Oddity Central |
- Spanish Comedy Club Charges Customers Based on the Number of Times They Laugh
- Philippines-Based Artist Harnesses the Power of the Sun to Create Amazing Pyrography Masterpieces
- Running Up 11,674 Steps in the World’s Longest Single-Staircase Race
| Spanish Comedy Club Charges Customers Based on the Number of Times They Laugh Posted: 14 Oct 2014 09:35 AM PDT The Teatreneu comedy club in Barcelona has come up with an innovative way of charging customers; they're calling it 'Pay-Per-Laugh'. The concept is as simple as it sounds – the club has reduced its entry fee to zero, and instead, users are charged every time they laugh. A special facial-recognition software helps track the exact number of laughs per customer. The bizarre idea is actually an experiment in partnership with advertising agency The Cyranos McCann – it was set up in response to increased government taxes on theatrical performances from 8% to 21%, which led to a 30% drop in audience members in just one year. So Teatreneu decided to look at the situation with humor, and that's how pay-per-laugh was born. Each seat is fitted with a facial recognition system that detects the smiles of the person seated behind. Entrance is free, and if the show produces no laughs, customers don't pay anything. But if they do, each smile is charged 0.30 euros with an upper cap of 24 euros. |
| Philippines-Based Artist Harnesses the Power of the Sun to Create Amazing Pyrography Masterpieces Posted: 14 Oct 2014 09:08 AM PDT Artist Jordan Mang-osan is a master of pyrography – an incredibly rare and beautiful artform that involves decorating slabs of wood with burn marks. While most other pyrography artists prefer to use specialized tools, Jordan prefers to harness the power of the sun with the help of a magnifying glass. Jordan uses the special technique to create beautiful landscapes and portraits on wood. To create a piece, he starts off by sketching a design on to a piece of wood. He then uses a magnifying glass to concentrate solar heat on selected areas of the artwork. The heat etches permanent darkened lines into the wood, so intricate that it’s hard to imagine the artist’s hands never really touch the wooden canvas. The work is tedious, however – it takes several months of dedicated effort to manipulate the sun's rays and etch each detail of the complex pieces. |
| Running Up 11,674 Steps in the World’s Longest Single-Staircase Race Posted: 14 Oct 2014 08:44 AM PDT The world's longest staircase is located on the face of Mt. Niesen in Switzerland, nicknamed the 'Swiss Pyramid' for its triangular shape. The 3.4 km staircase goes up the side of the mountain with 11,674 steps, ranging from an altitude of 700 m at the bottom (from the side of the Kander river in Mülenen) to 2363 m at the top (the terminus near the summit of the mountain). Its average gradient is a monumental 55%, with a maximum of 65%. For safety reasons, the staircase is normally closed to the general public. But one day a year, in June, it is opened up for the world's longest single-staircase race – the 'Niesen Treppenlauf', otherwise known as the 'Niesenlauf'. During the course of this race, up to 500 participants get to climb the monster staircase at record-breaking speeds. The record for the event is 1 hour and 2 minutes for men, and 1 hour and 9 minutes for women – which is really quite remarkable, considering that reaching the top is the equivalent of climbing the Empire State Building more than 7 times. |
| You are subscribed to email updates from Oddity Central - Collecting Oddities To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
