Oddity Central |
- Real-Life Sleeping Beauties Are Contractually Bound to Marry Their Prince Charmings in Controversial Art Exhibit
- Vietnamese Dark Knight Builds His Own Scrap-Part Batpod
- Welsh Man Has Lived as an Apache Indian for the Last 20 Years
| Posted: 24 Aug 2012 05:56 AM PDT
Aptly named “Sleeping Beauty“, a controversial art exhibit at the National Art Museum of Ukraine has real-life sleeping beauties waiting to be “woken up” by true love’s kiss, just like in the famous fairytale by Charles Perrault. Only these fair maidens are bound by contact to marry their suitors if they open their eyes while being kissed. Earlier this month, a group of young women were chosen to be part of an an unusual art installation designed by Canadian-Ukrainian artist Taras Polataiko. Each one has agreed to lay down on a pedestal-style bed for three days waiting to be woken up by true love’s kiss. Unlike the sleeping beauty in Perrault’s story, these girls are not under any curse, nor have they been poisoned, they just volunteered to be part of a really unique art project and hopefully find the love of their lives. Because the contract they agreed to sign clearly states that if any of them open their eyes while being kissed by any of the male visitors, they are obliged to marry them. To make things interesting, each of the visitors is also required to sign a contract that obligates them to marry the sleeping beauty if she opens her eyes during the kiss. Pretty serious stuff… “The tension of the performance is in the seductiveness and fear of the ultimate moment,” describes the exhibit’s press release. “The viewer will have to think twice before kissing the Beauty. The Beauty will have to decide if the ultimate moment has come or not. The show will end the moment the Beauty opens her eyes.” Taras Polataiko, who came up with the idea of the exhibit, said he hoped it would produce a real love connection between the sleeping beauties and the male visitors. At the same time, he acknowledges the seriousness of the whole thing. ”I hope they(suitors) come, so it will be more interesting for the beauties. But I really don’t know. It’s a really serious thing, it’s marriage,” the artist said. According to The Telegraph, requirements for both the girls and their suitors are the same: they have to be 0ver 18 years old, they must not be married, and they should have a serious and sincere wish to get married.
The Sleeping Beauty fairytale exhibit was close to having a very unhappy ending when Taras Polataiko was called to the museum director’s office and told by the Ukrainian Ministry of Culture that he would be shut down. The artist quickly recounted the event on Facebook and went as far as to compare the situation to “a return to totalitarianism.” Luckily, after meetings between the ministry and the museum everything was sorted out and the beauties are now free to find their beloved. The unusual art exhibition started on August 22 and will run until September 9, so if you want to seal your fate with a kiss, jump on a plane and try your luck. Real-Life Sleeping Beauties Are Contractually Bound to Marry Their Prince Charmings in Controversial Art Exhibit was originally posted at OddityCentral.com  |
| Vietnamese Dark Knight Builds His Own Scrap-Part Batpod Posted: 24 Aug 2012 03:53 AM PDT
If you’ve seen any of the Batman movies from the latest trilogy, you know how cool his motorcycle looks, and probably understand why this Vietnamese bike enthusiast couldn’t resist the thought of owning his very own Batpod, even if that meant having to build it himself. Dubbed the “Vietnamese Dark Knight”, the young man behind this impressive scrap-part motorcycle has been identified as Tùng Lâm, from Vietnam’s Lang Son province. About a month ago, the builder posted a YouTube video of himself riding a prototype of the home-made Batpod which went viral receiving about 370,000 views in just 10 days. Although it was obvious the replica was not yet finished, the video still managed to draw a lot of attention and left many viewers curious to know if he had built it himself, what parts he used or how long it took him. There were some Before you start acting all disappointed, you have to take into consideration this Batpod was built by a young mechanic who only had access to various cheap scrap parts and used only images and the Dark Knight films as reference. It might not look as cool as the Batpod replica built by Parker Brothers Choppers, but those guys are professional bike builders with a significantly larger budget, so all things considered I think this baby turned out pretty good. According to Vietnamese site VNExppress, Tùng Lâm built his impressive scrap-part Batpod to be displayed at his car shop in Lang Son, as an advertisement. It’s not clear how long the building process lasted, but he did reveal his creation is really a modified Suzuki FX 125, for which he paid just 3 million VND ($143). The two used car tires were 800,000 VND ($39), and the entire bike is estimated around 10 million VND ($480). After seeing the online reaction to his videos, Tùng Lâm said that even though this Batpod replica was originally created as advertisement for his car shop, he’s now considering selling it to fans of the Dark Knight series. He hopes to get a good price for it and plans to invest the profit in another daring build – Batman’s Tumbler. The young mechanic says his creation would have been much better had he had a bigger budget, and says that in the distant future, when he has enough money to invest in parts he will build replicas of the futuristic helicopters from the movie Avatar. We’ll definitely be keeping an close eye on this ambitious guy.
Vietnamese Dark Knight Builds His Own Scrap-Part Batpod was originally posted at OddityCentral.com  |
| Welsh Man Has Lived as an Apache Indian for the Last 20 Years Posted: 24 Aug 2012 02:33 AM PDT
60-year-old Mangas Colaradas, born and raised in Swansea, Wales, has lived as a Native American Indian for the last two decades, after divorcing his wife. He wears traditional Apache clothing and respects their beliefs, but lives in a three-bed suburban house. Mangas, who was apparently once known as “Mr. Davies”, refuses to disclose his former name and only answers to his Indian one, adopted in honor of a great Apache tribe leader. Regardless of what others may think of him, the British Apache says he’s the real deal, and that he dresses and lives like an Indian all the time. "I dress like this all the time, I'm not just some weekend Indian. I don't put it on to show off, I put it on because I want to wear it”, Mangas was quoted by This Is South Wales. The father of six divorced his wife during the 1990s and embraced the Apache Indian lifestyle. In 1997, he even traveled to the US and tried to live on a Red Indian reservation, but wasn’t allowed to by the American Government. He then moved to Spain where he live in a tepee, in the mountains and forests around Torremolinos. "I prefer being out in the wild, watching the wolves or bats or spiders going by”, Mangas says. Photo: Wales News Service Although he moved back to his home town and lives in a three-room house, Mangas Colaradas says this doesn’t affect his Indian lifestyle. He wears traditional Apache clothes and headgear and often paints his face, makes his own tomahawks, bows and arrows and runs snake shows in Swansea, not for money, but to educate people about animals. "I've cured thousands of people of their fear of snakes, I don't believe in money, I just do it to educate people,” he says. The old Apache added that he has owned hundreds of snakes and that he gets on with animals better than most people, because he takes such good care of them. Once his cold-blooded pets die, he eats them, because “we Natives don't believe in letting anything go to waste,” Mangas said. Photo: Athena It was his Apache way of life that got Mangas Colaradas in trouble with the law in the last two years. Last August he was charged under the Protection of Badgers Act and the Wildlife and Countryside Act, for keeping badger paws and eagle wings in his home, but he denied the accusations saying that animals come first to him, and that he would never hurt of kill them. But as an Indian, when he finds dead animals, he will eat it or use its body parts. After a year-long legal battle, the charges against Mangas have been dropped and all the confiscated animal relics will be returned to him. "Common sense should have come into it far sooner, but they just don't understand my native way of life. It's been a big waste of money and a dreadful thing to have hanging over me. But I was always confident I would clear my name," the Swansea-based Apache said after hearing the verdict. Photo: Orange News "I'm against modern life, nobody cares about anybody else, nobody cares about mother earth. The whole point of the Native American lifestyle is that everyone believes in mother earth and treats others who you want to be treated,” Mangas tried to explain the reasons why he turned to the Native American beliefs and lifestyle. So the next time you’re in Swansea and see a face-covered, feather headdress-wearing Indian coming your way, don’t worry, it’s just a friendly local. Welsh Man Has Lived as an Apache Indian for the Last 20 Years was originally posted at OddityCentral.com  |
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