Unusual Life

Yeah, Christmas is over, but the good folks at Jones Soda have yet to sell out of their holiday gift packs.

Last year, they had Turkey Gravy and Broccoli Casserole. This year, they have the 2007 Christmas Pack and Chanukah Pack.

Christmas features Sugar Plum, Eggnog and Ham. Chanukah has the holiday favorites Chocolate Coins, Jelly Donut and Potato Latke. I wonder what the New Year’s flavors are?

Mmmmm Good!

(Add holiday music soundtrack HERE.)

The Yule Log

Return of the Yule Log

Virtual Fireplace

From Marlow, Jodavid, Max, Jack and Sam

10 cool trees

A holiday photo tour.

On Christmas eve sand sculptor Sudarshan Patnaik created Santa in sand on the Puri beach in India. Measuring 100 feet by 30 feet and 15 feet high, it is the largest ever recorded image of Santa anywhere in the world.

Sudarshan’s Santa is likely to claim a place in the Limca Book of World Records.

It took 1000 tons of sand, 200 labourers, 40 hours and 15 associates to create the huge piece of sand art.

This post has been guest blogged by Hyder from EverybodyGoTo

Hyderabad is a bustling, rapidly developing, metropolitan city almost smack in the middle of South India. At the same time its people are known for their laid back attitude and the famous Hyderabadi Biryani. The architecture and culture is one of the richest in India, today you would probably hear more about Hyderabad due to its growing presence in the IT field. Companies like Google, Microsoft, IBM and others have set up offices here.

I would like to take you away from all the noise and modern development and take a look back at the past of my city.

The city of Hyderabad got it’s name from a local girl known first as Bhagyamati whom the ruler of Golconda, Quli Qutub Shah, fell in love with. The city was then named Bhagyanagaram after her, and later on to Hyderabad after Bhagyamati converted to Islam and adopted the name Hyder Mahal.

Golconda – Diamonds in the rough

Golconda fort is the origin of some of the most spectacular diamonds the world had ever seen. It was also the birthplace of modern day Hyderabad. Trade between Persia and India grew as a result of the diamond trade mines in Golconda.

The main entrance gate to Golconda is an architectural marvel. It’s basically a loud speaker. Any announcements made while standing in the middle of the entrance chamber could be heard all the way at the top of the citadel – almost 0.63 miles away! Also, any whispers made in one corner of the entrance dome could be heard in the opposite corner with amazing clarity. I know because I tried it.

The royal family would spend the hot summers of Hyderabad all the way at the top of the fort, but I’m sure they had a cool time. A specially designed array of ducts would swoosh the wind to constantly flow providing cool and breezy air to take away the heat of the day. The breeze was cool and even quite strong at times.

Even more ingenious was the water supply system which flowed from the bottom up! The bottom level tanks would get filled up first and then supply water all the way to the chambers at the top of a steep hill. Simple but so effective.

The fort of Golconda was probably one of the highest guarded and most defensive forts of its time. The Mughal ruler Aurangzeb tried hard to sack it for almost nine long months. It was only through the treachery of a gate keeper that he was able to enter into the fort, otherwise Golconda fort would have stood longer against his army.

Today the ruins of the fort are visited by many and the stories still live on. Standing at the top of the fort, you can tell that the rulers had a good time staying there. The view was probably much different too.

Hope you enjoyed this little glance into history.

Every year since 1992, artist Phil Kline has presented UNSILENT NIGHT, an outdoor ambient music piece for an infinite number of boomboxes. It’s like a Christmas caroling party except that people don’t sing, but rather carry the music, each person playing a separate track that is a “voice” in the piece. In effect, they become a city-block-long sound system.

The more tracks that are played, the bigger and more amazing the sound is. In recent years, UNSILENT NIGHTs in New York and San Francisco have attracted crowds of over a thousand people, with hundreds of boomboxes… it’s spectacular. If you’d like to participate, just check the schedule in your city. If you’d like to participate but don’t have a boombox or a music player with speakers, you can just show up and join the parade. Everyone is an important part of the procession.

Un-Silent Night

Christmas in Compton

Now with Christmas just around the corner, here’s a list of the 25 most baffling toys from around the world.

Children play during break time at the Dongzhong (literally meaning “in cave”) primary school at a Miao village in Ziyun county, southwest China’s Guizhou province, November 14, 2007. The school is built in a huge, aircraft hanger-sized natural cave, carved out of a mountain over thousands of years by wind, water and seismic shifts.

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