Game Lets You Play Table Tennis without a Table, Ball or Opponent

“Go with the rhythm! Hyper Ping Pong” is a quirky Japanese video game that allows you to play table tennis without a table, a ball or an opponent.

Following in the footsteps of Nintendo – inventors of the popular Wii console –  Japanese game developer, Happinet, has decided to take things one step further and take the video out of video-game. They’ve come up with a table tennis game that only features a motion sensor racket that emits the sound of a ball being hit by the invisible opponent. Players must find their rhythm and time their hits to the sound to continue their rally. By pressing the square button on the paddle, they can do a Smash, and if performed with perfect timing, it turns into a rally winning Super Smash.

According to Atsushi Watanabe, from Happinet, you can play Hyper Ping Pong, by yourself, in your room, but also at parties, to show people just how well you can rally. As the game progresses, the rally will make everyone more excited, making the game more enjoyable for everyone. Right… I think a YouTube commenter said it best: this game was invented for people who love ping pong but have no friends whatsoever.

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Artist’s Vomit Painting May Cause You to Puke

Vomit painter Millie Brown creates what some people call art by drinking colored milk and regurgitating it onto a white canvas or even her own dress.

Is it just me, or is art getting weirder and weirder. I mean I’ve seen “artists” paint with their breasts, create props from meat and eve dude that paints with his penis. Someone once told me anything is art if at least one person thinks so, but this is getting ridiculous. Take Millie Brown, also known as the Vomit Painter. She has mastered the art of regurgitation and uses her talents to create actual art. Her work requires her to drink colored milk and simply vomit on a white canvas, thus creating abstract “paintings” worth thousands of dollars.

Why anyone would pay to own someone else’s colored puke is beyond my understanding. I mean, if we were talking about Justin Bieber’s vomit, I could understand, I’m pretty sure there are some girls out there who would pay anything just to sniff his dirty underwear, but this isn’t the case. One of Brown’s artworks, Nexus Vomitus, created to an acoustic accompaniment of opera singers Patricia Hammond and Zita Syme, sold for $2,400, which is just mind-boggling. Read More »

Roger Federer Gets World’s Biggest Shave in Gillette Publicity Stunt

Tennis legend, Roger Federer, has set yet another world record, after he (well, a giant portrait of him) got the world’s biggest shave, on a field near London.

Anyone seeing Gillette employees sprinkling weird paint on a green field near London, the other day, would have probably thought the company switched from shaving to landscaping, but it was only a big publicity stunt to promote its new Fusion ProGlide razors. With the help of Gillette’s Facebook community and laser-guided robots, workers covered the green field with environmentally-friendly paint to create a big portrait of the Swiss champion.

Then they used cannons to cover his face with bio-degradable foam, which they then removed with lawn mowers. To finish the job, they brought in these giant Fusion ProGlide razors to show how smooth a shave can be when you use them. Kind of a wacky idea, but they did a great job with the portrait.

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Researcher Creates Artificial Meat Based on Human Excrement

The global food crisis is a very serious issue, but professor Ikeda thinks his latest invention, an artificial meat based on protein from human excrement, could be of great help.

The Japanese researcher from the Okayama laboratory says its country has more sewage mud than they can handle, so Tokyo Sewarage asked him to explore its possible use. Knowing the wacky nature of many Japanese scientists, it’s no surprise he came up with a turd burger. During his research, he discovered sewage mud contains a great deal of protein so he began developing a process of extracting that valuable protein and turning it into a viable meat substitute.

Sewage mud is high in protein, because it’s full of bacteria, most of which comes from human feces. However, these microorganisms are harmless, because they are killer by heat during the manufacturing process. According to initial tests, the artificial meat even tastes like beef, thanks to added soy protein, and Ikeda added some red food coloring to give it a more natural look. In terms of nutritive values, the turd burger doesn’t sound bad at all: it’s 63% protein, 25% carbohydrates, 3% lipids and 9% minerals. Read More »

Chessboxing – The Thinking Person’s Contact Sport

Chessboxing is a very unique sport that consists of alternating rounds of boxing and chess, allowing players to win either by knockout or check mate.

You probably think it’s a joke, but those who actually practice chessboxing take it very seriously. In order to be a world class chess-boxer, one must have extensive boxing experience and be at least a Class A strength chess player. The basic idea in chessboxing is to combine the top combat sport with the number one thinking sport into a hybrid that requires competitors to give it their best both physically and mentally.

The history of chessboxing can be traced back to 1992, when French cartoonist Enki Bilal created The Nikopol Trilogy, a comic book that depicted a futuristic world where men boxed on a chessboard floor. The concept inspired Dutch artist Iepe Rubingh to create chessboxing and organize the first world championship, in 2003. Since then, the sport he been constantly gaining popularity and new members from all walks of life join every year.

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Girl Gets 152 Facebook Friends Tattooed on Her Arm

If you thought a smartphone was the ultimate way to take your Facebook friends with you wherever you go, think again. A woman from the Netherlands just covered her right arm with tattoos of her 152 Facebook friends profile pictures.

Just yesterday I posted an article about a young German girl who forgot to set her Facebook birthday invitation as private and wound up with 1,500 unwanted guests in front of her house, and now this…This whole Facebook social stuff is really getting out of control. Anyway, the social networking addict known only by her YouTube username, Susyj87, spent four months going to the tattoo parlor to have her friends’ Facebook profile photos inked into her skin. Luckily, she only has 152 friends on the popular online network, otherwise who knows, she might have needed a full body tattoo.

Susyj87 probably got this shocking social tattoo to feel close to her friends even when she’s not online, but I wonder what’s going to happen when they change their profile pictures, or when she has a falling out with one of them?

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15-Year-Old Has a Strange Passion for Vacuum Cleaners

Kyle Krichbaum, a 15-year-old boy from Adrian, Michigan, has been fascinated by vacuum cleaners since before he could talk. His passion stuck with him through adolescence, and he’s now known as the world’s youngest vacuum cleaner collector, with a collection of around 200 vintage devices.

Most teenagers don’t have that strong of a relationship with vacuum cleaners, or any other cleaning gadgets, for that matter, but Kyle Krichbaum doesn’t like anything more than using, fixing and collecting all kinds of vacuum cleaners. His mother, MaryLynn, remembers that when Kyle was only a baby in his little baby seat and she would start vacuuming the house, he would be mesmerized by it and follow her everywhere around the house. “Vacuum Boy” got his first vacuum cleaner at age 1, and when he was 2-years-old he dressed up hot Halloween as a Dirt Devil…

One of his former teachers remembers Kyle Krichbaum was vacuuming around school, during recess, when he was just 6 years old. It’s not that he didn’t like recess as much as the other kids, vacuuming was just his favorite pass-time. He would vacuum one side of a classroom one day, and finish the other side the next, and has even vacuumed the principal’s office.

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Would You Pay $1,000 for a Pizza?

Probably not, but Nino Selimaj, owner of Nino’s Bellissima Pizza, in New York, seems to think there are many food lovers who would fork out $1,000 for a slice of heaven.

Selimaj himself came up with the idea for this expensive pizza, in 2007, after spending a whole year just researching the ingredients. In the end, he settled on a creme fraiche base,  four types of caviar, sliced lobster tail, salmon roe and some wasabi. Each $250 slice contains a different kind of caviar and while Selimaj admits his gourmet creation isn’t for everyone, he says there are plenty of people who can afford it.

In 2010, during a CNN Money report on pizza in New York, Selimaj said the financial crisis hit his $1,000 pizza as well, and while he used to sell between 2 and 10 pies a week before the crisis, sales were down to one every two weeks, even one a month. I don’t know if he’s doing any better now, but I think he’ll keep it on the menu just for the pride of selling the most expensive pizza in the world.

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Taiwanese Hairdresser Makes High-Heels from Human Hair

Owner of a small hair salon in the small Taiwanese city of Taichung, Tsai Shiou-ying has recently attracted media attention with a series of original artworks made with human hair.

After winning various awards and prizes for her hair-cutting skills, the 54-year-old hairdresser decided to explore her artistic side by using discarded hair to make various works of art. She recently showed off some of her creations, including beautiful brooches, a life-size pineapple made from hair, a rat sculpture, and her pride and joy – a pair of high-heel shoes. “I personally love high heels very much, but I am flat-footed. I can only look at them and try them on, but if I buy them they will only be stored away until mold grows. I can’t wear them, so I want to make a pair of heels that I really like. This way, even if I can’t wear them, at least I created a work of art,” Tsai told Reuters.

A single pair of “hairy” high-heels takes a whole month to make, and Tsai Shiou-ying needs hair from at least three people, usually friends and neighbors. She says only real hair can be used to create her unusual artworks, as artifcial hair simply can’t handle all the heat and super glue she uses. Tsai is now planning to start work on hair dresses and corsets.

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Real Birds Tweet on Twitter

A Latvian magazine thought it wasn’t fair that real twitting birds didn’t have the chance to do it on Twitter so they set up a service that allows them to share their thoughts with the world.

Voldemars Dudum, the founder of BirdsOnTwitter.com, has always been a big bird lover, and while feeding them pork fat one winter, he came up with a brilliant idea to give them the chance to tweet for themselves. By fixating small pieces of unsalted pork on keyboard keys, feasting Tomtits type their own messages on the popular social networking platform.

The fat is attached to the keys with small stainless steel screws which increases the sensitivity of the strokes, since Tomtits are too light to press a real key with their beaks. The bird tweeting station is set up in the small Latvian village of Sarnate, where winter temperatures drop to a whopping -20 degrees Celsius. Eating the pork fat helps the chirping birds survive the harsh temperatures, and now gives them the chance to send messages worldwide.

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Mom Spends Six Years Making a Prom Dress from Candy Wrappers

High-school senior Tara Frey, from Wisconsin, won’t have to worry about having the same prom dress as other girls, as her mother has made her a unique outfit from thousands of Starburst candy wrappers.

Tara and her mother Kerrin worked on the dress for the last six years, trying to collect as many wrappers as possible before the big event. Kerrin Frey told local news station KARE-TV that she got the idea for the wacky project after seeing another mother weaving gum wrappers during a hockey game. The two started collecting Starburst wrappers, but had to go the extra mile in order to complete the outfit in time for the prom. They tried calling Starburst to ask them if they could only buy the wrappers from them, but they weren’t too keen on the idea, so they had to buy up to 9 kg of candy at a time. They handed them to neighbors and friends, but asked them to keep the wrappers and try not ot tear them.

In order to be used for the sweet prom dress, every candy wrapper had to be folded eight times, and pressed with tweezers to achieve a tight weave. Not the easiest of tasks, considering there were a lot of wrappers to prepare, so Kerrin asked for help from her friends. She doesn’t know exactly how many Starburst wrappers were used on Tara’s gown, but she does remember it took five failed attempts before the two of them agreed on the design.

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comBATON – Welcome to Martial Arts Football

Do you like American Football but wish kicking was allowed in the game? Are you a martial arts student who wishes classes weren’t so darn boring? If this is you, comBATON will be your favorite sport.

ComBATON was invented back in 1998, by Steve Blanton, but the first practice game didn’t take place until November 2004. You see, although Blanton had a vision, he needed someone to develop the game into a playable version, and that person was David Turnbull, president of the Florida A.A.U. Tae Kwon Do Association. He had more than a few black belt students more than willing to play in a game of comBATON, and when he saw how naturally they acted as a team, on the field, he knew he had struck gold.

The word comBATON is derived from combat and baton, and“the object of the game is for the offense to move the baton down field and score on their opponent’s goal pole. The defense must stop the offense and end the attack by kicking the baton carrier.” The goals are more like poles from which the opponent’s baton hangs, and a member of the attacking team carrying their baton has to kick the opponent’s baton to score. Sounds a little confusing with all these batons lying around, but martial arts enthusiasts seem to love it.

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Metro Surfing – Russia’s Deadly Extreme Sport

Moscow’s metro system has recently become the scene of a new and deadly extreme sport – metro surfing. Teenagers jump on the back of trains and try to cling on for their lives as they video-tape the whole experience.

Believe it or not, metro surfing began as a desperate way of catching a ride during rush hour. The Moscow subway system is very crowded at this time and it’s close to impossible to get into the train, so young people started clinging to the back of it to reach their destination in time. Unfortunately, this desperate way of traveling somehow turned into a popular pass-time for teenagers looking for cheap thrills and internet fame. Metro surfers have now become such a common site that normal commuters hardly notice the crazy kids hanging on for their lives at the back of the train.

Wearing distinctive gloves, and sometimes clothes the same color as the metro to blend-in better, surfers wait on the platform the same as everyone else. Then, as the train leaves the station, they jump on the back of it and ride into the narrow tunnels, trying not to fall off. Most of them have cameras attached to their headgear to record the entire thing. They then post them on popular social media sites like Youtube or vkontakte (Russian version of Facebook), and brag among their friends. Even more alarming is that there are now groups of up to 2,000 members posting and commenting their metro surfing adventures online, and their numbers seems to be ever growing.

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Horse Boarding – The Latest in Equestrian Extreme Sports

Adrenaline junkies have found a new way to get their fix – horse boarding, a fresh extreme sport where boarders on off-road skateboards are dragged by horses, reaching speeds of over 35 mph.

Horse boarding was invented three years ago, by Daniel Fowler-Prime, after he tied a rope between his mountain board and a horse, and decided it was a pleasurable experience. He was just messing around on the farm, and laughing with his friends, but soon realized this could actually be considered a sport. This summer, he’s proud to be organizing Britain’s first Horse Boarding Championship.

According to Daniel, ”We have people from all over the country coming to the training ground to try it. It’s very accessible for people of all abilities, you only need a bit of space and a lot of guts,” Easy for him to say, he’s a professional stunt horse rider and has made appearances in films like “Kingdom of Heaven” and “The Da Vinci Code”, but for regular people, holding on to a rope while maintaining balance at 35 mph has to be pretty tough.

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Geeky Inventor Transforms into Real-Life Transformer

Many of you probably know him as “The Transformers Guy from American Idol”, but Drew Beaumier is actually a young inventor who managed to create a fully functional Transformers outfit.

25-year-old Beaumier, from California, has always been a huge Transformers fan, but although the idea of building a geeky Transformers costume hit him a few years back, it wasn’t until he saw the advertisement for a good condition Power Wheels car that he actually began working on it. Using only a box of tools, glue and spare parts from WallMart, Drew took apart the second hand toy car and attached the parts to a sports body suit. It took him eight weeks of working in his garage to finish the masterpiece, but it was well worth the time.

With wheels attached to both his hands and legs, the geeky inventor can crouch into a car and roll down the street, or stand up and pose as a real-life Transformer. Not bad for a guy who not so long ago was struggling for money and doing lousy bar jobs. Now Drew makes a lot more entertaining tourists in Hollywood and taking photos with other Transformers fans. His ingenious suit has also helped him win a big cash prize on Halloween, for the last three years, which actually helped pay it off.

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