Offbeat News - Part 2

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20. April 2009

Giant Sea Worm Terrorizes Aquarium

This beastie looks like a horror movie monster – perhaps an amalgamation of one of the bloodthirsty giant worms from Tremors and the terrifying extraterrestrials in Aliens – but let's give "Barry" a break. In a classic case of B-movie baddie turned A-list luminary, the affectionately named giant sea worm was yesterday discovered terrorizing other aquatic life in an aquarium in Cornwall, England, but today proving to be the star attraction there.

20. April 2009

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The Mystery Behind the Deliberate Burial of Three Ancient Megalithic Stone Circles

A few years ago, an awesome archeological discovery was made in southern Turkey, just north of the border with Syria. Three megalithic stone circles that were deliberately buried thousands of years ago on a hilltop were located at Göbekli Tepe. What is astounding is the date and context. These megalithic stone circles are several thousand years older than the first stone circle built at Stonehenge, and they were built by a hunter-gatherer society.

15. April 2009

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Yellow Pages Commission Restaurant Treehouse Fit For Ewoks

Treehouses are the stuff of kids' dreams, but apart from the precarious planks-of-wood-and-nails jobs you see hammered up by the dad next door, it's not often you spy one that looks worthy of the name. This is one of those rare moments. The Yellow Treehouse is suspended over 30 feet off the ground in a redwood tree north of Auckland. You expect to see Wicket and the rest of the Ewoks waving to welcome you at any time.

8. April 2009

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Bodyshock: the Amazing Story of the Man With Two Penises [nsfw]

The temptation here might be to make some lewd remark about this gentleman being popular with the ladies, but at Environmental Graffiti we don’t go in for that sort of vulgar talk. A pity the same couldn’t be said for the Victorian medical examiners in their reports on Juan Baptista dos Santos – the world famous man with two penises.

27. March 2009

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Ghost In The Cassette

Not sure what to do with your old tape? Well, painter and sculptor Erika Iris Simmons a.k.a. iRI5 has come up with a very creative solution: tape pictures. See for yourself how Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan and Jim Morrison look in tape and other artworks by Simmons.

24. March 2009

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Impossible Hybrid Creatures

Artist Amy Ross works in the bizarre hinterland where art confronts science, and in magical realms where the boundaries between living organisms blur. Birds become mushrooms, and mushrooms birds. Magnolias bloom into cardinals and sheep, while birch trees morph into human and animal forms.

19. March 2009

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DRB’s Walls of Death

Walls of Death were where it was at in the amusement parks of the early 1900s, though it seems the spectacle of motorcycles and cars thundering loudly around the vertical face of a giant wooden barrel wasn’t danger enough for the crowds of the time. They needed something extra bonkers in their entertainment – not to mention an added roaring noise – and were duly provided with it in a version known as The Liondrome.

13. March 2009

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People Are Like Fleas

Adverts aren’t usually much to get excited about; often they’re an irritating nuisance. A lot of the time you don’t even realise you’re absorbing what they’re trying to tell you; they just bite away at your attention like so many fleas. Occasionally, though, an ad is smart enough to give you a different perspective on things – like this giant floor sticker in a Jakarta shopping centre, which seems to pose the question: who are the real parasites are in the bigger picture?

12. March 2009

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Mad Japanese Man Becomes Human Skipping Stone

Here's something to try out the next time you want to have some fun in the sun - water skidding. Yes, we do mean skidding, not skiing. It's like walking on water, except that you're moving much faster and traveling on your behind. If you can't imagine what this might look like, check out this Youtube video of a man wearing nothing but his Speedos zip down a water slide and skid across a pool for several metres!

10. March 2009

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Only in Russia…

The latest craze in Russia is ice bungee jumping – in a group! Here’s what you do. Take your 20 closest friends, find a nice railway bridge over a frozen river, attach yourself with a rope to the bridge (don’t forget this step), line up and jump as the train approaches. Make sure to be on your way out before the cops come. See some more crazy pictures of this new outdoor sport…