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!