i saw it for the first time a few years back and still remember how initially confused i was. maybe i blocked it from my mind to prevent nightmares. then this morning i, for some reason, had a flashback to that very day of discovery and actually got annoyed with myself for not writing about it sooner. anyway, better late than never. we’ll start the photos from afar and then get closer with each picture as i want to make the experience as creepy as possible for you.

žižkov television tower, žižkov, prague

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that last photo’s the clincher for me - creepy as hell - and the fact that there are 10 of these huge crawling babies permanently attached to a television tower in the czech republic really does make me happy. not since watching the tripods as a kid have i been so affected by a 3-legged structure.

on to the facts.

the tower itself, sans faceless toddlers, was built in the mid-late 80s and stands 216 metres tall. even without the babies it’d be a strange looking beast, but that didn’t deter the geniuses in charge of the tower from permanently attaching david cerny’s sculptures to its legs - in 2000 they were added as a temporary installation but the public loved them so much that they were kept for good.

on that note, i’d like to personally thank the people of prague for having incredible taste. this tower is a work of art.

(follow the photo source links for larger pictures)

photo sources, clockwise from top: 1, 2, 3

[above] welcome to ronda (google maps here), a beautiful city in southern spain which is split in two by el tajo gorge. as a result, certain buildings have been perched on the edge of the gorge’s verticall walls, enormous cliffs bridged by the 200 year old peunte neuvo. now, although living on the edge of that gigantic 130m crack would give me the shakes, i’d much rather live there than bonifacio…

photo sources, clockwise from top: 1, 2, 3

[above] this is bonifacio in corsica (google maps here). this fragile looking citadel sits precariously above limestone cliffs which over the years have been battered by the mediterranean sea, a process which is apparent by both the piles of eroded stone at the base and the overhang of the cliff walls. how long before the next building gets swallowed? no idea, but from the look of the first photo it can’t be long.

[update]

photo sources from top: 1, 2

(cheers to qfwfq78) the photos above are of a tiny town by the name of castellfollit de la roca in spain, an incredible looking stretch of houses that all seem to be resting on a single ridge of rock. wow.

[update 2]

photo sources, left to right: 1, 2

[above] many people have suggested the hanging houses (casas colgadas) in cuenca, spain. apparently a large part of the town used to consist of these amazing houses, clinging onto rocks, unfortunately now only a few remain. for more photos just search for ‘casas colgadas’ on flickr or click here.

anyone know of any more frightening clifftop towns?

images above are from google maps - click here to zoom in and out of the area.

while we’re on the subject of aerial geometry, check out these insane aerial views of nezahualcoyotl, mexico state’s 2nd most populous municipality. this particular area consists of hundreds and hundreds of rows of densely packed housing occasionally sliced by a main road. just looking at these photos makes me claustrophobic but i can’t help admiring the patterns created by the hardcore “pack ‘em in tightly” urban planning. maybe it’s just the sheer size of the place that makes it seem so densely populated. either way, have a look at the area on google maps hither and zoom right in to get a sense of scale.

incredible.

(thanks to adam for the info & pics)

[edit: it seems these photos are from airliners.net. click on the pics to go to the relevant source]

amazingly, this may have happened for some as all of the board games below have been / are still available to buy and each one has caused some degree of controversy, the reasons for which will quickly become apparent. some of them are pretty horrible and their inclusion in this list does not in any way condone their creation.

1. public assistance: why bother working for a living?

originally released in the 80s, slammed by many and then banned from most shops. it’s similar to playing monopoly but with some twists, including… there are 2 different journeys on the board: ‘working person’s rut’ or ‘able-bodied welfare recipient’s promenade’. you start off by collecting a $500 welfare check at the ‘collect all benefits’ spot. if you pick up an ‘out of wedlock child’ people who chose to work are obliged to pay you money when you pass the ‘1st of the month’ square.

the game is still available to buy online here.

2. ghettopoly

released in 2003 by david chang and obviously not endorsed by hasbro, ghettopoly is a parody of monopoly. houses are called ‘crack houses’ and hotels are ‘projects’, chance (i mean ‘hustle’) cards now contain messages such as ‘you got yo whole neighborhood addicted to crack. collect $50 from each playa’ and playing pieces include a gun, a bottle of beer and a marijuana plant. the game was discontinued after mass protest and ghettopoly.com is now defunct. however you can still visit ghettopoly.co.uk although i’m not sure whether your online order would be successful.

3. serial killer: the board game

this extremely grim affair was created by serial killer enthusiast tobias allen in the early 90s and was quickly banned in canada. the board game was packaged in a bodybag and the objective was to kill as many people (originally babies until mr allen realised he may have pushed it a bit far) and ensuring capture by police only took place in u.s. states without the death penalty. unsurprisingly the game is now (officially at least) unavailable to buy.

4. battle to baghdad

battle to baghdad: the fight for freedom was created and released in 2005 by construction worker rick medina. set in 2003, the object is to conquer baghdad and take out saddam hussein whilst hoping not to pick up cards such as ‘car bomber… you lose 200 troops’ and ‘disgrace: some soldiers are found guilty of unlawful treatment and inhumane acts of violence toward iraqi prisoners. you lose 100 troops!’. anti-war groups unsuccessfully attempted to get the game banned and currently battletobaghdad.com seems to be down but you can still purchase the game from medina’s website here.

5. juden raus

juden raus (jews out) is a hideous and infamous propaganda board game created by the nazis in 1936 and given to as many kids as possible, the object being to take control of jews wearing pointy hats and get them off the board and outside the walled city as quickly as possible by way of a dice throw. that’s all you really need to know apart from the fact that, thankfully, you can’t buy the game anymore.

6. frischfleisch

as you may have guessed, frischfleisch translates as ‘fresh flesh’ or ‘fresh meat’ and with the addition of the illustration on the front cover i reckon either translation works. it’s a board game in which you take control of a group of humans stranded on a deserted island with rescue only a month away. the objective is to stay alive long enough to enjoy the rescue, whether that be through the consumption of fruit, animals or other humans. the game is now discontinued but the makers’ website still has a page devoted to the cannibalism themed rarity here.

7. war on terror, the boardgame

the war on terror game was designed by 2 cambridge entrepreneurs and released to a huge amount of criticism, to which one of the men replied, “some people suggest that turning the war on terror into a board game is a tad insensitive. i always reply that starting a war is insensitive; a board game is just fun for all the family”. players start the game as an empire anywhere in the world and depending on various choices made, the following can take place in the quest for world dominance… ’send secret messages; fund terrorism; make deals; renege on deals; wage war; expand your empire; forge secret alliances; fund regime changes; kidnap politicians; be the terrorists’. the game can be bought here.

8. capital punishment

released in 1981, each player begins this funfest controlling 4 characters: a murderer, a rapist, an arsonist and a kidnapper. you can win in 2 ways - either 1. ‘maneuver your murderer, rapist, arsonist, and kidnapper along the path of justice into life imprisonment, death row, or the electric chair, or 2. ‘bring your liberals out of their ivory tower” and “use them to ‘spring’ your opponent’s criminals from the path of justice… send them back on the street where their activities make your opponent’s innocent citizens into victims of crime’.

9. blacks & whites

apparently designed for educational use by the psychology department of the university of california at davis, blacks & whites is basically a property-buying board game with a difference. before starting, each player chooses to be black or white, the choice resulting in the following differences…

whites:
- are the majority
- start with a million dollars
- can buy property anywhere.

blacks:
- are the minority
- start with one hundred thousand dollars
- can not buy certain properties
- draw from a separate chance deck
- collect less money for completing a lap around the gameboard.

for more info, go here.

sources: 1, 2, 3, 4

the 3 largest flagpoles on earth…

gijeong-dong flagpole, north korea

in the 80s, the south koreans built a huge 328ft tall flagpole in daeseong-dong, an area extremely close to the north korean border. the north koreans then proceeded to build their own larger version about a mile away at the entrance of ‘propaganda village’ in the dmz. it’s still recognised as the tallest supported flagpole in the world and measures 525ft. apparently when it rains the flag must be lowered as the structure can’t take the weight of a humungous wet flag. here’s the google maps link.

aqaba flagpole, jordan

at a whopping 430ft, the world’s tallest free-standing flagpole sits on the coast of jordan and can be seen from israel, saudi arabia and egypt. i can’t for the life of me spot the bugger on google maps. have a look at the area here and see if you have more luck.

raghadan flagpole, jordan

jordan can also claim the title of ’second largest free-standing flagpole on earth’. at 416ft the ‘earthquake resistant’ raghadan flagpole can be seen up to 16 miles away and holds a flag measuring 200 x 130ft. the carbon steel pole weighs 190′000lb, design and construction took 2 years and it can withstand winds as strong as 90mph. ogle it on google maps.

(all photos from flickr link to the user’s account)

sources: 1, 2, 3

there’s a relatively easy way to give the audience a chill during a film: slip in a shot of a deserted city centre, a city centre that’s notoriously busy in real-life, the scene preferably culminating in the camera panning out to prove the crew didn’t just manage to clear 10ft of road for 5 seconds.

it’s a guaranteed talking point. look at vanilla sky: the film was bordering on atrocious but the one thing that always gets mentioned (apart from cameron crowe losing his grip) is the ‘how the fuck did they manage to clear times square?’ bit. if i was a director i’d have a deserted city scene in every film, regardless of the movie’s plot.

here are my 5 favourite goosebump inducing ‘empty’ scenes.

5. philadelphia - twelve monkeys, 1995 (imdb)

the opening shot of terry gilliam’s top-notch ‘twelve monkeys’ is superb, bruce willis’ character coming above ground in a post-apocalyptic philadelphia to be faced with a world deserted but for wild animals roaming the streets. gilliam’s crew were given a corner of the city hall to work with, built a lip around the area to hide surrounding traffic and added snow to make it feel ‘more desolate’.

4. los angeles - omega man, 1971 (imdb)

‘omega man’ was the 2nd film based on the novel ‘i am legend’, the 1st being ‘last man on earth’ and the 3rd being ‘i am legend’, to be released in a few weeks. after coming to terms with the fact that a huge set would be too costly the producer realised prior to filming that l.a. was surprisingly quiet early in the day at weekends so all of the deserted city scenes were shot at that time of the week. the scene below even includes a pan-out for added despair and the echoes of ringing payphones.

3. madrid - abre los ojos, 1997 (imdb)

the gran via in madrid was completely closed off to film the scene below, the inspiration for vanilla sky’s big budget version in times square. it may not have the flashing billboards and an a-list star to run down the street like a maniac but the street’s architecture more than makes up for it. this clip is actually the first 10 minutes of the film, the initial 3-4 minutes being the ‘deserted’ section.

2. manhattan - vanilla sky, 2001 (imdb)

this remake of ‘open your eyes’ was largely disappointing, this scene being the best part of it. the crew were given 3 hours to shoot the times square sequence early on a sunday morning and crowe was determined not to use cg to remove any signs of life. the whole process included lenghty discussions with the new york mayor’s office, the new york film commission and the police department. the result is incredible.

1. london - 28 days later, 2002 (imdb)

it took 6 days to shoot the ‘deserted’ sections of this brilliant film on mini-dv cameras, the crew only able to get permission to close off entire streets in london for minutes at a time, and the effort was worth it. for the empty motorway scenes, they even managed to persuade the traffic police to close off a 10 mile stretch of the m1 for a very short period of time. warning: the clip below has been subjected to a shit soundtrack by the youtube user. turn the volume down.

sources: 1, 2, 3

the maeslant barrier (maeslantkering), a huge storm surge barrier at the mouth of the port of rotterdam in the netherlands, is the largest hydraulic engineering structure on earth and, according to hard-fact bible wikipedia, ‘the largest moving structure on earth’. it was opened in 1997 as the final part of the delta works, an enormous project undertaken in order to protect certain coastal areas of the country from the sea after a flood in 1953 killed more than 1800 people in the area.

the barrier consists of 2 incredible movable gates which automatically sweep across the water, meeting in the middle of the waterway to form a temporary wall, each of the gates rotating on 680-ton steel ball joints which, with a diameter of 35ft, are also the largest in the world. the barrier’s movable design was chosen as the waterway it guards is far too valuable in terms of trade to shut off permanently: this single barrier cost $700m and has absolutely no effect on ship traffic.

a few weeks ago (november 8th) the barriers were used for the first time prior to fierce storms and succeeded in protecting the port from flooding. the gates, weighing the equivalent of 4 eiffel towers, took 30 minutes to close.

below is the barrier as seen on google maps, the direct link is here.

there’s a brief clip of the barrier below.

sources: 1, 2, 3

i’ve done some of the leg-work for you…

1. miniature donkey talk

‘the talk of the donkey world’

2. sheep!

‘the voice of the independent flockmaster’

3. a bear’s life

‘celebrating the masculine lifestyle’

4. the girl watcher

‘a guide to girl watching’

5. girls and corpses

‘dreams and nightmares do come true’

website links: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

the top-notch photo above was taken by robert b haas and shows a shrimp farm in ecuador covered in coloured flags - apparently one of the more effective methods available to ward off birds. click on the little bugger for a larger version. i also demand that you check out his other photos on the national geographic site here.

when you’re done, use your eyes to look at these ‘creative’ scarecrows…

above: a retired astronaut stands firm in aberdeenshire, scotland.

above: any clever bird would realise that the bastard’s legs are tied together. he’s not running anywhere.

above: it’s good to see disabled scarecrows in work.

above: the least threatening scarecrow on earth in japan.

above: a scarycrow in hull.

above: is scarecrowporn.com taken?

above: an extremely non-scary robot scarecrow in the peak district.

above: creepy isn’t the word. the ronald macdonald midget outfit seals it.

above: a britney spears lookalike in north yorkshire.

above: a scarecrow in kentucky. if you didn’t fill your pants after looking at this you’re doing well.

above: bodyless scarecrows guard a field in japan.

finally, a great animation called ‘the end’…

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhcWg4NiqN8]