Incredible Cloud Formations

Lenticular Clouds Undulatus asperatus

Pencil Versus Camera Artist

Pencil versus camera: Belgian artist is at it again with mind-bending blend of art and reality

Ben Heine, 28, crosses the fine line between art and reality by blending photographs with his own pencil sketches

• A randy rabbit, a beat-boxing sparrow and a woman trapped in her own nightmare are among his bizarre imaginings
• He ensures his hand is visible in every picture - to represent the connection between viewer, artist and artwork
• Ben, who studied journalism but now works as a full time artist in Brussels, has used locations worldwide

By Matt Blake

There's something about these surreal artworks that really draws you in to their creator's imagination.

And as these inventive pictures show, Ben Heine is one of the most hands-on artists you are likely to find.

The 28-year-old Belgian blurs the line between art and reality by blending photographs of people and landscapes with his own pencil sketches.

A randy rabbit, a beat-boxing sparrow and a woman trapped in her own nightmare are among the bizarre imaginings of the Ivory Coast-born artist.

A fine line: A blonde has her polka dot dress tugged at by a bunny rabbit

He begins by taking a picture of an everyday scene then covers part of the shot with a sketch - transforming the bland backdrops into intriguing scenarios.

Part of his method involves him ensuring his hand is visible in every picture - to represent the connection between the viewer, the artist and the artwork.

Ben said: 'I find a location, then do the drawings, then take a photo to combine with the drawing. I like to stretch people's imaginations.'

Ben, who studied journalism but now works as a full time artist in Brussels, has used locations in London, Spain, Tunisia, and Belgium for his work. 

A bird blares out music from a boombox around his neck: Ben begins by taking a picture of an everyday scene then covers part of the shot with a sketch - transforming the bland backdrops into intriguing scenarios

Hi-tech traffic management system takes off in Chennai city today

Chennai is moving ahead……

Please follow Traffic Rules and Drive Home Safely

Jumped signal, hammered the roads at breakneck speed, weaved in and out of traffic and still managed to escape the policeman's clutches? Beware , you will without fail get a ticket home-delivered with graphic details of your escape.

Chennai: An integrated traffic management system (ITMS) to monitor traffic violations better and bring to book offenders will roll out in the city on Friday with the setting up of a control room.



The system, that will include closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras, will be first installed on the 12km stretch from the Poes Garden junction on Dr Radhakrishnan Salai to the Secretariat on Kamarajar Salai which has at least 12 traffic signals.

City-based Purple Infotech Limited signed an agreement with the home department on Thursday to set up ITMS. Based on their calculations, the traffic police expect the collection of fines to go up from Rs 12 crore to at least Rs 60 crore a year under the new system.



The project, to be implemented at 100 signals in the city, was initially estimated to cost Rs 150 crore before being awarded for Rs 117 crore.

A senior police officer said, With the use of ITMS, more violators can be brought to book.



When the signal turns red, the camera will shoot the violator and inform the control room.

The computers there will generate an e-challan which will be sent to the violator by post or in person. Hence no Escape.
Please follow Traffic Rules and Drive Home Safely

Buddha Statue in Leshan

 The Leshan Giant Buddha (simplified Chinese: Lèsha-n Dàfó) was built during the Tang Dynasty (618–907AD). It is carved out of a cliff face that lies at the confluence of the Minjiang, Dadu and Qingyi rivers in the southern part of Sichuan province in China, near the city of Leshan. The stone sculpture faces Mount Emei, with the rivers flowing below his feet. It is the largest carved stone Buddha in the world and it is by far the tallest pre-modern statue in the world. The Mount Emei Scenic Area, including Leshan Giant Buddha Scenic Area has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1996. It was not damaged by the 2008 Sichuan earthquake.

History

Construction was started in 713, led by a Chinese monk named Haitong. He hoped that the Buddha would calm the turbulent waters that plagued the shipping vessels traveling down the river. When funding for the project was threatened, he is said to have gouged out his own eyes to show his piety and sincerity. After his death, however, the construction was stuck due to insufficient funding. About 70 years later, a jiedushi decided to sponsor the project and the construction was completed by Haitong's disciples in 803.

Apparently the massive construction resulted in so much stone being removed from the cliff face and deposited into the river below that the currents were indeed altered by the statue, making the waters safe for passing ships.

Top 10 Famous Sea Stacks From Around the World

A stack or sea stack is a rock formation made up of a steep or upright column or columns of rock in the sea near a coast. They are formed when part of a headland is eroded by water crashing against the rock or as a result of wind erosion. These impressive formations are intricately created by nature only through time, tide and wind. Here are 10 famous sea stack formations from around the World.

01. Dun Briste, Ireland

Photo Link

 Dun Briste, a spectacular sea-stack, estimated to be approximately 50 metres (165ft) in height, stands 80 metres (260ft) off Downpatrick Head, in the town-land of Knockaun, east of Ballycastle, Ireland. Downpatrick Head is where the Atlantic has gouged a huge bay from the mighty cliffs and their summits scoured of all vegetation except grass by the ceaseless ocean winds.

Each year, Downpatrick is frequented by birdwatchers, who come to observe and record the many different species which take up positions on the stratified face of the stack as the seasons change. In May and early June, the headland itself is a blaze of colour when the sea-pink comes into bloom. Link Map

02. Sail Rock, Russia

 Photo Link

Tower Design of English Project

The English held a contest to design London's wacky rip-off of the Eiffel Tower — Inspired by the financial success of the Eiffel Tower — which was erected in Paris for the 1889 World's Fair — a group of Englishmen attempted to bang out their own ersatz Eiffel a year later. This contest to design the never-to-be "Great Tower of London" received 68 designs. Some resemble alien fortresses and all of them would've (supposedly) prompted an international Eiffel Tower arms race. To quote:

Taking into consideration the enormous popularity of the Eiffel Tower and the consequent pecuniary benefits conferred on those interested in that undertaking, it is not too much to anticipate that, in the course of a short time, every important country will possess its tall Tower. The project of erecting a great Tower in London soon found the willing support of many capitalists, who felt convinced that if the scheme were properly laid before the public there would be no great difficulty in accomplishing the object. 

The pamphlet further elaborated that "the high land between Willesden and Harrow at Wembly Park, has been selected (subject to further consideration)" as a location for this tower. You can see the first two winners — which top out at 1,200 and 1,300 feet, respectively — below, along with some of the zanier proposals. I'm particularly partial to the upside-down screw that is the "Century Tower."

The Great Wall of China Meets the Sea

The end of the Great Wall of China. Photo Link 

 Old Dragon's Head - Where The Great Wall of China Meets the Sea — The Great Wall of China is one of the most amazing piece of architecture and the most ambitious building project ever attempted in the history of mankind. Construction of this formidable defensive structure, built to ward off invasion and to protect the Chinese Empire, goes back by more than two thousand years to the the 7th century BC during the Chunqiu period. Especially famous is the wall built between 220–206 BC by the first Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang. Little of that wall remains. Since then, the Great Wall has on and off been rebuilt, maintained and fortified. Construction continued up to the Ming dynasty (1368–1644), when the Great Wall became the world's largest military structure. 

One of the more interesting places to visit The Great Wall is where it meets the Bohai Sea near Shanghaiguan in Qinhuangdao City about 300 kilometers east of Beijing. Shanhaiguan or Shanhai Pass is one of the major passes of the Great Wall of China located south of Yan Mountain, and north of the Bohai Sea. The Wall extends 5 kilometers north of Shanhai Pass where it juts into the sea. This is where The Wall starts (or ends depending on how you look at it) and from here it stretches to Lop Lake in the west, along an arc that roughly delineates the southern edge of Inner Mongolia – a length of approximately 8,850 km.

Photo Link

 This part of the wall is known as Laolongtou or the Old Dragon's Head, because it looks like a long dragon dipping his head drinking water from the sea. This section of the Wall extends about 23 meters out into the Bohai Sea, and it is possible to walk out onto the Wall and look over the edge directly down into the water below. Laolongtou was built in 1579 in the Ming Dynasty. 

In July 1904, Japanese troops landed at Shanhai Pass, prior to marching on Peking to relieve the siege of the legations during the Boxer Uprising. A pre-landing bombardment of the area, which was totally unnecessary as few Chinese troops were present, destroyed this section of the wall. What stands today is a 1980s effort by the authorities to replicate the original. By the shore, the Changtai Tower, and the Temple to the Sea Goddess that sits in its center, was originally built in 1579, but is now covered with replica soldiers in Qing Dynasty costumes. Most interestingly, the original wall was built using a mixture of glutinous rice soup mixed with sand, earth and lime.

The Laolongtou Great Wall is mainly formed by 7 parts, which are the Estuary Stone City, Chenghai Tower, Nereus Temple, Jinglu Beacon Tower, Nanhaikou (Southern Estuary) Pass, Ninghai City and Binhai (Seafront) Walls. Among them, Chenghai Tower is the most celebrated structure. Chenghai Tower is a two-storey building built with wood and bricks, which functioned as a defensive arrow tower. Emperors of the Qing Dynasty once visited it while on their way to Northeast China, worshipped their ancestors and left many poems and inscriptions. There are also poems by famous literary figures inscribed on the tablets embedded on the walls.

 Photo Link

Old Boeing Recycled as Homes

A resident of the U.S. state of Oregon, Bruce Campbell bought an old Boeing 727 passenger plane and turned it into his house. Have a look…

01. Bruce Campbell offers one of the nine exits in the aircraft, which he found in the woods in the town of Hillsboro, Oregon. 

 "Aircraft are flying homes for people," Campbell said. "They stay in the sky sometimes for 12 to 14 hours at a time and people have to eat and use the toilet and do almost everything else we normally do -- and all of those facilities are in there. They're built along with lighting and climate control, everything.

02. The owner is resting on the couch in his apartment. The size of his unusual living space is about 40 meters and 4 din in width. 

OATS AND OATMEALS

OATS AND OATMEALS

We all are aware of oats and oatmeal. However, most of us are not sure what steel cut oats means. Recent trend revealed that people are slowly understanding the benefits of steel cut oats versus common rolled oats.

There are basically 3 types of oats. Firstly, there is the old-fashioned rolled oats which are whole oats that are rolled flat. Then, there are quick oats which are also rolled oats but they have been ground a little bit which allows them to be cooked faster. Then we have the steel cut oats which are whole raw oats that are cut into smaller pieces

HEALTH BENEFITS OF STEEL CUT OATS
These are what steel cut oats look like. Compared to rolled oats ( below image, left ), which are flattened out, steel cut oats are simply whole kernels cut into pieces by steel. They require 20 minutes of cooking/simmering time. http://www.oatsbenefits.com/steel-cut-oats-benefits http://www.ehow.com/list_7666318_advantages-steel-cut-oats.html http://coachlevi.com/nutrition/rolled-oats-steel-cut-oats-difference http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steel-cut_oats http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolled_oats http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=1175811

CLICK ON EACH PICTURE (panoramic views)

Click on each picture it's Amazing Click on each Picture

Arlanda Airport Hotel

Arlanda Airport Hotel is located in Stockholm. It's built inside an old Boing-747. There are 25 rooms inside Arlanda Hotel and the most expensive one is the one inside the cockpit.

The Werewolf Girl (not funny)

This girl called Suprata and she is from Thailand. Hair growth can not be stopped, even laser removal procedure was powerless. This disease is called hirsutism and hypertrichosis or werewolf syndrome.

Unusual Rocks Around The World

Without a doubt, nature is the best artist on the planet. Take a look at those rocks. Amazing

Lego Colosseum

Bring on the gladiators! Lego builder creates astonishing model of Rome's Colosseum using 200,000 bricks By Anthony Bond Most of us have heard of the phrase Rome Wasn't Built In a Day. But it's probably fair to say that certified Lego builder Ryan McNaught has a greater appreciation than most of how true that statement is. That's because he has just created the world's first Lego Colosseum.  Incredible: Certified Lego builder Ryan McNaught has just created the world's first Lego Colosseum Detail: He used 200,000 Lego bricks to build the model, which includes half in its present day ruined form and half as it was when Rome's original Colosseum was built circa 80 AD As these incredible pictures show, he has gone into extraordinary detail to recreate the famous monument in Lego form. He used 200,000 Lego bricks to build the model, which includes half in its present day ruined form and half as it was when Rome's original Colosseum was built circa 80 AD. Speaking to Gizmodo, the talented builder said: 'I've really got a new appreciation for the Romans and how they made things. 'For me, the challenge of making something oval-shaped out of square bricks was mind-boggling.' Amazed: The talented Lego professional said he now has a new appreciation for the Romans and how they made things

Meals On Wheels?

Meals on wheels! The moment cheetahs try to peel open a three-wheel bubble car as it trundles along 'on safari' By Paul Harris Here's a question you probably thought you'd never have to ask: what happens when the world's fastest cat meets the world's slowest car? Answer: it chases it, catches it – and eats it. That was the result of a cat versus car challenge at Longleat safari park to discover if the latest incarnation of the reborn 1960s Peel Car could ever hack it in the 21st century urban jungle. To be perfectly honest, there's not much point trying to out-accelerate a cheetah when you're driving a Peel Trident.  Intrepid Mail man Paul Harris drives a Trident Peel Electric Car around Longleat Safari and Adventure Park in Wiltshire.... and meets its inhabitants, up close and personal Earlier that day... One of the park's cheetahs spots supper in a strange red can The battery-powered three-wheeler is no match for the awesome four-legged sprinter

High-tech Hostel High Up In The Alps

They won't get much passing trade... High-tech hostel which teeters 1,000ft above jagged Alpine rocks opens for business By Daily mail Reporter Teetering a thousand feet above jagged rock faces in the Alps, this is the world's scariest hotel. The white and red metal tube is designed to hold up to 12 weary climbers crossing the deadly Mont Blanc mountain range in Italy. It includes wooden bunk beds, a kitchen, dining room, storage racks and a living room with stunning views over the Fribouze Glacier. Breathtaking: What could be the world's scariest hotel, a refuge for climbers which teeters on a cliff edge 1,000ft above jagged rock faces in the Alps Breathtaking: The view from the hotel Verti-going for a weekend away: The white and red metal tube is designed to hold up to 12 weary climbers crossing the deadly Mont Blanc mountain range in Italy

Guess what's on the wall?

Guess what's on the wall?