Thursday, January 29, 2009

WRECKED CARS ARE UNIQUE COLLECTABLES





The Sydney based company, Chinnychinchin, now offers unique collectable toy cars, each individually hand burnt. The range includes The Joy ridden 2-door Hatchback, The Mini Van/Insurance Scam and The Petrol Bombed Jeep.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

SEA-LION HAVEN IN SAN FRANCISCO


Girl Journalist

r12a

DaymoBrew

matze.lange


webbmb

EclecticBlogs

Shark feeding ground...

The Fishermans Wharf is a shopping center and popular tourist attraction in San Francisco, California. There are shops, restaurants, a video arcade, street performances, an interpretive center for the Marine Mammal Center, the Aquarium of the Bay, virtual 3D rides, and views of California sea lions hauled out on docks of the marina. Off all the attractions, the "Sea Lebrities" gets the most attention.

The seals started arriving in groups, taking over the docks in January 1990 shortly after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. At first they numbered from 10-50, but due to a plentiful herring supply, available dock space and the marina’s protected environment, the population grew to more than 300 within a few months. Each winter, the population can increase up to 900 sea lions, most of which are male. During the summer months, the sea lions migrate south to the Channel Islands for breeding season, but in recent years a small group stays year-round at PIER 39's K-Dock. The sea-lions are being monitored daily by volunteers and staff from The Marine Mammal Store and Interpretive Center, they are also able to provide information about them to visitors from all over the world.

http://www.marinemammalcenter.org/learning/education/pier39/history.asp

CORPSE FOR SALE




Buy a corpse? Yes you can!

Just go to
www.distefano.com and you can order your own custom-made corpse
(sorry nimfo’s their artificial!).

On the site you can choose the degree of decay, the skin colour and the hair colour of your corpse. A very decayed corpse has larger rotted eye sockets, a very deteriorated nose and a decayed mouth that shows almost all the teeth. The Light decayed corpse has eyelids, a more built-up nose and a mouth that shows less teeth, making it appear less decayed. Since a corpse gets darker as it goes through various decaying stages you have a choice between dark brown, medium brown and light brown. The hair color should compliment the skin color. White or gray hair contrast better with a dark or medium skin color just as dark or black hair will look better against a lighter skin tone.

ROAD KILL CARPET & TOYS

But Why?

The Road Kill Carpet by Studio Oooms is definitaly creative...but I don't know if it is very pleasing to the eye. Although, I am sure that the carpet would stop any guest in their tracks. It’s a warm, soft, cuddly carpet that attracts you to take a nap on it. But at the same time its a repulsive image of a car-flattened, bloody fox.




via oooms

The Road Kill soft toys called Squash-Plush is even more controversial, can you imagine a kid playing with one of them? According to the official website roadkilltoys.com, they are considered as boutique toys or anti-toys which are collectables. The toy characters that have been squashed flat and lies in a pool of blood and guts; organs, cracked ribs, intestines - all of them are stuffed. The toys are also interactive; you can take the blood and guts in and out of them, which are sealed into the carcass by a zip on both sides. Just unzip the belly and let the blood and gore ooze out.

Each one comes with a body bag, death certificate, a "I love roadkill" bumper sticker and toe tag. So far the collection includes: Splodge a common-all-garden hedgehog, Twitch the racoon and Grind the rabbit, their full obitsuaries are also found on the websites. There are many new exiting editions on their way...check out the website!!!



MODERN-DAY TREE HOUSES IN INDIA


redjar

redjar

palmlandtours

ratestogo

ratestogo

palmlandtours

palmlandtours

palmlandtours

Somewhere between 3,500 and 4,000 ft above sea level in the southern Indian state of Kerala you will find a modern-day version of Tarzan and Jane’s love nest. The Green Magic is a treehouse-resort, each house comes with a wrap-around balcony, a bathroom, and a unparalleled view across the misty and mystical rainforest-clad Wynad Hills.

It is a totally dedicated eco-lodge built on trees with all basic facilities. There are only four double rooms in two tree houses in 500 acres of private secondary forest. Each has an attached bathroom with flushing toilette, telephone shower, wash basin with running water, carpeted veranda and sit-out. The access to the tree house is by a hanging bridge.

Visitors may choose to explore a number of walking trails, each promising a different adventure. These trails are made carefully so as not to disturb the surroundings.

Meals are prepared from the vegetables and fruits grown in the organic farm without any pesticides or chemical manure.

The energy source is a unique combination of Solar energy, Gober gas from cow dung and Hurricane lamps with kerosene avoiding the conventional electricity and power from diesel generators, thus preventing air pollution and noise pollution.

Besides the bio-diversity of plant-life one can also expect to see an abundance of monkeys and birds and on occasion, other animals like Sambar, wild boar and elephants.

The Green Magic Treehouses is not the only facinating tourist attraction in Kerala, see the post on the Kerala houseboats.

LUXURIOUS KERALA HOUSE BOATS

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

IRAQI TANK GRAVEYARD


yannarthusbertrand2

photobucket

jdraiders

jdraiders

SmileDarling

Kiwi Nomad

Iraq's iron graveyard


Amid the desert’s howling winds and forsaken dunes rests an iron ruin – the Iraqi tank graveyard. The graveyard, near Al Jahrah, Kuwait in the Rheris Valley is one of many timeless reminders of the devastating outcome of war, both to humans and to the environment. Tanks and other wreckage left behind by defeated troops during the war remained on the battlefield.

The tanks were collected into 'tank graveyards' like this one, north west of Jahra. This area is full of hundreds of tanks, trucks, artillery pieces and other heaps of rusted & busted metal.
They’re not just pieces of metal; in some cases, they’re coffins, relics and tombs to those killed while serving their country. The U.S. doesn’t want to bring them home because it costs less to let them rot rather than transport them back, refurbish them, and redeploy them.

A GIANT POLAR BEAR ARRIVES IN LONDON






January 26 was a strange day for the citizens of London. A giant polar bear, stranded on a piece of ice, was seen floating down the Thames River... Luckily for London, it was only a 16 foot high sculpture. The sculpture was launched to provide a warning to members of parliament of the dangers of climate change and to launch Eden, a new natural history television channel.

Read more:
http://www.jamd.com/image/in-gallery/33259/#1g84455853

A POOL WITH A VIEW


seasonsinstyle

justtheplanet

hotelsbycity

justtheplanet

The Auckland Hilton Hotel in New Zealand has a very impressive outdoor heated pool with a unique underwater viewing window. The swimming pool is suspended between the two buildings that make up this dramatic property. There is also a viewing gallery underneath the pool so hotel guests can check out the action from below.

Monday, January 26, 2009

LUXURY IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DESERT


nativeroots

Walter L. Keats

goodtravelcompany

goodtravelcompany

Walter L. Keats


thefamilytravelfiles

Mongolia's desert oasis

This is top hospitality in one of the world's most inhospitable regions, the Gobi. The desert stretches for miles and miles and in the middle of all this lies Mongolia's most luxurious and eco-efficient tourist haven, in the Gurvansaikhan National Park.


Mongolians have successfully adapted for tourism despite the harsh desert conditions: they used traditional felt tents made from a wooden structured with layers of sheep wool that was used by the nomads throughout the ages, to create a comfortable and sophisticated lodging. The Three Camel Lodge is a clever combination of traditional tent-like accommodation (also called ‘gers’) with modern-day elegance and technology. Since its opening in 2003 it has run almost solely on wind and solar power. The tents are erected without the use of a single nail. Traditional Mongolian dancers and musicians regularly entertains guests.

By staying at the Three Camel Lodge, travelers are making a contribution to support the preservation and protection of the Gobi’s unique landscape and flora and fauna while helping Nomadic Expeditions to promote and introduce a new standard of eco-friendly lodges in the country.

Read more:
http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/asia/hotel-of-the-week-three-camel-lodge-mongolia-417384.html

THE MAJESTIC ANGKOR WAT: Cambodia's Phenomenon


adventuretravel


adventuretravel


hobotraveler


Garion88


Hartfried Schmid


red betty black


wikipedia


wikipedia


Angkor Wat, is a temple complex at Angkor, Cambodia, built for the king Suryavarman II in the early 12th century. It is the only significant religious centre to have remained throughout the centuries. It is designed to represent Mount Meru, the home of the gods. In the 14th or 15th century, the temple was converted to Theravada Buddhist use, which continues to the present day. Henri Mouhot's, a french explorer used the following words to describe the magnificence of the temple:

"One of these temples—a rival to that of Solomon, and erected by some ancient Michelangelo—might take an honourable place beside our most beautiful buildings. It is grander than anything left to us by Greece or Rome, and presents a sad contrast to the state of barbarism in which the nation is now plunged."

The outer wall stands 1024 by 802 m and 4.5 m high and is surrounded by a 30 m of open ground and a ditch of 190 m wide. The temple stands on a terrace raised higher than the city; it is made of three rectangular galleries rising to a central tower, each level higher than the last. The building is also decorated with bas relief carvings.

Angkor Wat required considerable restoration in the 20th century, mainly the removal of accumulated earth and vegetation. Today, Angkor Wat continues to be a popular tourist attraction. The temple is part of the Angkor World Heritage Site, established in 1992, which has provided some funding and has encouraged the Cambodian government to protect the site.

Read more:
en.wikipedia.org