Oddity Central |
- The Secret Life of Ants, Shot by Andrey Pavlov
- Dudeism – The Religion Based on The Big Lebowski
- Viganella – The Italian Village that Built Its Own Sun
- New Australian Website Tells You Why Your Ex Dumped You
| The Secret Life of Ants, Shot by Andrey Pavlov Posted: 02 Mar 2012 02:16 AM PST
We’ve seen insects used as art protagonists before. Mike Libby turns them into steampunk hybrids, and Ubyka creates armed insect cyborgs, but I haven’t seen anything like what Andrey Pavlov does with ants. This is the touching story of a man who found comfort in studying and immortalizing hardworking ants performing their daily routines. Andrey Pavlov wasn’t particularly interested in macro photography until seven years ago, when a spinal injury caused him to remain immobilized. That’s when he fell under the charm of these amazing earthlings called ants. He started reading books about them and their behavior, and became fascinated with the way the ant community cares for its weaker members – the children, the old, and the disabled. That’s when he realized they were creatures that commanded respect. This civilization that for the last 150 million years has mastered so many environmentally sustainable ways of surviving and evolving at the same time, really impressed him. So he made it a hobby to observe and take photos of these incredible insects. Andrey Pavlov’s photography has been called many things, but whether it was “fake” or “photoshoped” they all pretty much suggested the same thing. And you can’t really blame people for thinking that while looking at his stunning photos. Let’s face it, it’s hard to believe anyone can train ants to pose for the camera like his subjects seem to do. But the truth is, the Russian photographer has indeed found a way to do just that. Although staged, believe it or not, Pavlov’s photography uses live characters! And here’s how he does it: as I mentioned above, he spent a lot of time studying ants, and he learned that they all follow a very specific path when they’re working. So all he has to do is find them, put the props right on their trail, set up some flash backgrouns and light reflectors, and just stand on the sidelines photographing the ants. But how does someone train ants to do stuff like what we see in Andrey’s photos? He says it’s a proven fact that ants are very fast learners. It’s enough to grab the attention of just one member of the community, convince it to perform a trick, and the others will soon follow suit. He uses all kinds of things to attract the insects, from shiny coins, to his own fingers. It took him about three years to understand and get in touch with the tiny creatures, but now he knows just how to deal with them. He builds all the props himself in the several months he dedicates to his hobby. That’s right, every year, from May to October, Andrey Pavlov moves to a cottage in the countryside, where he likes to photograph red forest ants. The photo series created by this talented Russian photographer is called “Ant Stories”. And what beautiful stories they are… Have you ever seen something this extraordinary?
All photos copyright of Andrey Pavlov The Secret Life of Ants, Shot by Andrey Pavlov was originally posted at OddityCentral.com  |
| Dudeism – The Religion Based on The Big Lebowski Posted: 02 Mar 2012 12:26 AM PST
When Jeff Bridges starred as 'The Dude' in the 1998 film The Big Lebowski, I bet he didn't know that his character would one day inspire a whole new religion. Seven years after the film's release, Oliver Benjamin was watching it with a large group of people in Thailand, when he says he was 'transformed'. Soon, the Church of the Latter-Day Dude was born in the hip resort town of Pai; a modern-day hippie-style religion, where it's okay to do pretty much as you please. Today, Dudeism has over 100,000 ordained Dudeist priests all over the world, and Benjamin is the Dudely Lama. It's interesting to note that over 75 percent of the followers are male. One look at the religion's official website, and you're bound to think it's a joke. But it isn't, the Dudeists are actually pretty serious about being 'cool'. Dudeism also borrows some of its philosophy from Chinese Taoism, and their idea is pretty simple: Just take it easy, man. Life is short and complicated, they say, and nobody knows what to do about it. So, don't. Sounds pretty good, but I do wonder if it's really that easy to be chilled out all the time. I suppose it's for people like me that they even have a 'Take it Easy Manifesto' written by Arch Dudeship Rev. Dwayne Eutsey. Benjamin spent about 10 years of his life backpacking around the world to "avoid being brainwashed by the machine of industry." He searched all the while for his kind of religion, but found that it didn't exist. And so he created his own, on the lines of The Big Lebowski, a movie that spoke to him in more ways than one. "Following Dudeism helps you keep in mind what's important in life, what actually makes people happy instead of what makes them insane." Although, the website describes Dudeism as the world's slowest growing religion, and Benjamin himself admits that they're not really serious competition to Christianity. "Money is power. Dudeists don't tend to be the upper crust of society. So we're never going to compete with wealthy religions like Christianity", Benjamin says. Photo via Facebook The Dudely Lama does have other plans for his creation, though. He wants to get more women in, and also start a Dudeist dating service. I doubt Dudeism really qualifies as a religion, but it certainly does sound very cool. And ordination is free, so I suppose there's no harm in giving it a try.
Dudeism – The Religion Based on The Big Lebowski was originally posted at OddityCentral.com  |
| Viganella – The Italian Village that Built Its Own Sun Posted: 02 Mar 2012 12:05 AM PST
Viganella is a small village in Italy located right at the bottom of a deep valley, and surrounded by high mountains on all sides. This means that naturally, every year from mid-November to early February, the region has absolutely no sunlight. The return of the sun's rays on the 2nd of February was celebrated with joy every single year for several centuries. That is, until December of 2006, when the problem was fixed forever. Thanks to the brilliance of Giacomo Bonzani, an architect and sundial designer, there now resides on the slopes of a mountainside above Viganella, a giant mirror that reflects sunlight into the town square. A place that had not seen the sun's rays during the winter since the beginning of time, was now suddenly bathed in its glorious light and warmth. The mirror is 40 square meters in size, 8 meters wide by 5 meters high and is located about 870 meters above the village. What's more, it is actually controlled by a computer software that tracks the sun and tilts and turns the panels of the mirror so that the rays are always reflected downwards. It has actually become a tourist attraction of sorts, since its installation over 5 years ago. According to Bonzani, who first came up with the idea of reflecting sunlight on to the square, no one believed it was possible at first. "But I was certain. I have faith in physics," he says. The actual designing of the mirror was done by Emilio Barlocco, an engineer. According to the Mayor of the village, Pierfranco Midali, it wasn't easy getting the mirror ready. "We had to find the proper material, learn about the technology and especially find the money." The entire project cost about 100,000 Euros. I think it's truly wonderful when technology is used in such innovative ways to make people's lives better. Let’s just hope someone doesn’t decide to turn the device into a sun-death ray and fry the entire population…What? It could happen!
Viganella – The Italian Village that Built Its Own Sun was originally posted at OddityCentral.com  |
| New Australian Website Tells You Why Your Ex Dumped You Posted: 01 Mar 2012 11:40 PM PST
It's hard enough being dumped, but not even knowing why could be pretty brutal. Especially if your ex happened to just vanish without a trace. I suppose it's pure torture to deal with not just the loss of a partner, without breaking your head over what could have possibly gone wrong. But this doesn't have to be the case anymore, not if you make use of this new Australian website, WotWentWrong.com. Founder Audrey Melnik describes the website in simple terms, "WotWentWrong is the breakup app for couples who never really broke up." Since confronting a person who simply faded away from your life could be difficult, the website provides you with an opportunity to do so without having to face them. WotWentWrong actually allows you to get in touch with your ex and ask them for detailed feedback about what went wrong that made them leave you. This helps to give jilted lovers closure, and also a few handy tips about what they could do better the next time around. As part of the feedback, there are questions about kissing skills, attractiveness, dressing and more. Survey ratings are also provided along with various reasons for the silent treatment to be selected from.
New Australian Website Tells You Why Your Ex Dumped You was originally posted at OddityCentral.com  |
Although the idea sounds interesting, I do think it's also a bit creepy. I mean, who would want to answer a long list of questions about a person they decided they didn't even want to see anymore? But Melnik says that they try to make the whole process not appear like stalking or seem too clingy. And the site has proven to be quite popular, with about 50,000 unique visitors and 500 feedback requests. Of course, only 25% of those requests have actually been answered so far. The flip side of the app is that if the ex chooses to remain silent over the online feedback too, that could hurt even more. Or perhaps all the negative feedback could cause more damage to an already broken heart. I guess time will tell how successful the application turns out to be.| You are subscribed to email updates from Oddity Central - Collecting Oddities To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
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