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Detroit has had it rough over the last few decades, and between plant shutdowns resulting in massive job loss, crime running rampant and an overall economic crisis that's barely showing any sign of turning around the Motor City is in desperate need of a miracle.

However, those who chose to stay in their city, and fight for their city, have a lot of heart, and no one epitomizes the survival spirit of Detroit like the firefighters who battle arson on a daily basis using outdated equipment and expecting nothing in return for their bravery.

This documentary, entitled Detours, showcases the struggle Detroit's Highland Park firefighters face on a daily basis, and sheds some light on the serial arson problem which threatens to tear Detroit down from the inside.

Via Super Punch

North Korea is such a mysterious country that the information most people take as facts are simply myths and bits of misinformation, and the country’s cagey leader Kim Jong Un, like his father before him, wouldn’t have it any other way. In fact, North Korea spreads false information about their own country all the time, and they're notorious for locking down all outgoing photos and videos taken inside the DPRK.

Associated Press Photographer David Guttenfelder, however, reports that he hasn't had any of the problems normally faced by the press while inside North Korea, and he's been freely posting pics from his smartphone straight to Instagram without any kerfuffle from the local constabulary. In fact, when he posts them to Facebook he keeps being asked if he'd like to tag his "friend" Kim Jung Un!

Via Juxtapoz

Snowmen are generally made out of snow, hence their name, but there's more to a snowman than just snow, there are key features that make up an iconic snowman- carrot nose, coal eyes, branch arms and a body made out of three different sized spheres.

Artists Tony Tasset, Kristina Solomoukha, Gary Hume and Todd Hebert decided to try their hand at making a few all weather snowmen out of various materials like resin, glass, acrylic paint on canvas, metal and even a trio of shiny disco balls. They're round, Frosty-esque and destined to make all other snowmen jealous with their permanence.

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Even when you’re drifting through the inky black recesses of outer space you’re still going somewhere- maybe you’re headed towards the surface of a planet, into the heart of a black hole or towards certain doom in the midst of an asteroid belt.

In the animated short Somewhere an unfortunate one armed astronaut finds himself stranded on a strange alien planet while his wife awaits his return...with his missing arm in tow. Somewhere was created by Nicolas Menard, a student at the Royal College of Art in London, who decided to give it a kitschy hand drawn look despite the fact that it was created using digital animation software.

Via Laughing Squid

Dogs don’t generally get in the Christmas spirit without a little encouragement from their owners, but Gus and Travis the German Shorthaired Pointers seem to enjoy celebrating the holidays, even if their stoic expressions say otherwise.

Known as the Pointer Brothers, these two fashionable pooches are very photogenic, and they stand there staring into the camera no matter what their owners put on them. From hats and beards to Christmas lights and plastic toys, Gus and Travis are serious about Christmas, and modeling for their owner Steph McCombie really makes them smile...on the inside.

Via 22 Words

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Are you tired of all the holiday cheer and happiness that comes with Christmas? Looking to scar your eyeballs with a bit of the old ultraviolence? Well here’s an epic fantasy short that’s sure to please fans of the animated film Heavy Metal and anyone who likes their cartoons full of hardcore realism.

It’s called Exordium, and it uses the rotoscoping technique, made popular by Ralph Bakshi and the folks who made that A-ha video for "Take On Me" that everybody knows and loves. which brings a humanistic feel to the brutal realm in which the story takes place. Exordium was created by a madman named Gorgonaut, a guy whose idea of holiday cheer revolves around heads on pikes and making leather armor out of flying reindeer. (NSFW due to animated violence)

Via Super Punch

People who enjoy viewing works of art rarely think about the person who created the pieces they’re enjoying, much less the workspace utilized by the artist during the creation process, but sculptor/model maker Joe Fig thought it was about time somebody let us see what life is like inside the artist’s studio.

Joe created a series of miniature dioramas which depict various artists, from Jackson Pollock to Henri Matisse to Joe Fig himself, working away in their tiny little studios creating those iconic works of art we all know and love. And while the scenes are small in scale the details are large as life, and full of whimsical additions that make each scene feel like a voyeuristic peek into the lives of these iconic artists.

Via Juxtapoz

When 65 different artists were asked to create their interpretations of Yule logs the results are as you would expect- very diverse, creative and a bit odd. Some holiday traditions, it seems, were in desperate need of a makeover, and the simple image of a Yule log crackling in a fireplace all pleasant and peaceful like had to go.

Enter Yule Log 2.0, logs that give off the warmth of imagination, instead of heat and carcinogens, and will sit there looking cool and artsy all year long. So seal up that fireplace, give those logs back to the forest from whence they came and let these 21^st century editions become the new tradition.

Via Beautiful/Decay

The comic book industry had one heck of a year in 2013, full of comic book movies being released and tons more movies in the works, and things seem to be looking up for the little publishing industry that could.

If you show up to your local comic book store every Wednesday to peruse the latest issues and continue adding to your favorite series collection then you’re probably already be familiar with the fifteen titles that made Gamma Squad's list of Best Comic Books of 2013, but if you’re a casual reader, or just looking for a decent title to read, then this list is for you.

It seems like every National Park in the U.S. is full of them- they’re cute, always hungry and occasionally brave enough to pull a food heist against the humans that visit the park. We’re talking, of course, about squirrels, those bushy tailed little buggers that are so cute you can’t stay mad at them after they try to make off with your ham sandwich.

It turns out squirrels are present in abundance within our National Parks for a very good reason- people love squirrels, and having lots of squirrels around is meant to teach people how to get along with nature while entertaining them with squirrelly antics. Read on to discover how squirrels have become an integral part of parks across the U.S.

Chinese crane operator Wei Gensheng saw many incredible photo ops while working on a crane over 2000 feet above the city of Shanghai, and there he found the perfect subject for his photography- the city itself.

These soaring sky high shots are quite literally breathtaking, especially when you consider the perspective of the photographer, and it’s safe to say nobody has ever seen the city of Shanghai captured photographically in this way before.

Shanghai Tower is now the second tallest building in the world, making Wei one of the bravest photographers in the world for even attempting to take some of these amazing shots!

Since our neighborhood skies are going to be populated with pilotless drone robots someday soon, drones which are meant to make our lives easier by relieving us of our burdensome freedom and privacy, we’d better learn what they look like now so we know who or what is watching.

Here’s a handy Drone Survival Guide which identifies the silhouettes of the most commonly used drones in the air today, and denotes which ones are strictly observers and which ones are killers. Think of it as flying robot hunter’s field guide- it’s printable, easy to read at a moment’s notice, and will make things much easier when they start issuing hunting licenses for drones.

Via Sploid

There are times when an artist uses a gimmick to draw our attention towards their art, which most of the art lovers in the world find rather annoying, but as it turns out some gimmicks are worth our time.

Take these inverted Wolverine drawings by Brian Lai for example- they can only be seen properly when the pic’s black and white levels are reversed, creating a negative version that reveals all the linework hidden to the naked eye.

Pencils are normally supposed to create lines we see, but Brian decided to flip that concept and create contours that we can’t see until the negative space is made into the positive, and the results are really quite uncanny.

Via Nerd Approved

The average Wall Street worker slips straight from their world of stock quotes and ticker tape to their comfortable home without paying any mind to the slums and underworld elements that surround their brokerage house or trading floor.

Chris Arnade, on the other hand, saw a chance to document humanity in the raw when he left work each day, shooting photos of New York City’s underworld that are both moving and a bit unnerving. This is street life at its core- prostitution, drug abuse, homelessness and rampant mental illness.

His pictures dare you to look away, yet force the viewer to realize that ignoring the problem won't make it go away. Chris is hoping that spreading awareness will shed light on the problems facing modern urban society, New York in particular, and he’s creating some incredibly powerful street photography at the same time.

Via Beautiful/Decay

Animation legend Ward Kimball not only touched the lives of his fans with the animated magic he created as one of Disney Studio’s Nine Old Men from the 1930s to the 1960s, he also reached out once a year and touched the lives of his loved ones with amazing Christmas cards he hand crafted with love.

Most of them feature characters that sport his signature style, typically caricatures of his wife and immediate family, and they’re just the sort of fun greetings you’d expect from a master animator who literally wrote the book on character animation.

Via Cartoon Brew