The creepiest places you can spend the night

The world is full of nightmarish places, and many are open to the public. If you are a real thrill seeker, some will let you stay the night -if you dare! For example, you could stay at Margam Castle in Wales.

Many years ago, the beautiful woman who once owned the castle died suddenly and without explanation. Some people said it was a murder, yet others were convinced she ended her own life. Do you have the nerve to spend a night in this Haunted House?

Margam Castle is a Tudor Gothic castle that was built in the mid-1800’s. It has many spectacular features, such as the beautiful winding staircase and an old cistercian Abbey; the castle is located near Port Talbot, South Wales.

Because of the history of this castle no one has inhabited this place for over a hundred years! Guests have the option to spend the night until 7AM. If guests wish to stay the whole night they will have to bring their own sleeping bags as there are no beds to sleep in.

Is a progress bar inside a traffic light a good idea?

A design award has been given for a concept that would allow existing traffic lights to be retrofitted with progress bars that offer a visual representation of when the light will change. Several benefits have been suggested.

• Less pollution, as drivers can turn their engines off and cut carbon emissions while waiting for the green light,
• Less fuel consumption, as turning off vehicle engines lowers fuel consumption in the long run,
• Less stress, since drivers know exactly how long to wait, and
• Safer driving, as all traffic participants are fully aware of how much time they have left before the light changes, reducing the chance for potential traffic accidents.

The LEGO Snowman

Flickr user roguebantha_1138 spent two hours assembling this snowman that looks like a LEGO minifig. Pretty cool, literally!

How to wreck a Lamborghini Gallardo. As a cop!

A couple of days ago the pride of the Bologna Police force, their Lamborghini Gallardo, was crashed on its way to an exhibition in Cremona.

Reports are saying that the Lamborghini Gallardo Polizia was cut up by another car that was leaving a service station forcing the Gallardo Polizia into a row of parked cars.

Bystanders on the other hand are telling something different: the cop at the wheel supposedly lost control when leaving the service station while speeding, trying to impress certain people. After the crash the officers tried to get all the bystanders making photo's to turn in their camera's and phones, but found there were simply too many bystanders.

Luckily the Italian police has another Lamborghini Gallardo, so it's not like they're immobilized. Why the Italian police had two Lamborghini Gallardo's? Because they were a gift from the Lamborghini Motor Company who figured the Police could use them in a country where fast cars such as Ferrari, BMW, Alfa and Porsche are popular as hell..

SpongeBob gets a makeover

TOY STORY: A SpongeBob SquarePants figurine given a makeover by Karl Lagerfeld (think dark shades, a towering starched collar and fingerless gloves) attracted the highest bid at a recent Paris fundraiser for WWF, generating 1,000 euros, or about $1,500 at current exchange.

Numerous local personalities had autographed iconic objects linked to the cartoon character for the auction, which altogether raised 7,000 euros or about $11,000 at current exchange, including Inès de la Fressange, French singer Patrick Bruel and Greek TV presenter Nikos Aliagas.

More Professor Layton games coming up! Wo-hoo!

Krampus is making a Christmas comeback

This Christmas, forget Santa. There’s a mythical creature that’s making a big comeback: the Krampus.

Popular in Alpine villages centuries ago, Krampus scared kids straight—his long red tongue upped the fear factor—and taught them that evil bows before good. He served Santa’s forerunner, kindly St. Nicholas, who had “the power to send Krampus back to hell,” says Austrian ethnologist Ulrike Kammerhofer-Aggermann.

But by the 1800s, church leaders had marginalized Krampus. Now he’s enjoying a mini-revival, mainly for the fun of it. The Austrian state of Salzburg alone has 180 Krampus clubs, more than half set up since 1990, says Josef Moser, Jr., chairman of Austria’s Krampus Museum. Revelers roam streets in Krampus garb, rattle bells, and roar. “It feels good!” says Moser.

I'm SO looking forward to this one!

It's December! Time to fire up the fireplace!

Mussolini's stolen brain offered on eBay

After Mussolini was executed, his body was strung up before being brought to the hospital for autopsy and eventually returned to the family members.

So, when an eBay auction started for the brain and some blood samples of the deceased dictator, it was entirely possible that the remains (which started at around $22,000) were authentic.

Fortunately, eBay has a policy of not allowing these sorts of things, so the auction was canceled a few hours in, before his granddaughter had even heard about the auction.

WTF?! The Local Motors Rally Fighter

New American car company Local Motors revealed its first complete project at this year's SEMA show.

Designed and developed by a community of car enthusiasts, the off-road desert racer was penned by Sangho Kim, a student at Art Center in Pasadena.

Following a competition, Kim's design was chosen and many Local Motors' members participated in the open development process. Together with the company they helped collaborate on body design details, side vent creation, interior and even accessory design.

As its name depicts, the Rally Fighter has been created to provide a premium, authentic off-road experience. Its thermoplastic and carbon fiber body panels are assembled around a bespoke, welded steel tubular space frame. Because of its lightweight construction, the four passenger vehicle weighs in at 3100lbs.

Though the vehicle is currently devoid of an interior, CEO John Rogers told us it will be spartan but focused, "like Porsche interiors in the 1970s". Another designer is responsible for its design, and Rogers assures us it will be ready by the time scheduled deliveries begin in June 2010.

Corduroy skirts are a sin

The week before Thanksgiving, a woman named Michelle Deferio stood on a street corner on Syracuse University campus holding a sign proclaiming that homosexuality is a sin.

That required a response, thought Chris Pesto, a junior drama major, who mounted a counterprotest of sorts:

Today (Wednesday, November 18th) I left my voice lesson and noticed two adults on campus holding signs that said “Homosexuality is a sin”. First, I would just like to say that I support people with their own opinions. I think that everyone is entitled to their right to think what they want.

However, when someone comes on my campus, where I pay tuition to live, I don’t think it’s appropriate to rub such a hateful sign in someone’s face. I decided that because this woman thought it was okay to make me feel uncomfortable in my home, I would retaliate and make her feel just as uncomfortable, if not more.

This woman was wearing a ankle-length corduroy skirt, which, as we all know, is a fashion nono. So, in order to make her feel uncomfortable, I stood next to her and held a sign that said Corduroy skirts are a sin! I don’t think I have ever drawn so much attention in my life. SO many people asked to take a picture with me, I got laughs, high fives and there were the few that even cursed off the woman standing behind me.

Happy Birthday Christien!

This artist uses a cigarette lighter only!

Paris-based artist Olivier Kosta-Théfaine burns images into ceilings using only a cigarette lighter.

His medium is an extension of a common form of street art in the neighborhood in which he grew up. Pictured above is an untitled piece created in Brussels in 2007. You can view more images and read an interview with the artist here.

Bearded Superheroes

What would Robocop, Hellboy, Batman and other comic characters look like if they had beards? You don’t have to wonder anymore. Behold Croatian illustrator Vanja Mrgan’s series "Bearded"!

World's strongest beer is 32% alcohol

Scottish brewery BrewDog has released its newest beer, named Tactical Nuclear Penguin. At 32% alcohol content, it’s the world’s strongest beer:

A warning on the label states: “This is an extremely strong beer; it should be enjoyed in small servings and with an air of aristocratic nonchalance. In exactly the same manner that you would enjoy a fine whisky, a Frank Zappa album or a visit from a friendly yet anxious ghost.”

However Jack Law, of Alcohol Focus Scotland, described it was a “cynical marketing ploy” and said: “We want to know why a brewer would produce a beer almost as strong as whisky.”

The beer has been launched on the day alcohol was at the top of the political agenda with the unveiling of the Scottish government’s Alcohol Bill including proposals for minimum pricing on drink.

Humans on display at the zoo

The zoo of Warsaw, Poland, has a pair of prehistoric humans (or actors depicting them) on display over the weekend:

Organiser Maria Mastalerz says the weeklong “performance” aims to attract interest in a play, “Caveman,” showing in the Polish capital. But she says it also carries a message that humans today are not all that different from their prehistoric ancestors.

Dressed in furs and animal skins, the young woman and man smoked a fish over a fire Friday, poking it with a stick, or stared from behind bars at startled zoo visitors.

Pig farts spark gas scare

Residents of Axedale, Australia called authorities when they smelled what they believed to be a gas leak. Firefighters responded to the home and found a 120 kilogram pet pig, which they believe to be the source of the gas.

“She got very excited when two trucks and 15 firies turned up and she squealed and farted and squealed and farted,” said fire chief Peter Harkins. I haven’t heard too many pigs fart but I would describe it as very full-on.”

Mr Harkins said the family had done the right thing by calling 000 to report a suspected gas leak: “It’s all bottled gas up here and a leaking cylinder could pose a major fire risk. It was because we took it so seriously that 15 volunteers still managed to attend the call out at 10.30 on Tuesday night.”

The pig’s owners are embarrassed over the incident and refused to let the pig be photographed.

Happy Birthday Tim!

The Eilean Mor Lighthouse mystery

One of the most eerie historical mysteries of all time is that of the strange disappearance of the three ligthouse keepers of Eilean Mor.

Some even think they might have been abducted by a giant bird or squid… and, of course, by aliens. Others say they have gone mad and murdered each other. And then there is of course the theory of a very local tsunami on the west coast of Scotland…

The Flannan Islands had been marked by superstition from the time they were named for the obscure Saint Flan. It was said that the “Phantoms of the Seven Hunters” so resented the intrusion of the lighthouse that they lured the men over the cliff to their death…

As a matter of fact, Ducat did not want to be stationed at Eilean Mor. He seemed to have had some sort of a premonition and said it was “not the most suitable place for a man with a young family”.

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