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Humans are known for their bizarre eating habits, as they are able to eat anything that is there in the food chain. Every day we explore new food sources and love to try anything. But the question is: how could someone dine on a table with an animal struggling for its life?

1) Casu Marzu (Italy)

One form of sheep’s milk cheese (Pecorino cheese) is full of crawling white worms. It is over-fermented – in a stage of decomposition – and is known as Casu Marzu. It is a traditional dish from Sardinia, Italy that is believed to increase sexual desire.

Casu Marzu is made when the cheese fly (Piophila casei) lays eggs (about 500 eggs at one time). When the eggs hatch, the maggots (larva of the fly) begin to eat through the cheese. The soft texture of the cheese is a result of the acid from these thousands of maggots’ digestive systems breaking down the cheese’s fats. But see for yourself.

The most important aspect of eating Casu Marzu is that it should be eaten when these wriggling maggots are alive, or else it is full of dead maggots and is considered to be unsafe. It is also advised to wear eye protection while eating as these maggots can jump as high as half a foot, straight into the eye. Also, not only could this food cause allergic reactions and intestinal larval infection, but it may also lead to vomiting, nausea and deadly diarrhea. Still, people risk their lives to eat it.

2) Drunken Shrimp (China)

Listed as one of the top ten cruelest dishes in mainland China, “drunken shrimp” is still very popular. Known as a bachelor’s dream recipe, drunken shrimp is different type of fast food that can be prepared in just 30 seconds. Here’s how to do it:

Most often, the shrimps are eaten alive but sometimes they are first made to get drunk and then cooked in boiling water. Another recipe idea suggests that the shrimps should be marinated in Chinese white wine, known as Baijiu, after being boiled. Either way, eating such uncooked or semi-cooked shellfish could cause the serious food-borne parasitic infection Paragonimiasis. Still, it is considered as an incredibly tasty dish.

3) Ikizukuri (Japan)

In Japan, order any living sea animal of your choice from the menu or just point in front of a tank full of fish, shrimp, squid, lobster, octopus or oyster. It will be served on your table within minutes, carved but still alive and with vital organs left intact. Ikizukuri means ‘prepared alive’ in Japanese and therefore freshness is the key for this Japanese food art – Shashimi – where live food is served in traditional decorative fashion.

Certainly, it’s a cruel practice and it needs a high level of skill to hit the fish on the head to stun and then fillet it. Fish Ikizukuri is often served garnished with lemon wedges, whereas small octopuses and squid are usually eaten whole, wrapped around a chopstick.

Odori ebi is a type of delicacy similar to shashimi in which baby shrimps, intoxicated by rice wine, are eaten alive while still jumping around and moving their legs. People who eat Ikizukuri claim it to be very tasty, but do you think this controversial method of food preparation should be continued?

4) Raw Oysters (worldwide)

Listed as ‘best choice’ on the seafood watch list, oysters are significantly closer to plants than animals. Like Casu Marzu, oysters are also believed to increase sexual desire and must be alive just before consumption. An excellent source of minerals and vitamins, oysters are a very popular food, especially in coastal areas.

Oysters are often eaten raw on half the shell and are in high demand. But what if I tell you that they could cause a blood infection known as Vibrio vulnificus septicemia? In the U.S. alone, at least $120 million is invested every year on Vibrio vulnificus-caused illnesses or death. So for those who love to eat raw oysters, the best solution is to eat only post-harvest processed oysters.

Those who aren’t convinced can read more here. The source clearly says that 51% of people who get the Vibrio vulnificus infection will not survive. Also, 95% of deaths from seafood are caused by this bacterium. Best is to follow the slogan “boil it, cook it, peel it or forget it”.

5) Sannakji (Korea)

Sannakji is a raw dish that consists of live and freshly chopped small octopuses, seasoned with sesame and sesame oil. It is famous in the Korean cuisine. But what if I advise you to chew your food properly and thoroughly, otherwise squiggly tentacles of freshly chopped octopus may get stuck in your throat and choke you to death?

Yes, it is true, because even after being served, the animal tries desperately to crawl away in an absolute revolting manner. But see for yourself:

Considered a delicacy, Sannakji is a sensational tourist attraction eaten mostly in Korea and other parts of Asia. Fresh octopus, killed by one swift blow to the head, is quite a tricky dish to eat. Each time you try to pick a piece, it will attempt to ‘go its own way’ and often refuse to let go of the chopsticks, as the octopi try to cling to each other. Still, Sannakji fans like to feel the wriggling, squirming, gloopy tentacles as they swallow it. How must it feel, tentacles attacking you from the inside of your stomach? Ewwww!!

6) Ying Yang Fish (China)

Another shocking and disturbing food item comes from China, famously known as ‘dead-and-alive-fish’ or simply Ying Yang fish. This dish is made up of a fish that is fresh and moves its head while its body is deep fried and covered with sweet and sour sauce. When you try to pick up the fresh meat dish, you’ll find the fish’s mouth stirring and head still twitching.

Originally from Taiwan this dish is now widely criticized and forbidden worldwide there, but in China people love to eat it. I really do not understand how someone could eat a fish in pain, with its eyes staring at you, while you are about to swallow its meat. Isn’t that sick and monstrous?

(Source: http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/news-7-bizzare-habits-eating-food-while-animal-still-alive)

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Pickles: The Dog Who Won the World Cup

That is the title of a 2006 ITV drama written by Michael Chaplin. The story is about a mongrel dog, named Pickles who found the stolen Jules Rimet Trophy (aka. FIFA World Cup Trophy) in 1966. The drama is just a fiction though. Pickles was voiced by Harry Enfield

The story…

The trophy had been stolen during a rare public stamp exhibition at Westminster Central Hall, on the afternoon of Sunday 20 March, just four months before the 1966 FIFA World Cup in England was scheduled to kick-off. The thief ignored rare stamps with a value of £3 million to steal the trophy which was worth far less. Police received a £15,000 ransom demand. However, when they arrested the culprit, he turned out to be a hoaxer. The trophy was found just seven days later wrapped in newspaper at the bottom of a suburban garden hedge in Beulah Hill, South Norwood, South London, by Pickles while taking a walk with his owner David Corbett. When England won the trophy, as a reward, Pickles was invited to the celebration banquet and was allowed to lick his owner’s bowl. His owner collected a £6,000 reward (based on increases in average earnings, this would be approximately £170,000 in 2008). The thief was never caught.

Pickles died by choking on his own lead while chasing a cat in 1967.

Further reading

The curse of the cup (link).
The theft of the Jules Rimet Trophy (Link).

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Be Different! and Stay Different – for 166 million years!
This weirdest mammal has webbed feet, lays eggs and sweats milk.

If you were to visit eastern Australia and/or Tasmania, you would find a rare and bizarre creature: the Platypus. From its birth, this little fella is entirely unique; the platypus is amongst the six extant species (1 Platypus and 5 Echidnas, more info)of monotremes – mammals that lay eggs instead of giving birth to young ones. Though a number of species have been found on the record (the fossil record!), the platypus is the only living member of its family, ornithorhynchidae, and genus, ornithorhynchus.

Half-Beaver, Half-Duck, Half-Otter, Half-… sorry, we’re out of “half”s

More bizarre than its pedigree, is the platty’s looks. This creature is like a lot of animals and tools wrapped all-in-one, in a furry (and waterproof) exterior:

The platypus has a duckbill, a beaver tail and small otter feet. When on land, this little guy turns back the webs on its little otter front feet, revealing broad nails that help it walk. When in the water, a platypus swims forward with these same front feet. It uses its fat-filled tail as a rudder. The back feet of the platypus are used for it to brake and steer, like my first bike

Fear the Platypus!

What’s more, the platypus is also highly venomous!. The male platypus can deliver a poison through a fancy spur on its back foot. Though the female is also born with the ankle-spur (a classy edition to any fall collection), she does not carry or spurt venom. The male’s highly potent venom is made from a cocktail of proteins, three of which are unique to the platypus. Don’t worry, ladies and gents: this venom won’t kill humans, though it is powerful enough to kill smaller animals – even dogs. Though we can breathe a sigh of relief that we’re safe from death, a platypus’ poison will be excruciating to endure, and can also leave a victim incapacitated.

Close your eyes, and navigate by electrolocation

Platypuses are also known for a curious affectation called electrolocation (More info). Monotremes are the only mammals that have this talent. Electorlocation is the ability to locate one’s prey using electric fields generated through muscular contractions. The platypus’ electroreception is the most sensitive of any monotreme. Why? Because it doesn’t use sight or smell to hunt. In fact, when the platypus swims, it closes its eyes, ears and nose:

Instead of using these seemingly crucial senses, a platypus will swim to the bottom of a stream, dig around up in there, and lets its electroreceptors do some super sweet shock therapy on the odd fly, shrimp, worm or insect larvae. Yum.

I am the Walru… er, Platypus

And don’t get me wrong; a platypus knows how to have a good time. It must eat at least one quarter of its body weight each day, which means twelvish hours of huntin’, eatin’ and electrolocatin.’ When they aren’t foraging, a platypus makes sweet sweet love in the water so that the female’s one functional ovary can make some babies. When the babies have hatched in the platypus’ burrow, the female oozes milk for the little hairless babies to lick off. Literally.

Though platypuses (or, is it platypi?) have few natural predators, their encounter with larger and faster carnivores (such as a wild cat, a crocodile, even a snake) probably won’t lead to a second date, but a funeral.

And we want the platypus to live a long time – their life span in the wild is eleven years, while in captivity some have often lived to see their sweet sixteen. Though the platypus isn’t under immediate threat, let’s keep this fascinating little species alive and well – so we can marvel at its awesomeness for generations to come!

(Source: http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2010/12/platypus-natures-swiss-army-knife.html)

Please also read:

Platypus and Echidna Babies o.O, here

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The first thing I do when I see this kiosk was wondering about it’s name, The Honesty Kiosk. Yes, you will need some ample amount of honesty to shop in this kiosk.

Why, because this shop has no shopkeeper. All you have to do is pick your magazine and put your money in the money box. If you need a change, you can pick your change yourself from the money box…

Wait a minute…Does that mean someone could take all the money inside the money box?. I mean, if he could take his change himself from the moneybox, then he could also take all the money inside the money box, right?.

Yes, that’s right *Clever reader *. That’s why I said you will need not only the money, but also some honesty to shop in this kiosk.

The above description board says,

Now, you might wonder about does the kiosk profit all these time *Haha, I read your mind *. Please take a look at below picture…

The above description board says,

Well, although honesty is pretty a rare virtue in Indonesia, I’m glad that huge amount of honesty is still can be found in this little corner. Well done !!!

This kiosk is located at Graha Mitra, Jl. Jend. Gatot Subroto Kav. 21, Karet Semanggi, South Jakarta, Indonesia. So, be sure to visit it in your next trip to Jakarta, Indonesia.

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Mushrooms: A Rainbow of Oddness

Ladies and gentlemen: the wonderful, and let’s not forget weird, World of Fungi.

The following illustrations are from Johan Theodor Holmskjold‘s ‘Beata Ruris Otia Fungis Danicis Impensa‘, or Happy Resting Periods in the Country Studying Danish Fungi. More can be found at the Harvard University Herbaria: The Life and Works of Theodor Holmskjold:

Let’s play a game: animal, mineral, or vegetable? The answer? Two out of three: scientists consider fungi to be part of a separate and unique kingdom, in that they aren’t plants and they’re not animals:

It’s this ‘not one and not the other’ that make fungi so wonderful – and somewhat disturbing – to study. At their most identifiable they are a fundamental part of our diet: buttons & portobellos, shitakes, oysters, morels, chanterelles, and more – including the expensive yet ubiquitous truffle. But fungi are also essential to make many of our foods … well, food: without them we wouldn’t have cheese, beer, wine, bread and too many others to name. If that isn’t impressive enough, our odd not-quite-an-animal, not-quite-a-plant, is also indispensable to medicine: penicillin, the cornerstone of antibiotics, was mold found in a Petri dish, after all. In fact some experts claim that if anything were to happen to our fungal friends humanity would be, at worst, extinct, or at best, pretty miserable.

There’s a stranger side to the fungal world – in fact a rainbow of oddness. Mushrooms, you may think, are brown or white, right? But fungi can also be spectacularly colorful: the Parrot Waxcap is as green as grass, the Crimson Waxy Cap is sunset crimson, and the Slimy Spike-cap is even bright purple:

Even when fungi are brown and dull appearances can be deceiving: the aptly named stinkhorn, for example, produces the aroma of rotting meat to attract flies, which help the mushroom spread its spores. Speaking of spore-spreading, the puffball mushroom and its various relations do it in a very dramatic fashion, quite literally shooting their spawn into the air when touched. The puffball can grow to giant size too (More info).

There are even varieties of mushroom that aren’t just colorful but actually glow in the dark: the Jack o’ Lantern (Omphalotus olearius), for example, is a celebrated bioluminescent fungus, as is the Australian ghost fungus. The ones shown below are Mycena chlorophos found in Japanese and Brazilian forests (more info):

Fear & Loathing of Fungi

However, for all their color and their clever tricks, fungi have an even odder side…Sure, fungi have given us much but they can also take it away, and not just for people who mistake an Amanita phalloides for an Amanita caesarea. Cryptococcus gattii, though rare, is alarmingly fatal and is airborne. How fatal? Well, it’s considered to be one of – if not the – most lethal fungal infections you can get. There are other deadly fungi, and as most of them are extremely opportunistic and durable, they can spread wildly and are all but impossible to kill. Just think athlete’s foot mixed with a rattlesnake. (More info)

Radiation-feasting Mushrooms

It’s fungi’s ability to grow just about anywhere that makes it so amazing. If you name a hostile environment there’s more than likely some form of mushroom or yeast that will not only grow there but prefer it over anywhere else. An extreme version of this is when researchers stuck their instruments into one of the most poisonous places on earth and found not only a species of mushroom growing there but one that actually appears to be feeding on the toxicity. How nasty is this place? Well, all you need to say is one word to shudder at the thought: Chernobyl. (More info, Link 1, Link 2)

But strangeness and fungi don’t end with radiation-feasting mushrooms, for there are quite a number of them that feast on other things — including animals. Nematophagous fungi, for instance, grow miniscule rings that, if a nematode happens to squirm into one, rapidly contract, trapping the unfortunate lunch … I mean ‘worm.’ If this makes you a bit nervous take a bit of consolation in that the popular oyster mushroom is also a nematode killer – and it’s also tasty, so while it eats them we also eat it.

Eating isn’t the only dark thing fungi do

One particular species has an extremely disturbing lifecycle – and a terrifying one … if you happen to be an ant. Ophiocordyceps unilateralis, if it gets half a chance, will infect an ant and (ahem) eat parts of its brain, causing the poor little insect to basically become the walking dead. The fungus finishes it off only after it clamps itself to the underside of a leaf, just where the fungus wants it to die – a location that works really well for the fungi, but definitely not the ant. (More info)

The Fungus among Us

In conclusion, here is an interesting fact: while the jury is out on the subject, many experts point to a certain forest in Oregon (more info). What’s special about this hunk of land, that particular stand of trees? Well, the honey mushroom that lives there, and occupies over 2,200 acres of that forest, may very well be the largest organism on the earth.

So we had better treat them well — all those wondrous fungi (here is another big one) — just in case that they, or just that single huge mushroom, should wake up and remind us of all they’ve done for us … or could do to us.

(Source: http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2010/09/carnivorous-plants-hungry-gorgeous.html)

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Passive-Aggressive, Green and Very Hungry!

You have to admit, it does make a kind of twisted sense: After all, we’ve been feasting on their fibrous, nutrition-packed stems, leaves, tubers, and fruits since we began to actually eat the salad that came with our steaks so, naturally, there must have been a certain … well, ‘desire’ for reciprocity. In other words if we eat them why shouldn’t they want to eat us?

For all you geeks out there – and, yes, we know who you are – it’s commonly thought that the first depiction of a salad making a meal out of a man comes from Dr. Carl Liche, writing in 1881. J.W. Buel echoed the idea in his Land and Sea in 1887 (see below). Unluckily for Liche and Buel they’ve been since exposed as ‘imaginative’ instead of ‘accurate.’ (“The Day of the Triffids” by John Wyndham also deserves a mention). Hate to disappoint but true man-eating plants are a total myth:

But that doesn’t mean that the next time you sit down to feast on a supposedly defenseless potato there aren’t other forms of plant life that are also having a tasty meal of, while not us humans, then most definitely other animals – and sometimes rather large animals.

Venus Entrapment

The poster-plant for botanical carnivores has got to be the legendary Venus Flytrap. A resident of swamps and bogs, the flytrap has evolved a dramatic solution to its lack-of-nutrient diet: it catches flies – and pretty much anything big enough to get caught.

What’s amazing about this plant is its mechanism. Anything that happens to stumble between the two halves of its unique mechanism will find itself in caught in a quickly-snapping-shut botanical bear trap. What’s even worse is that after being caught the Venus then fuses those leaves together, turning them into a kind of stomach to digest its prey. What’s extra-fascinating is that the trap has two triggers, and that both of them have to be tripped for the leaves to snap shut, to avoid misfires.

Alluring Perfume in a Deadly Pitcher

While the flytrap looks like something out of a monster movie it rarely grows to any really impressive size – unless you happen to be a housefly. But one carnivorous plant that really is impressive, and recently discovered, is what’s called a passive hunter. Instead of using snapping traps its family instead has evolved fluid-filled pitfalls lined with very slippery sides, and baited with a very alluring perfume.

Pitcher plants come in a wide variety of shapes, types, and sizes – including a special one native to the Philippines. Most pitchers feast on bugs and sometimes small lizards: pretty much whatever’s unfortunate enough to get seduced by the plant’s alluring smells and is small enough to fit down its leafy throat. While its mechanism is similar to its smaller kin, Nepenthes attenboroughii (named after journalist and TV presenter David Attenborough), has traps that are large enough to catch not only bugs, lizards, and – what’s more than a bit scary – rats (More info).

A Cobra Lily

“A pale green butterfly senses nectar and alights on a rare California pitcher plant. Also called a cobra lily for its bulbous head, forked tongue, and long tubular pitcher, it grows in mountainous parts of the West Coast and is an oddity among its kind. Although it traps prey in a manner similar to other pitcher plants, its leaves contain no digestive enzymes. Instead, it relies on symbiotic bacteria to turn captured insects into usable nutrients.” (See the whole gallery).

Pretty, Pretty Sundew

Another device carnivorous plants use is to make its prey stick around long enough to be digested. The sundew, for instance, has leaves covered with dozens of tiny stalks, and each stalk is covered with very, very, very sticky stuff. When a bug happens to walk across these leaves it gets – you guessed it – very, very, very stuck. What’s more, though, is that the plant then contracts, bringing more and more of those stalks into contact with its prey, completely trapping and then digesting it:

Enter the Kudzilla!

But then there’s the other, the monster, the beast, the chlorophyll creature that could – if any plant could be – considered a bonafide killer. Innocently imported to the US in 1876 from its native Japan, it was sold as a botanical miracle: ink, paper, jelly, tea, you name it and you could make it from this wonderful plant. But what no one could expect that this so-called marvel would have darker roots.

Kudzu is its name and right now it covers – in some cases quite literally – a huge part of the Southeastern United States. While bamboo is a racehorse at two foot a day, Kudzu is hardly a slacker at covering half that distance in the same amount of time. In the South there are homes, cars, houses and entire communities that have been hungrily, potentially, covered – and subsequently strangled – by this ferociously determined plant.

Sure, kudzu may not be carnivorous, but it’s green infestation, it’s emerald conquest, it’s verdant domination is definitely worth a mention – and maybe a serious shudder of fear. Or, as they sometime say in the South: “A cow won’t eat kudzu, but kudzu will definitely eat a cow.”

(Source: http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2010/09/carnivorous-plants-hungry-gorgeous.html)

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When they aren’t in the air, defying gravity and flying human beings across the globe for various reasons, aircraft are usually housed in hangars — gigantic structures built in order to protect these incredibly expensive modes of transport from the elements when not in use and/or to offer a covered space for their production, maintenance and repair. Given their size, many aircraft hangars are stunning pieces of engineering themselves, whilst others are simply fascinating for different reasons.

Here are seven examples that definitely deserve a mention.

1. Hangar One

Above : When completed in the 1930s, Hangar One at Moffett Federal Airfield proudly became the world’s largest building not home to interior supports, its stunning curved walls surrounding a covered area measuring 32,000m², the aircraft within protected by enormous steel doors that weigh over 200 tons apiece. The hangar’s intended purpose was to house the USS Macon airship, and it did just that, briefly; today, its future is undecided, although it is at least listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

2. Hangar-7

Above : Designed by architect Volkmar Burgstaller in the late 1990s, the incredible piece of architecture that is Hangar-7 in Salzburg was built in order to provide a safe haven for the many rare and valuable aircraft owned by the Flying Bulls, an association of enthusiasts, pilots and mechanics whose growing collection of airplanes could no longer be housed in the adjacent airport. The result is the beautiful building seen above which is now used as both a hangar when the aircraft aren’t being paraded at events, and a museum space for the general public should they wish to visit.

3. Hangar B

Above : Possibly still the world’s largest clear-span wooden structure, Oregon’s Hangar B was built in 1942 by the US Navy and originally housed various military aircraft (airplanes and blimps) at Naval Air Station Tillamook. Today, the impressive building is home to a collection of World War II aircraft known as Tillamook Air Museum.

4. Spruce Goose Dome

Above : These days the enormous white dome at Long Beach is used as a terminal for cruise ships, but back in the day it was used as a hangar for an entirely different form of transport: Howard Hughes’ Spruce Goose, an airplane which claims the largest wingspan of any aircraft in history, is still the largest flying boat ever made, and which flew just once, in 1947. The hangar itself is also impressive, in that it is the 7th largest geodesic dome in the world — an unsurprising fact considering the gigantic bird it once held.

5. Lockheed Air Terminal

Link)

Above : During World War II, in an effort to disguise the facility and ward off enemy fire, officials at Burbank’s Lockheed Air Terminal (now known as Bob Hope Airport ) took the unusual but highly effective step of covering the entire airport with strategically placed camouflage netting. The subsequent view from the air can be seen above. As seen in the first image, the extensive overhead netting also resulted in dozens of makeshift aircraft hangars, perfect for protecting the many military planes that previously would have remained in plain sight.

6. Aerium

Above : One of the largest buildings on Earth (360 m long, 220 m wide and 106 m high), the originally-named Aerium hangar in Germany is so gigantic that the Eiffel Tower could be contained within, albeit rested on its side. The hangar was built by a company named Cargolifter AG in the 1990s, to house the production and operation of a new airship: the CL 160. Unfortunately for Cargolifter AG, the CL 160 never saw the light of day; however in 2004, following the sale of the premises, Aerium re-opened as a holiday resort named Tropical Islands.

7. Boeing Everett Factory

Above : Not a hangar in the strictest sense, but rather an aircraft assembly plant, the Boeing Everett Factory in Washington deserves mention here purely due to its mind-boggling dimensions — and besides, it does house the airplanes for a short period. The facility is used by Boeing to manufacture various planes, including the 747, and boasts the highly impressive title of ‘largest building in the world, by volume’. In fact, so large is the hangar that, prior to a new air-circulation system being installed to combat the problem, clouds once formed inside. Some quick facts: 25’000 people work in the building; the building could accommodate approximately 2100 average-sized homes; and each of the hangar’s doors are roughly the size of an American football pitch.

(Source: http://www.cheapflightsfinder.com/7-awe-inspiring-aircraft-hangars.html)

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If you check into “The Shack Up Inn“, don’t expect a night of opulence. Hotel guests stay in 1 or 2 bedroom shacks, which are houses that once belonged to poor black farm workers. This distinctive hotel is in rural Mississippi, a southern U.S. state. But it’s not listed in any phone book. The hotel has no advertising or marketing budget. Nor does it try to attract the kind of American guest who may be offended by the transformation of a piece of poor black history into a profitable business.

Welcome to the 1940′s. Spend a night at Mississippi’s Shack-up Inn.

Unique. Peculiar. Beyond rustic. And never plush.

Co-owner Bill Talbot sets the folksy tone in the hotel lobby.

Talbott’s Shack Up Inn is 10 shacks on the grounds of a former plantation. Each looks like it’s in disrepair, but that’s just what the owners intended.

And, it’s making them money.

“As you can look around and see – we are what we are,” said co-owner Guy Malvezzi. “This year we’re on track to have over 12,000 people stay with us.”

Malvezzi and Talbot are geniuses at making something out of nothing. Every this, every that (every object here and there) – is secondhand.

“Shack mentality is wonderful,” said Talbot. “If it ain’t right, who cares? If the 90 degree angle is a few degrees off, it doesn’t matter.”

But the shacks reflect the history of America’s south. After the Civil War ended in 1865, Mississippi’s freed slaves continued to live and work on cotton plantations. The sharecroppers, as they were called, didn’t own land. They were paid a portion of the profits for the cotton they picked.

The sharecroppers led a hard life – hard work for little pay – living in shacks.

These homes were so small they were often called shotgun shacks. Meaning, if you fired a shot through the front door, and the middle door was open, it could go all the way through and exit out the back, without even hitting anything.

Indoor plumbing and electricity have been added to the shacks.

The owners say they are teaching history by opening the shacks to guests. But some people say the owners are profiting from the suffering of those who once lived here.

“Let’s just lump those people into the ones that need to stay away,” said Malvezzi.

But people’s reactions are not so predictable.

“I’m definitely impressed,” said Gretchen Bell.

Gretchen Bell grew up in America’s south, where her relatives were once slaves.

“That’s John Kennedy, and Martin Luther King,” she said.

Bell says she’s learning her story here.

“It’s an opportunity to share with people their past,” said Gretchen Bell. “To show them where we’ve come from. So, even though there were struggles during that time, we were able to overcome those struggles and make progress. Life is about making progress, not standing still.”

The decor is what stood still, as if the black farm workers who lived here just stepped out for a walk.
Also left behind are their ancient African traditions, like glass bottle trees.

The Shack-Up Inn. Willingly trapped in the 1940′s. Not a bad place to spend the night…..or the morning.

(Source: http://www.voanews.com/english/news/usa/Unique-Hotel-in-Mississippi-Consists-of-Old-Shacks-105368758.html)

Please also read about the other unique hotel:

Null Stern Hotel – The First (And Only) Zero Star Hotel , here.
Tune Hotel – “5-Star Sleeping Experience at a 1-Star Price”, here.

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For us, that saying is quite true. We have never seen such creature. That creature are so bizarre yet it is so real. Salvador Dali would have created this creature if he’s a God.

That creature is called Bocydium globulare. It is a member of membracid family, a typical treehoppers as English would say

Bocydium globulare have many weird cousin too. We think he’s not alone in this family business of looking weird . At these 3 pages, [Link 1]; [Link 2] and [Link 3] you can see some of his weird looking cousins.

howstuffworks describes Treehopper as a small winged insect. There are thousands of species of treehoppers, and they are widely distributed around the world. The treehopper feed on plant juices and lay their eggs in plant tissues, but are not numerous enough in the United States to be serious pests. Only one species, the buffalo treehopper (Ceresa bubalis), causes noticeable damage, injuring fruit trees.

The treehopper’s name leads one to believe that this insect hops around on the branches of trees. To the contrary, when disturbed, these insects tend to crawl quickly to the other side of the branch or hop into the air and fly.

According to wikipedia, the typical treehoppers are best known for their enlarged and ornate pronotum, which most often resembles thorns, apparently to aid camouflage. But in some species, the pronotum grows to a horn-like extension, and even more bizarre and hard-to-describe shapes are also found. This pdf will provide you some picture of that said hard-to-describe shaped pronotum.

Well Guys, seeing is believing !!!

(Source: [Link 1] [Link 2] [Link 3])

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Nyotaimori sushi is one of the more unique methods of eating sushi. No, this is not a type of sushi and it is not something you can order if you walk into your local sushi establishment. Nyotaimori sushi is not a type of sushi. It is a way of serving sushi. Nyotaimori or body sushi is a traditional Japanese practice of serving sushi on naked bodies. What is Body Sushi?

Body Sushi is the most exclusive form of serving sushi one can imagine. It is a contemporary form of the two traditional ways of serving sushi or sashimi: Nyotaimori, literally translated as “presentation of the female body” or “served on a woman” and Nantaimori, which refers to presentation on the male body. Whether the model is a man or a woman, it is the human body that is treated as the most sophisticated crockery one may afford.

Philosophy:
The most characteristic element of Body Sushi ceremony is the aspect of serving the human body. All cultures have such an intimate sphere related to nakedness and undisturbed privacy of the human body. Depending on the region, culture and religion, it is a taboo subject to a smaller or larger extent. Body Sushi blurs the borders between natural shyness of the naked body, cultural influences and intimacy which we usually enjoy in our own bedroom. Some people refer to Body Sushi Ceremony as playing with food, similar to such fun as placing whipped cream on one’s lover. Both games are based on the same principle; however, in case of Body Sushi much more attention is paid to the very dish.

(Source: http://www.jaffamood.com/ceremony-nyotaimori/)

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