• Tagged art, bizarre, geeky, graffiti, holiday, Linus Torvalds, Linux, Linux mascot, Linux penguin mascot, penguin, Tux

What can you get ‘for free’ to virtually wish Linux lovers a happy holiday season? How about a hat tip to Tux, the cute little iconic penguin mascot representing free and open source Linux? This Tux probably is not your grandma’s penguin. Here’s Tux as seen traveling and bashing shells ‘in the wild.’ Cats and dogs love Tux. In fact, there are tributes to the Tux mascot via food, toys, and even from a few future Linux hacker babies. Tux inspires art like digital wallpapers as well as Tux graffiti. We’ll toss in a few interesting Linux facts and hopefully dear Linux lovers, you will at least smile and remember that it’s the thought that counts? Smile and have a great day! [69 Pics]

• Tagged holiday, How to Support Our Troops, military, people, Santa, support our troops, Thanksgiving, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Marines, U.S. Navy

Thanksgiving is a great time to list out the things for which we are grateful. One of the reasons the pilgrims came to America was to have freedom. As families gather together to give thanks on Thanksgiving or see each other on Christmas, some deployed soldiers are apart from their families to ensure our freedom and protect the security of America. Even if you never see the men and women in the military, they are heroes. It is hard to be away from loved ones and family over the holidays, so if you enjoy random acts of kindness, then wouldn’t it feel great to send a smile, a little bit of cheer over the holiday season? It is a perfect time to say thank you by letting soldiers and veterans know that we appreciate them. When it comes to giving, you may be surprised how often the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard help out Santa Claus. Here’s a list of ways you can help support our troops and a look back at how some of our service men and women celebrated the holiday season in years past. [40 Photos]

• Tagged Alfred Hitchcock, animals, Edgar Allen Poe, environment, Halloween, holiday, nature, people, The Birds, The Raven

When the woods is Brothers Grimm scary was sort of far out, fun and freaky, so here’s another peculiar collection where spectacular flocks inspired some photographers to think of Alfred Hitchcock‘s The Birds or Edgar Allen Poe‘s The Raven. Flocks can be beautiful, peaceful but then . . . when the birds are scary? [60 Photos, 2 Videos]

• Tagged abandoned, abandoned amusement park, abandoned asylum, abandoned hospital, abandoned manor house, abandoned prison, abandoned sanitorium, abandoned theme park, adrenaline junkies, adrenaline rush, Andre Govia, art, creepy, creepy dolls, Europe, feature, Halloween, haunted, haunted house, holiday, scary, spooky, urban exploration, urban explorers, urbex, urbexing photography

Urbex guru Andre Govia has an uncanny ability to take the most amazingly beautiful photos of creepy abandoned places. If you like abandoned, creepy, spooky, scary or haunted, then you could disappear for hours into Andre’s photostream. He’s a master of capturing hauntingly beautiful shots of abandoned mansions, hospitals, asylums, industrial complexes, hotels and about anything else you can imagine that might be abandoned across Europe. Andre Govia is on an urbex European madness tour; the fear factor is off the charts and some of the photos could scare the snot out of you. He’s been urbexing all over the globe and in 22 different countries. He and his adrenaline junkie buddies have Fright Night down to a fine art, exploring places caught in a time-warp, locations where history is frozen in time, and capturing ghosts of the past. Interesting at any time, it’s downright spooky to view his artistic photos around Halloween. Be ready to take a trip through some of the creepy, haunted locations. Andre granted Love These Pics an interview and offers tips for urban explorers and secrets to get the killer shots. His photos offer something for everyone, from elegant and hauntingly beautiful, to a scare factor that is the stuff of nightmares. Meet Andre Govia. We love these pics! [47 Photos, 1 Video]

• Tagged art, bizarre, Brothers Grimm, creepy, enchanted, environment, forest, forests, Halloween, haunted, haunted house, holiday, nature, nature horror settings, scary woods, spooky, woods

Ah, the approach of Halloween seems to call upon a special spooky theme, but we’ve covered tombs for Tales from the Crypts, fields of Halloween horror via the corn maze craze, even a Lego Monster Mash before. So then we considered man-made haunted trails that people purposefully visit to be spooked for Halloween . . . but there are other times when a person is totally alone in some eerie forest that seems a bit enchanted. When the woods seem scary, it could be because you let your imagination run wild. It might be local folklore about a foggy forest, or a moody mist attached to legends and claims that the woods are haunted. How we interpret a setting may be our state of mind at the time, but artists of all kinds have taken to the forest for inspiration. J.R.R. Tolkien used Puzzlewood as his mystical, magical muse that inspired him to create the fabled forests of Middle-earth within The Lord of the Rings. In our Fall Fantasy post, we quoted Vincent Van Gogh as saying, ‘Keep your love of nature, for that is the true way to understand art more and more.’ Perhaps to truly enjoy these pictures, you may need to think of it like an art game….for each picture, imagine if you were all alone in these woods. We were curious what made the streak of fear strike the hearts of photographers who are out alone in the forest. All of these photos were tagged with words like spooky, dark, scary, foggy, or haunted; on any other day, and different state of mind, these might be interpreted as sweet alone time in nature. But tap into your inner artist and let your imagination run wild to “see” what the photographers saw when these “enchanted” woods seemed “haunted” or “spooky” or just flat-out Brothers Grimm scary. [66 ‘Scary’ Pics] {At least it’s not 666?}

• Tagged aerial, aerial photography, aerials, corn maze, Halloween, haunted, holiday, kite aerial photography, labyrinth, maize maze, maze, puzzles

Happy October! Before harvest, and popular in autumn around Halloween, fall festivals kick off a corn maze craze. Called maize mazes in the United Kingdom and labyrinths in Europe, corn mazes are a great way for farms to create income from tourism. This competition factor among Halloween fields of horror are also why these puzzles carved into the corn grow increasingly complex each year. The point is to solve the maze by finding a route from the start to finish, but many have “activities” and “secret” coded clues on dead end routes setup inside the maze. There are usually bridges, overlooking the maze both for viewing and for those folks who are a bit lost and need a little help with directions. Corn mazes range from family-friendly with additional attractions like hay rides, petting zoos, pumpkin patches and play areas for children, to very scary, haunted-house-type corn mazes. The farms decide on themes, the designs start on graph paper and then are plotted over the fields before planting. Farms and orchards grow specialty corn that is taller than most and very dense. These temporary works of corn art are usually huge, up to 45 acres, and are harvested in November. Here’s a look at the corn maze craze past and present, from aerial photos showing the entire theme-design, bird’s eye views from above, to inside the haunted corn maze. [77 Photos]

• Tagged celebration, fireworks, Fourth of July, Happy Birthday USA, holiday, Independence Day, July Fourth, military, people, transportation

Happy Birthday America! As you celebrate Independence Day, spare a thought for our troops and for their families. Have a safe and happy Fourth of July!

• Tagged abandoned, architecture, bizarre, cemetery, crypts, forgotten, graves, graveyard, holiday, Memorial Day, tomb, urbex, vault

Every crypt has a different story, how it was built, who it was for, but very few of these graves will be decorated or the people remembered on Memorial Day — especially since only two are in the USA. Mostly we don’t know those stories, but we did like the images. Several of these crypts were abandoned and then ‘discovered’ during urbex adventures, or by photographers on very remote and rural adventures. Nature is reclaiming some, others are a bit eerie, while yet others are still beautiful. Tales from the crypts: Happy bizarre Memorial Day? [29 Photos]

• Tagged holiday, memorial, Memorial Day, military, military families, Navy SEAL, people, seals, tribute, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Army, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Marines, U.S. Navy

In 1868, three years after the Civil War ended, it was decided to decorate the graves of those who died in the war. Although it wasn’t yet called Memorial Day, it did begin with the idea of remembering and honoring soldiers. Americans do still visit graves and attend Memorial Day services, but over the years Memorial Day has morphed into a three day weekend of barbecues, boating and the opening of city swimming pools. We wanted to show our appreciation of the people in the military who put their lives on the line for America. Like in hug a soldier, these photos certainly don’t include everyone, but we liked them. This tribute is our way of saying thank you to our troops for all that you do and thank you to military families for the sacrifice and separation you endure. We appreciate you and Happy Memorial Day! [43 Photos]

• Tagged a mother's love, animals, baby animals, big cats, holiday, horses, mother and child, mother's day, Mother's Day quotes, polar bears, quotes, quotes about mom, seals, wolves

A mother’s love . . . there is nothing else like it in the world. This post of adorable animal moms and babies, sprinkled with quotes, is in honor of mothers everywhere. Happy Mother’s Day! Maybe you can take a moment to share this with your mom? [40 Photos]

• Tagged art, castle, Château de Villandry, decorative garden, environment, Fickle Love Garden, France, French gardens, garden, gardens built for love, holiday, Loire Valley, love, nature, Passionate Love Garden, places, Tender Love Garden, The Love Garden, Tragic Love Garden, travel, tribute, UNESCO World Heritage Site

While researching castles built for love, we stumbled upon another castle located in Villandry, France. But it was the magnificent gardens that were built for love — and even the French name jardin de l’amour sounds divinely romantic. While these gardens have serene elements like Chinese gardens, the Château de Villandry gardens have been called the most romantic and beautiful gardens in France. There is a love story behind Love Garden and the entire estate was designed with romantic symbolism from the Renaissance era. The Villandry has three garden styles, a formal water garden, a 2-part ornamental garden with topiary hedges ripe with symbolism for love including for the “Garden of Love” and the “Garden of Music,” and a huge decorative kitchen garden (potager). The gardens of Château de Villandry are an UNESCO World Heritage Site. We’d never seen anything like it. Welcome to the most romantic gardens in Loire Valley, France! [40 Photos]

• Tagged architecture, architecture for love, art, castles, castles built for love, castles love built, haunted, holiday, love, odd, places, travel, Valentine's Day

Love is the most powerful force that exists. In the throes of love, your feet are nowhere close to the ground but floating in the clouds. Love has inspired all types of art, poems, novels, plays, music and paintings. After Cupid shoots an arrow through the heart, some people are so inspired as to erect architecture. We’re not talking about building a Love Shack, but of big-scale and divinely romantic architecture such as castles built for love. Margaret Anderson once said, “In real love you want the other person’s good. In romantic love you want the other person.” Castles built by love seem like both. There are many examples of architecture built for love, but to celebrate Valentine’s Day we wanted to hone in on castles love built. While this amazing architecture seems like something out of a fairy tale, and a wonderfully romantic way to say I Will Always Love You, not all end with happily ever after. The irony is that almost all of these grand displays of love ended in tragedy. [15 Castles presented in 83 Photos]