John's post about Horse Boarding is pretty nifty, but I believe I can top that. Behold, the extreme sports of yak skiing. All you need are a yak, a pair of skiis, and some nuts (well, it helps if you yourself are a bit nuts):

In the Indian hill resort of Manali, Tibetan Peter Dorje runs an operation dedicated to the most implausible extreme sport in the world: yak skiing…

Pete heads to a high slope with the yaks, trailing out a rope behind him. You wait below, wearing your skis and holding a bucket of pony nuts. When Pete reaches the top, he ties a large pulley to a tree, loops the rope through it and onto a stamping, snorting yak.

Now it’s your turn—and this is the important part. First tie yourself onto the other end of the rope, then shake the bucket of nuts and quickly put it down. The yak charges down the mountain after the nuts, pulling you up it at rocket speed. If you forget yourself in the excitement and shake the bucket too soon, you’ll be flattened by two hairy tons of behemoth. Or as Pete says, “Never shake the bucket of nuts before you’re tied to the yak rope.”

Link - via The Rag Bag

Back in 1947, Stan Lee (former head of Marvel Comics and creator of Spiderman) offered to review and critique the work of aspiring artists for just a buck. When a wise guy took him up on his offer 25 years later, sending $2 to account for inflation, well... Stan just couldn't say no. http://archives.tcj.com/messboard/viewtopic.php?t=7817&start=20&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight= via Letters of Note.

Existenz has photos of a decidedly odd children's book called Elephant Elephant: A Book of Opposites by Francesco Pittau and Bernadette Gervais. Opposing concepts are presented with a pair of elephants, such as one that is on fire and one no longer on fire. The pages for "open" and "closed" are really freaky.

Link via The Agitator | Amazon Link

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A breeder abandoned Alice, an 8-week-old springer spaniel, because she was deaf and thought to be untrainable . She was adopted from a shelter by a deaf couple who are teaching her to respond to sign language commands. It looks like little Alice has found a perfect home.

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Moses Lanham, Jr., who bills himself as "Mr. Elastic", can turn his feet 120° backwards. He's journeying to Rome to attend a show hosted by Guinness World Records. There, he hopes to win the record for walking with his feet backwards:

His second record attempt will clock how fast he can walk 20 meters with his feet turned backward. Lanham is aiming for a 30-second jaunt.

Both will be newly created records.

While it sounds like something that would crack a few bones, Lanham insists it's completely painless and requires no warm-up routine. "A lot of times when I'm sitting down I'll put my feet in a twisted position because it's more comfortable for me," he said.

Link via Geekosystem | Photo: Moses Lanham, Jr.

Sharktopus, Mansquito, Frankenfish -the only place you'll find movie monsters this ridiculous is SyFy! The network has over 200 original creature features. If you've missed any, you'll want to check out this list so you'll know what to look for. Link -via mental_floss

The Green Machine was a classic toy from the 1970s. It steered from the rear using levers, thus allowing riders to make very sharp turns. Parker Brothers Choppers built this Green Machine for adults. It's powered by an 80 cubic inch Harley-Davidson engine and steers from the rear, just like the original.

“We had a Green Machine lying around the shop and we figured it would be a cool idea,” said Parker Brothers’ Jeff Halverson, who did 50 mph on this beast. “It rides crazy and is fast as hell. If it wasn’t for the rear tires we could have had it DOT approved.”

Instead of the Department of Transportation, however, Parker Brothers is looking for approval from the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s largest wheel on a motorcycle trike.

Link via Joe Carter | Photo: Parker Brothers Choppers

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Artist Chris Eckert uses the tattoo medium as a personal reaction against people being born into a religion rather than choosing one after research and reflection. This machine picks a religion at random and brands the willing subject with its symbol.

Auto Ink is a three axis numerically controlled sculpture. Once the main switch is triggered, the operator is assigned a religion and its corresponding symbol is tattooed onto the persons arm. The operator does not have control over the assigned symbol. It is assigned either randomly or through divine intervention, depending on your personal beliefs.

http://chriseckert.com/Sculpture/036_auto_ink/gallery.html - Via Book Of Joe

Rabbit Ears Salad Servers - $11.95

Hippity, hoppity Easter is on the way! Embrace your inner rabbit with the Rabbit Ears Salad Servers from the NeatoShop.  Eating healthy has never been so fun.

Remember, all that healthy eating makes it that much easier to justify snacking on all that yummy Easter candy!   Bring on the salad!

Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more outrageous Kitchen Stuff!

YouTube link.

This two-minute video, from the Mitchell and Kenyon Collection of the British Film Institute, does not show any historically important or humorous events.  Instead, what one sees is a view from a horse-drawn tramcar on Royal Street in Belfast at the beginning of the last century.

If you find this interesting, there are three companion videos posted at the Ptak Science Books link: Manchester, Bradford, and Wigan, all in 1902

Link.

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Horse boarding is a sport in which competitors ride off-road skateboards while being pulled by horses. The objective is to stay upright at high speeds and over rough terrain:

Professional stuntman Daniel Fowler-Prime, 31, invented the sport five years ago after he strung a rope between his off-road 'mountain board' and a horse.

Now he has developed the daredevil stunt into a fully fledged sport and is looking forward to hosting the UK's first ever horse boarding championships this summer.

Adrenaline junkies stand on a mountain board while gripping a rope and attempt to maintain their balance as the horse is spurred into a gallop by its rider.

The rush of acceleration provides the greatest thrill, with riders reaching speeds of 35 miles per hour in just five horse strides.

Link via The Presurfer

The Nostalgic Chair by OOO My Design pays homage to great old music by making cassette tapes useful again. It comes with a Walkman attached and appears to be assembled with just zip ties.

Link via Technabob

Double Moonbow! What does it mean? It means that photographer Ethan Tweedie, after trying for quite some time, captured rare images Thursday in Kamuela, Hawaii. A moonbow {wiki} is a rainbow created by the light reflected off the moon. In this instance, there was enough moonlight for two of them! Link -via Fark

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This trailer is a parody from Rooster Teeth, but you know it will really happen some day. Sooner or later, there will be a full-length movie based on an iPhone app. -Thanks, Brother Bill!

A new power plant in Switzerland will be situated up in the Alps. Construction requires huge excavator trucks, but there is no road to the site. What to do? Oh, there's a cable! It must be pretty strong, because that's how they are transporting the heavy equipment. See more pictures at Biglorryblog. Link -via Dark Roasted Blend