Tagged: odd

Wait, You Are Where? 44 Unusual Place Names [69 PICS]

January 18th, 2013 Permalink

If you’ve ever lived in or visited a town with an especially peculiar name, then you’ve experienced another person giggling or snickering before asking, “No really; where are you?” There are thousands of such strangely rude street names, but many times it is a town itself with the odd name. For example, by 1994 the U.S. Geological Survey listed 60 places within the USA with ‘Hell’ in the name. Worldwide there are some extremely bizarre or otherwise unusually named towns, villages, cities, counties and even mountains. Some places are named after swear words or other controversial and offensive terms not usually mentioned in polite company. The names of some other places do not have sexual undertones in their native language, but seem that way due to the “English” pronunciation. Very often, the town experiences a high number of sign thefts. There are probably thousands of such places, but here are 69 photos of 44 unusually named places that are strange, rude, or cause a childishly funny giggle. [69 Photos]

Intercourse, Pennsylvania welcome sign

Intercourse, Pennsylvania welcome sign. On the amusing Wikipedia list of unusual names, it said of Intercourse, “Oh, those crazy Amish…”. Intercourse was founded in 1754 and the current population is about 1,558. Signs in this town are often targeted by thieves. Photo #1 by Derek Ramsey

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Romantic Architecture? 15 Castles Built for Love

February 12th, 2012 Permalink

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]

Aerial view of Boldt Castle and some of the Thousand Islands in the Saint Lawrence River - Castles Built for Love

Happy Valentine’s Day! If you are a bah-humbug type of person on this holiday of romance, then perhaps you can at least appreciate all this architecture that was constructed for love? As many of us can appreciate beautiful castles, perhaps even saying “I love it” there are some castles that are divinely romantic since they were built by love and to honor love. This is an aerial view of Boldt Castle and some of the Thousand Islands in the Saint Lawrence River, near Alexandria Bay, New York. George Boldt had this five-acre castle estate built out of love for his wife. He planned to give his wife Boldt Castle on Valentine’s Day 1905. As you will see in many of these castles built for love, there is a reoccurring theme of tragedy striking at the heart of love. Photo #1 by Teresa Mitchell / Howcheng

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Welcome to Hell: Wicked Sand Demons from Dante’s Inferno [46 PICS]

July 21st, 2011 Permalink

Dante’s Inferno – welcome to hell, a mixture of culture and amazingly intricate and evil sand sculpture art. Dante Alighieri wrote the 14th-century epic poem in which Inferno, meaning hell in Italian, is the first part of his Divine Comedy. The International Sand Sculpture Festival was held in Venice, Italy, on the beach of Jesolo Lido. The Sultans of Sand Worldwide brought together 18 incredibly talented master sand sculptors from 9 countries. 2,000 tons of sand were used to craft 24 different scenes from the 9 circles of hell in Dante’s Inferno. Some of these wildly wicked sculptures stood over 4 meters (13 feet) high and were built in only 10 days! While professional sand sculptors can carve out both amazing and sometimes bizarre creations, the intricate designs of these giant sand demons make this one of the most mind-blowing, bizarre, and unforgettable International Sand Sculpture Festivals ever. A very special thank you to photographers Marco Rizzetto and Gael Reignier for granting me permission to post their copyrighted pictures that show off all 9 circles of Dante’s Inferno. Get ready to traipse through the nine levels, “circles,” of hell: Limbo, Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Anger, Heresy, Violence, Fraud and Treachery. [46 Photos]

sand demon sculpture - Dante's Inferno

Beyond the scorching sands of the desert lie the gates to hell. Welcome to hell, or at least a sandy version of Dante’s Inferno. Evil sand sculptures brought to you from master sand sculptors. Photo #1 by smo9monster at Skull Brain

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