29-year-old extreme balancing artist, Eskil Ronningsbakken has to be one of the world’s most amazing performers. Ronningsbakken has performed the most dangerous balancing acts I’ve ever seen, riding a bike upside down, balancing under a balloon in plain flight and on cliffs thousands of meters high. He says ‘That’s the balance between life and death, and that is where life is.’ His balancing career began when he was only five years old and he saw a yogin serenely balancing. Now he is one of the most famous extreme balancing artists in the world. His next dream is to perform his breathtaking stunts on top of the Burj al Arab Hotel, in Dubai. Read more on the amazing Eskil Ronningsbakken here. Photos by Sindre Lundvold/Barcroft Media via guardian.co.uk

It’s not that it’s not soft or anything, but looking at this toilet paper dispenser, in Copenhagen, I just had to use that title. Very funny and original way to promote this brand of toilet-paper, although I’m sure a lot of people will feel offended and won’t even touch the thing. Which will be a problem in case of a number 2. Read More »

Russian students showed off a Death-Race style Chevrolet Camaro at the 2009 Moscow Auto-show. If you’re a fan of films like Death-Race and Mad-Max, you’re gonna love this car. It was created by students of the MHPI design school, painted with matte-grey paint and fitted with armor and serious weaponry. Now this is one cool ride, the guys who created what is arguably the ugliest car ever, could learn a thing a thing or two from this. via Damn Cool Pics

Angel Oak is one of the oldest organisms east of the Mississippi, believed to be over 1,500 years-old. Before you start with the “It’s photoshoped” comments, check Wikipedia and you’ll see it’s very real. Angel Oak is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Charlestone, South Carolina. It has a height of 20 meters, measures 2.7 meters in diameter and it’s crown shades an area of 1,600 square meters. It’s longest limb stretches out 27 meters. Its name comes from the Angel estate, but local legends say ghosts of former slaves sometimes appear around the tree, as angels. Angel Oak has survived countless earthquakes and floods, as well as human interference. It was damaged by Hurricane Hugo, in 1989, but has since then recovered.

If you are afraid of flying, but want to spend a night in an airplane, then travel to Costa Rica and spend a night at the Costa Verde Hotel. There are a lot of things you can do with an old jumbo-jet, some just cut it to pieces and sell it as scrap-metal, others transform it into a bar and call it El Avion, others make a plane-boat out of it, and others turn it into a airplane-hostel. So a plane-hotel shouldn’t seem that bizarre. The plane hotel is an old Boeing 707 from 1965 that now has two bedrooms, two bathrooms. a dinningroom, a kitchen and a terrace overlooking the ocean. It’s definitely not your average vacation hotel, but if you’re into trying new things, the Costa Rica plane-hotel is worth $300-$350 per night. via Inhabitat

Definitely one of the strangest vehicles I have ever seen. I mean I don’t really get how it works, it’s probably just as useless as the circle bike. Maybe you can figure out how this contraption works and why you would use it. via 99express.com

This paper art never ceases to amaze me, I just can’t understand how people can mold paper like this. Starcraft is also one of my all-time computer video games, so I’m particularly fond of these small paper masterpieces. They’re juts as amazing as the pieces from the Star-Wars origami collection.

One of the most iconic scenes your bound to see in Sri Lanka is stilt fishing. An old tradition around Sri Lanka, stilt fishing had disappeared after the devastating tsunami that hit the country and other parts of the Indian Ocean, but soon the people returned to their customs, and now you can spot them sitting on their uncomfortable stilts, hoping to catch something. Though they may be beautiful to look at, stilt fishermen have it rough. They spend hours sitting on a thin plank, hoping to catch one or two fish about 5 cm-long, that they sell for about 2 cents each. The rough waves keep the big fish away, so they sometimes have to settle for te smallest catch. But it’s a small price to pay in order to preserve centuries-old traditions.

The longest motorcycle in the world can be found in Russia. It was built back in December of 2005, by Oleg Rogov, and acknowledged as the world’s longest bike by the Guinness Book of Records. This super-bike can fit 16 people, but the question that has been on everyone’s mind ever since it was first announced, was: can you ride it? It’s hard to believe 16 heavy bikers could move using the world’s longest motorcycle. The design isn’t the best I,ve ever seen, nowhere near as cool as the Cat1 Uber-bike but definitely better than this Chinese home-made motorcycle. via Damn Cool Pics

Experience the locations and stories of the Bible, through a visit at the Holy Land Experience. Sure, it would be fair of me to just  tell you all about this “wonderful place” and let you judge for yourself if it’s the kind of place you want to take your kid, on a family outing. But life isn’t fair so here is what I think: this is the craziest, creepiest theme-park I’ve ever seen photos of. Granted, I haven’t actually been there (probably never will), but I can tell you it definitely looks like none of the places I’d like to take my children. Sure, the official Holy Land Experience site says it’s an educational, historical, inspirational, theatrical place where adults and children alike can be transported back to the times  and places of the Old Testament, and there are some good things they could learn from seeing something like that. But then we get to these photos…Clearly the torturing of Jesus is no joke, but a blood-covered man carrying a huge cross on his back could have a negative effect on a child brain. Anyway, people are entitled to their opinions, I’m sure many feel The Holy Land Experience is a great…experience, and that’s ok. Let me know what you think. If you want to form an opinion first-hand, travel to Orlando, Florida and then get back to me. Read More »

How long would the legendary Japanese Warship Yamato be, built out of LEGO bricks? That’s the question Jumpei Mitsui asked himself since he was a young boy. Now a third year student, Jumpei has answered his own question by building a LEGO model of the Yamato. It took the young Japanese 6 years and 4 months to finish his masterpiece, using 200,000 LEGO bricks. The LEGO warship is built at a scale of 1/40, weighs over 150 kilograms, measures 6.6 meters from bow to stern and is 1 meter wide at the widest point of the ship. Jumpei Mitsui finished the LEGO Yamato on April 9, 2009 and he deserves our congratulations. Well done my friend. Check the link at the bottom for more photos. via geocities.jp

What do you do with an old plane, that can’t fly anymore? Simple, you turn it into a boat. The Cosmic Muffin used to be a real plane, with wings, tail and everything and she actually flew. She used to be a Boeing 307 Stratoliner, one of only ten ever built. The owner, David Drimmer says the plane was bought by a certain Ken London, long after its flying days had passed, due to extensive damage caused by a hurricane. He purchased it for the staggering sum of $62. After he ended up with the old plane, the only thing that he thought of was to cut it down into pieces. Thankfully he had a moment of genius and decided to transform it into a touring boat. Back then it was named the Londonaire. Drimmer says he came across his Cosmic Muffin while he was searching for a place to live. He paid $7,500 and is now the owner one of the wackiest boats on any waters. The Cosmic Muffin awaits tourists in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. For more details check Plane-Boats official site.

Sriracha Zoo is already popular for the unlikely friendships that have developed there between tigers and other animals like pigs and dogs. Over 400 Bengal tigers are on display at Sriracha Zoo, where they make up what is called Happy Families, with pigs and other animals. Mature tigers take naps right next to full-grown pigs,m which they would normally devour without remorse.  Piglets fed by tigresses, and tiger cubs by pig surrogate mothers. This is not the first example of unlikely friendships we’ve posted on OddityCentral, but it is one of the most amazing. Here are a cat and dog acting all buddy-buddy. via Mirror.co.uk

After the Buddha-phone, the Chinese deliver another cool gadget, the Spider-phone. Available in red and black, the TV98+ Spider-phone features a 2 megapixels camera, rotating display, dual SIM slots and a microSD slot. It supports/800/900/1800/1900 networks and is priced at around $152. The phone is covered with spider-webs and features the star of the latest Spider-man movies, Tobey Maguire, on the box. Unfortunately, you won’t find the Spider-phone in stores outside of China and Hong-Kong anytime soon. via iTech News

Personal Urban Mobility and Accessibility Project, or P.U.M.A., is a revolutionary vehicle designed by GM and Segway. The self-balancing P.U.M.A.  reaches a top-speed of 35 mph and has a lithium batery that makes it run for 35 miles, on a single charge. It also features a vehicle to vehicle (V2V) system said that will prevent many accidents from happening. Like the Segway, P.U.M.A. will basically drive itself, allowing the driver and passenger to enjoy the experience more. It’s not exactly certain whether P.U.M.A. will ever go into production, but don’t expect to see it on the streets anytime before 2012. I have to admit, coming from GM, this is an impressive vehicle. via Cnet Asia