Heineken has unveiled its original Christmas tree, made out of 1,100 FULL beer bottles, in Shanghai, China.
Created by stacking Heineken beer bottles on a custom-made armature, the beer-bottle Christmas tree has Nanjing Street passers-by drooling when they look it. It may not look like a traditional Christmas tree and beer is definitely not as tasty in winter as it is on a hot summer day, but Heineken’s Christmas tree is definitely my favorite for 2009.
via Inhabitat
Meet Oscar, the luckiest dog in the world. This year he and his master traveled across 5 continents and 29 countries.
Five years ago, Joanne Lefson found Oscar in a South-African kennel and took him in. In May of this year, Joanne sold her house and went on a trip around the world, accompanied, of course, by her beloved pooch. Their incredible journey was meant to inspire people everywhere to take stray dogs of the streets and offer them a home.
Here are some amazing photos of Oscar taken in some of the most amazing locations in the world. Oh, and check out the full of list of countries he visited, at the bottom.
Photos by CATERS NEWS AGENCY
via Daily Mail
Every year, the people of Singapore celebrate the coming of the New Year by launching wishing spheres in the Singapore River.
The tradition of the wishing spheres was launched years ago by Singapore’s authorities as a way to bring people together and now it’s become an international event. People travel from all over the world to write their wishes for the new year on a giant white sphere and throw it in the Singapore River.
This year, a record 10,000 wishing spheres were available for inking, but they still weren’t enough to cover demand. The wishing-sphere-covered Singapore River is quite a sight to behold this time of year, especially at night, when the spheres are lit.
Using thousands of permanent solar panels to harvest energy, the Solar Valley Micro-E Hotel is the largest solar-power hotel on Earth.
Built by Himin Group, China’s leading solar products manufacturer, the Solar Valley Micro-E Hotel opened its gates Dezhou City, eastern China. It covers 75,000 square-meters and features thousands of solar panels and solar heat pipe collectors that harvest and store enough energy to sustain 70% of the hotel’s needs.
The solar energy is used for a variety of functions, including air-conditioning and water heating.
via ImagineChina
No need to buy a Christmas tree this year, just get yourself a Tesla coil and you’re all set for an electrifying experience.
Tesla-coil-enthusiast Peter Terren, from TeslaDownUnder.com, has posted some breathtaking photos of his 2009 Christmas tree, built using, you guessed it, a Tesla coil. This is Peter’s second Tesla Christmas tree. The one he built in 2007 has been featured on the Discovery Channel and in the Metro newspaper, but he says his newest version is even more impressive.
I have to say I’m not very familiar with Tesla coils myself, so I didn’t get all the details Peter Terren posted on his site, but I know beauty when I see it.
Invented by a Frenchman who used to make a living fitting kitchens, Snail Caviar is France’s newest gastronomical sensation.
Dominique Pierru, the genius behind Snail Caviar, spent three years perfecting his invention, after abandoning his career as a kitchen fitter. He had to find a way to “convince” his 180,000 snails to lay a large enough quantity of eggs, then soften and condition them. It was a tough-enough task, but now his De Jaeger caviar is one of the most coveted treats in French restaurants.
After selling 200 kg of Snail Caviar in 2008, Pierru estimates he’ll ship 300 kg by the end of the year. And that’s not because it’s cheap, a 30 gram-jar sells for 39 euros, while the 50 gram-one has an 82 euros price tag.
Dominique and his wife decided to invent the bizarre delicacy after reaching the conclusion that traditional snail farming is not a viable business. Now they import snails from Eastern European countries and watch them lay eggs. How’s that for viable?
Snail Caviar is best served on toast or sage leaf, accompanied by a glass of champagne.
via Arbroath
I’m all for originality, but replacing a wedding cake with a smelly tuna seems a bit too much. But in a country like Japan, where people fight each other with neon lamps, anything goes.
A wedding-planning company in Kanagawa has been offering tuna fish instead of traditional wedding cakes for over ten years now. The couple you see below has opted for a 100 kg-heavy BigEye Tuna as treat for their guests, but clients have a wide range of packages to choose from, depending on the number of guests.
I don’t know about you, but I always look forward to the cake when attending a wedding, and this tuna doesn’t look very delicious.
via Japan Probe
Run for your lives, Godz…Childzillas are coming!!!
A charity organization in the Ukraine had the brilliant idea to create posters of giant children terrorizing various major cities around the world. It hopes the offbeat images will draw attention t children’s issues, not only in the Ukraine, but at an international level.
As a tribute to Godzilla, the original havoc-wreaking monster, most of the images show Childzillas in Tokyo.
Photos by CATERS NEWS
via Telegraph.co.uk
Real gold leafs and white truffles make the Golden Kaiser Schnitzel the world’s most expensive schnitzel.
A German restaurant in Dusseldorf decided to laugh at the economic crisis and offer its customers one of the most expensive treats on Earth. The Berger Strasse restaurant has been serving its golden delight for about three years, but only recently began to promote it.
Thomas Huber, the establishment’s manager, said the gold has no taste and therefore ads nothing to the flavour of the schnitzel, but the white Italian Alba truffles are a whole other matter. At 5,000 euros per kilo, these exclusive ingredients set the Golden Kaiser Schnitzel’s price tag at 150,euros ($242).
So far around 100 golden schnitzel’s have been sold.
via The Local
If you want to make sure you’re watched over by heavenly angels, I suggest you go straight to the Holy Cross Church, in Munich.
German artist Ottmar Hoerl set up a divine exhibition inside the Holy Cross church, by attaching 300 golden angels on a scaffolding. Entitled “Guardian Angels over Munich“, Hoerl’s artwork allows people to actually experience what it’s like to have not one, but hundreds of angels watching over you. Not a bad idea…
Photos by REUTERS via EastDay
27 -year-old Lucian Craita, from Romania, parted ways with his pet lion, Richie, after raising him in his backyard for over a year.
Lucian has always had always had a thing for lions and when he had the chance to buy one for a pet, from an animal market, he didn’t hesitate. Richie cost him just 1,000 euros and he never regretted spending the money. Over a year and a half of living together, Lucian and Richie developed a truly special relationship, so you can imagine the young man’s grief when he had to hand his pet lion over to the Vier Pfoten animal association.
The Romanian gave up his friend voluntarily, after realizing he couldn’t offer it the life it deserved. Now Richie will be taken to Lion’s Rock Lion Reservation, in South Africa, where he can be with his own kind. Because Richie spent so much time as a house pet, he will never be a real lion, but at least he’ll enjoy being free in the savanna.
Photos by REUTERS via Xinhua
I love a good omelet and I’ve been known to gobble down boiled eggs from tme to time, but Century Eggs? No freaking way!
Known also as preserved egg, hundred-year egg, thousand-year egg or thousand-year-old egg, the Century Egg is a Chinese delicacy used in many traditional dishes. Fresh duck, chicken or quail eggs become Century Eggs after weeks, sometimes months of preservation in a mixture of clay, ash, lime, salt and rice. The process of “cooking” Century Eggs is believed to date back 600 years, when someone apparently found some old eggs preserved in a pool of slaked lime. Upon tasting them, he decided to produce some more, but this time with some added salt.
After the preservation is complete, the hull mixture and egg shell are removed to reveal the now dark-brown egg-white and a dark-green, creamy and pungent yolk. It’s the alkaline that raises the ph of the egg from 9 to 12 or more and gives it a strong smell of ammonia and sulfur.
Century Eggs are consumed either raw, or as ingredients in other Chinese foods. There are those who associate them with smelly cheese, pungent but really delicious. Sadly there are others (myself included) who just can’t get past the disgusting colors and smell.
What can you do with an old Ford Capri bought on eBay? Cover it in small toy cars and turn it into an art project, of course.
Young James Ford has spent the last two years working on General Carbunkle, a homage to General Lee, the legendary race car from The Dukes of Hazard. He thought of an original way to pay tribute to this popular ride and decided he was going to cover it in red and orange toy cars.
Ford relied on toy donations from all over the world, in order to complete his project, but did impersonate a toy-shop owner to get his hands on 2,000 toy cars. In the end he estimates he used between 3,500 and 4,500 cars, mostly T-birds and Double Decker buses.
Ford intends to auction the General Carbunkle on eBay, so his project can come full circle.
via Creative Review
He may not have the supernatural abilities of comic-book superheroes, but Captain Australia is prepared to watch over the safety and tranquility of citizens all around the world.
I received a rather interesting email the other day, from a person who actually met Captain Australia. It seems our superhero isn’t too tech-savvy and needed an internet-ready computer set-up. When asked where the product should be delivered, Captain Australia said he is unable to provide contact information, as he can’t risk revealing his secret identity. The guy didn’t pay much attention at first, but when a dude dressed in a green-yellow costume came to pick up the computer, he was stunned. They’ve done business several times since then and it seems Captain Australia takes his superhero tasks very seriously.
As you can imagine, I was intrigued by this story, so I accessed Captain Australia’s website. That’s right, even superheroes have their own virtual homes these days. I was able to identify the Australian superhero’s four main goals:
1) To prevent crimes through acting as a deterrent by actively patrolling and thus intimidating the criminal element.
2) To intervene when I see criminal activity, or to solve crimes that I become aware of.
3) To inspire normal people to be better, by demonstrating a level of moral excellence that I hope will serve as an example to the people I meet.
4) If all else fails, I can accept simply amusing or shocking people – having ordinary citizens lighten their hearts by amusement or surprise.
Captain Australia’s symbol is an @, worn as a tribute to using the internet to channel his message globally, and because it looks like a combination of the c and a letters (Captain Australia). Our masked vigilante has a videographer following him during his patrols, to document his adventures as an inspiration for people everywhere and as possible evidence for criminal prosecution.
Australia’s number 1 superhero (and very possibly its only one) says he’s not in the same shape as he was when he first started out, but he’s working hard to remedy this. He does however posses a series of gadgets and abilities (Photoshop is not one of them, as you’ll see bellow) to help him protect the citizens.
So next time you’re in trouble just shout out for Captain Australia, who knows, he might actually show up.
Thanks Jacklord!
I’ve seen a wooden car before, but this is definitely my first wooden super car. And who do you think built it? That’s right, the Japanese.
Maniwa was hand-made by wood craftsmen, for Japanese company Sada-Kenbi. Remarkably, Maniwa is drivable and can accelerate to a speed of up to 80km/h. It has a motorcycle handlebar instead of a steering-wheel, a working stereo and even cool wooden Lambo doors.
The wooden sport car has just one wooden front seat, for the driver, but can accommodate two passengers on the wooden bench in the back. If you’re thinking of buying Maniwa, you’ll be pleased to know it costs only $40,000.
Have a nice drive and try not to smoke at the wheel.
