Oddity Central |
- A Chinese Farmer’s Epic Rickshaw Journey to the London Olympic Games
- The Heat-Painted Wonders of Dino Muradian
- “Who’s Your Daddy?” Van Offers DNA Tests on the Go
| A Chinese Farmer’s Epic Rickshaw Journey to the London Olympic Games Posted: 17 Aug 2012 06:59 AM PDT
Chen Guanming, a 57-year-old farmer from China, spent over two years travelling about 60,000 kilometers, through 16 countries, enduring floods, war zones and extreme temperatures, to reach London in time for the games and “spread Olympic spirit”. The 2012 London Olympic Games may have ended, but remarkable stories related to the monumental event are still popping up. One such story is that of Chen Guanming, a simple farmer from a village in China’s Jiangsu province, who traveled all the way to London the only way he could afford to, by rickshaw. The daring traveler said he was inspired to go on this epic journey when he watched the English Prime-Minister accept the Olympic flag, in 2008, and the media invited those watching the live broadcast to the next edition of the games. Chen took that invitation quite seriously, and in 2009, he started putting all his papers in order and preparing for an unforgettable adventure. His long rickshaw ride began on May 23, 2010, in the village where he grows rice and other crops, and took him through 16 different countries, including Vietnam, Thailand, Pakistan or Italy. Photo: BBC Chen’s three-wheeled rickshaw loaded with his possessions was his biggest support during the two-year journey. In the first countries he visited – Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam - the Chinese farmer encountered constant temperatures of around 38 degrees Celsius and had to wring his clothes seven or eight times a day. In Thailand, he was caught up in devastating floods, and in Turkey he faced low temperatures of -30 degrees Celsius and spent four days snowed in. But perhaps the biggest hurdle on his trip was being refused a visa in Burma. After cycling all this way only to be denied entry, most people would have just given up and went home, but the undeterred Chen Guanming pedaled back to Tibet where he took his gearless rickshaw up 7,000m high mountains and continued his journey. During his travels, the ambitious farmer relied on compensations for couriering things along and on people’s donations. He arrived in England on July 6, by ferry, from France, and in London on July 9. Photo: Agencies His story sounds so incredible, few would be inclined to actually believe it, but although no one can confirm everything Chen said about his trip, the photos plastered on his rickshaw showing him in different places around the world, the visas on his passport, the press cuttings and the messages kept neatly in his book are certainly proof worth considering. John Beeston, an English broker who found him wondering aimlessly on the streets of London, certainly believes him and compares his feat to the legendary travels of Marco Polo. Asked by the BBC, what he thinks of London, the 57-year-old globetrotter said ”London is especially beautiful. People are very friendly. They always show warmth towards me. When I go back to China I want to tell them how civilized the English are.” Photo: Agencies But even though he may be going back home to China, his world-travelling days are certainly not at an end. Chen Guanming said that he wanted to come to London because he “wanted the whole world to support the Olympics and be part of it,” and to make sure people get his message, he’s already decided to pedal his rickshaw all the way to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, for the 2016 Olympic Games.
Believe it or not, Chen is not the first Chinese to pedal his way to China. Just last year, Zheng Sheng, a 23-year-old student, embarked on an epic bicycle journey from Shanghai to London. He traveled 14,000 kilometers in 136 days. A Chinese Farmer’s Epic Rickshaw Journey to the London Olympic Games was originally posted at OddityCentral.com  |
| The Heat-Painted Wonders of Dino Muradian Posted: 17 Aug 2012 04:40 AM PDT
I discovered pyrography, the art of painting with heat, six month ago, after seeing the wonderful artworks of Julie Bender, but after I got an email from renown pyrography master Dino Muradian, I just had to write about it once again. Dino Muradian, or Dumitru Muradian, as he is known in his native country of Romania, has made pyrographic history with his innovative tools and painting techniques. The 60-year-old self-taught artist started experimenting with this awe-inspiring art in 1965, but for approximately 20 years it remained nothing but just a fun hobby. It was only after he left Romaina, to escape Ceausescu’s communist regime, and achieved his dream of living in America that he truly discovered his potential as a pyrography artist. He dedicated a lot of time to developing a new heat-painting technique he had imagined and building custom tools needed to create the shading and effects he desired. He had felt for some time that he could take pyrography beyond its known limits and began doing so. After years of work Dino invented a new technique that burns the wood with shading, rather than lines, at a very high temperature. His great precision and control insures the shading is embedded deeply in the wood, but at the same time the “canvas”remains as smooth as glass. In 1990, after he managed to sell two artworks at a Hawaiian art gallery, Dino Muradian thought he had finally found a way to make a living off his talent, but he soon learned being an innovative artist can be somewhat problematic. Though amazing to look at, pyrography remains an obscure art form, and the US based artist struggled to get art galleries to feature his pieces. At first they were amazed by his talent, but as they looked at the fine details they would start to doubt the works were really made with heat from a soldering iron, and started saying they were some sort of laser transfer or trick reproduction. When he did manage to convince them his works were genuine, another problem arose – how to define his art. This has been a constant source of frustration for Muradian, who once said about gallery experts: “they cannot tell me technically if it’s good; I can read in their eyes the scepticism.” Dino continued to sell his wonderful pyrographs to private collectors around the world, and luckily for him, a new market opened up. He started practicing his talents on electric guitars, customizing instruments for Fender, Gibson, Jackson, and ESP-USA Guitars, as well as doing other private works. We posted some photos of his most impressive works, but to discover his full portfolio of pyrography masterpieces, check out his profile on Fine Art America.
The Heat-Painted Wonders of Dino Muradian was originally posted at OddityCentral.com  |
| “Who’s Your Daddy?” Van Offers DNA Tests on the Go Posted: 17 Aug 2012 02:05 AM PDT
Believe it or not, there’s actually a van dubbed “Who’d Your Daddy?” driving through New York offering men the chance to find out if they are really the fathers of their babies. As you might expect, business is going well. You could say this unique RV parked randomly on the streets of New York sells on-the-spot piece of mind to fathers who want to know if the children they’re raising are really theirs, but Jared Rosenthal, the driver of “Who’s Your Daddy?” describes it as “heartbreak hotel”. He charges $299 to $575 per test and gives clients the choice of having the results delivered in person or by mail. The unique van has shocked quite a few New-Yorkers since it first started operating in the Big Apple, but for fathers looking for an answer to their burning question it’s been a welcomed solution. “Something about the RV makes it more intimate and people open up. It makes it easier for them,” Rosenthal said. "It's just drama, a lot of drama. You see a man come in with a baby. You see them together and you just hope that he's the father," Rosenthal told the New York Post. One of his most heartbreaking memories was of a man who loved his child so much that he tattooed his face on his chest, only to find out he wasn’t the father, after taking the DNA test while going through a divorce. The young driver remembers that guy kept calling him for two weeks asking what he should do under the circumstances. He also has mothers coming in with samples from their spouses, without them knowing about it.
But Jared Rosenthal says Who’s Your Daddy has also produced good news and happy moments, like when they helped reunite a 44-year-old man from Harlem with his long lost 20-year-old daughter. He had seen the van driving around town and the “who’s your daddy?” sign and realized that’s where should go for his answer. Whether we like it or not, the service provided by Who’s Your Daddy is in high demand. ”It’s not something people talk about, but there is a big need for it,” Rosenthal said. “Who’s Your Daddy?” Van Offers DNA Tests on the Go was originally posted at OddityCentral.com  |
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