3d illusion arts: Oddity Central

Oddity Central

$100,000 Luxury Tree House Is as Comfortable as a 5-Star Hotel
Chinese Farmer Builds Wind-Powered Car
Lighting Up Christmas – The Giant Lantern Festival of San Fernando

$100,000 Luxury Tree House Is as Comfortable as a 5-Star Hotel

Posted: 21 Dec 2012 02:22 AM PST

Britain's most luxurious tree house belongs to builder Chris Whalley. The incredible abode that he unveiled just last week took him over seven months and £60,000 ($98,000) to build. Located in Blean, Kent, Whalley's tree house is made almost entirely out of driftwood that he gathered from a nearby beach and is meant to be his holiday home. What's most unique about the house itself is that it comes with all the comforts a five-star hotel has to offer, including plumbing, electricity and even a rustic décor that goes very well with the natural surroundings.

I must say that I've fallen in love with this quaint little house, just looking at the pictures of the interiors. There's something so charming about the place that it reminds me of the Beatrix Potter books I read as a child; of course, with some modern conveniences as well. The beds are covered with the finest Egyptian cotton linen, and the bathrobes and towels are from Waters and Noble. The kitchen crockery is also top of the range. Some of the pieces of luxury furniture in the house are well worth over £1,500. Everything inside the house is one-of-a-kind, including the concrete-wood effect kitchen worktop and the tree trunk sink. As if all this wasn't good enough, Whalley's house even comes with an elevated hot tub, for the ultimate experience in luxury. The entire construction rests 20ft above the ground on a 25 ft red cedar tree, making it not only the most deluxe habitable tree house in England, but also the highest. It is located among other holiday log cabins that Whalley built six years ago. Naturally, the view from the house is brilliant.

For all the conveniences that Whalley's house provides, it's surprising how he managed to keep costs pretty low. Well, for one thing, he only used scraps of wood that he found at a builder's merchant and also piles of driftwood collected from the Whitstable beach located nearby. He built the cabin almost entirely without the use of scaffolding; he mainly went up and down the tree with the help of ropes. He must be a pretty strong guy to have built an entire house that way. Whalley is 54 years old and had help from his wife Michelle, 48, and their six children, who also salvaged scrap materials to build the beds, tables and cupboards.

A grandfather of four, he got the idea for the house when a little girl staying in one of his cabins nagged him for a tree house. A family with young children had come to stay and when one of the young girls tried to climb a tree, Whalley told her it wasn't safe. But if she came back next year, he promised her a tree house. The family did come back the next year, and as promised, a children's play house was waiting for the kids. Inspired by this event, Whalley decided he could do a lot more with the humble tree house. "One night me and Michelle were staying in the log cabin, and sat in the hot tub with a glass of wine and I said, "I'm bored" – I needed something to do," he says. "I said I wanted to build a tree house at the top of the garden and that was it. I built it from scratch. It was a bit ambitious and I'm glad it's over – it's half-killed me."

Of the tree house itself, Whalley has quite a lot to say. "There are several tree houses in Britain, but none are habitable," he says. "People often have to go abroad to France if they want to stay in one. We have had nothing but good responses so far." But things weren't always too easy for Whalley when he was building the house. The couple's dream almost got squashed when the Blean Parish Council received several complaints and objections about the project. But they took on all the challenges, and finally received permission to go ahead with construction in October 2011. They began in March 2012 and completed the project this October. Now, customers from as far away as the US and Australia make bookings at the tree house, which is priced between £150 ($245) and £200 ($490) a night. It's already scored a five-star rating on Trip Advisor and is one of the must-visit places in the UK. Make sure you don't miss it if you plan on vacationing in the area.

via SWNS

Photos via Facebook

$100,000 Luxury Tree House Is as Comfortable as a 5-Star Hotel was originally posted at OddityCentral.com

Chinese Farmer Builds Wind-Powered Car

Posted: 21 Dec 2012 01:48 AM PST

A 55-year-old Chinese farmer has come up with a unique invention that might just make him a millionaire. This isn't the first time we've seen vehicles that run on alternative fuel sources, but Tang Zhengping's invention is really something else. The car he built in three months is 1m high, 3m long and powered by wind. But the best part is this – it has the potential to reach a speed of 90mph (140kmph). This does seem too good to be true for a wind-powered vehicle, but Mr.Zhengping from Beijing, the city that hosts the largest car show in the world, has a different story to tell.

According to Mr.Zhengping, the vehicle runs on electric generators and batteries, which are recharged by the large fan spinning in the front of the vehicle. The two solar energy wings at the back also support the generation of electricity. While one set of generators and batteries are working, another two get charged. For now, the batteries need to be charged every two days and the fan and wings provide extra electricity when the car is in motion. "It goes at a maximum speed of 140kmph and lasts longer than an electric car, which usually doesn't have generators," says Mr.Zhengping.

Having loved electronic gadgets since he was a child, he had the idea for this car over 30 years ago. It took him a while, but he finally put it together using only spare parts and mounting a 'wind turbine' on the grill. He claims that when the car reaches a speed of 40mph (60kmph), the wind generated is sufficient to create the 1.21 Gigawatts of power that is needed for the turbine to charge the battery. This ensures that the battery life is extended to about three times that of an electric car. So yes, the car doesn't exactly run on wind power, but it is 'assisted' by it.

There's a video available on YouTube, if you're interested in seeing how the car works. It hasn't had too many positive views though; most people seem to be suggesting that the fan does more harm than good to the car. The vehicle itself isn't much of a looker either, its blue body and it's extremely low height making it look more like a soap box racer. Whether the wind power actually helps the car or not, I suppose we could leave that to the physics experts. Some don't believe that it really works, while others think that the fan is well-designed to take in more wind and also lower resistance on the car.

Mr.Zhengping does believe that his invention has the potential to make him his millions, if only he could find a buyer for the technology. But then he has built his dream car in just three months and it cost him only $1,600 to do it. He's even confident that he can mass produce the car for even less that that. Now, that's an achievement in itself. Mr.Zhengping says, "My dream is to make a contribution to society. I'm not doing this just for the money. I want to see people driving my car on the highway. I want to serve the people." Who knows, perhaps the cars of the future will have large fans attached to the hood.

Chinese Farmer Builds Wind-Powered Car was originally posted at OddityCentral.com

Lighting Up Christmas – The Giant Lantern Festival of San Fernando

Posted: 21 Dec 2012 01:15 AM PST

The Philippines is home to a variety of Christmas traditions, but particularly famous is the Giant Lantern Festival of San Fernando, the capital of the province of Pampanga, a 1.5 hour ride from Manila. Locally, the festival is known as the Ligligan Parul. It showcases the most popular product of Pampanga – the 'parol', or lighted stars. The artisans of Pampanga are renowned for their ability to create the biggest and most elaborate parol in the country. Each year, the best parol makers of the region show off their creations at the Giant Lantern Festival, vying for the title of 'winning parol' and lighting up the night sky.

In the early days, parol had simple star shaped designs, but they have evolved a lot over the years. Today, the biggest ones are about 40 feet in diameter and shapes vary from floral patterns to religious symbols. They are generally made from materials like soft drink straws, crepe paper, glass, plastic, bamboo dowels, and some even contain assorted electronic parts. For the artists who make the parol, excelling at their work is a matter of pride and building a reputation. Several hours go into the making just one of these superb works of art, and the cost can rise to several thousand dollars. Of course, once the Holiday Season is over, their creations have little use.

Photo: Anton Prima

The tradition of parol-making started back in the year 1928, and the person credited for it is Francisco Estanislao. He created the classic parol, which is a five-pointed star symbolizing the Star of Bethlehem that led the Wise Men to Baby Jesus. The trend caught on in Pampanga and soon several other artisans followed in his footsteps creating innovatve designs. Artists started experimenting with blinking lights. Even today, the trends set by Pampanga in parol-making are followed all over the Philippines. In fact, 'Pampanga parol' is a term in local lingo, synonymous for any star lantern that is particularly elaborate. The first ever lantern festival was held to honor by the then President of Philippines, Manuel L. Quezon. At that time, he had converted the nearby Mount Arayat into a tourist resort, so the people of San Fernando showed their gratitude to the President through this festival. Quezon himself donated the prize for the contest winner. Interestingly, the modern Giant Lantern Festival had a predecessor, a religious activity known today as 'lubenas'. These primitive lanterns were only about 2 feet in diameter and were created with locally available materials such as bamboo. The lubenas were held in procession during a nine-day celebration leading up to Christmas, and brought to the town church before midnight Mass on Christmas Eve. As the tradition became more popular, the lanterns gotlarger and fancier. Electricity was first introduced to parol making in 1931.