Oddity Central

Oddity Central

Chinese City Opens World’s First Street Lane for People Who Walk While Texting

Posted: 17 Sep 2014 05:00 AM PDT

When authorities in Chongqing city realized that they’re never going to be able put a stop to texting while walking, they decided to go for minimizing the risk instead. So they set up a special lane for pedestrians who are hopelessly addicted to their mobile phones.

The lane was created on Foreigner Street – a tourist hot-spot in Chongqing – in order to reduce collisions. So the sidewalk is basically divided into two halves – one labeled 'cell phones, walk at your own risk' and the other marked 'no cell phones'.

texting-street lane

Artist Mother Turns Her Toddler’s Doodles into Beautiful Paintings

Posted: 17 Sep 2014 04:49 AM PDT

Who knew that a child's meaningless doodles could have so much potential? Toronto-based artist Ruth Oosterman takes creativity to a whole new level by converting her two-year-old daughter Eve's scribbles into beautiful paintings.

Ruth is so artistic that she is able to transform Eve's random lines into recognizable shapes. A random curve becomes an elephant's ear, and crooked lines become the gnarled branches of a tree. Nothing seems to escape her eye – she can spot the outline of a woman's face or the hooked nose of a bird where most people would just see haphazard scratches.

It all started by accident when Eve discovered her mother's ink pen and loved using it. "That was part of the reason I used watercolor on that very first drawing because I knew the beautiful effect it would have on the paper. The ink pen marks immediately become a type of paint once you touch it with a wet paintbrush. It makes it easier to blend into the colors I add and also adds a dark intensity that I wouldn’t be able to create otherwise."

childish-paintings

Man Starts Every Day by Voluntarily Falling Down Flight of Concrete Stairs as a Form of Massage

Posted: 17 Sep 2014 04:35 AM PDT

Of all the unusual ways to get a massage, this has got to be the weirdest one. 51-year-old Li Chia rolls himself down 30 concrete steps every morning at Xi'an Changle Park. Once he gets to the bottom, he rocks himself back up to the top again without getting up, using a careful, self-taught technique. He claims that by doing this he receives a thorough massage that addresses all the pressure points in his body.

"I got the idea from rolling on pebbles at a health club, and when I couldn't find any pebbles at my local park, I decided to try the stairs and was surprised to find it really works," Chia explained. "I have always been a great fan of Chinese massage and the possibility that pressure points can do all sorts of things including relieving stress. After all, that's why massage is so popular," he said. "However, I don't believe that any masseuse will be able to give me the sort of massage I get from the impact of the stairs. I find it's a great way to relieve pressure and has all sorts of other health benefits as well."

rolling-down-massage

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