Odd Articles ↓

The Caravan Garden

“An artist has taken his love for the outdoors to the extreme, by turning his caravan into a garden he can take anywhere. Despite looking like any other caravan from the outside, the extraordinary design opens up to reveal grass, flowers, trees and even animals. As if that wasn’t enough, bird song is piped into the van through speakers and an electric barbecue, which can be used by plugging it into a generator, is also included – making it perfect for summer days in the city. It’s all artificial – the grass, trees and flowers are made of silk and the animals are stuffed – but artist Kevin Van Braak says some people prefer his garden to the real thing.” w/ photos

Man Finds Stolen Kitchen On eBay

“When Tristan Brooks arrived home from a weekend away to find his brand new $11,500 kitchen stripped bare he was distraught. Thieves had made off with everything from the $1,000 fridge freezer to the curtain hooks and the police said they had no leads. But with just a few clicks of the mouse, the 30-year-old transport planner was able to discover some of his property being sold on internet auction site eBay by a man living 30 miles away. Posing as an interested buyer, Mr Brooks visited the thief at home – and found the rest of the stolen property. He called the police and has now been able to restore his kitchen with all the original fittings.” w/ photos

Disfigured Vet Becomes A Comedian

“We first brought you the story of Staff Sgt. Bobby Henline last year. He was wounded in Iraq in 2007 and burned over nearly half his body. After months of recovery, his life is slowly getting back to normal. Henline must endure grueling physical therapy because of injuries. But to help heal the wounds we can’t see, he has taken up an interesting hobby, one that helps him employ the healing power of laughter.” w/ photos

Inventor Spends Xmas With Fembot

“Inventor Le Trung spent Christmas Day with the most important woman in his life – his robot Aiko. The science genius enjoyed a festive dinner with his mum, dad and his $55,000 fembot which he designed and built by hand. Le, 34, from Brampton, Ontario, Canada, even bought gifts for his dream girl, who is so lifelike she speaks fluent English and Japanese, helped cook the turkey and hang up decorations. ‘Aiko is like any woman, she enjoys getting new clothes,’ he said. ‘I loved buying them for her too.” w/ photos

It’s A Ho-Ho-Hold Up

“An armed robber dressed as Father Christmas pulled off an armed heist in character telling bank customers ‘he had to pay his elves’. The FBI are hunting the man after he escaped with a sack of cash – not by reindeer and sleigh but in a grey car. The man entered the SunTrust bank in Nashville, Tennessee at 10am yesterday dressed from head to toe a Santa suit and dark sunglasses and demanded money at gunpoint… No one was hurt during the robbery and police have not released how much money was taken. The FBI has confirmed they are investigating the robbery.” w/ photos

Turkey-Sized Dinosaur

“Some bird-like dinosaurs had a poisonous bite, a new fossil find suggests. Scientists have discovered a feathered ‘raptor’ with grooved fangs that almost certainly delivered venom and probably ate its prey alive. They believe other members of the dromaeosaur family may have also killed or immobilised their prey with poison. Sinornithosaurus was a close relative of the Velociraptor, one of the stars of the movie Jurassic Park. Although bird-like and about the size of a turkey, it did not fly and was not an early bird. But scientists believe it may have preyed on ancient birds 128 million years ago, using its long fangs to penetrate their plumage. A well-preserved skull and partial skeleton of the dinosaur was found at the site of a prehistoric forest in north-east China.” w/ photos

Globe-Trotting Dog Sensation

“Oscar is a dog without equal. This year, he travelled across an incredible five continents, 29 countries and stopped off everywhere from the Eiffel Tower to the Taj Mahal. He was rescued from a South African kennel by Joanne Lefson, who is half-British, five years ago. In May the pair began an epic journey hoping to inspire millions to help save his fellow canines living as strays on the streets. After dodging crocodile-infested rivers, walking on the Great Wall of China and escaping Italian police, Oscar finally finished his tour last week. The $250,000 six-month trip – which Joanne funded by selling her home – also took in an amazing 15,000 shelter dogs and more than 50 charity-run rescue centres. On their worldwide travels, Joanne and Oscar also handed out 15,000 dog leads to needy hounds donated by the parcel company UPS.” w/ photos

Snowboarder Balances Inches From The Edge

“Clinging on for dear life on the edge of a towering cliff, this snowboarder is just inches away from certain death. Austrian Kurt Welden, 31, realised he was heading for a cliff edge at the last minute and managed to stop in time. Mr Welden had been enjoying the deep powdery snow at the Moelltal glacier in Carinthia, Austria when he travelled off the marked piste. He managed to dig away the snow and hung on hoping that the board would not slip or the snow give way until he could be rescued. It took rescue workers an hour to secure the area and eventually pull Welden free using a helicopter.” w/ photos

Tiny Electric Car Tows 50ft Xmas Tree

“With such a tiny car, it’s an exercise in logistics for Greig Howe to get any Christmas tree home. So he thought he might as well get this 50ft one, and attach a trailer to his G-Wiz electric car to tow it. Donated by the Forestry Commission, the $700 tree was taken 15 miles from the New Forest to skate park designer Mr Howe’s six-bedroom home in Bournemouth, Dorset. There, it was cut into three carefully measured sections to create a Christmas illusion that has passersby in the street doing double takes. With a little help from Mr Howe’s friends, the lower parts of the tree were passed through doors and windows. Finally a borrowed crane was used to place the top tier on to a little roof turret.” w/ photos

Color-In Dress

“Painting by numbers is perhaps something you’d normally leave to the children. But now a new dress is changing the way women co-ordinate their partywear. A unique ‘colour-in dress’, created by fashion designer Berber Soepboer and graphic designer Michiel Schuurman, comes with a variety of pens and allows women to create their own design – by colouring it in themselves. The dress comes as an intricately-detailed black and white template and can be worn as it is or filled in with any combination of colours.” w/ photos