3d illusion arts: Oddity Central

Oddity Central

Pregnant Woman Lets Online Voters Choose Baby’s Name for $5,000
Money Artist Makes Beautiful Collages from Thousands of Old Soviet Banknotes
Giethoorn – A Rural Venice in the Netherlands

Pregnant Woman Lets Online Voters Choose Baby’s Name for $5,000

Posted: 01 Mar 2013 07:19 AM PST

A 26-year-old pregnant woman from West Los Angeles, California, has agreed to allow online voters to chose the name of her child, in exchange for $5,000.

Natasha Hill, a young art teacher from LA, is expecting a baby in September, but she had already started thinking about his/her name. She considered naming her child Katorah or Winter, but since she couldn’t make up her mind, she decided to enter a competition organized by Belly Ballot, a Austin, Texas-based startup that lets parents-to-be crowdsource their babies names with friends and family. According to the online company, voter will be presented with a list of 10 names - five boy names and five girl names – chosen by Belly Ballot and sponsors of the contest. The one with the most votes by the time the ballot concludes will be the name Hill’s baby will legally have, at least until he or she turns 18. Belly Ballot founder Lacey Moler assured participants brand names or names that are “too crazy” won’t be included in the 10 options.

Photo: NBC San Diego

“I just thought it was a really cool idea,” Natasha said. "I'm so excited to have won!" she wrote on the Belly Ballot blog. "The whole Belly Ballot concept is so social and fun, and can't wait to see what everyone votes for!" But her boyfriend is not as enthusiastic. Despite the ballot company’s claims, he’s afraid voters won’t be able to resist the temptation to choose the craziest, most unusual names. The mother to be said she won’t be monitoring the results during the March 18-22 contest, afraid she’ll pick a favorite name and be disappointed if it doesn’t get chosen.The mother-to-be was chosen from 80 entrants, after she said she would use the $5,000 prize money to pay off credit card debts and put the rest away for her child’s college fund

Photo: Baby Ballot

As you’d expect, this unusual contest has sparked controversy among traditionalists who believe choosing a baby’s name is a personal decision of the parents, and not something to be used for financial gains and media exposure. "This is crazy,” a person wrote on the Belly Ballot blog “You should all be ashamed of yourselves for even considering this. What are you going to tell your baby when they ask you how you chose their name? Don’t do it, you will regret this." Another commenter said:"Don't get me wrong, I could use the money, but this sounds a bit outrageous.” the Baby Ballot founder doesn’t agree: ”This might not appeal to everyone, and we definitely respect parents who choose to keep their name and the baby naming process more private,” Moler told She Knows. ”However, we are allowing baby naming to become more social, and a lot of parents love being able to include their friends and family in the process.”

I wonder if they’ll include video-game-inspired names in the list. We already have a Skyrim-named baby, but there are plenty of other cool ones to choose from. If she doesn’t like the name, Natasha has the perfect solution: “there's always a nickname,” she told NBC San Diego.

Money Artist Makes Beautiful Collages from Thousands of Old Soviet Banknotes

Posted: 01 Mar 2013 06:24 AM PST

Igor Arinich is known as the “Money Artist”in his home country of Belarus. He earned that nicknamed after he became famous for creating intricate collages made exclusively from old Soviet banknotes.

He is not the only artist in the world who uses money as his main medium. In fact, he started doing it himself after seeing the works of an American artist who made dollar collages, and he knows of another Russian artist who makes art from modern Rubles. But after trying to imitate them by using modern Belarusian currency, and euros, he realized none of today’s banknotes are as beautiful and colorful as old Soviet bills. So he began visiting flee markets in his city of Minsk, buying every Soviet banknote he could find, dating from 1961 to 1991. It all started as a hobby, but after people became interested in his craft, he decided to become a professional artist. Although he doesn’t want to reveal the number of money collages he has sold so far, Arinich says he charges between $700 and $2000 for his unique artworks, and many of them are sold abroad.

About his money art, Igor says it’s not as time consuming as actually finding the old Soviet banknotes. They’re not as easy to source as they used to be, and considering he needs up to 3,000 of them for a single project, in different denominations, getting them at a reasonable price can be a challenge. After he has sourced all the material he needs, Arinich can spend between a couple of months to half a year carving the banknotes and combining the pieces to create his intricate paper mosaics. He usually draws a sketch on a plywood canvas and sticks the money pieces in place, like a puzzle, using a special glue. The “Bathing of a Red Horse” his largest, most impressive piece yet. It’s made up of around 3,000 Soviet rubles and is priced at $2,000.

It would definitely be easier for him to work with newer banknotes, but Igor Arinich simply refuses to. He says green dollars and euros are too bland, while the colorful old Soviet rubles are so much more picturesque and easier to work with. Plus, the nostalgia of the past in itself is a big part of his art. His collection of money collages includes reproductions of classic Russian artworks, as well as portraits of Lenin or Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez.

Photos © Igor Arinich

Giethoorn – A Rural Venice in the Netherlands

Posted: 01 Mar 2013 04:59 AM PST

The tiny Dutch village of Giethoorn, located right in the middle of the De Wieden nature reserve, is fondly known as the Venice of Netherlands. Quite an apt name for the place, since it has distinct features that are reminiscent of the romantic Italian city – 7.5 km of canals, about 50 little wooden bridges, boat rides, quaint houses, and more.

If there's something that Giethoorn does not have in common with Venice, it's history. The small village was first inhabited in the year 1230 by a group of fugitives from the Mediterranean regions. It is said that when they first arrived in the area, they noticed an unusually large number of goat horns that were left over after the big flood of St Elisabeth had ravaged the area in 1170. So they named their settlement Geytenhorn (horn of goats), but with dialect changes over the years the name gradually changed to Giethoorn. There's a story about how all the lakes came to be as well. Early settlers took to peat mining; they dug for peat in the areas that suited them the most and left holes in the ground. These holes soon filled up and turned into lakes of varying sizes. So to carry the peat from one area to another, they would sail through navigable canals and ditches. The means of transportation that was once a necessity is now a huge tourist attraction.

Photo: knottenbeld

It was in the year 1958 that Geithoorn first became popular as a tourist destination. A great Dutch filmmaker named Bert Haanstra made a movie at this location, after which tourists started arriving in large numbers, calling it the Venice of Netherlands. The boats called punters are typical to Giethoorn, however, and have become famous the world over. They are driven by an electric motor that make a sound no louder than a whisper. The village itself is the main attraction, where the atmosphere is said to be extremely peaceful and relaxing. Tourists also love admiring the classic Dutch architecture, including houses with thatched roofs and some carefully preserved 18^th and 19^th century farm houses. There are no roads in the old part of Giethoorn, so tourists generally take a boat ride around the village. A few cycling paths have been build recently for locals to use as transportation.