I can't imagine living in a city where every paintable surface is the same color, even this lovely blue. But that's how they roll in Chefchaoen, Morocco; the city's buildings, walls, stairs, railings, flowerpots, doors--everything, all blue. Founded in 1471, the entire city was painted with tekhelel, a natural dye made of shellfish.

In the bible, Israelites are commanded to use this dye to color one of the threads of their prayer shawl.

Though tekhelel is no longer available and the city’s population of Jews has diminished, the tradition has carried on through the centuries. Blue pigment is sold in pots and bags throughout the city, and residents faithfully refresh the paint on their homes, flower pots, balcony railings, doors and practically everywhere else in the community. Even the interiors of many of these buildings are painted blue.

The pigments may vary in color now, ranging from periwinkle to aqua, but the effect is no less spectacular, providing a monochromatic stage from which every other color dazzles, particularly the merchandise hung on walls outside of markets and shops.

It's pretty and I understand the symbolism, but I think I'd go with a clean white wall inside--or anything but blue, actually.

via WebUrbanist

Stop it--if you roll your eyes too hard you won't be able to read the rest of the post. So the Sanger Paranormal Society had its annual Bigfoot stalk-down and--what are the odds??--the super-elusive Bigfoot they were looking for was kind enough to leave evidence right on a vehicle owned by the society's founder, Jeff Gonzalez.

During the Memorial Day weekend—when society members make their annual Bigfoot-hunting expedition in the Sierra National Forest in California—Gonzalez had to abandon the truck because of snow. Either one or three days later, he returned to the truck and discovered that—lo and behold!!—something had left "stubby fingerprints and smudges," including face marks, all over the windows, like some kind of rude slob. A forensics photographer took some pictures and also some samples for DNA testing.

At a press conference in Fresno the other day, Society members displayed the smudge-picture evidence. They are now either seeking donations to test their DNA samples, or waiting for a DNA lab to volunteer its services. Whichever the case, Gonzalez won't trust the samples with just any old lab:

Previous attempts to analyze potential Bigfoot DNA haven't resulted in anything that could be considered as the scientific find of the ages. That's why Gonzalez is being very careful about who he'll turn over his reported Bigfoot DNA to.

"We need somebody to come forward to take this DNA and get it mapped," he told AOL. "Since nobody knows what a Bigfoot is, there's no available DNA for it. But by testing this DNA, by process of elimination we can find out if it was a bear, gorilla, baboon or something else.

I can hardly wait to find out if it was really Bigfoot! Also, the truck was full of food and the area in which it was abandoned is home to bears. But I'm pretty sure these Sanger guys are onto something.

Link | Image: Universal Pictures

(Watch on YouTube)

Yeah, it's a little bit "performance piece in a warehouse", but I think it's pretty cool. Motion-graphics designer Tim Jockel created this first fully 3D holographic fashion show for the German designer Stefan Eckert, which premiered in April 2011. Other designers have incorporated elements of holographic design into their runway shows, but this is the first to run without live models.

via Flavorwire

(Watch on Vimeo)

It's not the first zombie-centric dating site, but it does have the best commercial.

Gravedate.com is a real site set to launch "soon". If you'd like to be notified when undead folks just like you are looking for someone to talk to over a few brains, maybe a little uncoordinated running through town square, then sign up on the site.

via Kuriositas

That little cutie is Yoda, who has just been named World's Ugliest Dog 2011 in the annual at the Sonoma-Marin Fair. She replaces last year's chihuahua champ, Princess Abby.

The 14-year-old Chinese-crested Chihuahua mix has come a long way since since was found behind a block of flats by Nicole Schumacher. Originally frightened out of her wits and under the impression the mangy-looking mutt was a rat she almost ran a mile. But on closer inspection she soon discovered it was an abandoned dog in need of a good home and quickly took her in. While it certainly isn't the type of competition most people would want to enter their hounds into most of the dogs were keen to prove that ugly is the new good-looking and paraded around, proudly showing off their protruding tongues, buck teeth and hairless bodies. Chihuahua's appear to be firm favourites for the title of the ugliest dog as a pedigree Chinese crested won in 2008 and another Chinese crested and Chihuahua mix was named the ugliest in 2007.

For a closer look at Yoda and her competitors, read the rest on DailyMail. Link Image: Splash News

If these pictures are an accurate sample of the storefronts and public buildings in Berlin, the city is practically covered in graffiti, street art, murals and political messages from guys with paint cans. This building above is the Cassiopeia, a sort of mishmash of night club, writers' work space, and rock climbers' go-to. The city spends about 30 million euros a year cleaning up errant graffiti. More pics of all kinds of public art (artistic and otherwise) on Wonder a Day. Link

Who needs mirrors when the world is reflecting itself all around the globe? This guy ice fishing seems a bit oblivious to the scene behind him, but there's not much you can do to ignore the awesomeness in this collection of photos from around the world in high reflection. Check out the rest on FotoMage. Link

Did I miss a meme? Apparently so, as there seem to be quite a lot of photo manipulations of birds with human arms floating around on the Internet. Some of them are cute, like the one above, but 'shop some arms on a bird eating from a person's hand and it gets weird pretty quickly. There's a massive gallery of just this sort of thing over on DamnHot. http://damnhot.net/2011/06/23/creepy_birds_with_arms_photo_manipulations_71_pics.html

Artist Jonathan Wateridge has a thing for wreckage. This series of paintings, depicting fallen airplanes and sinking ships, are rendered in oil paint with extreme realism. The works are all very large (2m x 3m, or about 6.5'x9.8') to enhance the level of detail. Check out the rest of the Crash series on BestBookmarks. (I especially love the plane resting in the iceberg field.) Link

I'm not a fan of firearms, but apparently some creative paper artists are. According to the post, these are realistic copies of actual guns--one of them looks like the Nintendo light gun, but whatever. There's obviously some skill and patience involved in recreating all those curves and detachable parts. I wonder how long it takes to design and assemble one of these? Check out the rest on Nuffy. Link

There's not a force in this universe that could get me to cross a bridge made of dead grass, suspended hundreds of feet over a river, swaying gently in the breeze between a couple of rock faces.  That said, it's still kind of sad that the hundreds of handwoven bridges that existed in Peru for centuries are gone, leaving only a single example of Incan bridge technology.

Known as keshwa chaca, this is the only remaining example of the Incan handwoven bridges once common in the Incan road system. Made of woven grass, the bridge spans 118 feet and hangs 220 feet above the canyon's rushing river.

The Incan women braided small, thin ropes, which were then braided again by the men into large support cables, much like a modern steel suspension bridge. Handwoven bridges lasted as long as 500 years and were held in very high regard by the Inca. The punishment for tampering with such a bridge was death.

Over time, however, the bridges decayed, or were removed, leaving this single testament to Incan engineering. This previously sagging bridge was repaired in 2003, christened with a traditional Incan ceremonial bridge blessing, and is now in extremely good condition.

Link (Image: Dylan Thuras)

While it's fun to imagine that UFOs are sweeping in to draw shapes in our crops and abduct random humans for testing, it's also interesting to note that all of the saucer-shaped vehicles we have evidence for were built right here on terra firma (and usually by the USAF). That spacey-looking thing up there is the LocomoSky Thermoplan, the love child of a blimp and hot air balloon. The gallery on Dvice is loaded with info and pictures of similarly UFOish designs. Link

Image: LocomoSky

I hate to use the word "literally" but I think it's appropriate here. Dusty, a 5-year-old feline from San Mateo, routinely sneaks out at night to nab the neighbors' swimwear, among other interesting treasures. Whatever his motives, Dusty's kleptomania has become something of a joke in his neighborhood. (Is it all right to make a purr-petrator joke? No? Okay.)

Owner Jean Chu told the San Francisco Chronicle he has pilfered gloves, towels, shoes and more since she adopted him from the Humane Society.

"I noticed a piece of latex glove on the bed one morning and told my husband he should do a better job cleaning up his work stuff," Jean Chu, whose husband is an artist, told the Chronicle. "He said, 'It wasn't me. I think it was the cat.' "

Dusty has a special love for swimsuits.

"He stole my bikini," Kelly McLellan, who lives a few doors up the street, said to the Chronicle. "He did it in two trips. He was very focused on keeping the ensemble. When it went missing I wasn't worried, though. I knew where to go."

Experts say Dusty's predatory instincts have gone astray, leaving him hunting for people's stuff.

The cat's thieving has made him a minor celebrity.

Link | Image: Uncyclopedia

Extreme body modification has taken an interesting turn in Japan. These lovely people above have had saline pumped into their foreheads for about two hours, a process that creates a rather, um, well... it makes a lump. And if you press your thumb into your forehead while the saline is pumping in, it makes a bagel, which is awesome? I don't get it. There's an interview with the intrepid Ryoichi “Keroppy” Maeda, who introduced the technique to Japan over at Vice Style. Lots more pics, but probably NSF-the needle-sensitive. http://vicestyle.com/en/news/today/post/japanese-bagelheads