Argungu is am important Nigerian cultural event, to which thousands of fishermen take part.

Argungu takes place in the North-Western Nigerian state of Kebbi, where an army of fishermen gather with one goal in mind, to catch the largest fish. So at the sound of a gun they all plunge into the muddy waters of the Matan Fada stream, in teams of two, one armed with two calabash (used for flotation and fish storage) and the other with two giant fish nets.

The Matan Fada may not be very impressive but it’s full of fish, because people come here to fish only once a year. After the one our time limit is over, the team who caught the largest fish is escorted by the sultans’s guards to present their prize to him. The winners receive a brand new bus as a prize as well as one million Naira (around $7500).

Nigeria hopes the Argungu fishing festival will soon become an important tourist attraction.

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Now you can see what human rainbows look like.

Holi or Phagwa is a Hindu spring festival that takes place every year in India and Nepal. On the first day of celebrations, bonfires are lit, signifying the burning of the demoness Holika. On the second day, the real Festival of Colors begins; spring and the change of weather are believed to bring illnesses like fever, flews and colds, so people throw colored powders, with medicinal significance, to chase away these illnesses. The powder can now be bought from marketplaces, but there are still those who make it in the comfort of their own homes, using various plants and flowers that give it a mesmerizing fragrance.

The Festival of Colors usually takes place at the end of February or the beginning of March, depending on when the full moon occurs.

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This girl wanted to be a ballerina a little too much.

This girl’s case should be proof enough that nothing is more important than a person’s health. She wanted to be a ballerina but she was to heavy for the job, so she decided to starve herself to death in order to fulfill her dream. Unfortunately she went “a little” to far as she managed to go from 72 kg to 32 kg in just one year. She now has several medical conditions and her body can’t yet process firm food. It’s not yet certain if she’ll ever be a normal person again.

Aurora Borealis are natural colored light displays, which are usually observed in the night sky, particularly in the polar zone.

It often appears as a greenish glow (or sometimes a faint red), as if the sun were rising from an unusual direction. The aurora borealis is also called the northern polar lights, as it is only visible in the North sky from the Northern Hemisphere. The aurora borealis most often occurs from September to October and from March to April.

Auroras are produced by the collision of charged particles from Earth’s magnetosphere, mostly electrons but also protons and heavier particles, with atoms and molecules of Earth’s upper atmosphere. The collisions in the atmosphere electronically excite atoms and molecules in the upper atmosphere. The excitation energy can be lost by light emission or collisions. Most aurorae are green and red emission from atomic oxygen. Molecular nitrogen and nitrogen ions produce some low level red and very high blue/violet aurorae.

Photo: Kristian Pikner/Wikimedia Commons

Photo: Sebastien Giguere/Wikimedia Commons

 

Come to think about it, snowman is not really the appropriate term, since it actually bears the name Olympia Snowe.

Olympia was “born” in the town of Bethel, Maine and at 122 feet and 1 inch in length managed to toppled the world record previously held by…Bethel, Maine. Her eyebrows are made of skies, her lips out of red-painted tires and she has 2 pine trees serving as arms.

Olympia Snowe, named after Maine’s senior senator, takes the title of world’s tallest snowman from Angus, King of the mountain, who brought the title to the US, from Japan, 9 years ago.

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I have to be honest and start by saying I’m a huge fan of winter and all that it implies, snow, ice, cold weather, the whole enchilada, so I guess I was a little subjective in picking this piece over others. But even you sun worshipers have to admit that these snow sculptures, especially the castles are simply amazing.

These were all sculpted in blocks of snow and ice, during the Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival, in China by the most talented sculptures in the world. The festival dates back to 1963 and is one of the four largest ice and snow festivals, along with along with Japan’s Sapporo Snow Festival, Canada’s Quebec City Winter Carnival, and Norway’s Ski Festival.

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Hundreds of Japanese grown-men wrestle each other in the mud water of Mimusubi shrine in Yotsukaido, a settlement near Tokyo. Every year on February 25 these men take part in this strange yet fun looking rite, believed to bring good harvest for the whole year and good health for babies.

Ivrea is a small town, about 40 minutes north of Turin, Italy. It isn’t a very animated settlement, but once a year, during the Orange Battle Carnival, Ivrea comes to life. the battle is an allegoric representation of the medieval insurrection of 1194, against the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick of Swabia. Masked, armored men throw oranges at the crowd who in turn throw them back at them, until the streets are covered by a carpet of squashed oranges that is sometimes even 30 cm thick…

As much fun as I’m sure this carnival is I have to wonder if those oranges, like the bananas in the banana wall, would have been more appreciated by some starving children in a third world country. But hey, that’s just me…

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The cold wave that hit Greece these last few days really produced some incredible photos of places that use to bathe in the sunlight all year long. I never imagined I’d think of Greece and think snow dunes, icy streets and -15 degrees Celsius temperatures…no matter what anyone says, I blame this on global warming, it’s just not normal!

Tough Guy is a traditional English challenge, in which the participants have to use every ounce of their energy just to get to the finish line. to give you an idea of how tough this event is, the promoters say that the US S.E.A.L.S. “Grinder” Assault Course is the only thing that barely comes close in terms of difficulty.

Photo: A-punkt/Wikimedia Commons

 

Sure she does not have ebony-black hair and she doesn’t have 7 dwarfs pampering her, but hey this is real life. The young lady in the photos is Nicola Roberts, member of the popular British pop group, Girls Aloud. Here she is with fellow band member Kimberley Walsh during their vacation in L.A. Somebody needs a tan!

A band of young Ukrainian students found an unusual way to commemorate the death of one of their countries most brilliant surgeons, a doctor Pirogov, who apparently, revolutionized national medicine. They organized a funeral commemorative dinner in one of Kiev’s subway trains inviting everyone to commemorate the carrier and accomplishments of their hero.

As you can see from these photos, the food was pretty scarce but vodka and carton-box wine were abundant. Now that’s good eating!

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Officials have decided! According to a report, Indonesian commuters riding on the roofs of trains will be sprayed with colored liquid so that security officers can identify and arrest them.

Rush hours are the most stressful. Electric trains that link Indonesian capital to the towns nearby are full of passengers during rush hours, with many sitting on the roofs due to a lack of space inside or to avoid paying.

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