Posts Tagged ‘Events’

Spain’s Death-Defying Bull Leapers

November 16th, 2009 Spooky

In the name of entertainment and adrenalin, Spain’s bull leapers, known as “recortadores”, continue an ancient tradition that can be traced back to 1500 BC, during King Minos’ reign.

Teams of 5 to 7 bull leapers gather each year in cities like Valencia or Barcelona, to take part in a performance that many compare to the Russian roulette. Each team may face up to three bulls in the ring, at once, taunting and jumping over them just when the beats prepare to impale them.

The bull leapers all look calm and brave, but they don’t hesitate to run for their lives after a successful jump or evasion, to stay well clear of the angry bulls. The atmosphere in the bullfighting arena is said to be exhilarating, with the crown cheering every successful trick.

Sure some may call these death-defying artists insane, but I have a lot more respect for them than I do for bullfighters. At least bull leaping doesn’t get the bull killed in a violent way. sadly it can’t quench the Spanish thirst for bull-fighting blood.

Bull-leapers12

(more…)

Popularity: 4% [?]

Posted in Events, Pics Tags: , , , 2 Comments »

Sydney Swimwear Parade Fails to Break World Record

November 16th, 2009 Spooky

In an attempt to set a new Guinness record and raise money for charity, hundreds of Australia gathered on the steps of the iconic Sydney Opera for the city’s largest ever swimwear parade.

Dressed only in bikinis and “smudgie smugglers” business men teamed up with construction workers and marched into Sydney’s financial district, all for a good cause. Although everyone had a lot of fun participating, their effort wasn’t enough to beat the recently set record for World’s Largest Swimsuit Parade. On November 9, 287 women took to the streets of Johannesburg, South Africa, dressed in swimwear and unfortunately for the Aussies, they couldn’t even match that.

The funds raised during the Sydney Swimwear Parade will go to the Australian Indigenous Mentoring Experience, an organization that encourages the young indigenous population to attend university.

Photos by Getty Images, AFP, EPA, AP, Reuters

via Etoday

sydney-swimwear-parade11

(more…)

Popularity: 2% [?]

Posted in Events, News Tags: , , , , , 2 Comments »

World’s Largest Bikini Parade

November 11th, 2009 Spooky

Hundreds of girls dressed only in their bikini take to the streets. I know, it’s every guy’s fantasy, but for once it came true, in South Africa.

That’s right boys, 287 girls walked 1,690 meters on Melrose Arch Boulevard, in Johannesburg,  and set a new Guinness record for the World’s Largest Bikini Parade. The girls used their sexuality to draw attention to the issue of breast cancer, a condition that affects one in every thirty South-African women.

The event took place on November 9th, 2009

Photos © Alexander Joe / AFP / Getty Images

bikini-parade

(more…)

Popularity: 2% [?]

Posted in Events, News Tags: , , No Comments »

20,000 Couples Take Part in World’d Largest Mass Wedding

October 20th, 2009 Spooky

Members of the Unification Church, all around the world, took part in the world’s largest mass wedding officiated by reverend Sun Myung Moon, founder of the controversial church.

Over 20,000 people filled up the Sun Moon University campus, in Seoul, South Korea, to celebrate Sun Myung Moon’s 90th birthday and his 50th wedding anniversary with wife Han Hak-ja. Some of the couples had just met a few months before, while others came to renew their vows. Korean couples were joined by 20,000 other followers from all around the world, who tuned in via an internet link.

Sun Myung Moon took this opportunity to pass down leadership of the Unification Church to his children. Moon started the much contested cult in 1954, following a vision he had when he was just 15, where Jesus allegedly appeared to him and asked him to finish His work. The Korean leader performed his first mass wedding in the early 1960s and throughout the years officiated ceremonies between people who had never met each other before their wedding.

Critics stated this latest mass wedding proves followers of the Unification Church are brainwashed. Sun Myung Moon denied the accusation saying these days couples spend months getting to know one another, before they tie the knot.

Photos via csmonitor

mass-wedding

(more…)

Popularity: 3% [?]

Posted in Events, News Tags: , , , 1 Comment »

The Cardboard Tube Fighting League

October 12th, 2009 Spooky

Well, if there’s such a thing as the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, you’d better believe we also have a Cardboard Tube Fighting League.

It’s actually an international organization promoting events where people face each other in fair combat, wielding deadly…carton tubes. To be honest, it focuses more on fun and costume creativity than on violence. Anyone over 5-years-old can participate in a cardboard fight, so it’s not dangerous at all.

The rules of cardboard tube fighting are simple. To win a tournament or cardboard battle, you have to break your opponents cardboard and keep yours intact. If it should happen that both fighters break their tubes, the fight is declared a draw and the competitors are both declared winn…, losers. Parrying hits with the arm is forbidden and so is hitting an opponent in the face and stabbing.

During cardboard tube fighting tournaments, shields of any kind are forbidden, but they can be worn during cardboard tube battles, where two armies face each other and pound away until the last cardboard tube breaks or unravels.

Cardboard-tube-fighting

(more…)

Popularity: 5% [?]

Posted in Events, Pics Tags: , , , , 1 Comment »

Miss Plastic – Cosmetic Surgery Has Its Own Beauty Contest

October 8th, 2009 Spooky

It was bound to happen sooner or later, right? With plastic surgery becoming more and more popular, enhanced babes yearned for a chance to show off their improvements. And so, Miss Plastic Beauty Contest was born.

Miss Plastic, the world’s first “plastic” beauty contest, takes place in Hungary and any woman aged between 19 and 38 can participate. As long as she is a resident of Hungary and, more importantly, has at least one cosmetic surgery in her medical history. A boob job or facelift will do just fine.

Instead of focusing on looks, the judges pay a lot more attention to the sugeons’ work on the contestants. Both the contestants and the doctors who operated on them will be rewarded with valuable prizes.

The final of this very first edition of Miss Plastic takes place on October 9th. Below, I’ve posted photos of all 18 finalists that will be battling for the grand prize, a brand new apartment. Which one do you think deserves to win?

via Miss Plastic Hungary

Miss-Plastic

(more…)

Popularity: 8% [?]

Posted in Events, News Tags: , , , , 4 Comments »

The Buffalo Fighting Festival of Do Son

October 7th, 2009 Spooky

The Buffalo Fighting Festival is held annually, on the northern coast of Vietnam and draws huge crowds, eager to see a display of violence.

Buffalo owners train the peaceful creatures and even pray on the night before the festival, to ensure their beast is victorious. To the crowd’s disappointment the animals often do nothing more than look at each other and go about their business. On rare  occasions they cros their scythe like horns and push each other like sumo wrestlers.

The victorious buffalo is cheered by thousands of people, while its owner displays it for all to see and collects a prize of 40 million dong. But the winner has little time to enjoy his success, as both buffalos are sacrificed and their meat offered to the spectators. The owners are allowed to take a keepsake, like the animal’s head.

Photos by AFP/GETTY IMAGES

via Telegraph.co.uk

buffalo-festival

(more…)

Popularity: 3% [?]

Posted in Pics, Travel Tags: , , , , No Comments »

Chinese Artist Makes World’s Largest Paintbrush

October 6th, 2009 Spooky

He Wenjun, an artist from China, was recognized by Guinness Book of Records for creating the world’s largest paintbrush.

The artist claims he used the tails of 300 horses to make the 12-foot brush, which weighs 115 lb and almost double that when it is soaked in ink. He Wenjun said it took him a year to make the brush and another year to learn how to control it.

The proud new Guinness record holder took part in a special exhibition in Nanchong, where he displayed his calligraphy talents, using the giant paintbrush.

Photos by CEN via Europics

largest-painbrush

(more…)

Popularity: 4% [?]

Posted in Events, Pics Tags: , , , No Comments »

10,000 Laughs to Celebrate China

September 30th, 2009 Spooky

10,000 people gathered in Chongquing, China and laughed simultaneously, during a campaign to celebrate the 60th anniversary of People’s Republic of China.

In order to prove the love for their country, the Chinese have come up with some very original its 60th anniversary. After a Chinese hairdresser created a replica of Tianan Men Square out of human hair, 10,000 people gathered in Chongquing for what can be considered one the biggest collective laughter in history.

via ImagineChina

biggest-laughter

(more…)

Popularity: 3% [?]

Posted in Events, Pics Tags: , , 2 Comments »

The Chicken Madness of Yom Kippur

September 29th, 2009 Spooky

On Yom Kippur, The Day of Atonement, ultra-Orthodox Jews use white chickens to perform the Kaparot ritual and get rid of all their sins.

The holiest of Jewish days, celebrated with 25 hours of fasting and intense prayer, offers ultra-Orthodox Jews the chance to make a year’s worth of sins vanish. All they need is a chicken, preferably white, and a simple blessing. The live chicken is waved above the sinner’s head as the blessing is recited and it is believed all his of the previous year are transferred into the chicken.

The new host of the sins is then quickly beheaded and its blood drained as young ultra-Orthodox boys watch. Pretty cool isn’t it? Just sin a way for an entire year and let a brainless chicken take the fall. These are the times that make me wish I was a Jew.

via Telegraph.co.uk

Yom-Kippur

(more…)

Popularity: 3% [?]

Posted in Events, Pics Tags: , , 1 Comment »

Hideous Obama Dress Showcased at the Emmy Awards

September 22nd, 2009 Spooky

Some people say Obama isn’t as popular as he was when he became president of the US, but I still see Obama action-figures and celebrities making fools of themselves by wearing hideous Obama-ware. Why is that?

Don’t get me wrong, I think Obama is a nice guy, especially after he called Kanye West a jackass for his stunt at the 2009 VMAs, but people have to stop wearing clothes with his face stamped on them. Take this Obamanation for example: Victoria Rowell (your mom probably recognizes her as Drucilla, from The Young and the Restless, don’t ask me how I know that) came to the Emmy Awards dressed in what appears to be an Obama tablecloth.

Now I’m no fashion critic, far from it, but that thing has no business covering anything else but a kitchen table, let alone a hot body like that. Obama should take her to court for trashing his image, literally.

via If it’s hip, it’s here

Obama-dress

(more…)

Popularity: 6% [?]

Posted in Funny, Pics Tags: , , No Comments »

Buffalo-Riding Ceremony in Cambodia

September 21st, 2009 Spooky

The Buffalo-Riding Ceremony is held every year, in the Cambodian village of Virhear Sour, Kandal province. The tradition of this even goes back 70 years and it marks the end of the Festival of the Dead. It is also a way to honor the Neakta Preah Srok pagoda spirit.

After the race is over, the buffaloes are auctioned off to the highest bidders.

Photos by Reuters

via People.com.cn

buffalo-racing

(more…)

Popularity: 3% [?]

Posted in Events, Pics Tags: , , , No Comments »

World’s Largest Flag Unfurled in Jerusalem

September 18th, 2009 Spooky

The world’s largest flag was unfurled over Teddy Football Stadium, Jerusalem, during an event attended by officials from the Guinness Book of Records.

The creation of the flag was initiated by Grace Galindez Gupana, a 48-year-old Filipino business woman and founder of Halleluyah Kingdom of Jerusalem Foundation. Mrs Gupana holds nine other Guinness records, including the largest stone tablets with the ten commandments and says her projects are ways of emphasizing her love for the God of Israel.

The flag presented on September 17, in the capital of Israel, features the largest emblem of lion, ever soon and measures 44,404 square meters (that’s over 4.3 hectares)  and weighs 9.5 tons. A team of six people produced the world’s largest flag over a period of 120 days. It cost $120,000 to make.

Photos by Xinhua/Yin Bogu

via Xinhua

largest-flag

(more…)

Popularity: 4% [?]

Posted in Events, News Tags: , , , 1 Comment »

The Hog Parade of Malolos

September 14th, 2009 Spooky

Dozens of pigs wearing make-up and funny costumes are displayed through the streets of Malolos, during the Hog Parade.

Highlighting a week-long food festival in the Philippines, the Hog Parade took place on September 12, in the town of Malolos, Bulacan province. The tasty protagonists were dressed as Superman, Popeye, clowns, queens and even brides.

After the fun Hog Parade, the people of Malolos feasted on some free roasted pig, offered by the local authorities. Malolos is the main supplier of pigs in the Philippines.

Photos by Erik de Castro/REUTERS

pig-parade

(more…)

Popularity: 5% [?]

Posted in Animals, Events, Travel Tags: , , , , No Comments »

Pulling the Head Off A Goose Is A Fiesta in Spain

September 8th, 2009 Spooky

The “Day of the Geese” is a Spanish Fiesta in which “brave” contestants have to wrench the head off a goose while being plunged into the water.

In the Basque fishing-town of Lekeitio, near Bilbao, people have a rather unusual way of keeping themselves entertained. Every year, during the Day of the Geese, young men try to prove their skill at tearing the head off a goose.

Geese are strung up on a wire, above the town’s harbor, as young men approach in boats and try to grab them. They are then lifted up into the air and plunged into the water repeatedly, until they pull the head off the goose or fall into the water.

Quite a challenge but at least the winner gets a worthy price: he gets to keep the goose…I can’t say I’m surprised to see this kind of display in a country fascinated by archaic traditions like Corrida or the Shearing of the Beasts, but at least here they kill the goose beforehand (if that can be considered a positive aspect). The Day of the Geese used to be celebrated with live geese.

Photos by Reuters

via Drugoi

day-of-the-geese

(more…)

Popularity: 4% [?]

Posted in Events, Pics, Travel Tags: , , 2 Comments »

Kung Fu Artist Pulls Eight Cars with Her Hair, Before Becoming Buddhist Nun

September 8th, 2009 Spooky

Zhang Tingting, a popular kung-fu artist from China, managed to tow eight cars using only the incredible power of her hair. This was her last performance before becoming a Buddhist nun.

52-year-old Zhang Tingting has been touring China for decades, mesmerizing people with her unique kung-fu talents. Using the power of her braided hair, Zhang is able to pull cars and even cut paper. She has been practicing the ancient art of kung-fu ever since she was 17 years old, but has now decided to quit and become a Buddhist nun.

The talented artist has been living the life of a nun for the last two years, but decided to give one last performance, for the people in her native town of Kaifeng, before shaving her precious hair. On August 25, Zhang Tingting pulled off one of the most amazing stunts ever, towing eight cars for a length of 20 meters.

She has shaved her unusually strong hair, but it has not been lost. Authorities chose to preserve it and are considering sending it on a pilgrimage to Buddhist temples in Tibet, or displaying it in a museum.

Photos by ImagineChina

kung-fu-artist

(more…)

Popularity: 3% [?]

Posted in Events, News Tags: , No Comments »

Blue Ducks Invade London Once More

September 7th, 2009 Spooky

Over 200,000 blue rubber-ducks took part in the 2009 Great British Duck Race, on September 6, on the Thames, in London.

Last year the tradition of the blue ducks began and this year they returned in even greater numbers, literally covering up Molesey Lock, on the River Thames. As we’ve mentioned in our coverage of the 2008 Great British Duck Race, the duckies are blue because, in 2007, when they were yellow, people threw their own ducks in the water, without paying the entrance fee.

The Great British Duck Race is a contest between rubber ducks, to determine which is the fastest floating one. People have to pay 2 pounds to “adopt” a blue rubber duck and enter it in the competition. The winner’s prize is 10,000 pounds and the rest of the earnings go to the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC).

Last year’s record of 200,000 blue rubber ducks on the Thames was beaten this year, with over 205,000 “contestants” registered for the race.

Photos by Xinhua/Reuters

via Xinhua

blue-ducks-London

(more…)

Popularity: 3% [?]

Posted in Events, News Tags: No Comments »

World Belly Board Championships in Cornwall

September 7th, 2009 Spooky

More than one hundred belly surfers from all over the world gathered in Cornwall, Britain, for the annual World Belly Board Championships.

You might be surprised to know surfing wasn’t always about standing up on the board and riding the waves. British surfers practiced the sport on their bellies, using short wooden planks, over one century ago. On September 6, 2009 belly surfers from as far as Australia and America gathered in Cornwall for the annual charity event for the National Trust and the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI). The World Belly Board Championships began back in 2002 as a way to commemorate the beginnings of British surfing.

Cornwall has been the main surfing area in Britain and it’s recognized as the first place where a British surfer actually stood up on a surf board. The first photographic evidence of this dates back to 1929.

Photos by Matt Cardy/Getty Images Europe

via Zimbio

Belly-board-championships

(more…)

Popularity: 3% [?]

Posted in Events, News Tags: , , No Comments »

Sauna World Championship 2009

September 3rd, 2009 Spooky

Yes, believe it or not, there is such a competition as Sauna World Championship.

Held in Heinola, Finland, the Sauna World Championship brings together around 200 competitors from all around the world. These hot heads can withstand sauna temperatures of 100 degrees Celsius.

Inaugurated in 1999, this crazy competition has both a men’s and women’s challenge. The Finish men have proven unbeatable every year since the 1999, while women from Belarus and Russia managed to steal the trophy on a number of occasions.

The rules of the Sauna World Championship are simple. Contestants, dressed in just their bathing suits, go inside a steaming sauna and have to stay there for as long as they can. As water is thrown over the stove, temperatures reach 110 degrees Celsius. The last contestant to leave the sauna, on his own two feet, is declared the winner.

This year the men’s title went to veteran Timo Kaukonen, and the women’s trophy was snatched by Russian Tatyana Arkhipenko.

sauna-championship

(more…)

Popularity: 3% [?]

Posted in Events, Pics Tags: , , 1 Comment »

Remember Our World Is Melting

September 3rd, 2009 Spooky

Raising awareness on the issue of global warming is not easy this days, but artists come up with all sorts of original ways to make the news.

Take Brazilian artists Nele Azevedo,  who created 2,000 ice-sculptures and placed them on the steps of the Berlin Opera Hall, to melt. That’s a lot of work to watch melt away in one hot afternoon, but at least her message made the newspapers. And if one more person knows about the melting Arctic ice, than her effort was not in vain.

melting ice

(more…)

Popularity: 4% [?]

Posted in Art, Events, News Tags: , , 2 Comments »
« Older Entries
RSS FeedSubscribe to the oddities!
Follow the OdditiesFollow the Oddities