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These incredibly detailed sculptures were made by UK artist David Mach, who uses thousands of matchsticks pressed into a clay mold to form the likeness of Chaplin, Marilyn and Ben Kingsley, among others.
Mach uses Japanese matchsticks because their heads come in all sorts of different colors, and color is definitely an important part of his works (note the crazy color combos of the Marilyn busts at the link).
Mach feels that a fun way to finish a show is to set one of these beauties ablaze and let it burn away, so he sets aside a few from every show to torch. Now that’s what I call hot headed!
Link –via DesignTAXI
In October, internet users always look for the strangest, most inexplicable Halloween costumes to post. Here’s one that illustrates how little Americans and the British understand each other, despite the supposedly common language. This costume of a World War II Evacuee was posted at reddit. Some commenters thought it might be a costume from the Chronicles of Narnia films; others thought it was supposed to be Anne Frank. It actually depicts one of the many children who were temporarily sent away from Britain during the war. But the explanation has to do with schools in the UK, which teach history by designating dress-up days.
Parents get letter informing them that their little darling has to dress up as an Evacuee, Victorian child, Roman, etc.
Time-poor, stressed parents don’t want to have to spend ages researching and making said costume when they could be spending their time w/their actual child (or OK watching TV) (this doesn’t really apply for the Roman one because that costume is a sheet)
Parents grumblingly shell out their 15 pounds or so. All kids at school end up dressed identically. Costume company laughs all the way to the bank.
Well, there you go. Link
It would have never occurred to me to take a ride in an aqueduct, but now I want to! Before railroads, before highways, Britain built many elevated waterways to transport cargo from place to place. Many are still there, and they are fascinating. Shown is the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct in Wales, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is open for tourist traffic. See ten such UK aqueducts at WebUrbanist. Link
Believe it or not, the First Lady of mystery and the Big Kahuna had something in common-they were both innovators in the sport of surfing! Agatha Christie, as it turns out, was one of the first Britons to stand up on a surfboard, and she sharpened her wave riding skills in South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Hawaii as early as 1922. Oh what a sight she must have been braving the waves of Waikiki!
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3d printing is such a new process that we are still discovering all the ways in which we can use it to enhance our lives. Well, the wait for the next big thing to print is over, because engineers from the UK have used the 3d printer to create an aircraft capable of flight. Made up of printed plates which are snapped together, this impressive little flying machine is capable of speeds up to 100 mph and cruises almost silently through the air. It might just be the coolest snap together model kit ever!
Link Image via University of Southampton
You knew there were some provocative place names in the United Kingdom. Now we have a definitive (and long) list of funny place names in England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland all in one place. Here is a small sample:
Titley Close, London
Swallow Passage, London
Bachelors Bump, Essex, UK
Crapstone, Devon
Fanny Hands Lane, Lincolnshire
Golden Balls, Oxfordshire, UK
Hornyold Road, Malvern Wells, UK
Lower Swell, Gloucestershire
North Piddle, Worcestershire
Scratchy Bottom, Dorset, UK
Wetwang, East Yorkshire
Boysack, Angus, Scotland
East Breast, Inverclyde
Bullyhole Bottom, Monmouthshire, Wales
Go pick out your favorites at Anglotopia. Link -Thanks, Jonathan!
(Image credit: Flickr user Mark Robinson)
Residents of the quiet English seaside town of Southsea were startled when they discovered they had a new resident. Towering over them at fifty feet and over seventy in length the reproduction of an Ultrasaurus (which was thought once to have existed but sadly was an archaeological blunder) promises to turn heads all summer.
She is the creation of artists Ivan and Heather Morrison and part of their current exhibition called An Unreachable Country: A Long Way To Go. But what kind of dinosaur is Luna Park? The answer is, she isn’t based on any in the fossil record.
From the Upcoming 
ueue, submitted by taliesyn30.
This list of hilarious answers to game show questions proves that American contestants aren’t the only ones who fall apart under pressure. Here is a sample:
BEG, BORROW OR STEAL (BBC2)
Jamie Theakston: Where do you think Cambridge University is?
Contestant: Geography isn’t my strong point.
Theakston: There’s a clue in the title.
Contestant: Leicester.
PHIL WOOD SHOW (BBC GMR)
Wood: What ‘K’ could be described as the Islamic Bible?
Contestant: Er. . .
Wood: It’s got two syllables . . . Kor . . .
Contestant: Blimey?
Wood: Ha ha ha ha, no. The past participle of run . . .
Contestant: (Silence.)
Wood: OK, try it another way. Today I run, yesterday I . . .
Contestant: Walked?
What’s doubly funny is how the hosts try their best to help out a clueless contestant. Link -via Bits and Pieces
Cake Wrecks causes me to cringe all of the time, usually at gross spelling errors and colors that should never be used on a cake. But when one actually makes me laugh out loud, I know I have to share it with you guys.
It’s bad, right? And the one paw appears to have six digits on it. In case you don’t know what the UK logo looks like, click the link. You’ll be stunned at the similarity.
The folks at Eden TV, a new UK-based natural history television network, celebrated its launch by building a 16-foot-tall of a polar bear and cub stranded on an iceberg. The sculpture was then set free to float down the Thames in an attempt to bring attention to the new network and to raise awareness about the polar bear’s dwindling habitat.
– via inhabitat
From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by whitespace.
Normally when we talk about religion and "conversion" we are referring to people that decided to make a major change in their faith. But what about actual religious temples going into a major conversion?
That is the case -among others- of this Dominican church in Netherlands that has been converted into an amazing bookstore, with a coffeeshop that, well…, let’s say was a bit controversial.
Check out some other churches turn into more mundane businesses.
From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by scbr.
Remember when video games were bad for you? Mom and Dad would complain about how they tied up the television, kept you from playing outdoors, ruined your eyesight and wasted your time. That’s a thing of the past. Re-tooled videogames are now helping children and teens boost basic skills in reading, writing and math.
At West Nottinghamshire College in the U.K., computer science teachers were struggling to get teenage students into literacy and numeracy classes. The college needed to take drastic measures to assist “disaffected students”.
The resolution came in the form of Neverwinter Nights, Atari’s popular computer game. Teachers rebuilt the game to deliver educational challenges players must tackle in order to progress.
From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by whitespace.
Jason shot these images with a camera attached to gyro-stabilized mounts from a Eurocopter AS355, hired out at around £1150 (GBP) per hour, using Nikon gear and either a 14-24mm or a 70-200mm lens. Even with that, the low light and heavy vibrations can make things difficult, Jason says "I often shoot tethered to my MacBook Pro to check the sharpness of the images whilst I shoot."
From the Upcoming Queue, submitted by 
Hoverit Ltd, a British company, has introduced the first piece in its line of magnetic ‘hover’ furniture. Dubbed ‘The Lounger’, the chair is built by hand and defies gravity through the use of repelling magnetic forces in both its bed and base. The feeling one has when kicked back in this lounger is like none other and has been described as “floating on a cloud”.
If you want a hover chair of your own it’ll set you back about £7,500.
From the Upcoming Queue, submitted by whitespace.
