3d illusion arts: Oddity Central

Oddity Central

Off with Her Toes! Growing Number Of Women Shortening or Removing Toes to Wear High Heels
Sweet Art – The Gummy Bear Artworks of Johannes Cortes
Party Like There’s No Tomorrow – Russian Revelers Pay $1,000 to Celebrate Apocalypse in Soviet Era Bunker

Off with Her Toes! Growing Number Of Women Shortening or Removing Toes to Wear High Heels

Posted: 20 Dec 2012 04:07 AM PST

The things some women will do to fit into a beautiful pair of high-heel shoes. Apparently, a growing number of women are having their toes shortened or even completely removed, in order to make wearing stilettos a less-painful experience.

According to the American Podiatric Medical Association, eighty-seven percent of women have had foot problems from wearing uncomfortable or ill-fitting shoes, like high-heels. But while some give-up on the problematic footwear, others love wearing them so much they will appeal to surgical procedures such as shortening toes, receiving foot injections and even completely cutting off pinky toes in order to make walking in them bearable. "Unless you've been there, and you can't find shoes, and you're in pain, don't judge,” Susan Deming, a patient who recently had one of her toes shortened, told Fox News. "I was having calluses, and just, all sorts of problems with my left foot. And there finally was a solution. There's never been a solution before.” Some of Susan’s toes were longer than the others, making her left foot an entire size longer than her right foot, so she cut off about a centimeter off her second toe. "I've never felt this good about something I've done," she said. "If it's vain, it's vain."

Photo: Markus Ram

But shortening toes is just one of the procedures women are turning to in order to make wearing uncomfortable shoes less painful. Other solutions include injecting collagen into the balls of the feet for added cushion, or completely removing the pinky to make the foot fit better inside the shoe. Dr. Nathan Lucas, a podiatrist in Memphis, says the number of women interested in surgical options to relieve the pain of wearing high heels has increased steadily, to as many as 30 patients a month in the last year. Although he doesn’t approve of this type of procedures unless there is a medical reason behind them, he does refer patients to doctors who do perform them.

Off with Her Toes! Growing Number Of Women Shortening or Removing Toes to Wear High Heels was originally posted at OddityCentral.com

Sweet Art – The Gummy Bear Artworks of Johannes Cortes

Posted: 20 Dec 2012 03:03 AM PST

Gummy bears are a favorite treat for millions of people, young and old, but for German artist Johannes Cordes they are a muse, an art medium and his trademark. Cordes uses thousands of delicious gummy bears to create colorful works of art.

Johannes Cordes, from Meppen, Germany, somehow resists the temptation to stuff his face with the thousands of gummy bears in his studio and instead uses them to create unique works of art, including portraits and recreations of famous paintings. The idea of using the gelatinous medium came to Cordes by accident. A few years back, he was building a custom painting for a friend in his Nuremberg studio, but when he was done, it turned out the frame was too big for the artwork. He was disappointed, but when he spotted an open bag of gummy bears next to the now-seemingly useless frame he realized all the colorful treats would make a nice composition. So he started piecing together an image from the differently-colored sweets on a canvas, and put in on display in the window of his workshop. It was supposed to be a gag to amuse passers-by, but after a few days that “joke” was sold, and JohannesCordes had found a unique art medium…

The gummy bear art of Johannes Cordes has come a long way since that first accidental work, and the 57-year-old artist has developed his own techniques of creating the needed colors and preserving his sweet masterpieces. Although he is sometimes sponsored by gummy bear maker Haribo, even they can’t change the fact that the rubbery treats only come in six different colors, so Cordes has to add the necessary colors himself. He uses acrylic paints and special crayons on the back of the gummy bears and adds up to 10 color coats and shadings to achieve the desired effect. He also used to spend a lot of his time just sorting the gummy bears he could use for his art. About half the pieces in a bag are either too small, too deformed or are not uniform in color to be used, so now he works with presort facilities, to ensure he gets only the perfect gummy bears. Johannes goes through about three tons of gummy bears a year, that’s around 200 bags per week, and in his entire career, he has used millions of them. Imagine his blood sugar levels if he had actually eaten all those yummy treats.

Each of his gummy bear artworks contain thousands of rubbery sweets, and takes between 100 to 240 hours to complete. Once all the gummy bears are in place, he uses a special varnish to hold them all in place. he says the best distance to admire his creations is from 10 – 20 meters away.

Above photos © Johannes Cordes

Photo: guckma

Sources: Faz, Haz

Sweet Art – The Gummy Bear Artworks of Johannes Cortes was originally posted at OddityCentral.com

Party Like There’s No Tomorrow – Russian Revelers Pay $1,000 to Celebrate Apocalypse in Soviet Era Bunker

Posted: 20 Dec 2012 01:23 AM PST

A Cold War bunker in Moscow designed to protect Soviet leaders in case of nuclear attacks will host the ultimate doomsday party. Revelers willing to part with $1,000 will be able to celebrate the coming of the Apocalypse in a safe environment that can withstand nuclear catastrophes and earthquakes.

Sure, $1,000 isn’t cheap, but with the world coming to an end, you might as well spend your life savings partying, right? That’s what the administrators of Bunker 42, in Moscow, are hoping, anyway. The shelter located 65 meters underground has been decorated especially for this special end-of-the-world party, after receiving a large number of requests from Russians looking for a chance to survive the impending doom. According to senior bunker guide Alexei Pavlovsky, the idea behind the event is pretty simple: : A lot of many people would feel much calmer if they could spend this critical day surrounded by maximum comfort and safety. And who are we to say no?” Can’t argue with that, now can you?

But that $1,000 entrance fee doesn’t just buy you the chance to attend an unforgettable party, but also the chance to possibly survive Armaggedon, just in case the end of the Mayan calendar coincides with the end of our world. During its 60 years of existence, Bunker 42 has been fitted with everything a group of people would need to survive in case of a nuclear meltdown or natural catastrophes. Built in 1956, at the orders of Josef Stalin himself, Bunker 42 has an area of 7000 square meters and enough food supplies, drinking water, fresh air and fuel to keep the hundreds of people inside alive for several months.

Apart from the standard entrance fee, Bunker 42 also has the option of renting a VIP room for 1.5 million rubles ($49,000). But the good news is organizers also offer attendants a special warranty – if the end of the world doesn’t come on December 21, they’re prepared to refund revelers with 50% of the ticket price.