Rebeccasaskia

Some London residents have recently acquired an incredible ability to scale walls with ease. They climb the facade of a building, sit quietly on windowsills, and simply enjoy their ability to see the world from a different angle.

The illusion is made possible by a large-scale installation called Dalston House, created by Argentine artist Leandro Erlich. He painstakingly recreated a London house facade, complete with brickwork detail and ornate windowsills. The facade doesn’t stand up vertically, however. It lies flat on the ground.

A huge mirror is positioned at a 45 degree angle from the “house,” allowing people playing and climbing on the facade to look up and see themselves seemingly performing incredible gravity-defying feats.

Passers-by probably also experience a moment of bewilderment as their gaze is first drawn up toward the standing mirror and the people hanging there in impossible positions.

Some visitors to the temporary installation at the Barbican Art Centre‘s Dalston Mill site have gotten very artistic with their interactions. These videos demonstrate just how creative one can be given the ability to leave gravity behind.

Haltet ihr für unglaubwürdig? Guckt euch die Beispiel-Bilder an!

lickystickypickyshe:

What…………?

When an Illinois family brought a baby fawn to a no-kill shelter at the Society of St. Francis on the Kenosha-Illinois border, they figured the fawn’s mother had abandoned her, and hoped to save her life.

That hope turned into a nightmare two weeks ago when multiple squad cars and heavily armed police officers arrived at the shelter with a search warrant for the fawn that had been nicknamed Giggles for a noise she made that sounded like laughter. “It was like a SWAT team,” shelter employee Ray Schulze told WISN 12 News.

Apparently, the  Department of Natural Resources had received anonymous reports of a baby deer living at the shelter. Nine DNR agents and four deputy sheriffs, all armed to the teeth, was the proportionate response. The agents even had aerial photos of the fawn going in and out of the barn, because Wisconsin law forbids the possession of wildlife.

Giggles never made it. According to WISN 12 News, the agents “ corralled workers near the picnic area and then set out in search of the fawn.” And that was more or less the end of Giggles.

"I was thinking in my mind they were going to take the deer and take it to a wildlife shelter, and here they come carrying the baby deer over their shoulder. She was in a body bag," Schulze said. “I said, ‘Why did you do that?’ He said, ‘That’s our policy,’ and I said, ‘That’s one hell of a policy.’"

Later a spokeswoman for DNR made sympathetic noises about how the shelter tried to do the right thing, but policies are policies. She also denied agents killed Giggles at the shelter, saying she was tranquilized, then euthanized later.

It was not a response that satisfied shelter workers, who also wondered just how much the Operation Giggles cost the taxpayers.

Eerie shadows float out of empty wheelchairs, trailing up cracked and peeling walls and slinking under doorways in a series of paintings in an abandoned mental hospital by Brazilian artist Herbert Baglione. These flowing black silhouettes in a ruined facility in Parma, Italy are part of a larger collection entitled ’1000 Shadows,’ reflecting the essence of darkness that is often left behind in neglected places.

The creepy abandoned hospital is still strewn with furniture. Spirits appear to tussle with each other, tangling amid mildew spots on the walls. Baglione’s painted shadows capture, in visual form, the feeling many of us experience when standing inside such a facility.

Such morose, frightening imagery may not be an entirely accurate reflection of the very real, human people who were actually patients at the hospital, but it’s certainly an effective interpretation of the haunted mood projected by the buildings themselves.

Other settings in the series include abandoned apartments in Paris, and homes in São Paulo. See more from this series, and other works painted on urban surfaces, on Baglione’s Facebook page.

Twice as dense as New York, and four times as crowded as London, Hong Kong is a fascinating mix of natural landscape edged by incredibly dense human construction.

Michael Wolf, a German photographer, focuses on the latter, turning the vast structures of the city into strange stand-alone landscapes that show the enormity and relentless repetitiveness of this vertical urban environment.

On the one hand, it is fascinating to see just how overwhelming the overarching rhythms of the buildings are when you take a broad view. At the same time, though, individuality begins to emerge as you zoom in and narrow the scope of your perspective.

In his book Architecture of Density Wolf explores the patterns and scales of his new home city, testing different angles and distances while remaining focused on the sometimes-bleak yet awe-inspiring man-made side of this incredibly packed island.

As his main series of photographs show (versus the scout shots directly above), attempts to distinguish scales through details and color seem almost hopeless against the large-scale monotony of it all. To be fair to its inhabitants, however, those upper-level images tell only one half of the story – visiting Hong Kong has many more dimensions than can be seen looking only from on high.

The success of Harry Potter, Twilight and The Hunger Games has added up to one inescapable conclusion: there’s gold in them thar young adult book sections! So despite the rather hit and miss success of turning well-lived YA novel series, Hollywood will keep trying, as it will try once again with the long in the works adaptation of Artemis Fowl. The series, by author Eoin Colfer, follows the adventures of the titular 12-year-old millionaire criminal genius who’s introduced to the world of fairies and magic, and it seems that some big talent is coming to together to bring Artemis to life.

First of all, the movie is going to come from the once unlikely re-teaming of Disney Studios and Harvey Weinstein, who parted ways with Disney after failing to buy out his and brother Bob’s company Miramax, but I guess they’re all now Fowl weather friends. (hehheh)

Also signed up as producers are actor Robert De Niro and producing partner Jane Rosenthal, as well as screenwriter Michael Goldberg (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Green Lantern) who will be penning the script.

“With its balance of mystery, adventure and family appeal, Artemis Fowl is a natural fit for Disney,” said Sean Bailey, president, Walt Disney Studios Motion Picture Production. “We’re looking forward to collaborating with Harvey on this exciting project.”

“I feel as though everything is coming full circle considering Bob De Niro and Jane Rosenthal brought me this book while I was still at Miramax and within hours I told them I wanted the rights to the film,” said Harvey Weinstein, Co-Chairman of The Weinstein Company, in a statement. “This is a special project for me because my children absolutely love this book. This story is for everyone and there is no one better than Disney to make a film that will excite people young and old.”

The Artemis Fowl series has been in one kind of state of development or another at Miramax since 2001, and when last we heard about it was in 2011 with My Left Foot director Jim Sheridan at the helm. It’s been relegated to development hell ever since.

What do you Bastards think, interested in seeing an Artemis Fowl movie?

Source: IGN

At this very moment the Sherlock panel at San Diego Comic Con is wrapping up. Sadly, I’m not there, and I’m guessing neither are you. But guess what!? Neither are stars Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman. They’re simply too damn busy.

Not ones to leave their fans at Comic Con – or elsewhere, for that matter – hanging, the two recorded separate video messages which were then played at the panel. Entertainment Weekly presented the panel, and because they’re awesome and swell, have uploaded the videos online for us all to enjoy!

And enjoy it you will. Martin’s segment is short, but very sweet. And I love his hobbit-y hair. Benedict has more fun with his, the cheeky bastard, even sharing the secret of how Sherlock survived the fall in “The Reichenbach Fall”!

The video’s not embeddable, so click the image to be taken to EW’s site,

In addition to the video message, fans in attendance of the panel are getting sneak peeks at some footage from the highly anticipated Season 3! As Sherlockology tweets,

Lucky attendees at the #Sherlock #SDCC panel are the first in the world to see footage from #Sherlock S3E2: The Sign of Three

— Sherlockology (@Sherlockology) July 18, 2013

They also report the footage being shared at the panel was, “a rough cut, with uncorrected audio, and will not be released online.” Well, bugger. I don’t care if it’s handicam footage filmed guerilla style, I want to see that footage!?

Hopefully, later this evening either EW or PBS will upload the panel in full. Until then, keep it tuned to Nerd Bastards for all your SDCC needs!

Known for its naval power, England has a great many leftover army and sea forts. Some have been turned into private islands, radio station or micronations, but this one has been made into a museum and luxury resort.

The Spitbank Fort was the result of an 1859 Royal Commission and is located in the Solent, near Portsmouth, England. Though its purpose and wares shifted somewhat over time, it was aimed at protect British shores from both sea and (eventually) air attacks.

The structure remained an operational military island for a full century before being decommissioned in the late 1900s as obsolete.

Five million dollars worth of renovations later, the structure is now a hybrid of its original architecture and engineering and added luxuries including (but not limited to) hotel rooms, bars, restaurants, libraries, saunas, sun decks and swimming pools.

Day and overnight guests alike can enjoy breakfast, brunch, lunch and dinner in the cozy brick interior or with a 360-degree exterior vista above.

As China has transformed from a largely agricultural society to an industrial superpower, vastly changing its landscape with both construction equipment and the unintended effects of climate change, over 240 of its lakes have disappeared. In less than half a century, so much of the nation’s natural beauty and tranquility has been lost. A project called The Lost Lakes brings it back temporarily in the illusory form of lake-shaped mirrors installed in the middle of urban Beijing.

The lost lakes haven’t just impacted China’s ecology; rapid urbanization has caused severe droughts and water shortages across the country. The problem affects every Chinese citizen. The Lost Lakes installation brings this problem home to city dwellers in the form of customized mirrors mimicking the reflection of water in unexpected places.

Fifteen craftsman spent six weeks creating mirrors with curved edges that fit together like puzzle pieces. They’re designed to stand up to weather and curious onlookers, and can be transported and reassembled in a new location.

Over 350,000 people have visited the installation to ‘reflect’ upon what the loss of natural bodies of water means to them (or maybe just to gaze at themselves and the skyscrapers around them.)

... Wonderland!

(By Design Cakes)

i feel sheepish about how many days have gone by since i blogged, but i’m hoping that if i bring lots of flowers it will make up for that.

our lilies are blooming rather late this year (they usually start in june, around father’s day, but we didn’t see nary a one until after the fourth of july this year).

the pinks are dominant this week, though there are vivid orange day lilies, too. these were a gift, thinned from the beds of our neighbor the doctor, whose office is across our back street.

there is a row of them all along one side of our yard. we’ve had them for at least five years now and this is the first time we’ve had a whole row of blooms; i think they’ve finally matured. i LOVE this orange; wouldn’t this be a great color for socks or fingerless mitts? i think i even have yarn this color!

and yes, it really is that green in canton—we had sixteen days of rain before this weekend, which explains why. why, we are on the fourth day in a row of nice (though very humid) weather and i almost don’t know how to feel about that.

i’ve been busy busy this last week, mostly with secret projects, but i am continuing to take a few minutes each morning for a little knitting over coffee. it’s been really nice to sit out in the porch/kitchen/living area while the coffee perks, listening to the birds and putting a few rows on. i might have to keep this up once the renovation is done.

i finished my slouch potato hat (i’ll show you that in a sec), but missed having that project in my hands so i started another, this time in comfortable ecobutterfly color grown organic qoperfina cotton sport.

it’s the coolest yarn; not only is the fiber is grown in an array of colors—the hat is in deep green; above we also see deep cinnamon brown—but a tiny percentage of microscopic copper fibers are spun into the singles to help soothe and promote healing. it’s a wonderful yarn to use for babies or people who need extra TLC.

mmmm luscious. this is a gift for someone who will soon need a very soft cap, and since it’s already in a different gauge on bigger needles i’m venturing completely away from the pattern of the previous hat to make it as a simple cap (no buttoned brim), while keeping the same idea.

i think i might have to make one for me and one for david; it’s too yummy to pass up.

so yeah, i finally got my multi-colored slouch potato blocked last tuesday

now didn’t that yarn smooth out nicely? this is indigodragonfly merino/nylon sock in colorway as god is my witness i thought turkeys could fly! (if you want some email kim and she will make you some). it did not bleed or grow or become shapeless when wet; it was very easy to wash and then bring back better than new.

anyway, once it was dry i had mister blockhead model it for us

as you can see, i took everyone’s advice and went with the brown buttons, haha.
(i do take each and every contribution seriously, i do. but sometimes my evil twin intervenes and does exactly what she wants anyway—there’s nothing for it when she’s like that!)

we’ll get some nice photos on a real person soon, maybe even this afternoon, who knows. with everything going on around here, anything could happen. i still have to write up the pattern though, so it will be a short time before you see that.

knitting the hats provided me with the perfect project to try out these new needles from newhouse needles—a spin-off company (no pun intended) from newHue handspuns, one of my favorite yarnies.

a few months back, cheryl sent me these carbon fiber needles that her husband is now making. i wanted to play with them for a bit before talking about them; i had never knit with carbon fiber needles before. having several projects in the last few weeks that required using DPNs at some point, i had plenty of opportunity to put them to work with a variety of yarn types.

the carbon fiber surface takes a little getting used to

and the tips—wow! i was almost a little scairt of those points.

and truthfully, in the smaller sizes they are pretty pointy—if you like a nice sharp tip  for knitting fine lace yarn or grabbing stiff little sock stitches, these are your tools. but in the bigger sizes, i can appreciate them even more. many needle brands that i love have much more rounded tips once the sizes go past 3.5 mm or so. not these—they stay nice and pointy through the larger range. and now, the moment i’ve been waiting for has arrived—newhouse is now making circulars!! i am totally buying some right now.

while i was blocking my slouch potato cap, i decided to go ahead and block the first jazz strings sock as well, beasue the pattern is ready and the test knitters are nearly done; it’s almost time for the release. if we’re going to take photos sometime soon, i want the sock to look its best.

this fabric changes so dramatically when it’s had a good soak and a wash. residual spinning oil on the fiber makes it a little dull, but keeps the surface smooth for easy knitting. gower, once the stitches are all in place, it’s very nice to get that oil washed out so the fiber can bloom and sparkle

see what i mean? all aglow. and the fabric in the leg smoothed out so beautifully too; if you ahve any doubts about this yarn while its on the needles, you’ll be rewarded when you wash it.

left is the washed swatch and right is the unwashed. this will happen in your project fabric too, yay.

so socks are on the way; as soon as this month’s club chapter is done (later today) i can get moving again on non-club design work (release sock pattern, write hat pattern, get back to work on sea pearl sweater).

like i said earlier, we’ve had FOUR days in a row of nice weather and on saturday i ran in another race, this time one that was right in my neighborhood

oh my, i never had so much fun at a racing event! first we all gathered at the start so we could get going a little later than the 9:00 start time. no matter, this was a fun run and everyone was happy to be there. we even had a prayer to get going on.

i enjoyed this race; it was run entirely on neighborhood streets, ones that i’ve walked on frequently though i don’t usually choose to run them (we have brick-lined streets in my neighborhood, not great for running).

despite the brick, i ran very well and finished 3.36 miles in 26:35. i couldn’t believe it when i heard my time was 16 minutes at the two-mile mark. i ws having fun!

this is the womens’s winner on the left; at the finish she was cheering me on and clapping; i was so tickled by that, haha. actually, there were a LOT of really nice young people at this event and i enjoyed spending time among them.

the race was part of the church’s 100th anniversary celebration. st. haralambos church has quite a history in our little city; it used to be downtown, but in the 1950s they moved the church in two pieces about 40 blocks north to our neighborhood and enlarged it to accommodate a growing congregation. it took 18 days to to move just the first half.

i had never visited the church before this race event, so it was a nice introduction for me. everyone was so pleasant and friendly; after the race was run we gathered in the gym for snacks, awards, and door prizes.

AND a bake sale from which i took home several treats. i remembered to bring my “baklava card” which was included in my race packet to redeem for my free piece of home made baklava. seriously, who would leave that home?? and so worth remembering . . . the treat was one of the best i’ve ever eaten.

while we waited for the race results, we were treated again, this time by the church’s group of greek dancers

remember those teenage runners i mentioned earlier? well several of them, along with a number of other younger church members perform with the group.

they were aMAZing!

i really REALLY enjoyed this half hour of the day; not your usual race event at all.

i thought it was cute when, about a half hour later, i sw a couple of them heading for the food table in street clothes

and once we were all happy from the dancing and sweetened up form the desserts, the prizes were announced.

i was surprised to hear i came in third for the women (no age groups in this one). to be completely fair and honest, this was a really small race probably with only three women running, haha. most everyone did the sane thing and walked. but i still earned a nice gift certificate, so i’m happy.

and i think that’s all i have for today. i hope the weather is treating you well wherever you are; i’ll be back in a couple of days with more.

oh!! one last thing . . . we’ll be finalizing our yarn and goodie orders very soon for our fall in full color club. time is running out to join—once we place the orders, the number is final and we won’t be able to accept more members. unlike the bare naked club, the fall yarn colors are exclusive to members only; we won’t be ordering extras to sell, nor will the dyers have any until next year.

if you’ve been waiting til the last minute to join, now is the time, thanks!

What makes a timeless classic piece of furniture? What goes into the design, the manufacturing and the distribution that equates to its value? We wanted to find out what makes a classic design so timeless—and why no reproduction could ever compare to the real thing. So we thought we’d go right to the source and ask. We talked with some pretty high up people at some pretty big companies who are working together to promote unique design through a new initiative called Be Original. Be Original stresses the value of authentic design through a manifesto that we believe should be at every designer’s core: read it here.

Ligne Roset‘s famous Togo collection is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, so it’s only fitting to kick off this series with a classic that’s older than me (but not by much!). To celebrate, Ligne Roset introduced a new style: the 2-seat lounge. In addition, all Togo styles will now be available in two new fabrics: a Lyonese-style velvet jacquard fabric with floral motif and an Alcantara material with printed houndstooth (below).

The collection was designed in 1973 by French designer Michel Ducaroy, who was born to a family with contemporary furniture design in their blood. He met Jean Roset in 1960 and instantly the two hit it off, and eventually Ducaroy became the head of the Roset design department and the company’s spearhead of innovation (imagine being able to put that on your resume!). Ducaroy drove the company to use new production techniques and new materials, resulting in some of the most luxurious and innovative modern furnishings in the world. In the years before Ducaroy, Ligne Roset had already been making chairs and furniture, but the company first started out manufacturing umbrellas and walking sticks in the late 1800s. They moved into furniture after the war, making pieces for the contract market, like bedroom sets for civil hospitals.

Michael Ducaroy at work

But let me not bore you with too much history! The Togo happens to be one of my most favorite pieces of seating ever designs—no lie. There’s something about the caterpillaresque design with its low-profile lounge style that appeals to my inner 70s love child. The idea of laying around on giant pillows is very appealing to me. And I’m not the only one who felt like that. When it was first presented at the Salon des Arts ménagers at the Palais de la Défense, Paris, in 1973 it was awarded the René-Gabriel prize, which recognized “innovative and democratic furniture”—pieces that offered a good price-to-quality ratio. It’s been described as having a “crumpled, ‘newborn’ appearance with Shar-Pei wrinkles.”

But something about those wrinkles still holds true today. Ligne Roset has sold 1.2 million pieces to date in 72 countries—and they’re still making new styles and upholstery to the line, including a children’s version, which was recently released. The Togo low profile design, comfort and durability appeals to both kids and parents.

Let’s face it, though. Not a lot of our friends are sporting Togo seating in their houses. We see them in fancy interior design magazines, in houses we could only dream to afford. They’re expensive. I’m not saying that all good quality, timeless design has to be super pricey, but there is a lot behind the design and manufacturing here—tons of human hands touch these pieces before they end up in someone’s living room. And those human hands are experts at what they do. Just the upholstery process alone on a Togo sofa takes 4 hours for fabric covers, and almost 6 for leather!

Watch more about the Togo manufacturing process, which takes place at their Briord, France factory:

Did you see that invisible ink that’s only visible with UV light? Pretty cool. Antoine Roset, Executive Vice President of Roset USA, explains, “[Togo's] upholstery demands a unique traditional skill for which the human hand remains irreplaceable, executing the precise movements which produce the famous folds giving each piece of Togo its character and personality. Machines are used in the beginning of the process, to measure and cut materials then, as the process continues human and machine combine skills to sew the fabric and padding and, at the end, human skills are necessary to make the Togo what it is and add strong finishing touches.”

You just can’t argue about value when you watch the craftspeople and factory workers touching the product. Still, it might take me a while to save up for one, but I’m pretty sure it’s going to be worth it. In the meantime, I’ll lay on my current couch and pretend I’m this person:

Luckily, you might not need to save your pennies—enter to win a Togo Fireside starting today Monday, July 15 through Friday, July 26th. Visit facebook.com/beoriginalamericas to enter! Entrants must be from the United States or Canada. I’ll be living vicariously through the winner… Good luck!

Grey Togo Fireside

Der hat sich neulich hingestellt und die NSA-Schlüffelprogramme mit der Aussage zu verteidigen versucht, dass man mit solchen Programmen ja 9/11 hätte verhindern können.

Toller Talking Point, Herr Cheney! Zumindest bis jemandem auffällt, dass die NSA-Schlüffelprogramme zum Zeitpunkt von 9/11 schon 7 Monate liefen. Hups!

Und man darf natürlich auch nicht vergessen, dass die NSA schon seit Jahrzehnten alle Ausländer komplett abhört, an die sie rankommt, Stichwort Echelon. Und die 9/11-Attentäter waren ja alles Ausländer.

Fit for any Mario lover! I must admit though, I love the way you turn it on and off by making Mario go down the tube. Very clever.

Via [Etsy] $180.00

PixelBlock has another cute offering on their etsy store…

Etsy – $23

Silke Peust und Stephan Hormes haben den Atlas Of True Names gebaut, der mit den ursprünglichen Wortbedeutungen von Stadt- und Ländernamen arbeitet, die deutsche Version gibt’s auch als Buch hier, Slate hat eine zoombare Highres-Karte von Amerika, mir haben Stephan und Silke die Karte von Deutschland geschickt (hier in HighRes), dankeschön! Wusste gar nicht, dass ich in der Sumpfstadt lebe und aus der gegen bei der Freienfurt beim Sumpfigen komme. Nice!

Inspired by icon graphics, Little Factory created this collection of sleeves that are designed to look like big mail icons. While we’ve seen pixelated leather ones before, this is the first smooth, paper design we’ve seen and it’s really well executed, as with all Little Factory products.

Each sleeve holds your gadgets to protect them from scratches and others won’t know what’s inside until the mail is opened.

iPhone sleeve

iPad sleeve

iPad mini sleeve

When you live in a small space, every square inch counts, and furniture that can expand and contract on demand makes it a lot easier to fit all the functions you need into your home without feeling overwhelmed with clutter. Modular furniture sets and rooms-within-rooms containing fold-out and slide-out components make clever use of the space available, and the ability to hide things away when they’re not in use will please minimalists, too.

Sleepbox: Tiny Bedroom for Public Spaces

Sleepy travelers can catch a night’s sleep in private surroundings with the Sleepbox, a compact lodging pod meant for public spaces like airports and train stations. For those with layovers or unexpected delays, a room-in-the-box right inside the transit station could definitely be an affordable and convenient option.

Cocoon 1 Room Pod

This unusual room-within-a-room is almost as much an art piece as it is a functional living space. Cocoon 1 by Micasa Lab is a plastic pod offering a separated space that provides a sense of privacy and solitude while maintaining a connection to the outside world. It contains built-in furniture, a kitchen and a power pack that can provide either 40 hours of light, or 20 hours of light plus 30 minutes of cooking.

Boxetti: 3 All-in-One Fold-Out Living Spaces

Minimalists, rejoice – options that hide virtually everything from view when not in use are not only becoming easier to procure, they’re more stylish than ever, too. The Boxetti Collection by Rolands Landsbergs is a series of fold-out, slide-out living spaces contained within simple white modules. It includes a bedroom box, a living room box, an office and a kitchen.

Sleek and Simple Fold-Out Bedroom Box

For those in temporary living spaces, or who just don’t care about personalizing their homes, all-in-one box systems like the Room by ODA offer a modular dwelling system that collapses and expands. It comes with three elements – the pod, a media station and a satellite. Colors and materials can be customized.

Next Page:
Fold Out Room 12 Ultra Compact Living Pods Systems

Logs typically conjure images of remote cabins and plaid-clad workers felling trees. As these seven creative designers and craftspeople show, though, log furniture can be cool, clever and contemporary, too.

Rather than presupposing a finished shape, Mth Woodworking uses logs individually to inspire and guide each unique piece they create.

Their addition of a resin surface largely leaves the natural shape of the stump or trunk alone, and highlights the cross-section showing through the top. Until the resin dries around the log, the end result always remains something of a mystery.

With a combination of roughness and care, Kaspar Hamacher chops logs into sections, strips the bark away and places smaller burning logs on top to create legs from the charred remains.

Given the natural ingredients of both raw timber and burning embers, the results, while clearly of a kind when set next to each other, are nonetheless always unique.

Hilla Shamia casts logs into liquid aluminum, burning the edges and creating a dark interstitial zone between the dull gray metal and bright near-white interior of each log.

Since the logs are cast on the surface side, they provide a warmer texture to those sitting (benches or chairs) or leaning (tables) on them, while providing sturdy and predictable support below.

Next Page:
Redefining Rustic Materials 6 Modern Log Furniture Makers

For every invention that actually makes it to production, there are dozens of failed ideas, most of which failed for very good reasons. Like the fact that they’re painfully inefficient, totally unnecessary or just plain bizarre.  These 15 weird and wacky creations developed between the 1920s and 1970s might be ridiculous, but they’re fun to look (and laugh) at.

The Isolator

The Isolator, by Hugo Gernsback: a terrifying hood with an attached oxygen tank, for when you want to be really, really isolated. “Outside noises being eliminated, the worker can concentrate with ease upon the subject at hand.”

Wooden Swimsuits

Swimsuits have come a long way since the days when they were long-sleeved wool monstrosities, but this wooden swimsuit invention, pictured in Washington State in 1929, wasn’t exactly a step forward.

Hangover Mask

Nothing will make you feel better when you’re suffering from a hangover than a mask that looks like this.

Radio Hat

All this poor guy wanted was an iPod. The portable straw radio hat was made by an American inventor in 1931.

Bicycle Tire Swimming Aid

This group of teenagers in 1925 Germany seem pretty proud of their invention, a swimming aid made of bicycle tires.

Next Page:
Bizarre Inventions 15 Idiotic Ideas From The Past

There’s not much to say about these Van Gough-esc artworks, they say it all themselves.

Via [DeviantArt]

Just two more weeks until the supernatural cop-action flick, R.I.P.D. hits the screen, so it’s definitely time for some more marketing spam. Starring Ryan Reynolds and Jeff Bridges, R.I.P.D. was adapted from a Dark Horse comic and details the exciting times of two dead cops as they fight off bad dead things in order to keep living people still living. Check out some new pics from the flick below, along with a short featurette, after the jump.

First, the photographic stuff,

And next, the video stuff,

You can check this flick out when it hits the screens on July 19^th.

And thanks to Comic Book Movie for the heads-up.

Thus far I haven’t been too impressed with anything I’ve seen of Cartoon Network‘s newest addition to DC Nation, Beware the Batman. And that’s not to say I’m not excited about the concept. I’m stoked for Katana taking on a starring role in place of the boy wonder, and Alfred being a little more hands on is fun, too. But while I grew to love Warner Bros. Animation new CGI style for Green Lantern: The Animated Series, I hated how things looked in the Beware the Batman sizzle reel released a few weeks ago.

That footage turned out to be unfinished, and maybe that’s why it looked so awful, but it didn’t inspire me with any confidence about the series as whole. These opening credits on the other hand, wow! Is this a slick opening for a cartoon or what!? I love it! You’ll have to visit Entertainment Weekly to see what I’m talking about as the video is, sadly, not embeddable.

Screen Rant snagged a few screenshots, so even if you don’t get a chance to watch the credits you’ll get an idea of what I’m talking about,

The stylized, red and black look is awesome, no denying that. The theme song comes from the all female indie pop group Dum Dum Girls, and it’s subtle but edgy. I like how it ends on, “Beware the bat,” just as the logo comes up.

So they’ve won me over with their opening credits, but I’m holding my judgement until the series airs Saturday morning, July 13th at 10am on DC Nation. What do you think of these credits? Will you be tuning in on Saturday mornings?

Source: EW via Screen Rant