Oddity Central |
- Artist Suffering from Severe Cerebral Palsy Creates Awe-Inspiring Typewriter Art
- A Feast for Zombies: Gory Gourmet Food Truck Serves Fresh Brain Burgers
- Spassky Cave Church – A Russian Wonder Carved in Stone
| Artist Suffering from Severe Cerebral Palsy Creates Awe-Inspiring Typewriter Art Posted: 27 Aug 2012 06:24 AM PDT
Paul Smith suffered from severe spastic cerebral palsy from a very young age. The loss of fine motor control of his hands made impossible for him to perform the most basics of tasks, like eating, bathing or clothing himself, but through sheer willpower he managed to become one of the most acclaimed typewriter artists in history. Born in September1921, in Philadelphia, Paul Smith was diagnosed with severe spastic cerebral palsy as a child, but although this terrible condition made it impossible for him to express himself or attend school like any other child, it didn’t stop him from having a remarkable life. At age 15, Paul started working with the typewriter to create art, and slowly refined his technique until he was able to create real masterpieces. He would use his left hand to steady the right, so because he couldn’t type with both hands the artist would lock the “Shift” key and create most of his works with the characters “@ # $ % ^ & * ( ) _”. He spent 2-3 hours a day typing away on his typewriter while listening to Classical music, and each of his artworks would take him anywhere from 2 weeks to 3 months. Over 70 years of artistic activity, Paul Lung created hundreds of beautiful typewriter art pieces, most of which he simply gave away. Battling cerebral palsy, it took Paul 32 years to learn how to walk, and half that to learn how to speak, but he somehow found the willpower to also improve his typewriter art to such a degree that he was able to create shadings and textures that resembled charcoal and pencil drawings. Unfortunately, as he aged, Paul Smith’s cataracts worsened and prevented him from exercising his artistic skill at the fullest of his abilities, and he stopped making typewriter art in 2004. He died on June 24, 2007, at the Rose Haven Nursing Center in Roseburg, Oregon, but left behind an impressive portfolio of typewriter art, and most importantly the inspiration that you can overcome anything in life, if you put your mind to it. If you find typewriter art fascinating, you might want to check out Keira Rathbone’s work as well.
Artist Suffering from Severe Cerebral Palsy Creates Awe-Inspiring Typewriter Art was originally posted at OddityCentral.com  |
| A Feast for Zombies: Gory Gourmet Food Truck Serves Fresh Brain Burgers Posted: 27 Aug 2012 04:34 AM PDT
London Chef Mark Jankel shocked everyone when he launched the Gory Gourmet, a special food truck that serves very literal brain food, including calf brain burgers, brain salad wrap or crispy chunks of brain. Animal brain is a pretty common ingredient in the cuisine of many Asian countries, but in the Western world it has become somewhat of an oddity, with many referring to it as zombie food. Mark Jankel of Street Kitchen decided to use this fact as an opportunity to shock Londoners and create a very original publicity stunt. On August 22nd he launched his Gory Gourmet food truck, which treats Londoners to dishes made from calf brain, pig feet or cow thyroid. Although created to celebrate the DVD and BluRay release of zombie thriller series The Walking Dead Season 2, the Gory Gourmet was actually a culinary success, with dozens of curious clients lining up to taste the bizarre treats. I think it’s fair to say this particular food truck caters to the the taste of customers both alive and undead. Asked about his now famous brain dishes are cooked on the world’s first brain and offal food truck, Mark Jankel explained: "We soak it in vinegar and salt, powder and fried until golden crispy. I'm not sure whether it can help you more intelligent or not but if you want a change for lunch, try this dish.” He also added that calf brain is very similar to the human making it even more interesting to devour by zombie enthusiasts and wanna-bes. At $16 a kilo, it certainly isn’t the cheapest ingredient he could have used, but for those looking for something other than the boring old minced meat patty, it’s definitely worth it. Photo: now here this via London Pop-ups A Feast for Zombies: Gory Gourmet Food Truck Serves Fresh Brain Burgers was originally posted at OddityCentral.com  |
| Spassky Cave Church – A Russian Wonder Carved in Stone Posted: 27 Aug 2012 02:55 AM PDT
On the banks of the Don River, in the picturesque Voronezh region of Russia lies one of the most fascinating tourist attractions this country has to offer - the Spassky Cave Church. For hundreds of years, this place has been at the mercy of the elements, then it had to face communist persecution, yet it still stands as a bastion of Russian Christianity. It’s believed the first caves were dug into the cretaceous mounts of Kostomarovo before the adoption of Christianity in Russia. Hermit monks would use these austere cell-like spaces to hide from persecution, and it wasn’t until the 12th century that the first rock monastery was carved in the region. It’s hard to pinpoint the exact date the Spassky Cave Church appeared near the small Russian village of Kostomarovo, due to the lack of clear historical evidence, but it is now considered one of the most incredible monuments of ancient architecture in Russia. Dug into the cretaceous rocks known as “diva” in the Voronezh region, this unique holy place has a rugged exterior that hints at Byzantine influences, but its interior is much more polished, featuring straight walls, rounded arches and Orthodox decorations. It can accommodate 2,000 people and welcomes thousands of pilgrims from all over Russia, every year. Those who have visited Spassky Church speak of a fantastic sense of easiness and divine bliss, and it also has a reputation for healing diseases and wounds, helping people make the right decisions and cleansing sins. In fact, there is even a Cave of Repentance inside the chalk church where condemned sinners were once confined to repent for their sins. The sense of easiness may also be influenced by the beautiful natural surroundings that the locals believe look so much like the Holy Land that they named them after it. There is a hill of Golgotha, a Mount Tabor and even a Gethsemane Garden. During the Communist regime, monks were cast out of Spassky Church and the last hermit, known as Father Pyotr, was shot there. But the place was so well-known in the area that Christians still came to pray in the rock church, so in 1960 Nikita Khrushchev gave an order to flood the church to stop people from coming back, but not even that was enough to keep people away from this ancient place of worship. The first free official religious service at Spassky Church was held in 1993, and in 1997 a group of nuns made it their home. Since then the entire cave complex in the Kostomarovo was reconstructed and roads were built to make access to this place easier. Although famous among Russia’s religious folk, Spassky Church and the cretaceous caves of Kostomorovo remain almost unknown to the rest of the world.
Photos via uusge’s livejournal Sources: snowymelodie, uusge Spassky Cave Church – A Russian Wonder Carved in Stone was originally posted at OddityCentral.com  |
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