look like a total babe, and he…Well, he looks like an elf on crack, no offense.

via English Russia

Read More »

These incredible artworks belong to Scott Wade, a man who once again proves anything can be a diamond in the rough, even a dirty car window.

Scott Wade is a talented is a talented graphic designer, from Wimberley, Texas, who loves to get his hands dirty. He paints all kinds of pictures in the back of his and his wife’s car, using only his fingers, dust and a few brushes. From the Mona Lisa to the portrait of Albert Einstein, Wade has created a series of artworks that have often stopped traffic.

He says people often gather around their cars when they go out, just to admire the beauty and detail of his art. Some get out of their vehicles at a red light and take pictures of his car.

Mr. Wade doesn’t drive his cars on a dirt track to get it dirty enough. Instead he uses oil, a special kind of dirt and a hair dryer to spread it across the windows. This takes him about 10 minutes, instead of seven days of driving through the dirt.

Working with dust means his masterpieces are destroyed whenever it rains, but Scott Wade views that as an opportunity to create even more impressive artworks. You have to admit it’s a lot more impressive than writing “wash me” on a car window.

Go to Scott Wade’s official site to check out more photos of his dirty art.

via Daily Mail

Actually, I’m not just talking about one, but hundreds of small “doctor fish” treating serious skin conditions like psoriasis.

Garra Rufa Obtusa, also referred to as Doctor Fish, is a special species of fish, found in northern and central parts of the Middle East. In countries like Turkey, people have started breading them artificially, in giant basins, and use them to treat severe skin diseases.

The small fish can survive in waters as hot as 43 degrees Celsius and love to fed on dead tissue. The little miracle workers aren’t fed, so when patients dip their sick limbs into the water, they act like a pack of gentle piranhas, nibbling with their gummy mouths.

Doctor Fish aren’t recognized as a cure for Psoriasis, although there have been cases of complete healing following a treatment at a Doctor Fish Spa, but they do help improve the condition of the patients, at least temporarily. The fish eat away the red, scaly spots on the patients’ bodies and the mineral water helps the healing process. Thousands of patients travel to Doctor Fish Spas, like the one in Kangal, Turkey, and spend 21 days being eaten alive by the Garra Rufa Obtusa, in two daily four-hour sessions.

Doctor Fish cosmetic facilities have become very popular recently, and you can find them in countries like Japan, Malaysia or China.  After all, Doctor Fish are a lot healthier than a chemical exfoliation.

Photos by Xianhua/Reuters, via People.com.cn

It’s not exactly a music industry breakthrough, but it does show Russian music fans can be very resourceful when they need to.

I’ve seen quite a few ingenious motorcycle sidecars, but a full drum set? Sounds a bit silly, but if you’re looking to draw some attention to yourself, there’s no better way than banging on drums while a friend drives the bike through the city streets. Actually, this sounds like a good way to get noticed by record companies as well.

via English Russia

I know it’s not exactly Victoria Falls, but this waterfall is definitely not a safe place to jump dive. If someone told me a guy jumped from the top of that waterfall and lived, I probably wouldn’t believe it. But these photos show he did just that and not once, but twice.

Located 20 km southeast of Lord Howe Island, in the Pacific Ocean, Ball’s Pyramid rises 562 meters above the waters.

Ball’s Pyramid is all that remains from a shield volcano that was formed 7 million years ago and is the tallest volcanic stack in the world. It was discovered in 1788, by Lieutenant Henry Ball, but no one was able to climb to its summit until 1965.  In 1982 climbing was banned and soon after all access to the island was restricted. Nowadays, the policy has changed and climbing is allowed, but only under strict conditions.

In 2001 researchers found a small population of Lord Howe Island stick insects, a species thought to have been eradicated by the black rats that were introduced on Howe Island. The 24 rare inhabitants found on Ball’s Pyramid are now being bred in captivity, in hopes of reviving the species.

Photos via Snegopad

They’ve only been born for a year and they’re already competing in sporting events. No wonder they’re called Olympic Babies.

Babies born on August 8, known as Olympic Babies, take part in a sporting competition that fits them like a diaper, a crawling race.  The race took place on August 6, 2009 in Beijing, to commemorate a 1 year anniversary since the Olympic Games held in the Chinese Capital.

via China.org

Unlike the Spanish, who like to get involved, the Chinese just like to watch as two bulls brutally fight each other. I’m not talking about the Spanish and the Chinese in general, but there’s no denying there are those who actually enjoy this type of displays.

These particular bullfights took place in Lianglong Village, Guanxing Province, China and were part of the local Xinmi Festival. As always, violence and blood managed to gather quite a crowd. And you can’t really blame the animal, they don’t know any better, but the people…

At least I hope they don’t kill the bulls, like they do in the corrida.

via China.org

As a horse, you have to be really small to be called a small pony and Koda is smaller than most dogs and only a bit bigger than a cat.

The smallest pony in Australia, Koda weighs just 35 kg and is only 59 cm tall. As an American Miniature pony, he was supposed to be small, but not this small. Diagnosed with dwarfism soon after his birth, Koda has struggled to survive as long as he has. The 13-month-old pony had serious health problems and had to go through extensive surgery.

He might look like a cute plush toy, but Koda has a pretty tough life. he’ll soon have to go through some dentistry to remove his adult teeth that simply don’t fit in his tiny mouth. His eyes look so sad, but i hope he’ll soon be able to live a normal life.

via Telegraph.co.uk

Built by artist Alexa Andromeda, the Unlimited Drive motorcycle represents the thousands of giga-byte of hard-drive “to be driven on the Internet data highway”.

Did I mention this 18-inches-long masterpiece was built only with parts from old computers? The thick, shiny wheels are magnetic discs found in hard-disks. Unlimited Drive looks even more impressive when you learn it was built way back in 1995.

Apparently these photos were taken in Norway, where a ram was found hanging around on a steel wire. It seems the animal tried to leap over a living fence, but overshot his jump and one of his horns hooked the wire. The ram ended up being stuck 5 meters into the air, until it was rescued by tourists. They made sure they took some photos first.

I have to say this is one of the strangest things I’ve ever seen, stranger than the acrobat goat and almost as strange as the tree goats of Morocco

Samsam Bubbleman has been making bubbles since 1989, when he first saw a balloon float past him, and now he’s breaking the record for the World’s Largest Free-Floating Soap Bubble.

I didn’t even know such a term  existed, but Samsam (real name Sam Heath) is a bubbleologist. You can say Sam does what he likes for a living since he owns a company that sells bubble mixtures, equipment and throws shows for some of the biggest celebrities. But making bubbles is more than a business for this bubble master, it’s truly a passion.

Sometimes called the “Willy Wonka of Bubbles”, Samsam has just attempted to set a new record for the world’s largest bubble, using a secret mixture he has been developing for 20 years. If the record will be acknowledged by Guinness, this will be his third world record. He has previously won the award for putting 50 people inside one of his balloons and putting the most balloons inside another balloon, 65.

Samsam Bubbleman says his secret is in the mixture, if the mixture is good than the tools don’t matter very much.

Photos by BARCROFT MEDIA

via Telegraph.co.uk

Anyone would be more then satisfied to be the proud holder of just one Guinness Record. But not Ashrita Furman, `the man who holds more Guinness World Records than anyone else on the planet.

54-year-old Ashrita Furman has spent the last 30 years trying (and succeeding) to break records. At the peak of his record-breaking career, Furman has held 100 records simultaneously and he’s not doing very bad right now, with 98 records under his belt. He has held 236 world records throughout his career and the closest anyone ever came to surpassing him was holding 20 records.

It all started when he was a little boy, reading the Guinness Book of Records and dreaming that one day he will break one himself. He accomplished his dream in 1979, when he set the world record with 27,000 star jumps, in New York City. And from there on, he never stopped.

Some of his record-breaking stunts involved pushing a car for 17 miles in 24 hours, translating and reciting a poem i 111 languages in 24 hours as well as:

walking 80.95 miles with a milk bottle on his head

chopping 27 apples in mid-air with a samurai sword within sixty seconds

deep Knee Bends on a Balance Board

racing against a yak, in a sac,  in Mongolia

Most Grapes Caught in Mouth in One Minute (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)

Longest Time Balancing on Swiss Ball (Stonehenge)

Skipping on a Pogo Stick (Cambodia)

Fastest Mile Balancing a Pool Cue (Egypt)

Fastest Hula Hoop Mile (Uluru, Australia)

Balancing Tallest Pole (Aspendos, Turkey)

Fastest Mile on a Space Hopper (Great Wall of China)

Now Ashrita Furman is training to break the record for the fastest mile with flippers on his feet.

Photos by Barcroft Media

via Telegraph.co.uk