Artists sometimes explore unique and unconventional methods in their attempts to create masterpieces. Some take things a bit further and turn to very obscure art forms or even end up creating their own. These artists’ work can either make us go, “Wow!” or cringe in disgust.

Some artists take to painting with unconventional paints made from their own feces or semen. Others turn their own genitalia into brushes. Some media artists also use unexpected programs like Microsoft Excel to create their artworks. Whatever their methodology, every artist on this list has some unique selling point.

10 Tatsuo Horiuchi Draws With Microsoft Excel

When we think of Microsoft Excel, we think of spreadsheets and the occasional graph. But thanks to Japanese artist Tatsuo Horiuchi, we can start thinking of art, too.

Horiuchi uses Excel to draw, which is the last thing most people would consider using it for. Horiuchi started to use Excel to draw at the time he neared retirement. He had never used the program before then but had seen his workmates use it to make spreadsheets and graphs. The colorful graphs were the reason Horiuchi thought Excel would make a good drawing program.

Horiuchi did not consider regular graphic and drawing programs because they were too expensive. Excel also came preinstalled in Windows, which made it sort of free of charge. Horiuchi continues to make unbelievable artworks with Excel, which he says is easier to use than Microsoft Paint.^[1]

9 Tim Patch Paints With His Penis

Tim Patch is an Australian artist who paints with his penis. No joke; he uses his penis as if it were a paintbrush. This is why he calls himself Pricasso, which is obviously a portmanteau of “prick” and “Picasso.”

Patch got the idea to use his member as a drawing tool while attending a Christmas party. He quickly checked the Internet and was glad to discover that no one was doing something similar.

He started off with dipping his penis into regular acrylic paint and rubbing it on canvas, but the canvas was too harsh on his penis. These days, he mixes the paint with petroleum jelly before applying it to the canvas.^[2]

8 Martin Von Ostrowski Paints With Poop And Semen

German artist Martin von Ostrowski paints with his own feces and semen. Ostrowski first made the news when he created a painting of Adolf Hitler using his poop. He later created fecal paintings of Friedrich the Great, Otto von Bismarck, and Kaiser Wilhelm II—all of whom had ruled Germany or its predecessor states at some point.

Ostrowski also got the idea to use his semen as paint after observing some oil paintings of ejaculations created by an unnamed artist sometime in 1988. That artist masturbated on his artworks, as the paint didn’t look authentic enough. Ostrowski does not masturbate on his paintings, though. Instead, he masturbates and freezes his semen for later use.

Ostrowski says he had to orgasm over 1,000 times between 2003 and 2008 for his art. A single portrait requires 40 ejaculations. The Gay Museum in Berlin, which exhibited Ostrowski’s work in 2008, claimed that the smell of dried semen set off sexual feelings in people. Nevertheless, Ostrowski says he is just being organic.^[3]

7 Milo Moire Paints With Her Vagina

Milo Moire is a performance artist who paints with her vagina. She calls her art form PlopEgg painting. This is because she inserts small eggs filled with ink and paint into her vagina. Then she stands over a canvas and aims the eggs right at it. The eggs burst as they hit the canvas, creating a splashing effect. The piece pictured above is called The PlopEgg Painting Performance #1—A Birth Of A Picture.

Moire, who is often naked during her performances, says PlopEgg is all about feminism. However, some people do not think so. Jezebel called it “the best advertisement you’ll ever see for Kegel exercises.”^[4]The Guardian was more critical with its words. It called her work “silly” and said it should be considered a “joke.”

The Guardian added that PlopEgg was Moire’s weird but desperate attempt at becoming popular. The writer said that it made no sense, even though many artists thought it did. The Guardian then went on to attack performance art, saying that people who claim to be fascinated by performance art were either lying or likely to fall for dumb ideas.

6 Uwe Max Jensen Also Paints With His Penis

Tim Patch is not the only artist capable of painting with his penis. Danish artist Uwe Max Jensen paints with his genitals as well. Jensen’s most popular penis artwork is a recreation of Kim Kardashian’s famous “Break the Internet” photo where she bared her naked butt to the camera.

Jensen painted the portrait by inserting his penis in acrylic paint and applying it straight on the canvas. In an interview with The Daily Dot, Jensen mentioned that larger penises are better for painting because they can recreate small details which smaller penises cannot. He added that he held his penis and the canvas in his hands until he completed the painting.

Jensen also revealed that the Kim Kardashian portrait was actually the second painting he’d done with his penis. The first was a portrait of a male politician in his native Denmark. He gave the portrait to a friend but sent a picture of it to the politician through Facebook. The politician responded by blocking him.

The two penis artworks add to the list of eccentric things Jensen has done. He has made the news before for destroying the head of a statue of the Little Mermaid as well as for urinating in a water sculpture exhibited in a museum.^[5]

5 Graham Fink Draws With His Eyes

Graham Fink draws using only his eyes and computer software. Fink had a programmer develop a special software program that tracks his eye movement. The setup works with two infrared lights that are directed into his eyes.

A camera tracks the movement of his eyes and sends it to the software. The software straightens the lines Fink makes with his eyes, which soon become visible on his computer. And it continues like that until Fink completes a drawing.

Fink requires lots of concentration to complete a single drawing. He makes the drawing using a single line, since breaking off eye contact would end the portrait. He is also unable to erase anything. Fink says he spends between five minutes and an hour to create a single portrait, depending on his level of concentration.^[6]

4 Ian Sklarsky Draws With A Single Line And Doesn’t Look At His Artwork

Like Fink, Ian Sklarsky draws with just a single line. However, he does not use any software. Instead, he uses his hands. Interestingly, Sklarsky does not look at his artwork until it is completed. This technique is called blind contour drawing—an art form that forbids an artist from looking at his drawing until it is completed.

Sklarsky says he has been making blind contour drawings since childhood. He often visits bars and events where he creates blind contour drawings for interested people. A single drawing takes seven minutes to complete, after which he will sometimes add colors while looking at the drawing.^[7]

3 Steven Spazuk Paints With Fire

Fire is one thing that we generally want to keep away from our artworks. However, Steven Spazuk wants his art near fire because that’s how he creates it. To be clear, Spazuk does not actually paint with the fire but with the soot from the flame.

This art form is called fumage and was not invented by Spazuk. It has been practiced by artists throughout history. In fact, historians suspect early humans used it to create cave paintings.

Spazuk creates fumage paintings by putting his artwork right above a candle or blowtorch. The soot from the flame rises to the paper, where it forms blackened outlines. Thereafter, Spazuk draws around the soot using a pencil or feather. Sometimes, he uses acrylic paints to add more color to the artwork.

The process of creating fumage on paper is a bit complicated, since the paper needs to be as far away as possible from the flame to make sure it does not catch fire. At the same time, it needs to be near enough so that the soot will create the required outline.^[8]

Spazuk said he got the idea of painting with soot after dreaming about wandering into an art gallery. The gallery was black and white, which Spazuk said was caused by soot after a fire. He tried out the fumage technique the next day. However, the paper repeatedly burned until he switched to a thicker cardboard paper.

2 John Bramblitt Paints Despite Being Blind

John Bramblitt is blind. You’d think painting would be the last thing he would consider for a career, since he obviously needs to see to get the job done. However, he has broken that barrier and proven that you do not need sight to become a painter.

Bramblitt lost his sight after suffering complications caused by epilepsy when he was just 30 years old. He fell into a serious depression—one which he only defeated by painting. Bramblitt paints by using his hands to trace the outline of drawings he makes himself. He determines and mixes his colors by just feeling their textures.

Interestingly, Bramblitt draws people, too. He cannot see but makes a mental outline of his subject’s face after touching it with his fingers. This simple touch is more than enough for him to create a portrait of the person.^[9]

1 Katsu Draws With Drones And His Poop

Cops have a hard time catching graffiti artists. It seems that it’ll only get harder as graffiti artists turn to drones. In 2015, Katsu, a popular and radical but anonymous graffiti artist created the first drone graffiti when he attached a spray can to a DJI Phantom drone.

His target was a six-story-tall billboard of Kendall Jenner in Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood. Katsu used the drone to spray red paint on Jenner’s face. Katsu later commented on the incident, saying, “It’s exciting to see [drones’] first potential use as a device for vandalism.”

Katsu made the news earlier that same year when he used his poop to create a smiling portrait of Mark Zuckerberg. Katsu does not like Zuckerberg, and his criticism of the Facebook billionaire worsened after he watched The Social Network, a movie about the founding of Facebook. Katsu had earlier attacked Zuckerberg by pasting posters of him with a blackened eye around New York.

For the poop portrait, Katsu ate a lot of Thai food before pooping into a container. He was so dedicated to the task that he used a mirror to confirm that his fecal matter was getting into the container. Then he drew Zuckerberg, using his poop in place of a pencil.

Katsu later stated that the whole thing was so messy that he frequently changed his gloves. He also wore a respirator and had incense burning to weaken the smell. He added that it is actually difficult to draw with feces, since poop contains excessive amounts of moisture that could destroy the artwork.^[10]

The world is filled with unique and vibrant cultures. These traditions and customs have spread throughout local communities and abroad. Some are delightful, but some may be shocking and unorthodox.

10Taarof

Taarof is the Iranian practice of performing a gesture of respect and deference, although it is generally understood that such a gesture should be refused. For example, in some establishments, it is considered polite for the shopkeeper to refuse payment from a customer of a higher social rank. The customer understands, however, that the proper response is to insist upon paying. The shopkeeper may refuse payment several times before allowing the customer to convince him to accept. This practice can be very confusing to hapless foreign shoppers.

Taarof may also extend to social invitations. It is understood in Iranian culture that an invitation to one’s home, no matter how enthusiastic, is a mere formality. Should the invitee accept, they may inadvertently put their host (who may not have wanted them in their house at all) in a very awkward position.

9Mano Po

Pagmamano is a gesture that symbolizes respect for one’s elders. It is akin to bowing, with the addition of taking an elder’s hand and pressing it to one’s forehead. The practice is predominantly found in the Philippines and some parts of Malaysia and Indonesia. It is said to have been borrowed from the Chinese centuries ago, when Filipinos began to acclimate to the culture of travelers and merchants. It is quite common at family gatherings to instruct children to ask for a blessing in this manner from their elder relatives.

A similar custom of addressing one’s elders with respect is the use of the words po and opo. For instance, “Ano yun?” (“What is that?”) is a common statement. However, adding po (“Ano po yun?”) signifies respect to the person you are addressing. When an elder or anyone of a higher status asks you a question, you should say opo to indicate the affirmative rather than oo, the common Filipino word for “yes.” In some cases, po and opo are also used as terms of endearment for others of equal stature.

8Bayanihan

Another unique aspect of Filipino culture is bayanihan, the practice of literally moving an entire home to a new location. The villagers gather to lift up the structures, carrying them over quite a distance. In some cases, it’s done to avoid damage to the home from impending floods or landslides, but it’s sometimes done simply to oblige a good neighbor.

Bayanihan occurs mostly in rural provinces, since the abodes found in these areas are made of lighter materials like bamboo and nipa palm wood. While it does take place in urban areas, it is limited to moving items such as hardware, playground contraptions like swings and seesaws, and basketball courts.

7Henna Weddings And The Blackening

Islamic weddings are steeped in centuries-old traditions and rituals. For one thing, it is generally believed that the best day for the ceremony to take place is on Thursday, since Friday is the holy day among Muslims. Another tradition is mehndi, or “henna,” night. Two nights before the wedding, the bride is surrounded by women from her side of the family, who paint designs on her hands, arms, and feet. This was to symbolize the bride’s entrance to womanhood. Some symbols are also meant to provide luck and fertility for the woman.

While henna night is an artistic and beautiful display, the same can’t be said for a custom practiced in parts of Scotland called “the blackening.” It involves friends of the bride and groom tying the two together in bathtubs, large crates, or behind pickup trucks before parading them through the streets to be pelted by passersby with an array of disgusting material. Feathers, soot, rotten eggs, curry, shoe polish, and mud are just a few of the horrors in which the couple can expect to be covered. This fun-filled tradition is believed to ward off evil spirits, and it also provides a bonding moment for the couple that symbolizes the hardships they are to endure and conquer together.

6Mudras

Mudras are seals, marks, or gestures unique to Hinduism and Buddhist cultures, most notably India. No fewer than 500 different meanings can be expressed by the way a person moves their hands and fingers. These movements are believed to allow the individual to control the flow of prana, or life energy, and focus their attention toward a certain goal. They can be seen in statues, paintings, dances, plays, yoga, and meditative techniques.

The gyana mudra, wherein the thumb and index fingers touch while the other fingers extend away from the palm, is said to promote mental clarity and calmness, making it the most popular mudra to use for meditative purposes. The abhaya mudra (simply raising one’s right hand with an open palm and fingers extended straight up) shares an almost universal meaning with other symbolic gestures of various religions and cultures. It’s related to the heart chakra and communicates openness and honest intent. The agni mudra (the thumb touching the middle finger while the rest extend away from the palm) symbolizes fire and is said to aid the digestive process.

5Arriving Late

In many parts of the world, arriving late to a social gathering is considered quite rude, but that’s not the case in South America. In Chile, if the host says that dinner will be served at 8:00 PM, guests are expected to arrive around 8:15 or even as late as 8:30. Arriving on time or earlier could mean catching the host unprepared, and the offender will be regarded as “too eager” for a meal. In Ecuador, arriving 15–20 minutes late is also considered being “on time,” and Brazilians consider meeting times “elastic,” showing up whenever they please.

Even parts of the United States have adopted these traditions, because they have attracted large populations of immigrants from these countries who brought their customs with them. For instance, in Miami, it’s more common for dinner to be served late and guests to be less punctual than in other parts of the country.

4Alcohol And The Devil

Although stereotypes can be harmful, it is true that Russia is one of the highest-ranked countries in the world in alcohol consumption. The country’s love of vodka is also its leading cause of death, from liver disease and alcohol poisoning to fatal accidents and crimes.

Since it’s such an integral part of their culture, there are many rules of etiquette surrounding drinking in Russia. For instance, you can’t place a glass of alcohol back on the table after a toast—it should be bottom’s up and empty. Arriving late for dinner means that you have to drink a full glass of vodka, no questions asked, as you’ll have to catch up with the rest. Between the first and second shots, there must be no interruptions whatsoever. Lastly, you should never make the mistake of offering a toast with an empty glass. If you do, you’ll have to drink the entire bottle.

Russians also love to swear, but their custom is steeped in superstition. It is said that when you curse another person’s health in a manner without malice, you should spit three times over your left shoulder. This symbolically spits in the eye of the devil, preventing bad omens or a temptation of fate. If the curse is made in writing, you should write the guttural sound, “Tfu, tfu, tfu!”

3Pearly Whites And The Tooth Fairy

There are several variations of the tale of the tooth fairy. In Denmark, the tooth fairy is called Tann Feen. In many cultures, the mythical figure is actually a mouse, known in France as La Petite Souris, in Spain as Ratoncito Perez, and in Colombia as El Raton Miguelito.

In Greece and Mauritania, a child does not simply leave his tooth underneath his pillow. Instead, children throw it as hard and as high as they can toward the roof of their home. In Greece, this provides good luck and strong teeth. In Mauritania, if there’s a rooster crowing by daybreak, he could keep the tooth.

In Jamaica, children are told horrible tales about a calf that will take them away unless they place their lost tooth in a can and shake it vigorously. The noise is said to drive the calf away. Malaysian children take a more spiritual view of their lost teeth—they bury them in the ground, as what was once part of the body must be returned to the Earth. In Turkey, lost teeth can be used to convey parents’ expectations to their children. For example, if they want their child to be a doctor, they might bury the teeth near a hospital.

2Bushido And Seppuku

Bushido, the warrior code of Japan, emphasizes strength, loyalty, and integrity. Some analysts and academics have recommended its implementation in the world of business, given the many irregularities that have faced corporations in the past and present. Conducting business inspired by bushido means working effectively and honestly, with the best interests of your superiors and the public in mind.

Seppuku, or ritual suicide as an alternative to defeat introduced by samurai, has a less vaunted reputation. It was particularly vilified in the wake of World War II, when thousands of Japanese soldiers carried on the practice by choosing to take their lives rather than surrender, but it continues to this day in many parts of Asia. Notable instances include the suicides of Yukio Mishima while protesting Japan’s military policies in 1970 and Masaharu Nonaka after he was laid off by his company in 1999.

In Korea, many people feel unbearable guilt and shame in the wake of great tragedy and see no other choice but to end their lives. When the MV Sewol sunk on April 16, 2014 and left hundreds of students dead or missing, the vice principal was so intensely plagued by guilt that he committed suicide.

1The Haka

The haka is a tradition of the Maori people of New Zealand. The spectacle involves menacing facial expressions, grunting, guttural howling, loud chanting, stomping, clapping, chest-thumping, and tongue-wagging intended to strike awe and fear into the tribe’s opponents.

Today, it is most often seen when it is performed by New Zealand’s national sports teams. Their rugby team, the All Blacks, perform the haka on the field prior to a match, as seen in the video above. During the 2014 FIBA tournament, the basketball team nicknamed the “Tall Blacks” performed the haka much to the bewilderment and surprise of their US opponents.

But the haka is more than just a war dance or a challenge for a fight. It can also invoke poetry and art detailing the history and the lore of the tribe, or be used to communicate peace, a welcome greeting, or a show of respect. One example is a moment that occurred after the filming of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, which was filmed on the island and included many local actors. Viggo Mortensen was known for performing many death-defying stunts that earned him the respect of the team, so on his last day of filming, the Kiwi cast performed a haka for him and another crew member.

Jo is fascinated by various cultural traditions across the globe. Do you partake in any unique to your nation? Let him know via email.

Why do people get tattoos?

Because of traditions and some cultural milestones? For personal fulfillment and a sense of identity? But why are tattoos so fascinating? Is it the tools used to make these markings or the stories that lie beneath the surface of the ink?

This list compiles a diverse group of tattoo pieces, traditions, and stories that are both interesting and answer some of these questions.

10 Olive Oatman And The Mojave Tribe

Native Americans have extensive cultural traditions that involve tattooing, but each group has different customs. In the past, several factors affected their tattooing, such as the location of the group, the natural resources to which they had access, and the religion and creation stories in which they believed.

A specific example is the Mojave tribe, which was known at least as far back as the 16th century by the Spanish. Located mainly in California and Arizona along the Colorado River, the tribe used ink from the blue cactus plant to tattoo adolescents as a rite of passage. The Mojave also got tattoos for luck and protection when heading into battle and for religious ceremonies.

Unfortunately, there aren’t many pictures of the Mojave people available today. However, a set of famous pictures of Olive Oatman shows her Mojave chin tattoos. Her story is unorthodox because Oatman wasn’t a Mojave person. She was white.^[1]

When Olive was a child, a group of Native Americans, thought to be the Tolkepayas/Western Yavapai, killed her family. Olive and her sister Mary Ann were taken captive by the group as slaves. Only their brother Lorenzo survived the attack as a free person, though he was badly injured.

The girls were frequently mistreated by their captors until they were traded to a Mojave group in California a year later. Tribal leader Espianola and his family adopted the girls. Espianola’s wife, Aespaneo, and daughter Topeka gave the Oatman girls land to farm.

The Mojave gave both girls blue cactus tattoos on their chins, a tradition in their group to ensure a good afterlife. The girls lived with the tribe for several years until Mary Ann tragically died of starvation during a drought that killed several other Mojave people.

Olive left after the US Army bribed and then threatened the Mojave people. Reunited with Lorenzo, Olive would speak often of her time with the Mojave. Although she was positive in the beginning, her opinion of them appeared to sour as time went on. How she truly felt about her time with the Mojave remains a mystery.

9 Dulong Tattoos

The Dulong people are a minority in China who lived in an inaccessible area in the Yunnan Province until a highway was built in late 1999. It was a tradition for girls to get a face tattoo when they began puberty, a tradition called “Hua Lian” (“painting the face”) or “Wen Mian” (“tattooing the face”).

The tattoos were first drawn with soot and water by an elder and then stabbed into the skin using a needle or sharpened stick. When the drawing was finished, they would rub some soot or grass juice into the wound to turn the resulting scars blue.

In the areas along the upper and middle reaches of the Dulong River, the tattoos were a complex pattern of connecting diamonds down the bridge of the nose and across the cheeks and mouth. In the lower reaches, the designs were much simpler. All tattoos were butterfly shaped as they believed that the dead turned into butterflies when they passed.

The reasons for these tattoos vary, although several sources claim that the tattoos were supposed to make their women less attractive to Lisu and Tibetan slavers. Tibetan landlords demanded that the Dulong women be taken as slaves if their families could not pay their taxes.^[2]

In passive defiance, Dulong women carved and dyed their faces black and blue with soot. The girls made sure that their markings couldn’t be washed away in the hopes of making themselves less attractive, even frightening, to foreigners.

The practice became a cultural tradition until the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949. Fewer than 30 women with traditional Dulong tattoos are still alive today.

8 R.H. Macy

As a young man of 15 years, Rowland Hussey Macy became a sailor on Emily Morgan, a whaling ship, in the early 19th century. During his four years as a whaler, Macy got a red star tattooed on his forearm. This symbolized the stars that guided him on those cold nights at sea.

When Macy returned home, he opened a string of failed stores and then went to work for his brother-in-law’s shop in Boston. Afterward, Macy did a brief stint searching for gold in the California Gold Rush of 1849.

Once again, Macy experienced bitter failure. But he never truly gave up his dreams of opening a successful shop. So Macy opened another dry goods store in Haverhill with his brother and, for the first time, had some success with the business.

This inspired Macy to finally move to New York in 1858 to open R.H. Macy & Co. The first day only brought in a modest $11.06. By the end of the year, the store earned $85,000. R.H. Macy & Co expanded into 11 buildings and became a department store. Its logo became R.H. Macy’s red star tattoo.^[3]

7 William Lithgow

William Lithgow was a Scotsman who traveled the world and documented his adventures in several literary works in the 17th century. During a visit to Jerusalem, he and some companions got their pilgrimage tattoos. Lithgow’s tattoo was a quote professing his pride and loyalty to his homeland’s monarchy. He wrote of the tattoo:

In the last night of my staying at Jerusalem, which was at the holy grave, I remembring that bounden duty, & loving zeale, which I owe unto my native Prince; whom I in all humility (next and immediate to Christ Jesus) acknowledge to be the supreme head, and Governour of the true Christian and Catholicke Church; by the remembrance of this obligation I say, I caused one Elias Bethleete, a Christian inhabitour of Bethleem, to ingrave on the flesh of my right arme, The never-conquered Crowne of Scotland, and the now inconquerable Crowne of England, joyned also to it, with this inscription, painefully carved in letters, within the circle of the Crowne, Vivat Jacobus Rex.

At the time, most pilgrimage tattoos contained solely Christian emblems and quotations. Lithgow got other pilgrimage tattoos, but they were only mentioned in annotations.

In his biographies, he has frequently been referred to as a spy. During one of his adventures in Spain in 1620, he was captured and tortured for giving crucial information to an English ship. Trying to get a confession from Lithgow, Spanish inquisitors cut his tattoo and a sizable amount of flesh from his arm.

His account of the event was this: “The Corrigidor . . . gave direction, to teare a sunder, the name, and Crowne (as hee sayd) of that Hereticke King, and arch-enemy to the Holy Catholicke Church . . . cutting the Crowne, sinewes and flesh to the bare bones.”^[4]

Lithgow never fully recovered and narrowly avoided being burned at the stake. Later, he returned to Britain.

6 Otzi The Iceman

Otzi is a mummy that was naturally preserved in the Otztal Alps over 5,000 years ago. He was found by two German tourists in 1991. Otzi is so well-preserved that anthropologists can still see his tattoos, of which 61 have been identified.

Scientists have speculated on everything from Otzi’s cause of death and illness to his modern relatives and his diet. They also have theories about his tattoos. For example, they were probably done by first pricking the pattern using some kind of needle or stick and then rubbing soot over the skin.

Given how dark Otzi’s skin is, some of his tattoos are difficult to see with the naked eye. Several were discovered using a noninvasive multispectral imaging technique to separate each color wavelength on Otzi’s skin.

Anthropologists have speculated that many of Otzi’s tattoos were an archaic form of acupuncture that was done for therapeutic reasons. Many were located where he had physical damage—such as his Achilles tendon, lower back, wrist, and ankles.

If so, it would mean that acupuncture was developed nearly 2,000 years earlier than previously thought. Even so, researchers said:

Of course, we can’t be absolutely sure why these tattoos were placed in those locations. It’s possible Otzi’s people believed those regions of the body were spiritually significant. Still, it’s very possible that this was an early effort at acupuncture.

For example, the tattoos of Otzi’s chest are not placed over any recognizable ailment or injury. The true purpose of his tattoos are still unclear. But whether they were decorative or therapeutic, they open a window into Otzi’s culture and heritage that we never would have witnessed otherwise.^[5]

5 Mai

Mai was born on Raiatea, an island in French Polynesia. He fled to Tahiti during an invasion of Raiatea by Borbora warriors in the 1700s. Captain Wallis and his crew on the HMS Dolphin were the first Europeans to “discover” Tahiti around 1767. They tried to claim the island for Britain and crush the resistance of the natives who fought against the invasion.

As time went on, more European ships arrived and the islanders suffered from the restricted food supply and conflict with the colonizers. Some islanders were taken as “specimens” back to England but perished during the journey.

When Captain Cook returned in 1773, Mai (mistakenly called Omai by the British) asked to accompany them back to Europe so that he could obtain guns and other weaponry to fight back against the men of Borabora and reclaim Raiatea.

Mai was paraded around the country by another English man, Sir Joseph Banks. Mai met many high-society members including King George III. Before Mai returned with Captain Cook to Tahiti in 1776, he had his portrait done by the famed painter Sir Joshua Reynolds.

Portrait of Omai has a shoeless Mai clad in white robes with his tattooed hands outstretched to draw the attention of the viewer. Mai’s tattoos were a series of dots over the back of his hands and around his wrists.

His tattoos displayed his foreignness to the European public. At the time, he was the perfect representation of the European ideal of the “noble savage” who was seen as less than human.^[6]

4 People Of The Arctic And The Inuit

It was speculated that people of the Arctic took part in a string of similar tattooing traditions after an ivory mask, that may have dated back over 3,500 years, was recovered on Devon Island. The tattoos depicted on the mask are sets of parallel lines from forehead to lips to chin. Similar designs were found in several northern communities around the globe.

The Inuit traditions involving tattooing were first recorded by Sir Martin Frobisher in 1576 when he wrote:

The women are marked on the face with blewe streekes down the cheekes and round about the eies. [ . . . ] Also, some of their women race [scratch or pierce] their faces proportionally, as chinne, cheekes, and forehead, and the wristes of their hands, whereupon they lay a colour, which continueth dark azurine.^[7]

Unfortunately, the Inuit people were shamed for their facial tattoos for many decades when their communities were Christianized by missionaries. Shamans were converted to Christianity, and their cultural and religious practices were phased out. Some tattoos were also done for pain relief (like acupuncture), but the medical techniques of the Europeans rendered those practices obsolete.

Luckily, cultural tattoos in the Arctic Inuit communities are being destigmatized, albeit slowly, due to the work of people like Holly Mititquq Nordlum and Maya Sialuk Jacobsen. They are a pair of artists/tattooists who are slowly reintroducing the tattooing techniques of skin stitching and hand poking to their community through their apprenticeship programs.

3 Bert Grimm And The US Criminal Underworld

Bert Grimm was a US tattooist. He started his career after running away from home at 15 to become a sideshow tattoo artist. While on the road, Grimm met with other tattooists—such as Shorty Schultz, Percy Waters, and Long Andy Libarry—which helped to develop his technique. Eventually, Grimm operated different tattoo shops in Chicago, Las Vegas, Long Beach, and St. Louis.

Grimm was also an avid storyteller, taking time during a session to sell his brand and talk about his experiences. The eccentricities of his most famous customers are one of the many things that made Grimm so fascinating. He was rumored to have done tattoos for the famed crime couple Bonnie and Clyde, although what the tattoos looked like is unclear.

Reportedly, Grimm also tattooed Charles Arthur (“Pretty Boy”) Floyd, the US bank robber. Floyd had a “Rose of No Man’s Land” tattoo. (A song by the same name was meant to honor Red Cross nurses from World War I.)

Floyd’s tattoo was described in the scars and marks section of one of his wanted posters. Grimm claimed that he had tattooed Floyd at some unknown time at his shop in St. Louis.

Apparently, Grimm had been unaware of this until a US marshal had shown up at his shop. The marshal asked Floyd about the tattoo because he wanted one done on himself. After visiting Grimm, the marshal left with the same tattoo.

Grimm’s gift of gab helped spread his reputation as “the greatest tattoo artist in the world.” His career continued for approximately 70 years until his death in 1985.^[8]

2 Irezumi

Irezumi (“inserting ink”) is the Japanese term for tattooing, which originated in the Jomon period. Evidence of facial tattoos that were associated with established social ranks or evading evil spirits has been found from several clay figurines in tombs. The full body tattoo (horimono) is a beautiful and intricate tradition that showed off wealth, especially when tattoos were still illegal in Japan.

Tattoos became controversial in Japan mostly due to an association with criminal activity such as the Yakuza, a crime syndicate that is feared in the country. The Yakuza believe that tattoos are a sign of courage because of the pain to have them done.^[9]

Also, this negative view of tattoos may have occurred due to the rising Chinese influence in Japanese culture during the 17th century. Prisoners were given facial tattoos in China as a permanent branding to mark their criminality if the offense was severe enough. After the branding, criminals could be exiled as well.

This practice was adopted by the Japanese. Each region had a design for different crimes so that people could tell where the crime had been committed. Tattoos have been legal in Japan for decades, but the negative connotations are still present in some areas.

1 Tattooed Ladies And Circus Freaks

The public has been fascinated by the strange and unusual for centuries, so it stands to reason that someone would capitalize on that fascination at some point. “Freak shows” peaked in popularity in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

These shows spotlighted people with peculiar physical and mental conditions, such as Schlitzie (“The Last of the Aztecs”), Frank Lentini (“The Three-Legged Man”), and Joseph Merrick (“The Elephant Man”). But not every person was born with their peculiarity. Tattooed people, particularly women, enthralled audiences with fantastic and often false tales of how they got their tattoos.

George Contentenus (“The Tattooed Man”) had over 300 tattoos and claimed to be a prince raised in a Turkish harem. He said that his tattoos had come from “savage natives” of Burma who had threatened to cut him into pieces unless he covered his body in their markings.

Initially, he was so insistent about the truth of this story that he even published a book about the tale. Years later, he admitted that it was a false narrative designed to make him rich and famous.

Many tattooed ladies told fictitious stories about Native Americans giving them their tattoos. But not all their fame came from the stories they told.

Artoria Gibbons was the highest-paid tattooed lady of her time and had all her markings done by her partner, “Red” Gibbons. Artoria had an impressive following, most of whom were male, and continued performing as a tattooed lady into her eighties.^[10]

Although freak shows have died out, the fascination they had with tattoos lives on. The exhibition of tattoos in these shows helped to glorify and normalize tattooing in Western culture.

Savannah O. Skinner is a freelance writer and author from Canada, sometimes working under the pen name S.O. Skinner.

A modern wonder is imaging and our ability to share pictures globally within seconds. People alive today can surf the web and see the most incredible scientific sights without ever having to step inside a laboratory.

Pictures showing freshly solved mysteries and violent things in space are fascinating, but they pale next to unusual world firsts. In recent years, photographers have captured extinct animals, shock waves, and the most powerful light in the universe flashing right here on Earth.

10 The Dutch Shipwreck

In 2019, metal salvagers searched for shipping containers that had been recently lost in the North Sea. They snapped a sonar image of something near the Dutch island of Terschelling. Hoping that the anomaly was a steel container, the crew sent down a retrieval arm. Instead of scrap metal, the grab returned with ship timbers and 5 tons of copper sheets.

Incredibly, the salvagers had snagged a piece of what could be the oldest ship discovered in the region. The wood belonged to a 500-year-old vessel. Measuring 30 meters (100 ft) long, it carried a cargo of copper. The sheets were likely destined for Antwerp to become some of the Netherlands’ earliest copper coins. Indeed, their chemical signature was identical to copper coinage introduced in the 1500s.

The vessel was also tentatively called a “missing link” in the history of Dutch shipbuilding. The hull displayed an intermediate structure used when builders started to abandon an old style called “clinker” for the more successful “carvel” style that strengthened Dutch ships and allowed them to trade globally.^[1]

9 A Colombian Weasel

The Colombian weasel is known from only six animals and had never been photographed alive. In 2011, an architect stumbled upon the rarest carnivore in South America by accident. It was not a glorious moment, as befitting for the first encounter with a long-lost creature. The black weasel was perched on top of a toilet.

When Juan M. de Roux, an amateur naturalist, saw the creature at his parents’ house, he initially thought it was the common long-tailed weasel. He took several snaps before releasing the frantic animal. It had become trapped after slipping into the bathroom through the roof or flooring, both of which were being renovated.

After de Roux uploaded the images to the iNaturalist app, a database for citizen scientists, the truth emerged. He learned of the existence of the Colombian weasel, and experts confirmed that it was a living specimen.

Considering that some believed the species was extinct, this came as a welcome surprise. The de Roux house was near Colombia’s National Natural Park Farallones de Cali. The discovery suggested that a big population of Colombian weasels live in the park.^[2]

8 The Ghost Plane

Late in 2018, Robert Morton found something on Google Earth. At the coordinates 55 degrees 57 minutes 26 seconds north latitude and 3 degrees 05 minutes 35 seconds west longitude was a plane. The image showed what appeared to be an airliner in the sea near Edinburgh in Scotland.

He reported it to the Mirror Online, and the tabloid published the weird image. A Google spokesperson stood ready with an easy explanation. The ghostly plane was not a real aircraft.

Sure, when the original photograph was taken, the subject was a nuts-and-bolts airliner. However, Google uses a blend of several images in a composite technique that gives the sharpest resolution.

The images are drawn from satellites and aerial photography. Sometimes, one of them captures a passing object—like a plane. The latter got a bit shuffled, blurred in Google’s patching process, and ended up looking like a flight disaster.^[3]

7 Biggest Underwater Eruption

Geologists have grappled with a mysterious event since May 10, 2018. A seismic occurrence was detected near the island of Mayotte in the Indian Ocean. Its nature was epic enough to cause rumbles and earthquakes that were felt around the world. The source was unknown, but scientists figured the culprit was a monster volcano that had lost its temper somewhere on the seafloor.

When a research vessel sailed for the coast of Mayotte, it was not just to gather data. The island was inhabited and continued to experience disturbances. To solve the mystery and safeguard the locals, scientists studied the area.

Incredibly, they found a volcano that had not been on the seabed six months before. It was not a tiny hill, either. The thing was 800 meters (2,624 ft) high and 5 kilometers (3.1 mi) wide.

Tellingly, its location matched the hot spot where the shakes and rumbles were coming from. Estimates now credit the still-active feature with the biggest underwater eruption ever recorded. In 2019, a remarkable sonar image captured the volcano in a colorful way.^[4]

6 A Star Battle

R Aquarii is a binary star system consisting of a red giant and a smaller white dwarf. The two companions are at the end of their lives. A star’s death is never a subtle event, but a binary star has the potential to be extraordinarily violent. This is because its partner often interferes—with volatile results. R Aquarii is a good example of how two stars’ death throes can destroy each other.

In 2018, a stunning photo was taken of the system. It showed the red giant shedding its outer layer and the dwarf star cannibalizing it. It was a dangerous meal. The material consumed by the dwarf repeatedly led to thermonuclear explosions on the smaller star’s surface. The blasts flung the dwarf’s own material out into space alongside the red giant’s outer layer.^[5]

Taken by the European Southern Observatory, the image highlighted the devastation in the shape of swathes of matter surrounding the stars. Located around 650 light-years from Earth, the system will probably terminate with a mind-blowing explosion classified as a Type Ia supernova.

5 Hidden Amazonian Tribe

There are around 19 hidden tribes in the Brazilian state of Amazonas. Their isolation is not because they think the world is a giant rain forest. It appears that they chose not to contact “civilization.”

This is understandable. Several tribes have been massacred by mercenaries employed by colonists, miners, and farmers who want the land but not the natives. This is because indigenous communities come with rights, and these rights interfere with financial opportunities.

Those fighting to safeguard the tribes must also keep their distance. Some tribes are aggressive and can also die from communicable diseases carried by outsiders.

In 2017, an expedition produced the first photographs taken by a drone of an Amazonian community. The chosen group had been known for years to Brazil’s National Indian Foundation (Funai), which also operated the camera. The photos showed a clearing and a few individuals. They seemed unaware of the drone, which was a good thing. Researchers want to learn their ways but discreetly so.^[6]

4 Albino Panda

In 2019, a camera trap was activated. Such devices are used by researchers to take photographs of animals with a tendency to hide deep in the wilderness. Usually, an animal’s movement triggers an automatic photo session. This particular trap was located in a forest in the Wolong national nature reserve in China.

When the image was viewed for the first time, it must have been a heart-stopping moment. It showed a rare wild panda. There was no sign of the species’ trademark black body bands, ears, or eye patches. In fact, the bear was entirely white. A close analysis of the image showed the creature had reddish eyes. This explained the unusual coat color—the creature was an albino.

It also appeared to be a strong, healthy individual around one or two years old. The giant panda is already the rarest bear on the planet, but finding an albino is exceptional. Managing to take a photo of one is even more remarkable, and indeed, the Wolong image appears to be the first of its kind.^[7]

3 First Terrestrial Gamma Rays

When it comes to what type of light holds the most energy, nothing beats gamma rays. They explode from bursting suns and colliding stars and even radiate from black holes. These rays glow with such intensity that all other light in the vicinity dims into obscurity.

Naturally, scientists are keen to study gamma rays. The good news is that sometimes they appear on Earth. However, the most powerful flashes in the universe are also exceptionally brief. As they last about a millisecond, their locations can be difficult to catch or predict. At least, researchers know that they appear in massive thunderclouds due to electron interactions, but the exact science remains mysterious.

In 2017, an ambitious project launched a special observatory to the International Space Station. The aim was to catch the elusive phenomenon by viewing storms from space.^[8]

On June 18, 2018, a thunderstorm loomed over Borneo, an island in Southeast Asia. In a world first, a gamma ray that erupted from the storm was captured as an image. The observatory also showed that the flashes happen frequently on Earth. During the project’s first year, astronomers captured over 200 bursts.

2 Supersonic Shock Waves

One of the most breathtaking images recently came from NASA, where scientists have spent years trying to photograph shock waves. Researchers want to silence airplanes because their noise and sonic booms are undesirable over residential areas.

Sonic booms happen when a plane goes so fast that molecules cannot move out of the way quickly enough. They gather in front of the craft, and when the latter exceeds the speed of sound, the barrier snaps loudly. This change in pressure is called a shock wave.

To capture the waves, NASA spent over a decade developed an imaging system. In 2019, it was placed aboard a NASA B-200 King Air and photographed T-38 US Air Force jets flying below. In a world first, scientists caught shock waves streaming off supersonic jets and saw how the waves influenced each other.

One plane was in the wake of the other, and they were about 9 meters (30 ft) apart. The rear T-38’s shock waves were curvier due to the leading jet’s related forces. The high quality of the images could help unravel the nature of shock waves and, perhaps, even find a way to silence them.^[9]

1 The Roosevelt Objects

In 2014, the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt arrived at the East Coast. Aboard was a squadron training for deployment in the Middle East. The planes had decades-old radars, and after an upgrade, the screens started showing false trails.

The pilots soon realized that the “glitches” were physical things—especially after one jet’s missile locked onto an object. The same pilot also experienced another blip on his radar and decided to maneuver his plane beneath it. He should have been able to see it, and radar confirmed the presence of something. But there was nothing there.

They remained invisible except for remarkable performances on radar recordings. For example, supersonic speeds reached heights of 9,144 meters (30,000 ft) and showed no visible engine or infrared exhaust trails.

The objects arrived on most days and performed maneuvers fatal to human pilots—like sudden stops while flying at a great speed. At some point, one nearly collided with a jet. It zipped past the cockpit so closely that it became visible. It looked like a cube with a sphere inside it.^[10]

The pilots who went public could not explain the experience but also refused to link it to extraterrestrials. The sightings stopped when the Roosevelt sailed for the Persian Gulf in 2015.

When we think of the US, we picture towering skyscrapers and apartments in the cities, copycat suburb houses with white picket fences, and little lonesome red farmhouses in the fields and prairies. Everything is a standardized design of steel, glass, and bricks. However, the US is also the home of world-famous artists, architects, and rich people who have the money to make their crazy dreams a reality. Many of these unique individuals have created works of architectural wonder and amazement, while others . . . at least created something unique. Here for your enjoyment are 10 of the most bizarre and unique buildings in the United States of America.

10 Summum Pyramid

Located in Salt Lake City, Utah, the nearly 9-meter-tall (30 ft) and 12-meter-long (40 ft) Summum Pyramid is the primary center for the Summum religion. Founded by Claude “Corky” Nowell in 1975, the Summum religion shares many similarities with Christianity, except for two things: They believe their teachings came from extraterrestrial beings and that they are one of the only practitioners of modern-day mummification.

The Summums believe that a person’s soul doesn’t really die. It only transfers to a different state of consciousness upon death, and a preserved body is needed for that transition. Hence, they spent 1977–79 building a sacred place to house these mummified remains. Though it sounds strange, thousands of people have paid the Summums to mummify their loved ones—both human and non-human—with prices ranging from $20,000 for mummifying a pet to around $70,000 for a human mummification and ceremony. That’s not bad for a religion whose leader legally changed his name to Summum Bonum Amen Ra.

9 The Longaberger Company building

How many companies do you know that have employees who work in the product that they sell? In Newark, Ohio, the employees of the Longaberger Basket Company work in a seven-story version of their product. The giant basket is 59 meters (192 ft) long by 38 meters (126 ft) wide at the base and 63 meters (208 ft) long by 43 meters (142 ft) wide at the top. Its handles weigh approximately 150 tons. Unsurprisingly, the seven-story Longaberger Basket Company headquarters holds the record for being the world’s largest basket.

The building was the dream child of Dave Longaberger, the company’s founder. Starting the company in 1976, Longaberger spent $30 million to build the office in 1996, and it took over two years to complete the structure. Originally, Longaberger planned to franchise the design, turning all of his company buildings across the US into versions of the company headquarters. Sadly, the dream passed away along with Longaberger. Right after the construction of the basket headquarters, Dave Longaberger died at 64 years old in 1999 from kidney cancer. However, his legacy lives on in both his company’s baskets and in one of the most bizarre company headquarters in the world.

8 Dick Clark’s Flintstones Home

When you visit Malibu, California, you expect to see mansions and beach houses belonging to the rich and famous, not a home straight from prehistory. Created by late TV host and media personality Dick Clark, the home is carved entirely from stone. Wanting to build on the property but being blocked by the Malibu Park Conservancy Group, Dick Clark revealed in an interview that he was allowed to build on the property if he shaped his home to look like a natural rock formation.

The rock home sits on 23 acres of land and has one bedroom, two baths, a living room, and a kitchen. Furnished with some period-matching furniture, the home is a surprising replica of the Flinstone home from the popular 1960s Hanna-Barbera cartoon The Flintstones. After the death of Dick Clark in 2012 from a heart attack, his widow put his home up for sale. An undisclosed buyer bought the home in 2014 for $1,777,777, which sounds expensive until you take into account that the original asking price was $3.5 million.

7 The Mansion On O Street

When visiting Washington, DC, it’s easy to miss the Mansion on O Street, mainly because many people assume it’s one of the larger hotels in the area. Instead, they pass over the three large, three-story homes that house the hotel. Designed by US Capitol architect Edward Clark in 1892 for his family and relatives, the three homes were built with connecting basements and main floors but with separate sleeping quarters. In the 1930s, the homes were separated into individual houses as lodging for FBI director J. Edgar Hoover and his men. But on February 14, 1980, H.H. Leonards purchased the homes and renovated them back into a single unit as a bed-and-breakfast and later purchased another row of townhouses, bringing the total of the homes to five buildings.

Now totaling 2,800 square meters (30,000 ft²), the hotel has over 100 unique and stylized rooms that come in themes from the Victorian age to 1970s disco style. Also, the building contains multiple hidden rooms, which can only be accessed by secret passageways that guests enter by way of secret doors. These secret doors include the cliche of moving a book on a bookshelf, concealed doors in wallpaper, and even doors hidden behind mirrors and spice racks. The hotel also has a strict privacy policy, which has made it a haven for the rich and famous, including presidents, ambassadors from around the globe, musicians, artists, and civil rights leaders. The hotel also contains many memorabilia and gifts, given to the hotel by guests, to the point where it also functions as a museum. So, when you need to disappear for a while or face a potential scandal, look no further than the Mansion on O Street as a great place to hide.

6 The Mushroom House

Far out in Perinton, New York, lies a home straight out of a science fiction novel. Called the Mushroom House or Pod House, the home was created by architect James H. Johnson in 1970. Designing it after the underbelly of the Queen Anne’s Lace flower, it became known as the Mushroom House for its brown coloring, which resembles a mushroom. Spanning 387 square meters (4,168 ft²), the home is composed of four interconnecting pods lifted off the ground by reinforced concrete “stems.”

In 1989, it became a Perinton Town Landmark. Then, after its original owners moved, it went on the market. In 2012, Michael Gaginer and Theresa Sherrod bought the whimsical home for $799,900, down from the asking price of $1.1 million. The lesson we can learn from this is that while people are willing to pay millions to live in a sculpted slab of stone, people won’t do the same for a home that resembles something you’d cut up and put on pizza and burgers.

5 The Moroccan-Style Palace

Our next building looks like something straight out of a Middle Eastern storybook. It’s a large Moroccan palace, complete with mosaic ceilings, colorful tile, and decadent furniture. There’s just one thing that makes it so bizarre: It’s in the suburbs of Houston, Texas. Built in 2005, the home is a work of Arabesque architecture, a style of Islamic art and architecture where simple designs or motifs are seamlessly interwoven and repeated as many times as the creator desires. (Famous examples of this style include the architecture of the Brunei Royal Palace.)

Measuring 1,858 square meters (20,000 ft²), the home has eight bedrooms, nine bathrooms, multiple living and dining rooms, and a court with three tiled fountains. It’s beautifully decorated with intricate tiled floors, the previously mentioned mosaic-style ceilings and walls, and handcrafted furniture. In addition, the home sits on 3.8 acres of land that includes two separate two-story guesthouses, a cabana, a pool, and an empty petting zoo. Although this desert oasis went on the market in 2011, it has since been leased for rent, making it one of the most unique rented houses in Texas—and also the most expensive. How expensive is it? The rent for this diamond in the sands is $26,000 per month. Instead of living in Aladdin’s palace, you might as well simply go see his humble abode in Disneyland for half that much money.

4 The Gehry Residence

When Frank Gehry and his wife moved into their Santa Monica, California, home in 1977, the neighbors had no idea that the budding architect would transform it into a work of art. Gehry is now one of the world’s most famous deconstructivist (the distortion and dislocation of the basic elements of a building, forming a wild, usually chaotic structure) architects and has designed spectacular and bizarre buildings all over the globe. His earliest work was the transformation of his own home.

Wildly transforming the two-story, pink bungalow from the 1920s, Gehry wrapped corrugated aluminum (typically used in airplane hangars) around the structure, then added extending skylights, and finally used chain-link fencing to connect the new exterior to the second story. In 1991, in response to a growing family, Gehry expanded the building and molded the skylights and outside barrier. In 2012, the American Institute of Architects awarded Gehry the AIA Twenty-five Year Award; his home still remains to this day. What was the cost of undertaking such a project? Gehry said in an interview with Barbara Isenberg that buying and then remodeling his home only cost him $260,000.

3 Hole ‘n The Rock

Another bizarre building, this time in southern Moab, Utah, the home of Albert and Gladys Christensen is unique in that it is carved entirely from a sandstone cliff. Taking over 12 years to drill and carving more than 1,400 cubic meters (50,000 ft³) worth of sandstone, the project was the brainchild of Albert Christensen. It was initially just a small play area for his sons to sleep in at night back in the 1940s. By 1952, when Albert and Gladys moved in, the small place had been transformed into a 464-square-meter (5,000 ft²) home, which the couple furnished together.

The house has a 20-meter (65 ft) chimney, a bathtub built right into the rock, and 14 spacious rooms, made for the Christensen’s children and grandchildren to sleep in. Alongside the furniture and appliances, Albert hung many of his religious paintings on the walls, and, on the other end of the coziness spectrum, he kept many of his homemade taxidermy projects in the house, as well as his wife’s doll collection. (This wasn’t nightmare fuel at all.) Sadly, Albert died of a heart attack in 1957, but Gladys lived on, keeping up the home, giving tours, and running a gift shop until her death in 1974. The home, however, is now a memorial and tourist attraction with daily tours and a running gift shop.

2 The Walt Disney Concert Hall

Since its founding on October 16, 1923, The Walt Disney Company has become synonymous with its unique, bold creations. This subject brings us to the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, California, one of the most famous concert halls in the world. Another work of Frank Gehry, the hall was originally designed and built in 1987, when Lillian Disney donated $50 million to create a concert hall in the name of her deceased husband. The project, however, was shut down in 1994 but was revived two years later by a successful fundraising campaign and media attention.

Completed in 2003, the 19,000-square-meter (200,000 ft²) building has an exterior featuring a series of undulating, curved, and angled forms that symbolize not only the motion of the city of Los Angeles but musical movement itself. The surface also uses reflective, stainless steel that focuses and directs light into the building during the day. On the inside, the hall is designed as a single entity, having the orchestra and audience in the same space instead of the typical boxes and balconies of other concert halls. While this space is an impressive visual, it did come with one kink: In 2005, many panels had to be replaced, because the glare from some of the panels was not only blinding but actually reflected enough heat to cause the air on the opposite sidewalk to skyrocket over 60 degrees Celsius (140 °F). Talk about hot art.

1 The Parisian Palace

Although castles are commonly believed to be strictly a European attraction, many architects and settlers—either from Europe or inspired by European architecture— have built castles in the US. Some are stunning monoliths that have a picturesque and awe-inspiring air to them. Others, including the Parisian Palace, don’t. Located in Las Vegas, Nevada, this 638-square-meter (6,872 ft²) palace was designed and built by Nico Santucci in 2004.

The castle has a rather over-the-top European style. Guests enter the palace through long front gardens with statues of Roman and Greek deities standing watch over the house. Inside the house, there are 12 imported, 272-kilogram (600 lb) crystal chandeliers, hand-painted murals by Thomas Bisesti on nearly every ceiling and wall, and a full marble bathtub, all of which might sound nice.

Then, things get bizarre with the addition of windowless rooms featuring only red carpet and disco balls, staircase walls covered in 10,000 red roses or gold crocodile wall coverings, rooms decked out in gold and gold-colored furniture, and a motorcycle right by a grand staircase. The Parisian Palace was put on sale in 2013 for $5.25 million, but while the current owners wait for someone to buy this . . . eclectic mansion, they’re using the place as a hotel, party rental, and wedding venue. Because nothing says “romantic getaway” like being in a room that looks like King Midas went to town.

J.T. Charles has a certified degree in wumbology and Disnerdology from the D23 University. When not emotionally traumatized by television episodes, he can be found writing on Wattpad.com as “JTCharles” and on Tumblr at foreverdisneynerd.tumblr.com.

Alcoholic drinks are a great form of luxury for many people. While different kinds of liquors are a part of various cultures, alcohol is also frowned upon by many. But, for those who find pleasure in drinking, several brands make available their liquors in unique bottles. While some of these bottles are beautiful, like a piece of art, others are downright weird. So let us take a look at some Unique Liquor Bottles.

List of 10 Unique Liquor Bottles Designs

1. Crystal Head Vodka

The Crystal Head Vodka, manufactured by Globefill Inc. in Newfoundland and Labrador in Canada, is an addictive-free vodka. It comes in a clear glass bottle, uniquely shaped in the form of a human skull with wooden closure. Designed by artist John Alexander and manufactured by Milan’s glass-manufacturer Bruni Glass. The vodka was conceived of and founded by actor Dan Aykroyd in 2007.

2. Khukri Rum

To mark the Coronation of His Royal Highness Shri Birendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev in 1974, The Coronation Khukri XXX Rum was introduced is a specially developed bottle shaped like a Nepalese dagger or Khukri. While the rum itself is said to be the Taste of Himalayas, the bottle embodies Nepalese culture. The bottle has to be manufactured by hand, individually, and it has a rough finish.

3. Bombay Sapphire Revelation Collection

Bombay Sapphire is a 1978 gin brand owned by Bacardi. In 2008, a special edition called the Revelation Collection was launched in a bottle of hand-cut crystal and adorned with diamonds and sapphires, as designed by Karim Rashid. Its proceeds go to the Smile Train charity. Jewel Line’s Precious Vodka bottle looks a lot like Revelation, though it is much less expensive than Revelation.

4. Kalashnikov Vodka AK 47 Bottle

Kalashnikov is a 1900-established Russian brand, named after General Mikhail Kalashnikov, which produces a special edition in a bottle shaped like Kalashnikov AK 47, produced in Glazov Distillery. While there are several other liquor bottles shaped like a gun and adding a new dimension to the idea of a ‘shot’, this one steals the prize, with its delivery in original cardboard Kalashnikov cover.

5. Jack Daniel’s Chess Set

The Jack Daniel’s brand of whiskey has a special edition called the Jack Daniel’s Lynchburg Chess Set. This is a unique and exclusive product. The pieces are highly-detailed, sculpted and painted, and are very interesting, with Jack serving as the King, while the pawns are Black Label bottles. As the chess board, a wood board of high quality and the company’s logo works as a carrying case for the pieces.

6. Medea Vodka Programmable Liquor Bottle

Medea Vodka claims to have an 18th century technique of producing its vodka, but many do not find the taste appealing. However, the bottles of the Medea Custom LED Message Vodka makes up for the taste. Nothing screams ‘Party!’ more than a programmable bottle which has a purple-blue LED sticker, with which it is possible to save up to six holiday messages, each of being of 255 characters.

7. Absolut Disco

Absolut is the third largest vodka brand, since 1879. It has a long reputation of selling its liquors in bottles that are creatively and innovatively designed. One of its most imaginative bottles was that of the Absolut Disco, launched in 2007, as a part of a winter campaign. The gift pack can be customized, while the bottle can be hung from its integrated loop like a mirror ball, setting the mood for party.

8. Bong Spirit Vodka

The Bong Spirit Vodka is a super-premium brand of vodka. And as the name suggests, it is sold in a bottle that is shaped like a bong. It is manufactured by Bong Spirit Imports, LLC. Originated in Holland, it was conceptualized by artist Jimi Beach in the year 2005, and is considered a product that redefines both the spirit and art world. Interestingly, it is also possible to make decent bong out of it.

9. Milagro Romance Tequila

Milagro is known for is tequila and its exceptionally beautiful bottles. The Milagro Romance Tequila is a unique tequila that comes in in a bottle that not only looks strange and beautiful. But also provides a new kind of drinking experience. It is a unique multi-chamber bottle, with the inner suspended chambers holding Anejo of years of maturity, while the outer chamber holds Reposado.

10. The End of History

The End of Times was manufactured by the Scottish brewery named BrewDog, founded in 2007. This 55% beer derives its name from the work of Francis Fukuyama, who called democracy the end of political evolution, and hence history. Similarly, this beer is the last high abv beer by BewDog, from the edge of their boundary. These came in weird bottles inside stuffed stoat, squirrel or hare.

There are hundreds of other unique liquor bottles that catch the eyes. Ana also are worth having a place in the closet of any collector. Even though many of them are quite strange. A lot of them are genuinely beautiful, and can make the owner proud of them, as they sit pretty in the bar cabinet. Indeed, the bottles do a great job, making up for the harmful effects of alcohol. And, they convincingly make way into the treasure of many collectors.

Related

Ethiopia covers most of the Horn of Africa. But that is the least of its feats. The region is rich with history and strange things. There are wolves masquerading as jackals, rainbow-colored springs, and unique magnetic miles.

Ethiopia has many of the world’s oldest wonders. But it also leads with novel projects that fight modern problems such as deforestation and Africa’s water shortage.

10 Reforestation Record

In 2016, India achieved an Earth-friendly record. The country planted 50 million trees in one day. In 2019, Ethiopia decided to break the record. They gathered lots of trees and the people to plant them. The latter included thousands of Ethiopian volunteers and staff from foreign embassies, the United Nations, and the African Union.

The planters spread themselves across 1,000 sites in Ethiopia and used special software to calculate the number of trees planted. Not only did they break India’s record but the estimated total was also a huge improvement. Although the Guinness World Records still needs to confirm the feat, around 350 million trees were planted within 12 hours.

The initiative is part of an attempt to reverse the damage that stripped Ethiopia of its greenery. At one point, less than 4 percent of the country was forested. The determination to repair that percentage has seen over 2.6 billion trees planted, and 150,000 square kilometers (58,000 mi²) have been earmarked for new forests by 2020.^[1]

9 Ethiopia’s Oldest Human Tools

In 2003, archaeologists trooped to Gona in Ethiopia’s Great Rift Valley. What they found was remarkable—a collection of stone tools around 2.6 million years old. These were the oldest-known human tools in the world at the time.

The artifacts were crafted with the Oldowan technique, a style that subsequently became widespread throughout eastern and southern Africa before spreading to Europe. Unfortunately for Ethiopia, the Gona cache did not remain the oldest forever.

In 2015, a set of stone tools turned up in Kenya. They were 3.3 million years old, which solidly bumped Ethiopia into second place. It is worth mentioning that the Kenyan toolmakers lived long before our own genus (Homo) evolved. Scientists believe the human branch that produced the tools were either australopithecines (of Lucy fame) or Kenyanthropus.^[2]

8 Unique Horses

Ethiopia’s badlands are fossil-rich. In 2013, the region produced an unknown horse. Eurygnathohippus woldegabrieli lived around 4.4 million years ago, was as big as a small zebra, and ran fast.

Its foreleg bones were more sophisticated than older horse species, lending Eurygnathohippus more speed than its ancestors. This was a good thing because its environment included saber-toothed cats.^[3]

The horse’s own teeth were also different than the more ancient types. Damage to the enamel suggested that Eurygnathohippus represented the point where horses began to evolve into grazing animals. Their grass-scratched teeth, the longer legs, and the fact that the badlands were grasslands during their time all pointed toward life in the savannas.

This environment allowed horses to become even bigger and stronger. Eurygnathohippus added valuable insight into when the animals made the pivotal shift that led to the horses we know today.

7 Oldest Illustrated Christian Artifact

The Garima Gospels is a sacred manuscript in Ethiopia. Some claim that its creator and namesake, a monk named Abba Garima, wrote the entire thing in a single day. This was also the day after he founded the Garima Monastery in the north of the country.

The manuscript never left the monastery, but the work was believed to be from the 11th century. This did not fit with Abba Garima’s arrival in Ethiopia around AD 494.

In 2010, carbon dating showed that the “medieval” book was older. The goatskin pages were bound between AD 330 and 640. This supported the monk’s legend and made the Gospels the earliest example of bookbinding.

Interestingly, the text was written in an early Ethiopian language named Ge’ez, but the drawings made the work exceptional. With the new dates, the Garima Gospels could also be the earliest illustrated Christian artifact.^[4]

6 Water Harvested From Air

Water is not uniformly available in Ethiopia. Rural villagers must travel up to six hours to find water and spend 40 billion hours a year this way. Finding the precious fluid is just the beginning. Often, the kind they find is not safe to consume.

Philanthropists have tried to remedy the situation with high-tech projects. However, most fall into disrepair because Ethiopia’s infrastructure cannot handle the complex and expensive maintenance that is required.

In 2014, designer Arturo Vittori found the solution—Warka towers. Named after a local tree, the vase-shaped structures were 9 meters (30 ft) tall. Made from biodegradable materials, the inner mesh trapped dew and then collected the drops in a container at the bottom.

Field trials showed that the towers could pull 95 liters (25 gal) of clean water from the air on a daily basis. Best of all, they were easy to assemble and clean and villagers could quickly learn how to build and maintain them.^[5]

5 Jackals That Became Wolves

In 2011, researchers went on a field expedition to study jackals in Ethiopia. The species they had in mind was the golden jackal. The ones trotting around in Ethiopia were called either “highland” or Egyptian jackals. They were considered a rare subspecies of the true golden jackal.

During observations, the team noticed that the animals were different. They were more delicate and had whiter coats. DNA samples revealed a surprising truth. These were not jackals at all. The creatures were related to the gray wolf, making them the only members of the so-called gray wolf complex in Africa.

It would appear that the ancestors of gray wolves lived in Africa around three million years ago and this was their only surviving branch. Scientists are now pushing to rename the Egyptian jackal, perhaps as the “African wolf,” in addition to figuring out its conservation status.^[6]

Unfortunately, Ethiopian farmers are systematically eradicating jackals, including the newly discovered wolf.

4 Neon Yellow Hot Springs

The Dallol Volcano is 600 kilometers (370 mi) from Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa. Like many volcanoes, it is surrounded by hot springs. Tourists flock to the site despite having to traverse dangers like acid puddles and noxious fumes. The pull people cannot resist is the strange colors of the hot springs.

Dallol, which holds the record as the world’s lowest land volcano, produces funky pool shades like neon yellow, green, and orange. Located within the volcano’s craters, the springs get their color from processes boiling deep below.^[7]

First, magma heats subterranean water destined for the surface. Then, while flowing upward, the warmth of the water dissolves minerals like sulfur, salt, and potash. This brine gets dumped inside the craters. The hot climate evaporates the brine, and the resulting color depends on the mineral content of each spring.

3 The Oldest High-Altitude Settlement

Normal menus do not offer a serving of giant mole rat. But during the last ice age, these creatures helped a special community to survive. In 2019, a study described how researchers trekked up the Bale Mountains in Ethiopia. They were en route to Fincha Habera, an ancient settlement located 3,470 meters (11,380 ft) above sea level.

Traditional thinking dictated that humans settled high-altitude places last and then only for brief periods largely due to thin air and bad weather. However, when the team arrived at Fincha Habera, they discovered that people had stayed there for months at a time.

Incredibly, soil samples and artifacts dated to 47,000 years ago at the earliest. This placed the population in a very difficult time—the ice age. The Bale Mountains were draped in ice, and people usually move downward during colder seasons.

However, the settlement offered unusual perks. Unlike the lower valleys, the plateaus were ice-free. There was obsidian for toolmaking. Huge mole rats were everywhere and provided enough meat for the oldest high-altitude community ever discovered.^[8]

2 Harlaa’s Forgotten City

In eastern Ethiopia, locals of Harlaa tell legends of giants that once lived there. It is easy to see why. The area holds ancient ruins made from huge stones.

In 2017, archaeologists had a closer look. As they traced structures and unearthed artifacts, it became clear that they were standing inside a city. It could not be truly called a lost city because archaeologists have known about the site for a long time. However, they mostly ignored it.

The team behind the latest study did not regret the decision to excavate. The city yielded a wealth of items originating from as far as China and India. Apparently, it was a busy hub, from the 10th century at the earliest, where different cultures mixed and traded.^[9]

There were signs of people from Egypt, Yemen, Madagascar, the Maldives, Tanzania, and Somaliland. There was a strong Islamic presence, suggesting that the city served a large network of Islamic communities in Africa as well as foreigners.

1 Unique Magnetic Strips

During the 1950s, geologists found something in the ocean. Running parallel to mid-ocean ridges were magnetic stripes. They formed whenever the crust tore and filled up with rising magma, which cooled into new slabs of seafloor.

Magnetic minerals within the magma aligned themselves with the Earth’s magnetic field. This provided scientists with a view of how often the planet’s field reversed its north-to-south polarity.

A few years ago, geophysicists found the first lines on land. Invisible to the naked eye, the mammoth lines streaked across the Afar Depression in Ethiopia. The so-called Tendaho Graben magnetic stripes are special because they challenge the belief that the bands only form when the seafloor expands.^[10]

The new location is a thin piece of continental crust where a new ocean will arise in a million years or two. While a sea link exists, it suggests that ocean basins form much earlier than previously believed—sometimes while they are still on land.

Christmas is famously the most wonderful time of the year, and one of the most fun things about it for many people is putting up the festive decorations. In most cases, people simply try to choose ornaments that look nice or maybe mean something to them. But for others, Christmas items can be collectibles or a way to show off wealth and taste.

There are plenty of Christmas collector’s items out there for those who can get a hold of them or afford the eye-watering price tags. Some are modern but unique or rare, some are centuries old, and others have been owned or designed by famous figures. So, for a bit of festive fun, here are ten of the rarest and most unique Christmas items from around the world.

Related: 10 of the Most Unusual Christmas Traditions

10 Three Little Kings

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas—through a microscope, that is! To bring a “little bit of hope and happiness” to the world over the holiday season in 2023, micro-sculptor Willard Wigan unveiled a unique sculpture of the Bible’s three wise men. Called “Three Little Kings,” the microscopic model features the three biblical kings wearing 24-carat gold crowns as they sit atop their camels.

What is amazing is that the entire scene was constructed in the eye of a needle. To get an idea of just how small that is, each camel is smaller than a full stop, and the artist had to use his own eyelash as a paintbrush and hold his breath to be able to paint the figures accurately. Even the tiny movement of his pulse in his fingers could have led to a catastrophic mistake. He hopes the tiny sculpture, which he made from nylon, helps remind the world of how even the little things in life can bring happiness.^[1]

9 The World’s Most Famous Christmas Tree

Admittedly, no collectors will be getting their hands on this one for two main reasons: Firstly, because it is a real tree that will decompose once the festive season is over, and secondly, because it is more of a concept than a single, physical object. The tree in question is the massive spruce gifted to Great Britain every year by the people of Norway as a thank-you for their support of Norway in World War II.

When the Scandinavian nation was occupied by Nazi Germany, King Haakon VII of Norway was sheltered in London, which is also where his country’s exiled government set up their temporary headquarters. After the war, in 1947, King Haakon started the tradition of sending a tree to London each year as a token of thanks. It goes on display each year in London’s Trafalgar Square after having arrived in the country by boat. The tree is selected months before it is cut down and cannot be any old tree as it must be “the queen of the forest.”^[2]

8 A Century-Old Christmas Tree

If real trees are too messy, then an artificial one can be used to decorate the house, and it could make a surprisingly good investment, too. That is assuming one lives long enough to see the profits. At an auction in 2023, an artificial Christmas tree originally bought in 1920 sold for over $4,000, which might not sound like much, but it is many times higher than the estimated price and far, far more than the mere pennies that it cost when it was new.

The tree was described as “the humblest Christmas tree in the world” because of its petite size, being just 31 inches (78.7 cm) tall and with a sparse 25 branches. Impressive though its 103 years are, it is surprisingly not the oldest surviving Christmas tree. That belongs to the Parker family in the UK, whose family has owned the same Christmas tree since 1886. It is even smaller than the one from 1920, at just one foot (30.5 cm) tall.^[3]

7 The Most Expensive Christmas Tree

We’d all probably agree that $4,000 might be pricey for a small Christmas tree, but it is nowhere near the most expensive. Although the Christmas season is meant to be about giving, for hotels, it is often about spending and showing off. And so far, no one seems to have spent more than Spain’s Kempinski Hotel Bahia did in 2019. The estimated value of its 19-foot (5.8-meter) tree was $15 million, with around one-third of that figure being contributed by a single diamond-encrusted ornament.

In total, it was decorated with over 500 opulent ornaments, which had been curated by the designer Debbie Wingham, who describes herself as “the world’s most expensive designer.” She has a history of similarly plush projects, including an $11.4 million Christmas tree in 2010. All the pieces for the Kempinski tree were handcrafted by luxury fashion houses like Louis Vuitton and Chanel. The materials included diamonds, sapphires, furs, gold, and ostrich eggs.^[4]

6 Christmas Trees by Famous Artists

Another way Christmas decorations can be used to show off, but without spending such big bucks, is by having a world-renowned artist design them. A surprising number of living artists have had a go at the humble Christmas tree, with unique and unusual results. London’s luxury Connaught Hotel has had trees designed by British artistic heavyweights Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin, and sculptor Sir Antony Gormley in the recent past.

Hirst’s tree was decorated with medical equipment, including pills, syringes, and scissors. The artist wanted to feature some of the amazing things that give the world hope. Emin composed a poem that spiraled around her tree in neon lights while the trunk of Gormley’s tree lit up like a beam shooting toward the sky.

Art galleries can also be good places to find artists’ unusual trees. For example, Michael Landy’s controversial effort at the Tate Britain gallery in 1997 was a dumpster filled with dead trees and other Christmas waste, such as empty bottles and cans, torn wrapping paper, and toy packaging.^[5]

5 Salvador Dali’s Christmas Cards

Christmas trees are not the only items artists have turned their attention to. In 1960, the eccentric Spanish surrealist painter Salvador Dali created a controversial range of Christmas card designs for the greetings card company Hallmark. It was part of an initiative by the company’s founder to share great art with people who might otherwise never see it.

Since the 1940s, Hallmark has been printing paintings and designs by artists such as Picasso and Van Gogh on their cards. Salvador Dali submitted ten designs for the cards, but eight of them were thought to be a bit too avant-garde for commercial use, featuring such strange sights as headless angels and a Christmas tree made of butterflies. It might be reasonable to ask what they expected by asking Salvador Dali to design the cards. Even the two designs that were sold proved controversial and unpopular with the public. They were swiftly pulled from the shelves but became collectors’ items in the decades that followed.^[6]

4 One of the World’s First Christmas Cards

His name might not be widely known, but Sir Henry Cole left a legacy that endures today and is likely to continue long into the future. He was the inventor of two things that have been widely adopted around the world: postage stamps and Christmas cards. Amazingly, Christmas cards from the first ever set he designed way back in 1843 have survived, but they can sell for several thousand dollars each.

Cole made 1,000 copies of his original Christmas card design, which features a hand-drawn picture of a Victorian family drinking around a table and the words “A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to You.” These were sent to his friends and family as well as sold. Color copies cost six pence, or about ten cents, back in the day, while black-and-white copies were five pence each. As of 2013, only around 15 of the black-and-white cards remain. Their rarity has seen them sell for almost $7,000 at auction.^[7]

3 The Original Rudolph

Visitors to Dartmouth College’s Rauner Library will get a seasonal surprise if they head up to the fourth level. Among the stacks of rare books enclosed in a glass case is a papier-mâché model of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. However, this is not any old Rudolph sculpture but one that belonged to the reindeer’s creator, Robert Lewis May.

May wrote the story while working as a copywriter in the 1930s. His plan was to give the books away to children in an effort to attract customers to Montgomery Ward department stores over the 1939 Christmas season. It was a resounding success, and despite a whopping two million copies of the first edition being printed, the stores actually experienced shortages.

In 1947, Montgomery Ward generously returned the copyright for the red-nosed reindeer to May, who licensed it for hundreds of items, a TV show, and, of course, the famous song, which was written by his brother-in-law. Copies of the original book, as well as various Rudolph toys and items, are on display at Dartmouth, where May studied.^[8]

2 First Images of the Modern Santa Claus

The jovial, bearded bringer of gifts that children know today predates his famous pet reindeer by around 60 years. While the concept and celebration of Saint Nicholas had existed in America since the early 1800s, Santa as he is often seen today would only appear in the second half of the 19th century. Unlike Rudolph, he did not originate in a children’s book (nor with Coca-Cola); in fact, quite the opposite.

The modern Santa Claus was drawn by a political cartoonist called Thomas Nast as Union propaganda during the U.S. Civil War. In the very first picture Nast drew of him, Santa was even wearing a stars and stripes-themed outfit and handing out presents to Union soldiers. Between 1863 and 1886, Nast produced 33 pictures of Santa for Harper’s Weekly. His 1881 picture called “Merry Old Santa Claus” became his most famous and shows a rotund Santa in his red suit with white fur linings, just as he is typically found wearing today. The original Harper’s Weekly images still exist and can sell for over $100 each.^[9]

1 Antique Clockwork Santa

Some people can get carried away with their spending during the holiday season. However, the bidder who doled out $161,000 for an antique Santa toy in 2010 could not use that excuse—the auction was in the summer. So, what was so special about this Santa and his sleigh that made it worth splurging such a silly sum? To start with, this particular antique was considered to be the most significant early American toy, and it was the finest of the three examples known to survive.

The clockwork toy dates back to around 1880 and was made by Althof Bergmann. When wound up, Santa’s sleigh rides along while two goats, which are pulling it, gallop up and down, ringing bells on their backs. While it would not have cost hundreds of thousands of dollars originally, American clockwork toys were expensive back in those days. Those which are well-preserved can fetch large sums at auction. The Bergmann Santa toy was auctioned with a collection of other early toys, which collectively sold for more than $2 million.^[10]

Love is a mysterious and delightful emotion that has fueled poets, musicians, and dreamers. While red roses and candlelit dinners might be the conventional symbols of love, people around the world have found unique ways to celebrate this extraordinary feeling. Let’s dive into ten unconventional love celebrations and discover how some individuals are rewriting the love playbook.

Related: Top 10 Bizarre Celebrations Of Love Around The World

10 Locking Love: The Quirky Global Trend of Love Locks

Love locks are symbolic declarations of everlasting love. They have become more than just a romantic gesture—they’re a global phenomenon, turning ordinary bridges into romantic havens. Picture couples attaching padlocks to bridges, inscribed with their initials or a special message, and then tossing the key into the water below. It’s a love tradition that’s literally locking hearts and keys together.

In cities like Paris, the Pont des Arts is a shimmering testament to love, adorned with thousands of locks. However, the weight of the locks threatened the bridge’s structure, leading officials to remove them. But love finds a way, and couples now gravitate to alternative locations like the Pont Neuf, undeterred by structural concerns.

These love locks aren’t just reserved for bridges, though. From famous landmarks to obscure fences, couples worldwide find inventive spots to secure their commitment. Some argue it’s the ultimate modern romantic gesture. Others see it as a quirky, if not slightly cheesy, display of affection. Whether you view it as a symbol of enduring love or a clever marketing ploy by locksmiths, there’s no denying the charm of love locks.

9 Love in Motion: Celebrating Romance with Personalized Animations

In the whimsical world of love, where chocolates reign supreme, some creative souls take the road less traveled to celebrate their romantic tales. Today, personalized animations are the ultimate Cupid’s arrow. Move over traditional love letters. It’s time to bring your love story to life through animated characters!

Forget generic emojis. These animations are tailor-made, capturing the essence of your unique connection. Imagine your partner’s surprise as they watch a whimsical cartoon version of your first date or that unforgettable vacation. It’s like having your own love story transformed into a digital masterpiece.

With the rise of animation tools and creative platforms, couples can now collaborate with artists to turn their love narrative into an enchanting visual experience. It’s not just a celebration but a personalized reel of your shared laughter, inside jokes, and special moments.

So, why settle for a static declaration of love when you can have your own animated love saga? It’s a modern twist on romance that turns ordinary expressions of love into extraordinary, animated adventures. Love has never been so visually enchanting!

8 Celestial Naming: Bonding beyond Borders

When celebrating love, some take inspiration from the cosmos, engaging in the whimsical practice of celestial naming. Forget the traditional pet names or even the star-crossed lover clichés—this unique approach involves naming celestial bodies after loved ones.

Picture a couple standing beneath a blanket of stars, pointing out their own constellations named after cherished moments. It’s not just limited to stars. Moons, galaxies, and even asteroids become tokens of affection in this cosmic celebration.

What’s more, this practice has historical roots. In 2003, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) introduced a program allowing people to name certain exoplanets. This sparked a trend, and soon, star enthusiasts worldwide commemorated their romances in the vastness of space.

Celestial naming brings an unconventional twist to love declarations as couples immortalize their connection light-years away. It’s a cosmic gesture, an everlasting reminder of the enduring nature of their love. This love not only spans across time and space but also twinkles among the stars. So, who needs a lock on a bridge when you can have your love written in the stars?

7 Dance of Devotion: Choreographed Romance

In the vibrant tapestry of love, some couples celebrate their affection with more than just whispered sweet nothings. Enter the world of choreographed dances, where love takes center stage in a captivating performance that transcends the ordinary.

These synchronized symphonies of movement aren’t just reserved for wedding receptions. Couples worldwide are turning ordinary moments into extraordinary memories by choreographing dances for anniversaries, date nights, or even just because Tuesday needs a little extra flair.

Beyond the joy of dancing together, this rhythmic celebration has a scientific twist. Studies have shown that synchronized movements can strengthen emotional bonds, enhancing the connection between partners. So, when you find yourselves tapping into a well-rehearsed routine, you’re not just dancing. You’re creating a harmonious duet that resonates with the heartbeat of your relationship.

Imagine a surprise flash mob erupting in a park or a meticulously planned routine breaking out in the living room. These choreographed displays of affection showcase creativity and inject a healthy dose of humor into the relationship, proving that love can be both a tender waltz and an energetic salsa.

6 Love Notes on the Horizon: Skywriting Declarations

Have you ever looked up at the vast sky and thought, “Wow, wouldn’t it be amazing if someone wrote a love note up there?” Well, for some unconventional romantics, that dream becomes a reality through the art of skywriting. Forget the bouquets. These folks prefer to profess their love on a canvas that spans the entire horizon.

Skywriting, a form of aerial advertising using smoke trails from an airplane, takes love declarations to new heights—quite literally. Instead of whispering sweet nothings, admirers commission skilled pilots to scrawl their affectionate messages across the heavens. Picture a plane soaring through the clouds, leaving a wispy trail that spells out “I love you, Beth” for all to see.

Beyond its whimsical charm, skywriting has an interesting history. It gained popularity in the early 20th century, with the first recorded skywriting display in 1922 over New York City. Since then, it has become a unique way for thrill-seeking lovebirds to communicate their sentiments, turning ordinary skies into romantic canvases.

5 Lightsaber Love: Geeky Gestures

Geeky gestures of love add a touch of whimsy and intellect to romance. It proves love can be as multifaceted as the most complex Dungeons & Dragons campaign. Here are other geeky ways couples show their love:

Imagine receiving a personalized algorithm that calculates the probability of eternal love based on shared interests. That’s right, some tech-savvy lovers are coding their way into each other’s hearts, proving that love is the ultimate programming language.

For those captivated by the galaxy far, far away, Star Wars-themed marriage proposals are a thing. Lightsabers replace engagement rings, and “I am your spouse” becomes the declaration of eternal commitment. It’s a love story written in the stars and directed by George Lucas.

Gaming enthusiasts have found a way to blend their virtual and real worlds. In-game weddings, complete with virtual rings and ceremonies, are not just reserved for MMORPGs. Some couples plunge into Fortnite or Minecraft, exchanging vows in pixelated landscapes.

Mathematics lovers have cracked the code for a heartwarming gesture. The Fibonacci sequence, a mathematical marvel, becomes the basis for surprise gestures—whether it’s arranging flowers in Fibonacci spirals or crafting a love letter with a sequence-based cipher.

4 Sealing It with a Kiss: The Kissathon Tradition

In the unpredictable realm of love, some enthusiasts have taken the term “PDA” to a new level with the extraordinary phenomenon known as the Kissathon. Picture a gathering of passionate souls locking lips for an extended period, aiming to break records and celebrate love in the most literal sense.

This passionate escapade has its roots in an attempt to set the Guinness World Record for the longest continuous kiss. The current record, a whopping 46 hours, 24 minutes, and 9 seconds, was set by a Thai couple in 2013. However, the Kissathon is about more than just surpassing numbers. It’s a testament to the endurance and commitment found in love.

Participants in these lip-locking marathons often come armed with strategic techniques to combat fatigue and maintain their smooch stamina. They navigate hydration challenges, employ creative neck-support maneuvers, and occasionally use entertaining distractions to keep the love flame burning.

What makes the Kissathon truly unusual is its blend of competitive spirit and romantic zeal. It’s a charmingly bizarre celebration that showcases the lengths people are willing to go for love—or, in this case, for the record books.

3 Love and Laughter: Comedy Roasts

Love knows no bounds, and neither do the laughter-filled celebrations of those who choose to toast their relationships with a side of humor. Enter the world of comedy roasts, where couples celebrate their love by poking fun at each other in a lighthearted and entertaining manner.

Traditionally reserved for celebrity gatherings, comedy roasts have found a unique niche in love celebrations. Picture a couple surrounded by friends and family, taking turns delivering witty jabs about each other’s quirks, habits, and endearing imperfections. It’s a verbal sparring match where love is the ultimate winner.

These roasts aren’t just about laughs. They testify to a couple’s ability to embrace each other’s idiosyncrasies. From funny anecdotes about who hogs the blanket to playful digs at questionable fashion choices, nothing is off-limits. Couples engage in good-natured banter, showcasing a deep understanding of one another while keeping the atmosphere light and cheerful.

As unusual as it may seem, there’s a psychology behind it. Laughter, after all, is a powerful bonding tool. Shared laughter strengthens the emotional connection between partners, making comedy roasts a surprisingly effective way to celebrate love.

2 Painted Unity: Canvas Wedding Guestbook

In the wild world of love celebrations, where traditions often collide with creativity, the canvas wedding guestbook emerges as a delightful deviation from the norm. This isn’t your average pen-and-paper affair. It’s a masterpiece in the making!

Instead of the predictable guest signatures on paper, couples opt for a vibrant canvas that evolves into a kaleidoscope of memories. Guests are invited to channel their inner Picasso and contribute artistic strokes, doodles, and personal touches that transform a simple blank canvas into a visual symphony of love.

Beyond the ordinary, the canvas wedding guestbook has its roots in the desire for a tangible keepsake that transcends time. Unlike conventional books gathering dust on shelves, these artful creations become cherished wall hangings, proudly displayed as a testament to the uniqueness of the love story.

As guests pick up paintbrushes instead of pens, laughter and creativity intertwine in the celebration. The canvas becomes a collaborative masterpiece, capturing the essence of the day in a way that no conventional guestbook ever could.

1 Love Takes Flight: Sky Lantern Releases

One extraordinary expression of love takes to the skies—quite literally—through the enchanting ritual of sky lantern releases. Imagine a moonlit night, stars winking overhead, and a soft glow begins to rise in the distance. Couples, families, or even solo adventurers gather with lanterns in hand. Fueled by a gentle flame, these paper lanterns ascend into the night sky, creating a spectacle that surpasses the ordinary.

Originating in ancient Chinese culture, where they were believed to bring good luck, sky lantern releases have evolved into a global symbol of love and unity. Couples often inscribe heartfelt messages or wishes on the lanterns, sending their sentiments soaring into the heavens.

There’s something undeniably poetic about watching these luminous orbs float away, carrying the collective hopes and dreams of those below. It’s a moment that turns the act of love into a visual masterpiece. This shared experience lingers in the heart long after the last flicker disappears.

So, the next time you’re looking to celebrate love in an extraordinary way, consider lifting your affection skyward. After all, in the world of romance, sometimes the most unusual gestures are the ones that leave us breathless.

The established norms of wedding day fashion are well-defined for heterosexual couples. However, for same-sex couples, the guidelines are much more flexible. One partner may opt for a modern blue suit, while the other might lean towards a black tie look. 

If both partners choose to wear wedding dresses, there’s an infinite range of silhouettes, styles, and gown types to either harmonize or contrast your ensembles. To assist you in navigating any potential attire conundrums for your special day, we’ve sought advice from experts and looked at fashionable newlywed couples for guidance and inspiration on same-sex wedding fashion.

Dark-Colored Styles for LGBTQ+ Weddings

Should your preferences lean towards the darker shades of the color spectrum, choosing an all-black or all-dark ensemble for your wedding can lend an air of sophistication and formality. It also  ensures your wedding photographs stand out remarkably.

Some duos opt for this look in both their suits, whereas others have brilliantly paired grand ball gowns with contemporary suits for a delightful deviation from conventional styles. It’s certainly an unconventional and inspiring idea for queer and lesbian weddings.

The Dress-Style Blazer

The blazer dress is an ideal fashion selection for contemporary brides whose style sensibility teeters between a classic suit or tuxedo and a conventional wedding dress.  Wearing it solo gives a more structured look, subtly nodding to the traditional bridal gown. For a look that is both suited and not, match it with a well-fitted pant and top or opt for a jumpsuit. 

Elevate the entire ensemble by attaching a long train at the back, eliminating the need for a typical wedding veil. You can also pair it with a micro bag from stores like Dihsan for a more delicate touch.

Bridal Attire for Lesbians in All-White

It’s hardly surprising to see a bride adorned in white, yet we admire how these brides have curated all-white outfits that not only harmonize with each other but also showcase their unique personalities and exude sophistication.

A predominantly white or entirely white suit offers a crisp, fresh take on this classic bridal color. We particularly adore when brides incorporate subtle metallic touches or other creative elements to personalize their look, but remember to steer clear of the red wine.

Wedding Dresses with a Contrast

If both of you are drawn to the charm of traditional wedding gowns, you can either opt to shop together and aid each other in selection, or you can involve your bridal party for assistance while maintaining the surprise element for each other until the big reveal.

However, if you wish for your wedding dresses to be distinct and reflective of your individual personalities, conversing about the desired styles is crucial. This way, you can ensure that your partner doesn’t pick something too similar to your choice.

A Vintage Influence

The affinity for vintage fashion is intrinsic to the queer community. Unless one was fortunate to be part of a society that celebrated queerness, adopting such attire can bring a sense of empowerment, given that in the era these styles emerged, dressing this way might have been unattainable. 

Endnote

Regardless of your decisions, ensure your chosen wedding outfit deeply resonates with you. As it’s your day, everything should be tailored to your preferences. Delightfully, you now have an array of exquisite queer wedding attire to select from, setting the stage for you to develop your distinct wedding style.

Related Posts