Oddity Central |
- The Book That Can’t Wait Literally Disappears if You Put It Down
- High-School Teacher Creates Whiteboard Masterpieces During His Lunch Breaks
- Tiger Tug – Playing Tug of War with a Full-Grown Tiger
| The Book That Can’t Wait Literally Disappears if You Put It Down Posted: 02 Jul 2012 03:05 AM PDT
An Indie Argentinian publishing house has come up with an innovative concept, using disappearing ink that simply fades away in two months time. Dubbed “El Libro que No Puede Esperar” (The Book That Can’t Wait), this interesting format was pioneered by independent Argentinian publishing house Eterna Cadencia, as a way to promote young authors, who ”if people don’t read their first books, never make it to a second.” The intriguing books come sealed in a plastic wrapper, and once that is removed and the books cracked for the first time, the ink begins to age and in 60 days time readers are left with nothing but the covers and a bunch of blank pages. So if you want to get your money’s worth, you really can’t put one of these books down too often, after you’ve bought it. But in a world of Kindles, Nooks and other e-readers, can a concept like disappearing books survive? Well, judging by the statistics of Eterna Cadencia’s first disappearing ink printing, definitely! The small publisher sold its entire batch of disappearing books in a single day, proving there’s still life in the printed word, even if it’s a short one. ”This time we had the guarantee that our new authors were read,” Eterna Cadencia explains in a video they made for their unique idea. Impressed with the success of their concept, the Argentinian publisher plans to use disappearing ink for other future releases.
via LA Times The Book That Can’t Wait Literally Disappears if You Put It Down was originally posted at OddityCentral.com  |
| High-School Teacher Creates Whiteboard Masterpieces During His Lunch Breaks Posted: 02 Jul 2012 02:21 AM PDT
Minnesota-based artist Gregory Euclide creates amazing impermanent artworks in just 25 minutes, during the lunch breaks at the high-school where he teaches. As unbelievable as this might sound, Gregory Euclide actually washes away the whiteboard masterpieces he draws every day, to make room for new ones. In an interview with Minnesota Original, the art instructor says his unusual habit of drawing on whiteboards started as a way to release stress after teaching 38 students an hour, five hours a day, for 8 months. He was beginning to feel a little restless so he decided to give himself 25 minutes every day to finish sketches he enjoyed drawing. He would use sumi ink, brushes, spray bottles, erasers, paper towels and pretty much anything else he could get his hands on around his desk. There’s no question about the quality of Euclide’s works, so why would he just wash them all away after each school day? The artist says because he would dedicate just 25 minuted to each of them, they weren’t incredibly precious to him, as he just wanted to show his students what could be done in such a short period of time. When they came to school the following day and saw the artworks simply washed away, many of them couldn’t understand how someone could create something so special and just destroy it. But the Minnesota art instructor explains: “I was trying to convey something about value, something about impermanence and maybe something about using time to better oneself…to possibly interest them. Many of them were interested in the process.” Now that the school year is over and the whiteboards are no longer available, Gregory Euclide has started working on similar works of art sketched on porcelain-coated steel.
via Neatorama High-School Teacher Creates Whiteboard Masterpieces During His Lunch Breaks was originally posted at OddityCentral.com  |
| Tiger Tug – Playing Tug of War with a Full-Grown Tiger Posted: 02 Jul 2012 01:25 AM PDT
Visitors at the Busch Gardens Zoo, in Tampa Bay, Florida, are given the chance to test their strength against a mighty tiger, in a game of tug of war. Zoos these days just aren’t what they used to be. Just last week, we had an article on Lujan Zoo, where guests are allowed to get in cages with all kinds of wild animals and pet them, and this week we have another one where people can play tug of war with tigers. Although the chances of beating a 450-pound Bengal tiger at tug of war are slim to none, there’s no shortage of human volunteers willing to test their muscles against the magnificent feline. The interactive zoo exhibit is called “Tiger Tug” and requires confident participants to grab on a thick rope, while the tiger facing them on the other side of two metal fences bites the other end. I’m not if the Bengal felines ever lost a game, but the humans seem to love it anyway. Photo: Busch Gardens Zoo But even though the popularity of Tiger Tug has remained high in all the years since it’s been introduced at Busch Gardens, not everyone is happy about it. Comments to videos posted online, and on the zoos Facebook invitation call this unique show “beyond stupid and cruel” and “wrong in every way”, among other things. There are a lot of people who believe zoos like Busch Gardens and Lujan are exploiting wild animals for profit, completely ignoring the animals’ welfare. While I understand and appreciate their concern for the caged tigers, is Tiger Tug really that wrong?
What many protesters probably haven’t noticed is the tigers aren’t really forced to grab the rope and pull on it, they actually seem to enjoy it, just like domestic cats like pulling on things when you’re playing with them in your own home. Playing Tiger Tug actually helps the tigers stay in shape, as it’s a known fact that felines in captivity are prone to laziness and tend to become obese. This kind of exercise seems to keep them fit and entertained, and as long as they aren’t forced to do it, I don’t have any objections. Perhaps people have a problem with the entertainment factor for humans, which makes seems degrading to the mighty felines, but I don’t think the tigers feel at all humiliated. I’m not saying I don’t have a problem with animals being caged for our entertainment, I just don’t think there’s anything particularly wrong with Tiger Tug.
Tiger Tug – Playing Tug of War with a Full-Grown Tiger was originally posted at OddityCentral.com  |
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