Hotels of the Damned

From Protraveller - Okay, so maybe they aren't exactly "damned" but these hotels have long since been forgotten. Left behind, only to rot while the world moves on. I've always loved abandoned buildings. It makes me feel like I'm walking around in a man made skeleton. Abandoned hotels are no exception. Ranging from the grand, such as the Bokor Palace and Casino, as pictured here, to the never finished. There's even a haunted hotel in Scotland. It was left behind unfinished because the construction crew were experiencing things not exactly normal for a work site. But then what do you expect when you turn an old hospital into a hotel. The idea alone is horror movie no-no. Link goes to hotel list.

Stache your keys

From Etsy - Artist, benfloeter, has created the best keychain holder I have seen in a long time. An old timey handlebar mustache. Though it also comes in a handsome cedar, I prefer the black painted pine stache. Now all you need to do is put a couple of hat hooks and you can hang your fedoras for eyes. The stache is 18 inches by 4.5 inches and it will set you back 35 bucks. (The cedar stache is a tenner more.) Link goes to selling page.

Pass the salt and don't look down.

To call Dinner in the Sky a unique restaurant is very much an understatement. With a starting rate of $12,500 American, you and your guests will be strapped into seats and suspended at 50 meters or around 164 feet to enjoy a dining experience that they will not soon forget. Especially if they are afraid of heights. (I am. You couldn't get me near this eatery. I would be heading to the closest mom and pop joint to grab a slice of pizza.) Each dinner accommodates 22 guests, lasts for 8 hours and comes with a staff of three. That is, a chef, a waiter/waitress and an entertainer. Now what does the entertainer do? The site doesn't say. But I take it, it's not dancing. Link to website.

Cities at Night

"Cities at Night; an Orbital Tour Around the World" by Don Pettit gives us a star's eyes view of our cities after dark. Man made lights carve the shadowed landscape like fingers of lava in the color photos and look like streaks of milk in the black and white shots. It's beautiful to say the least.

Shuttle on the Rhine

From Siberian Light - The space shuttle, Buran, has been spotted sailing down the Rhine towards its new home, the Technik Museum Speyer in Mannheim, Germany. Once the pride of the Soviet space program, the shuttle only flew a single mission in November of 1988 before being shelved forever due to the collapse of the USSR and the cancellation of the entire Buran program in 1993. The cancellation, for me, was even a bigger shame on the U.S. space program. The Space Race we had with the Russians was what fueled us for decades. We sent fruit flies up in a rocket and the Russians sent up a dog. We sent a chimp in space and the Russians sent Yuri Gagarin, the first human. And they followed that up by sending the first woman, Valentina Tereshkova as well. But the U.S. finally won the card game when Apollo 11 landed on the moon. In this race, NASA wasn't a seperate organization filled with geeks and rocket scientists. NASA was us, Americans. We didn't say, "When is NASA going to send a man on the moon?" Instead, we said, "When are WE going to send a man on the moon?" And we need that once more if we are ever going to trully get off this planet and into points beyond the moon. Link goes to complete details.

HIV Blood Camera

Self taught Californian artist, Wayne Martin Belger, has created a most interesting camera. While the machine has been made with common materials such as aluminium, copper and acrylic, it also has one ingredient that would make most people do a double take; HIV blood. From his description, "The blood pumps through the camera then in front of the pinhole and becomes # 25 filter. Designed to shoot a geographic comparison of people suffering of HIV." Personally, I am not buying that. The explanation sounds like a P.T. Barnum bit but none the less the camera itself is indeed a work of art looking like an Edwardian version of an artificial heart. Link to the art site, Boy of Blue Industries.

"I am proud of being small."

From The Mail - Jyoti Amge may very well be the smallest girl in the world. At 23 inches, this 14 year old is actually shorter than the average 2 year old and at 11lbs, weighs even less. Born with a form of dwarfism called achondroplasia, she is unlikely to become any taller than her current height. But that doesn't bother this teenager who goes to school in Nagpur, India. She loves the attention she receives from it. Link goes to article.

Titanic watches from Romain Jerome

Watchmakers, Romain Jerome, have come out with a line of gorgeous steampunkish watches made from the recovered wreckage of the doomed ocean liner, the Titanic. The bad side is that they are worth the same amount as your house. Or your kidney on the black market, if you don't have a house. And they are in limited supply. Also, like your kidney. Still, each piece is like a work of art for your wrist. A personal favorite of mine, is the Pacifique, in the Titanic-DNA line by Cabestan. Though I am not sure how you would read it. Link goes to Romain Jerome.

Lookin' good for Jesus

Blue Q has a hilarious product line called "Lookin' Good for Jesus". Items include bubble bath as pictured on the right, lip balm, a compact mirror, sparkle cream and a coin purse. I am not sure how a coin purse will get the Son of the Almighty to look your way but the sparkle cream is guaranteed to give you a heavenly glow. This is perfect for the ex-Catholic school kid your life. (And I am speaking as one.) Link goes to product line.

Albino killings in the name of prosperity

From The Independent - Jakaya Kikwete, President of Tanzania, has reprimanded the superstitious act of killing albinos for their body parts in the hopes that it will bring good fortune. 19 people have been killed since March 2007 with another two missing and believed to be dead because of this practice. Link goes to details.

Sounds of America

The National Museum of American History and the Smithsonian Global Sound have an ongoing online program featuring born and raised American music of the yesteryears. Called "Sounds of America", the themes cover everything political and non-political in ranges from bluegrass, jazz, gospel and folk (for now). My personal favorite song is "Hold On" by The Montgomery Gospel Trio which can be found under "Freedom Songs of the U.S. Civil Rights Movement". Link goes to "Sounds of America".

The true face of Leonardo Da Vinci

From TED.com
- Illustrator and activist, Siegfried Woldhek
believes that through the processes of deduction and elimination, he has found the true face of one of history's greatest minds, Leonardo Da Vinci. According to Woldhek, the drawing to the right is of Leonardo at age 63. All I have to say, is that if this is indeed Leonardo's face, he has nice nose. Link goes to video.

Historical fan comics

Everyone has seen fan comics. Be it a parody comic strip in Mad Magazine or full on book like a dojinshi. But how often do people make fan comics about historical figures? Kate Beaton is one such artist. Her witty and well drawn comics cover the entire blanket of North American and European history's larger than life figures. My personal favorite, thus far, is Robespierre. He was a twisted bugger. Link to comic blog.