Oddity Central |
- ‘Last Family on Earth’ Reality Series Will Award Bunker to Winning Survivalist Family
- Kansas Man Builds Golden Gate Bridge Replica in His Backyard
- Playa de Gulpiyuri – A Strange Beach in the Middle of a Meadow
| ‘Last Family on Earth’ Reality Series Will Award Bunker to Winning Survivalist Family Posted: 06 Jun 2012 06:09 AM PDT
Spike TV recently announced it’s working on a reality series called “Last Family on Earth” which will feature survivalists competing to show how resourceful they can be in various extreme situations. The winning family will receive a bunker in an undisclosed location, to improve their chances of surviving Armageddon. The calendar of the ancient Mayan civilization predicts the world will end in December of 2012, and with rumors of an impending zombie apocalypse and news stories about crazy cannibals spurring up in the last few weeks, some people are finding it hard not to succumb to the paranoia. So I guess the Spike television network couldn’t have picked a better time to announce their upcoming reality show, Last Family on Earth, in which several families of convinced survivalists will complete to win an actual underground bunker. Rendering of Vivos bunker for the winning family – AP photo Sharon Levy, executive vice president of original programming at Spike, says the show doesn’t necessarily coincide with the hype around the Mayan calendar. Polls show 15% of the world’s population actually believes in a soon-to-happen catastrophic event (earthquake, epidemic, etc.) that will threaten the survival of our civilization, and these are the people who will participate on their show. ”We don’t think there’s anything funny about that,” Levy said. “We think it’s a very interesting segment of the population that is very prepared, is highly intelligent. These are regular people. These are not people that you may think are living in a shelter in the middle of the woods. These could be your friends.” Rendering of Vivos luxury bunkers The families involved in the Last Family on Earth show haven’t been selected yet, but it’s been revealed the series will test their endurance and physical skills, as well as their leadership abilities, integrity and character, by putting them through various doomsday scenarios, including a pandemic, global government or economic collapse, nuclear war, reactor meltdowns, solar flares, massive asteroids, lethal climactic change, a pole shift, calamitous earthquakes, and even widespread anarchy. The winners will be decided by a panel of survival experts, with the audience having a say through social media. The ultimate survivalist family will receive their very own state of the art bunker, built to withstand almost any kind of disaster scenario. Although only six episodes of The Last Family on Earth have been ordered so far, if it proves a success, there’s no reason why the show couldn’t last for a few seasons. That’s if the world doesn’t end in December, of course. Sources: AP News, Deadline Hollywood ‘Last Family on Earth’ Reality Series Will Award Bunker to Winning Survivalist Family was originally posted at OddityCentral.com  |
| Kansas Man Builds Golden Gate Bridge Replica in His Backyard Posted: 06 Jun 2012 04:17 AM PDT
Larry Richardson, from Mulvane, Kansas, spent 11 years building a 150-foot replica of the Golden Gate Bridge, out of 90 tons of concrete and lots of salvaged materials. War veteran Larry Richardson has had only two great loves in his life, his wife Barbara and the Golden Gate Bridge, which he has dreamed of visiting since he was a senior at Derby High School, in 1967. ”I proposed to Barbara over the phone after we'd had one date,” Larry told the Derby Informer. ”I was a senior in high school and she was a sophomore. I don't think she believed I was serious.” But he also told her to wait until he got a chance to see the Golden Gate Bridge he was so fascinated by. It didn’t take very long, as he drove over the great American landmark in February of 1968, on his way to Vietnam, for a tour duty. It was dark outside, and although he had fulfilled his dream of seeing it in person, he remembers wishing he got a chance to walk on it for a bit and admiring all the details. Photo: Davi Stuhlsatz/Derby Informer A year later, he got back from the war and married his Barbara in the same month she graduated from high school. But the Golden Gate Bridge was still on his mind, so in 1994, he decided to build it across a small creek separating the largest part of his Kansas farm from a small piece of land covered with poison ivy and full of mosquitoes. Larry and his father only had a postcard of the landmark as reference. "We called it comparison engineering,” he remembers. "We said, 'Let's see, it is supposed to look like this.’” It took them 11 years to finish the backyard project, but the 62-year-old says it was a great experience that allowed him to spend a lot of time with his dad, who passed away last November. Photo: Steve Hebert / Steve Hebert Photography Apart from the 90 tons of concrete, the Golden Gate Bridge of Mulvane is built primarily out of recycled materials. The Richardsons used part of an old wooden bridge for the towers, cables from an old oil rig, and suspender cables salvaged from an old Boeing aircraft. ”It was all handmade, hand dug,” Larry says. ”We backpacked supplies across, and built a crane to stand the towers up. It all went pretty smoothly, although a few times we went, 'Uh-oh!'” The retired postman estimates he only spent around $5,000 building his backyard replica, while the original construction cost $35 million. Photo: Steve Hebert / Steve Hebert Photography The backyard model has become one of Kansas’ most popular roadside attractions, and Larry and Barbara Richardson are happy whenever they get visitors. ”That's the best thing about it,” they say. “We've met more nice people. If they come out, it seems like it's because life interests them, and they're interesting people.” One couple even used the small bridge as the location for a marriage proposal, and turning the twinkling lights Larry installed, at dusk just made it more romantic. Two weeks ago, a San Francisco Chronicle columnist told the story of Larry Richardson and his fascination for the Golden Gate Bridge. The reaction to the article was overwhelming, with many readers demanding the Vietnam veteran be flown in to see the real thing up close. Some even made donations, and so, on Monday, Larry and Barbara arrived in the Bay Area. On Tuesday, they took a boat ride on the San Francisco Bay and headed towards the famous bridge. As the towers came into view, Larry leaned in, looked into Barbara’s eyes and said "I told you I'd give you a kiss.” And he did… Watch the video of the Richardson’s at the real Golden Gate Bridge here. via SF Gate Kansas Man Builds Golden Gate Bridge Replica in His Backyard was originally posted at OddityCentral.com  |
| Playa de Gulpiyuri – A Strange Beach in the Middle of a Meadow Posted: 06 Jun 2012 02:39 AM PDT
Tucked away into a small inland hollow, right in the middle of a meadow, Playa de Gulpiyuri is one of the most amazing beaches in the world. We’ve certainly featured some unique places here, on Oddity Central, and even a few incredible beaches, like the hot water beach of New Zealand or California’s glass beach, but none like the beach of Gulpiyuri. Located near the charming town of Llanes, on the northern coast of Spain, Gulpiyuri Beach is unlike anything I have ever seen, or even imagined existed outside of fantasy books or fictional planets. Imagine walking over 100 meters from the sea shoreline and stumbling over a small charming beach right in the middle of a green meadow. And while you may find other beaches completely hidden from the open sea, around the world, this one is actually fully tidal and even has waves bathing the small strip of golden sand. Photo: chausinho So how is it that waves form this far away from the ocean? It appears the salt waters of the Cantabrian Sea bored through the earth, creating a series of underground tunnels that now feed fresh water to Gulpiyuri Beach. Water from the nearby Bay of Biscay comes in through the underground tunnel network and washes up on Gulpiyuri in gentle waves, adding to the charm of this magical cove. The shallow crystal clear water of this place acts as a swimming invitation that cannot be refused, but you may find it a little cold, because the water tends to remain underground for a while, before washing into Gulpiyuri Beach. Because it’s only 40 meters in length, and outside viewing range from the shoreline, Playa de Gulpiyuri can be pretty hard to find, unless you have an updated GPS map or ask for directions from the locals. Even so, it’s best to avoid visiting it on weekends, when the beach is simply inundated by tourists from all around the world. Photo: supercoco Photo: supercoco
Playa de Gulpiyuri – A Strange Beach in the Middle of a Meadow was originally posted at OddityCentral.com  |
| 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 |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
