Oddity Central |
- World’s Smelliest Man Hasn’t Bathed in 38 Years
- Thames Town – A Little Piece of England in China
- The Intriguing Skull Illusions of Istvan Orosz
| World’s Smelliest Man Hasn’t Bathed in 38 Years Posted: 08 Aug 2012 09:55 AM PDT
A lot of people can’t imagine going through a day without taking at least one shower, but 66-year-old Kailash Singh, from India, hasn’t taken a bath in over 38 years, and says he’s happier than a lot of people who wash their bodies every day. But what can possibly make a man give up the daily ritual of bathing? Kailash says he told the decision in 1974, shortly after he got married, hoping this would help him have a son. He claims it was priest who guaranteed him a prized son if he followed his advice not to wash or cut his hair. Now, over 38 years later, Kailash Singh is probably the world’s smelliest man, has 6-foot-long dirty dreadlocks and is father to seven daughters and not a single son. despite having been failed by his religious guidance, the old man still doesn’t want to wash his body, and says only a son could change his mind. Although stranger things have happened, fathering a son at 66, with a 60-year-old wife is very unlikely. Photo: Richard Grange/Barcroft Media Perhaps things wouldn’t be as serious if Kailash Singh lived in a more moderate climate and had a less physically-demanding job, but he lives in the hills near the holy city of Varanasi, where he works up a sweat tending to cattle in heat that often reaches 47 degrees Celsius. As you can imagine, his wife, Kalavati Devi, has had a tough time getting used to the smell. She claims they’ve tried everything to convince him to give up on his vow, including threatening not to sleep in the same bed with him, but in the end she was the first to give in. Kailash’s family once tried to force him to take a bath in a nearby river, but he fought them all off and ran away, saying he would rather die than bathe. Singh’s daughter says she can’t understand how her father goes through a summer day without bathing, when she takes at least two showers.
If you thought Kailash Singh doesn’t care about personal hygiene, you were seriously mistaken. The Indian cattle farmer takes what he calls a “fire bath” each evening”, making sure he gets rid of all the sweat. No it doesn’t involve purifying his body with fire, but rather smoking marijuana, praying to the Hindu god Shiva and dancing around a bonfire (without breaking a sweat, I guess). He says that’s enough to kill off the worst smells, he says, but his family and neighbors disagree. The world’s smelliest man says they don’t understand it’s god’s decision, not his. He says that without a son, he will probably only wash again in the next life. Right now, he only uses water to wash his face and hands. via Barcroft Media World’s Smelliest Man Hasn’t Bathed in 38 Years was originally posted at OddityCentral.com  |
| Thames Town – A Little Piece of England in China Posted: 08 Aug 2012 08:01 AM PDT
It’s no secret the Chinese wrote the book on knock-offs, but did you know they copy whole towns these days? Thames Town, in Shanghai, is a replica of small English town complete with everything you might expect, except the people. “I wanted the properties to look exactly the same as those in the United Kingdom. I think English properties are very special. When we decide to learn from others, we should not make any improvements or changes.” That’s what James Ho, the head of Shanghai Hengde Real Estate, the company in charge of building Thames Town, told Reuters back in 2006, when the weird settlement was inaugurated. The buildings of Thames Town copy the real ones in England so closely that complaints have been filed by English pub owners, and this genuine British look was exactly what was supposed to draw people to this place. Only, like many other ambitious and expensive Chinese projects, Thames Town failed to impress a lot of people and is now virtually a ghost town in Shanghai, the city that drive’s China’s economy. Photo: Marc van der Chijs Located near the last stop of Line 9, Thames Town opened its gates in 2006, as part of Shanghai’s One City, Nine Towns project, as a satellite settlement designed to house around 10,000 people in low-rise apartments and classic English houses. As the name suggests, it was supposed to be a piece of London right in China, complete with cobbled streets, red telephone booths, street names like Oxford or Queen, a Gothic cathedral, and of course, a fake Thames river. The architects and construction workers did their job, Thames Town really looks English, but with all the money invested in marketing, the place never really took off. Except for a handful of people who actually live there and the visitors who come to take their picture taken with the English surroundings, Thames Town is a ghost town. Photo: triplefivechina But surely there must be some Chinese fascinated by Western civilization willing to live in a place like Thames Town, right? Well, probably, but after Shanghai Hengde priced the villas and houses at between $600,000 and $750,000 for 307 – 377 square meters, there weren’t very many takers. Apartments are a little cheaper, but at $750 per square meter they aren’t exactly affordable for the middle class Chinese. They say developers spent around $300 million building Thames Town, and never got the profits they dreamed of. There are others who say the properties were all snapped up as investments by businessmen who are now trying to sell them, which would explain all the “for sale” ads in almost every window. Photo: Marc van der Chijs As we mentioned, Thames Town isn’t the only monumental Chinese investment that failed. Ordos, known as the empty city is a state of the art settlement that remained practically empty because people don’t want to move away from their businesses, and the world’s biggest shopping mall, in Dongguan, is 99% deserted despite significant investments in marketing. Now the Chinese have completed a replica of a picturesque Austrian Town. Maybe this will work… Photo: lukemontague Photo: pamhule Sources: Great Mirror, Triple Five Shanghai, CnnGo Thames Town – A Little Piece of England in China was originally posted at OddityCentral.com  |
| The Intriguing Skull Illusions of Istvan Orosz Posted: 08 Aug 2012 05:09 AM PDT
Famous Hungarian artist Istvan Orosz creates intricate optical illusions that always hide a human skull. The presence of the eerie element is more obvious in some of his works than in others, but they are all equally impressive. If you like optical illusions, you’ll love Orosz’s anamorphosis. The meticulously executed works of art will trick you into thinking you’re eyes are looking at Medieval-themed drawings before you spot the cleverly disguised skulls. I don’t know why the Hungarian graphic designer, poster artist and film director chose a skull as the main element of his works, but his talent or optical illusions is unquestionable. Wikipedia defines anamorphosis as ”a distorted projection or perspective requiring the viewer to use special devices or occupy a specific vantage point to reconstitute the image. The word “anamorphosis” is derived from the Greek prefix ana-, meaning back or again, and the word morphe, meaning shape or form.” There are some who say Leonardo’s Eye is the earliest known anamorphosis work, dating back to 1485, while others claim it originated in China, from where it was brought to Italy, during the Renaissance. Istvan Orosz has made it his goal to renew this amazing art form.
Photos © Istvan Orosz, Gallery Diabolus via Illusion360 The Intriguing Skull Illusions of Istvan Orosz was originally posted at OddityCentral.com  |
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