Day dreaming about your favorite book, the hobbit? Well, why dream it when you can live the real thing? The plane's leaving for Woodlyn Park, New Zealand! Here, we find our destination: the Hobbit Motel. Carefully chiseled into a grassy hill, this legendary motel is designed to look just like the ones in the book you've all read thousands of times. Each room is equipped with curious furniture, eccentric bunks, and a comfy atmosphere.

The Hobbits also conveniently located near the Billy Black's Kiwi Culture Show, which is an amazing show combining New Zealand history and heritage with a hilarious, interactive farm show. The show has it all! You can light the fuse to blow up a log, see a kiwi bear(that's the Aussie word for ''possum"), a dancing pig, and other bush animals, watch sheep dogs at work, help shear the sheep(there's a lot of shearing in the show), or saw down a log.

Thankfully, the motels do not match the original portion of size, as real hobbits are only 3 to 4 feet tall. It is not Middle Earth, but it is in the land where the movies were filmed!

Earth Day

Happy Earth Day!

Blues, Blues, and Blues Galore

Animals don't recycle-or do they? What about animals like....the satin bowerbird?

The satin bower bird is a violet-eyed bird with a real taste for decoration. Male birds collect junk like pens, lids, strings, bottle caps straws, and other discarded plastic pieces for decorating their nests(called bowers) to impress the females. But it's not just any junk- it's all blue. The males don't collect anything that's not blue. I guess that blue must be very attractive! To go along with the nest exhibition, the males include a little dance to go with it. How sweet! The older females look at the dance more than the bower. They eat berries, fruit, and bugs and live in the wetter parts of the east australian forest. If you are a satin bowerbird who's reading this, then listen up: watch out for other raiding satin bowerbirds flying near your bower! They might throw decorations or even ruin your nest! Hmmm... I think that I'm going to cover my house with blue objects and see what happens!

Junk in the Records

Okay followers, go get your Guinness World Record books and look up the world's biggest scrap metal sculpture! Yes, that's right; the Forevertron in Baraboo, WI. It is also the subject of today's post. The Forevertron is part of Dr. Evermore's scrap metal park; the Forevertron only the biggest of many whimsical, Victorian inventions and sculptures, all made from scrap metal.

The Forevertron was built to launch the Good Doctor(Dr. Evermore) into heaven in a glass egg using magnetic lightning-force beams launched from the four "Love Guns". On one side of the glass egg is the Royal Tea House, a gazebo for Queen Elizabeth and Prince Albert to watch. On the other side is the Doubting Thomas Telescope, built for Doubting Thomases to see for themselves if the Good Doctor made it. Near by are the Celestial Listening Ears, a device built for two attendees to listen for voices from the heavens to see if Dr. Evermore is okay. Then there's the Graviton, built to cut off the weight of the broad doctor, which will help his trip into the beyond. The Jockey Scale measures this ingenious man before he makes his departure up the spiral staircase. The wrought-iron Overlord Master Control is for controlling this epic flight.

Around the base of the Forevertron are various other sculptures and gazebos to provide entertainment and refreshments(e.g. a steampunk popcorn machine made from an old elevator cage). There is a bird orchestra which will play the music as Dr. Evermore leaves. There is also a bunch of various other sculptures like bugs. There is also some interesting junk: a decontamination chamber from NASA's Apollo project, dynamos from the lab of Thomas Edison, and scrap metal salvaged from an army ammunition plant.

Obviously, "Evermore" is not a real name. Dr. Evermore is really Tom Every, a 70 year old retired industrial wrecking and salvage expert who has spent years collecting old machinery and other mechanical memorabilia. It hurt him to see people melting things like that down just for the price of metal. He started building with his collection in 1980 and started building the Forevertron in 1983. He no longer stays at the park to greet visitors, but he is still making more creations with his son, Thayer. I bet you didn't think that junk could make world records!

St. Junk's Cathedral

Throughout this week, you will learn one lesson: junk can be beautiful. And one great example is the Cathedral of Junk Austin, Texas. Invisible from the neighborhood surrounding it, the Cathedral of Junk is a seemingly endless structure with towering spires, narrow corridors, open rooms, vaulted ceilings, and 2 floors made completely out of junk. From car doors to toilets, old skis to lawn mowers, bike tires to pianos, this place has a lot of junk- 6 tons to be exact. Rich southern vegetation weaves throughout the many passages; it adds a lot of excitement. No welding involved: it's all held together by bungee cords and wires! You will find Vince Hannemann, the owner, in his "throne room", a circular junk room with a small chair made of something that is still unknown. Vince started the Cathedral behind his house back in '88 when he was in his 20s with a small garden featuring the "Pyramid of TVs"(now the Zen garden of TVs) and added on to it. People are always bringing him interesting junk. This is one junky place that definitely isn't worth throwing out!

Earth Week Craze

This Earth Week, I am going to post all week about cool sculptures/sculpture parks made from recycled materials. We need to recycle so that we still have our weird planet. Come on, we only have a billion years before the sun blows up!!! Or maybe not...it's probably just more "junk"(get it? Junk? Ha, ha, ha) from crazy scientists. Well, anyway, moving on...I have a great week planned out and you are going to LOVE it!!! There's Dr. Ev-oops! I forgot! I can't tell you! Here is one picture to get you started:

If you like this totally awesome sculpture, then I know you will love Earth Week on Earth's Other Side!

Cold Hotel, Hot Spot!

It is so hot outside so I will post on something that will cool you down...

Secretly, you've always wanted to sleep in an igloo(I know you pretty well, don't I?). So I have decided to help you: shiver on over to the Kirkenes Snow Hotel in Kirkenes, Norway. Every guest sleeps in one of 15 private, luxurious igloo suites, each containing 2 beds carved out of ice equipped with reindeer pelt blankets(so you don't freeze to death), a small table made of ice, and lots of ice and snow artwork. There is also an Ice Bar in the hotel; it is a fully working bar-made completely out of ice! Kirkenes Hotel is also home to the biggest sled dog farm and you can take a "dog safari" throughout the arctic wilderness and even search for Aurora Borealis(that's the Northern Lights for those who like it simple). There is also a reindeer farm where you can pet, feed, and take pictures with the reindeer without a gate to separate you and the reindeer. This might sound cold to you, but inside it is supposed to be warmer. Wow, this is one cool place!

Living Light Bulbs

Tired of having to change your burnt-out light bulbs? Solution! Throw away all those pesky lightbulbs and get a firefly squid instead! Like the fireflies you keep in old fruit jars, this bright little creature gives off light. Tiny photophores cover it's body, making it glow. The squid has total control over these photophores; it flashes a special light pattern, like a "mini light show", to communicate with other firefly squids, attract mates, lure prey, and even distract predators. They live deep in the west Pacific.

Every year, these "living light bulbs" migrate to Toyama Bay in Japan to lay and fertilize their eggs, turning the sea a glowing bluish color. It looks like one big light show and attracts thousands of tourists. During that time, many firefly squids are caught. The firefly squid catching season began March 1 and will continue until the end of June. In Japan, they are a very popular delicacy. They are cooked with vegetables, put in sushi, or placed on crackers. After the firefly squids lay all their eggs, they die and wash up on the beach. This is good for birds and any other animals who might want to eat the dead squids.

Some people liked these amazing, glowing creatures so much that they even opened a museum in Namerikawa, the city where the squids migrate and die. It is called the Hotaruika Museum and features various exhibits unlocking the secrets of the firefly squid, including a petting zoo, a gallery with information about firefly squids, a laser light show, and a theatre showing videos about firefly squids, other strange sea creatures, and other squids. Wow; I wouldn't be surprised if they really did use them as light bulbs!

April Fool's Day 2010: Buildings Can Play Tricks Too!

Yes, it's true. Buildings can play tricks. And they do it even better than us(they don't keep repeating the put-a-glass-of-water-on-the-top-of-the-door-between-the-door-frame-and-wait trick every year) We are going to take a look at a few of these buildings, or Trompe l'oeill as it is called:

Uh-oh! What happened here??? Don't worry; nothing happened here! The girl and the hole are both flat!( Los Gatos, CA)

Wow! What a cool place! Guess what? It's flat(on top)! It was worth a look anyways! (Cannes, France)

This Jesuit church really has the spirit of Trompe l'oeil! See that big dome? It's flat too! The only clue is that no light flows through the windows. (Vienna)

Oh no! Another tragedy! But those epic pillars are just paint! This Trompe l'oeil stuff is really cool...don't you think?(unknown)

Why is this building all wrapped up? And where did they get such a big cloth? Once again it's just paint!(Toronto)

And now you know why I said it: buildings can play tricks!

p.s. Sorry I didn't post this on April Fools Day!

Where am I?

Have you ever been teased for being short? Well, then maybe a trip to the Kingdom of the Dwarves in Yunnan, China would make you feel better. The Kingdom of the Dwarves is a theme park where you can watch over 100 short people sing, dance, and perform comedy sketches for your entertainment. There's only two job requirements: you must be between 18 and 40, and you must be under 4'3'', or 130 cm ( that's shorter than me!)! Don't worry; the mushroom houses in the background are just changing rooms and decor, not actually homes. This kind of sounds like people are making fun of the short people, but with all the unemployment in China, this is just a thing to raise money for their families.

Have You Ever Tried Garlic Ice Cream?

Okay, I gave up sweets for Lent, but would it count if I had onion flavored ice cream? I don't know, but I do know where you can get onion flavored ice cream, along with 859 other flavors. At Cormoto Ice Cream Parlor in Merida, Venezuela, the flavors of ice cream, however ordinary they look, are anything but ordinary. Yes, of course they do have the regulars, but behind that glass is a lot more than chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla: garlic, chili, avocado, beans and rice, sweet corn, onion, tomato, cream of crab, mushrooms in wine, pork rines, smoked salmon, macaroni and sardines-in-brandy, ham and cheese, and beet root are just a few. They normally have 70 to 80 flavors at any one time, depending on what the workers can find in local markets and stores. They started with only four flavors: vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, and coconut. The first weird flavor was avocado. The hard part is that every time a new flavor is invented, a funky name has to be erected to accompany it. I wonder if any mothers have had to force feed the ice cream to their children!

Crystals of Mystery

I'm sure all of you followers have some kind of jewelry made from Swarovski crystals or have at least heard of Swarovski. But do you know the true creativity, the playful side, the artistic half of the Swarovski company? You need to see Swarovski Kristall Welten(translated from German, it means "Crystal Worlds"), the stunning exhibition of the company that makes the world go round. Each exhibition is stunning and unique in it's own crystalline way. For instance, one exhibit is a crystal dome, another is a giant crystal kaleidoscope, and so on. Some exhibits have less to do with crystals than others. One exhibit has robotic manequin legs walking in space. You need to see the website(I must comment on their website) to see all the little details of every exhibit; I would take up a lot of your time if I were to post a complete list!

There's something for everyone: if you just care about buying crystals, there's a Swarovski shop, if you like making your own exhibitions, you can make jewelry and wire sculptures with wire, string, and colorful beads, and of course, if you like the weird, mysterious, the rich, and the modern, there's the museum. It has attracted over 900,000,000 visitors by date. A giant head that is made out of hedges and who's mouth is actually a fountain lures wandering tourists into it's location in Innsbruck, Austria, a little more than an hour away from Munich, a great city. Whether you're rich or not, you're sure to love this place!

p.s. This was meant to be Saturday's post, but we accidently spilled a glass of water on our computer(advise to followers: NEVER put a glass of water anywhere near your computer!) and you know how electronics do not go with water. We just got a new keyboard(50$) and I was then able to blog.

One Man's Junk is Another Man's Treasure

Have you ever wondered if you could walk in the the belly of a whale? Or was it in your New Year's resolutions to see a two-headed snake? Ever climbed up a giant slinky? Well, you can do all that(and tons more) at the City Museum in St. Louis, a collection of salvaged junk(one man's junk is another one's treasure!) transformed into the ultimate jungle gym. It used to be an old shoe factory until they changed it into a museum. They still have a small factory that makes shoe laces and you can suggest styles, buy laces, or see the machines if you have time.

The first thing you'll see is a huge maze of giant slinkies, bridges, and platforms looping and swirling around two Saber 40 aircraft fuselages, a fire engine, a castle turret, a 25 foot cupola and plenty of other larger recycled things. It is called MonstroCity and if you ever go to the museum, do not skip it!

Inside the museum, there's way more: there's the Museum of Mystery, Mirth, and Mayhem*, a collection of oddities like a Big Boy and featuring the World's Largest Underpants. Then there's the Enchanted Caves* which used to be a shoe-shaft but is now a large network of caves filled with fantastical beasts.

The Everyday Circus is a circus where talented kids can perform. The Skateless Park is a skateboard park without the skateboards( you slide down instead). The World Aquarium* is an awesome aquarium filled with exotic fish and features a two-headed snake(named We)! The first floor and Mezzanine is a forest of tunnels, ladders, and creatures where you can squeeze through a giant barrel, stroll in the belly of whale, and pop out of nowhere from a hole in the floor. Climb up a hallow tree trunk to get to the Mezzanine which is pretty much the same. That was my favorite area that I saw because it was really cool following tunnels that lead God knows where and then popping out of some hole.

Also here is the world's largest pencil; it's 76 feet long and really writes and erases! This big puppy is equivalent of 1,900,000 normal pencils! Imagine taking this to school!

On top of the roof is a small park with a ferris wheel, a pond filled with stepping stones and a giant rope swing. You can go inside of the school bus that sticks out of the building and helps you know that you are at the right place!

Fortunately (very) my aunt and uncle have moved back to St. Louis, so this summer I will be able to go visit this junky treasure again.

p.s. Do not go to the Circus! Although it was interesting, there are so many other cooler things to see.

*I didn't get to see this.

Pigs of The Abyss

Why does this creature here have a face? Because it's a Piglet Squid, of course! That cute little smile is really a line of freckle-like spots and those "beautiful" lochs of hair are really tentacles. This cute little guy, who's actually the size of a Dill pickle, lives deep in the ocean where the word "light" is not in the dictionary. When it feels threatened, our little friend sucks up water through his snout so that it blows up like a water balloon (now the size of an apple). If that's not enough, it will spit out all the water so that it shoots back away from danger. Okay, it's not that scary but hey- it's a start!

Art Haven- the World's Capitol of Art

What do you get when you mix a tropical island with an art museum? Naoshima Island, Japan! Naoshima is a ten square-mile (in area) island in Japan's Seto Inland Sea that is covered completely with art. The cool thing about it is that you stay there over night! There are two amazing museums: the Benesse House and the Chichu Museum, plus a third museum still under construction. The modern Benesse House, the main museum, also serves as your hotel and features over 350 pieces of art. You have a choice of staying in the museum, in the Park, on the Beach, or in the Oval, which is an egg-shaped building on one of the island's tallest hills, with a stunning view of spectacular water falls and forests and is accessed by a monorail that you control! The other museum is the Chichu Museum which is underground. It features many works including Claude Monet's original water lily paintings. To get to it, you go through a beautiful garden with trees, flowers, and ponds modeled after Monet's paintings.

Also, some of God's own art work is displayed here: miles of hiking grounds with rocky cliffs and lush forests. There's lots of outdoor art work, too. Other mysterious artworks include a pool of water that jiggles like Jell-O, a temple with glass stairs that lead down into a cave, and flags made of colored sand that are actually ant farms. Doesn't that just make your mouth drop???

The Beginning: Tarot Cards and....Sculptures?

We will begin our journey in a funky and eccentric sculpture garden in Tuscany, Italy. It is called El Giardino dei Tarocchi (translation: The Tarot Garden). It's a beautiful sculpture garden where 21 sculptures sit making tourists say "WOW". Each sculpture represents a different tarot card and has a special meaning. On the website, you can see their meanings. Do you see that big lady with the blue hair in the front? She was actually the artist's house (Sadly, the artist is dead.). If you like this style of art, you should see the Niki Museum in Nasu, Japan (The artist's name was Niki de Saint Phalle.). It features over 470 pieces of her art, which is mostly very big, alongside descriptions by Niki herself. I would love to see this place!

p.s. My favorites are The Devil, The Emperor, and The Sun (see website)!

p.p.s. Special thanks to the Schaeberle's, my German friends, for sending me a postcard from Italy. If you didn't send it, I wouldn't know about it!

Welcome-Willkomen (German)-Karibu ( Swahili)-Yokoso (Japanese)-Dobre Doslo (Bulgarian)

Welcome to Earth's Other Side! This blog is for the following people: teens, kids, adults, grandparents, fossils, the paranormal, scientists, photographers, architects, Olympic lugers, men, women, goats, lions, American Leaf-nosed Bats, and especially, explorers. It is also for the following ages: 3-3,000. If you are not one of the previous, then stop reading this. Thank you!

This blog will introduce you to the other side of world, where weird and funky meet economics and industry. I will try to post at least thrice a week. Each day, there will be a poll for each place. The choices will be: "Ugh! Who'd want to go there???"," Need to See it!!!!", or "Been There!". There might also be a weekly poll with trivia questions. Try to answer as much as you can. I'll also post on cool attractions opening up. I hope you like my blog!