[update] the prize has been won by toby. check the comments section for info. congrats!

it's time for another installment of 'wtfit?'. before you have a go at working out this one, remember there's still £10 going for last week's (which you can see here) - there have been some good guesses but i'm still waiting for someone to tell me exactly what and where it is. 

and so, to no.2. here's the explanation i used from last time...

i have a folder on my desktop called 'huh?'. it's full of photos (hundreds) i've come across over the years whilst surfing the intertubes, photos which all have two things in common - 1. they intrigue me beyond belief, and 2. i have no idea what the subject matter actually is. the reasons for me having no clue about the photos' origins are numerous, but the majority are due to me excitedly saving them only later to find out i didn't also bookmark the relevant page.  i've been storing them in that folder fully intending to one day work out what they're of but today i realised it's never gonna happen, so i decided i'd let you lot tell me, one picture at a time. the first person to let me know, with linked proof of some kind, exactly what each photo is of, gets a tenner via paypal.

good luck. normal blogging will resume on monday.

what the fuck is this?

last year whilst reading a forum i came across a comment about a suspension bridge under construction in china. the comment, made by someone living in china, mentioned that this bridge, when completed, would be the tallest in the world by some way and smash the record for highest deck-to-ground distance held by the royal gorge bridge in colorado (1'053ft). i remember quickly searching for more info about this bridge and failing miserably to discover anything related to it, then presuming either the comment was bogus or that no information written in english was available on the 'tubes.

above: a render of the completed bridge, due to open early next year

yesterday i searched again, and after reading a few translated chinese websites, discovered that it's real. called the siduhe grand bridge (or 四渡河大桥) , this absolute beast is nearing completion after 4 years of construction in china's hubei province. the deck of the bridge has just recently been connected over the valley below and is so high above the ground that you could fit the empire state building underneath it, and still have 360ft spare.

above: the temporary 'catwalk' enables brave people to work on the cables before the deck is built  

impressive? here's some more brilliance.

so you've erected the enormous towers on each side of the deep valley, deeper than any valley previously bridged. how do you get a pilot cable from one tower to the next? previous solutions have included: attaching the cable to a kite and flying it over (e.g. niagara falls suspension bridge), carrying one end by helicopter (e.g. akashi kaikyo bridge) and floating one end on a boat (e.g. brooklyn bridge). the brains behind the siduhe bridge decided to ignore all those options and break another record instead. they attached the 3200ft cables to rockets and accurately fired them over the valley, becoming the first people to do so.

above: history is made as the pilot cables are successfully fired across the valley

unfortunately, as far as i can tell, there's no video of the operation available to view so the photos will have to do for now. if anyone knows anything else about this bridge or has any more photos, let me know.

sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

[remember, there's still a whopping £10 to be won simply by telling me what this photo is actually of]

bete giyorgis (church of st. george) in lalibela, ethiopia, is in my opinion the most incredible and impressive rock-hewn church on earth. as you look at these photos, remember that the entire building was carved and chiselled from a single piece rock, a structure which itself had to be isolated from the mass of rock that now surrounds it. the whole thing just astounds me.

we'll start from above.

photo source

above: an amazing aerial view of the church. note the carved out passageway to the right which is actually the only way to reach the building unless you fancy falling 40ft and breaking some bones.

photo source

above: the people standing near the lip of the trench give some sense of scale. it definitely wasn't a small project to undertake, especially as it was dug and carved c.1220.

photo source

above: the roof of the church, which was once just another section of flat ground, forms a greek cross.

photo source

above: see the holes in the surrounding walls of the pit? some are home to the remains of former monks and others house current priests.

photo source

above: thankfully this incredible structure, and its neighbouring churches, are unesco world heritage sites.

there are plenty more photos on flickr. if you're impressed by this, i'd also recommend taking a look at the ancient city of petra.

[update] the prize has been won by kim. check the comments for the answer. well done kim. 

hey peeps. i've been extremely busy the past couple of weeks, hence the non-activity since the drainpipe brilliance. there's more stuff on the way though so hold on.

first of all though, may i introduce a new (possibly weekly) competition called "what the fuck is this?".

i have a folder on my desktop called 'huh?'. it's full of photos (hundreds) i've come across over the years whilst surfing the intertubes, photos which all have two things in common - 1. they intrigue me beyond belief, and 2. i have no idea what the subject matter actually is. the reasons for me having no clue about the photos' origins are numerous, but the majority are due to me excitedly saving them only later to find out i didn't also bookmark the relevant page.  i've been storing them in that folder fully intending to one day work out what they're of but today i realised it's never gonna happen, so i decided i'd let you lot tell me, one picture at a time. the first person to let me know, with linked proof of some kind, exactly what each photo is of, gets a tenner via paypal.

here's the first one. guesses and requests for clarification due to my awful rule explaining should be left in the comments please. and don't leave paypal addresses in the comments.

what the fuck is this?

above: buster simpson's downspout planter system, seattle. photos found here and here.

holy shit, i love creative people.

these modified downspouts can be found in seattle and were created by artist buster simpson as part of the 'growing vine street' project. as you can see, rainwater is redirected and used to feed greenery that's been placed in the pipes' u-shaped offshoots. a simple idea that manages to make something as dull as a drainpipe attractive. thankfully though, it's not the world's first, or best, pimped drainage system. no no no. that honour still belongs to this mental building in kunsthofpassage, germany...

above: kunsthofpassage, dresden, germany. photo from here.

when i become king of the world these kind of systems will be mandatory.

while we're on the subject of drainpipes, seems like a good excuse to post a banksy...

above: typically brilliant work from banksy, lower clapton road, london. photo from here.

above: tossed shoes, portland, oregon. photo source.

in case you don't know, the art of 'shoe tossing' involves throwing one's tied footwear up into the air in such a manner as to have them land on an overhead powerline, one shoe hanging on either side. the result, in some areas, can be seen in the picture above, but the reason for this activity starting in the first place is apparently debated.

the reason for this quick post though is that there's another form of alternative shoe disposal that i, possibly just due to a sheltered life, was previously unaware of. until today. and it's fucking brilliant. 

shoe trees...

above: an australian shoe tree, arnold west. photo source.

above: shoe tree, ontario, oregon. photo source.

above: shoe tree, nevada. photo source.

above: more shoe trees, nevada and minnesota. photo sources - left / right

above: san diego. photo source.

without doubt the best tree-related thing i've seen this week, wikipedia claims there are 'at least 76 such shoe trees in the united states'. incredible. i'm hoping these kinds of trees are thin on the ground here in the uk as i'd hate to now discover that i've missed out on seeing one of these in the flesh.

so why do they exist? who threw the first shoe? i'm hoping someone has the answer as there's a dubious explanation on wikipedia involving naked teenagers that seems far too weird for my liking.

there's a new form of graffiti in town, and it's extremely pleasant. so pleasant that i can't imagine even the harshest critics of regular graffiti getting wound up. i mean, who in their right mind would come face to face with a sweater-wearing tree and do anything but smile?

i've scoured all yarn covered corners of the intertubes to find some of the best examples of knit/crochet graffiti (legal or otherwise), we'll start with a video from a crew by the name of knitta please, a renowned and nimble fingered group of rebels who have been covering public property with guerilla knitting for some time.



first up, trees....

source

above: entitled 'tree cozy', this incredible crocheted outfit was made by carol hummel, took 500 hours from start to finish, and stood for 3 years outside cleveland heights city hall until just recently.

sources: top, bottom left, bottom right

above: top - a knitted/crocheted tree in logan square, chicago. part of the graknitti project. bottom left - knit knot tree in yellow springs, ohio. made by the jafagirls. bottom right - a colourful tree in delhi, india. artist unknown.

now onto handrails, lamposts and mooring rings...

sources: top left, top right, bottom left, bottom right

above: top left - a knitted handrail cover near tullikamarinaukio square, finland, by knit sea. top right - a tagged guard chain in stockholm, left by the prolific masquerade crew. bottom left - a mooring ring tagged in stockholm, again by the masquerade crew. bottom right - a grateful and warm lampost in houston, texas. dressed by members of knitta please.

telephone wires...

source

above: a knitted variation of shoe tossing, this pair knitted and tossed by knitta please.

not even road signs are safe...

source

above: territorial knittings, an unauthorised project by lauren marsden. her aim was to cover the signs of every street on which she has lived in victoria, british columbia, with knitted replicas. all fonts and dimensions are exact and there are/were 6 of the signs in total.

no statue is too tall to be knitagged...

source

above: karl xiii wears a beautiful tie in stockholm. all clothing supplied by masquerade.

public gardens...

source

above: a knitted flower planted outside a casino in monaco. many more similar photos can be found at knitted landscapes, a site filled with pictures sent in by readers who have left woollen plants, rocks etc in various locations.

and then the mother of all knit graffiti projects...

source

above: this old abandoned gas station in syracuse, new york, was knit graffitied to within an inch of its life after a worldwide effort was initiated by artist jennifer marsh. over 3'000 panels were stitched together to cover the building and not even the pumps were left uncovered. more info here.

that's all for now. if you're looking for more knit graffiti, i'd suggest the following links as a starting point, most of which have other related links in their blogrolls...

jafagirls

knit sea

knitta please

knitted landscape

ladies fancywork society

masquerade

micro-fiber militia

yarnbombing

feel free to leave links to any others you particularly like in the comments.