Oddity Central |
- TreT – The Amazing Parkour Dog from Ukraine
- San Pedro Prison – Bolivia’s Most Bizarre Tourist Attraction
- Farmer Who Lost Both Arms in Accident Spent Eight Years Building New Ones from Scrap Metal
| TreT – The Amazing Parkour Dog from Ukraine Posted: 15 Aug 2012 07:21 AM PDT
Parkour is cool when performed by humans, but when it’s a dog that doing the stunts, it’s simply amazing. TreT, a 5-year-old Staffordshire bull terrier from the Ukraine jumps over railings, climbs walls and sprints, proving he’s a Pakour master on four legs. TreT is one of only two known Parkour dogs around the world. His owner, Evgeny Elchaninov, says he knew nothing about the other dog from Hawaii when they started training, and that TreT’s moves are much more spectacular, anyway. The young man from western Ukraine used to practice Parkour himself, until a bad knee injury ruined his career, Suddenly he had to give up his biggest passion in life, but his unfulfilled dreams reincarnated in his six-months old dog, who loved to run and jump. He began training TreT in the art of Parkour, both in urban landscapes and at historic landmarks, and posted videos of his amazing stunts online. Now the pooch is a true Internet celebrity. Evgeny remembers he first realized TreT had talent for Parkour after at just six-months-old he jumped on a chair and onto a refrigerator. He was very energetic and even now does all the stunts because he enjoys it. His owner says many people believe he failed at Parkour and now he forces the dog to do what he couldn’t, but claims in reality he has only taught TreT a few tricks, the rest he invented himself. Evgeny says he only coordinates TreT’s routines and that the dog often improvises, which makes their videos that much more interesting.
Although in their home town TreT and Evgeny are yet to be recognized as local celebrities, the two are incredibly popular online, with millions of views on YouTube. Evgeny also created a site where he sells a training course to other people who want to turn their dogs into Parkour performers.
via Laughing Squid TreT – The Amazing Parkour Dog from Ukraine was originally posted at OddityCentral.com  |
| San Pedro Prison – Bolivia’s Most Bizarre Tourist Attraction Posted: 15 Aug 2012 03:58 AM PDT
San Pedro Prison is the largest in La Paz, Bolivia, housing around 1,500 inmates, but that’s not what makes it special. Unlike most penitentiaries around the world, this place is a self-organized community with its own market stalls, restaurants, hairdressers and even a hotel. Oh, and no guards. You’ve probably heard of or seen special prisons before. A few months ago we wrote an article on Norway’s Bastoy Island, where prisoners have hotel-like accommodations, are allowed to walk around freely and engage in a variety of relaxing activities. Today we take you on a tour of San Pedro, in La Paz, Bolivia, a sort of jail town where prisoners are free to live with their families and buy whatever they want without fearing repercussions from the guards. In fact there are no guards inside the large prison, or bars on the cell windows, so inmates have the relative freedom of going wherever they please. The police don’t interfere with the affairs of the inmates, who are expected to resolve their own issues with the help of representatives elected democratically. Photo: Magdalena Hudranova San Pedro Prison is divided into eight sections, from the most miserable, to the luxurious La Posta sector, where inmates who can afford to live here have large, comfortable cells with private bathrooms, a kitchen, cable television and even jacuzzi. But it costs between $1,000 and 1,500 to buy one of these luxurious quarters for a whole sentence, and most of the inmates in the prison live in crowded single-room cells. Although authorities give inmates here a relative freedom, there is one small catch – they have to pay for their cells, no matter how small or dirty they are. So, in order to pay rent or buy the cells, most of them have to work like regular people do on the outside. Some sell groceries, other work at food stalls, or as carpenters and hairdressers. During the day, San Pedro jail looks like one of the poor neighborhoods of La Paz, with men going about their daily routines, children running through the streets and women taking care of the households. There are about 200 children living with their fathers in this place, and although many may say this is not the appropriate place to raise a child, their families claim they are better off inside San Pedro than on the streets of La Paz, where they would be discriminated against. Photo: Magdalena Hudranova It’s true there are no guards inside San Pedro prison, and authorities usually don’t intervene unless there’s a big riot, but this place is not some lawless hell. There is a system of laws and rules created by the inmates themselves, and those who break them are severely punished by the other inmates, some even killed. Still, at night, the Bolivian prison isn’t exactly the safest place in the world. Inmates steal from each other and fight with knives without fearing outside intervention. There are natural and “accidental” deaths recorded each month, but that doesn’t seem to bother anybody very much. Photo: Quirky Guide News and stories about the free prison of La Paz spread quickly as the Internet became more popular, and tourists started flocking to this unusual place. Many paid around 250 pesos for a tour, and some of the more influential inmates set up tourism operations and started making fortunes. But as rumors about people coming to San Pedro prison with the sole purpose of buying the cocaine made by prisoners inside( rumored to be the purest in Bolivia) spread, authorities finally decided to put their foot down and put an end to the thriving tourism business. There were too many photos and videos posted online from inside one of the world’s largest prisons, and some of the inmates had gotten too greedy and cocky, so something had to be done. There are still posts about tours of San Pedro jail online, but officially the place has been off-limits to tourists since 2009. Still, the family members of inmates can come and go as they please.
Unlike other prisons, where drugs are a big no-no, inside San Pedro there are several large laboratories producing high-grade cocaine which is then trafficked outside, bringing in important income for the inmates. And if you have money, you can live like a king inside San Pedro, according to its inhabitants. One particular story tells of a rich prisoner who had a second storey built atop his cell so he could have a view of the city outside. It’s definitely not your usual jail. Sources: BBC, Wikipedia, Prison Photography San Pedro Prison – Bolivia’s Most Bizarre Tourist Attraction was originally posted at OddityCentral.com  |
| Farmer Who Lost Both Arms in Accident Spent Eight Years Building New Ones from Scrap Metal Posted: 15 Aug 2012 02:16 AM PDT
Sun Jifa, a Chinese farmer who lost both his arms after a homemade bomb exploded prematurely, built his own functional prosthetic limbs after he couldn’t afford to buy the one offerd by the hospital. A few years back, 51-year-old Sun Jifa, from Guanmashan, Jilin province, northern China, was working on explosives designed for blast fishing when a bomb blew up prematurely leaving him without both his arms. He was taken to the hospital and treated, but when doctors proposed he wear a pair of prosthetics designed to make his everyday life easier, Sun realized he just couldn’t afford them. At the same time he knew he needed both his arms in order to work on the farm and provide for his family. That’s when he decided to built his own artificial arms out of scrap metal. After eight years of planning and several prototypes, He finally has a pair of functional arms. The Chinese farmer claims he controls his homemade bionic limbs with the movements of his elbows, and they allow him to work and feed himself like any other normal person. The only drawback to his inventions, Sun says is that the steel causes them to get very hot in the summer and cold in the winter. Still, the innovative farmer says he’s happy he was able to prove people don’t have to pay a fortune for prosthetics created by profit-oriented companies, and he’s now planning to develop the design for other disabled people.
via Daily Mail Farmer Who Lost Both Arms in Accident Spent Eight Years Building New Ones from Scrap Metal was originally posted at OddityCentral.com  |
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