Unusual Life

This custom, 3,200-square-foot home in pricey Redondo Beach, Calif., was built mostly from shipping containers in an attempt to hold down building costs. The home, designed by Peter DeMaria, still retains the marine-grade plywood floors originally found in the six containers, which serve as bedrooms and bathrooms.

Shipping containers provide home in a box

Is Apple the Newman of Microsoft ?

Well, Microsoft has released two milestone announcements today.

The first, which most readers may be aware of with today’s media coverage, is that Microsoft has negotiated a $10 million dollar deal with Jerry Seinfeld, who will appear as a key celebrity pitchman in ads along with Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, in an effort to invigorate it’s image in the ongoing Apple Inc. young hip dude versus the Microsoft Corp. stodgy old-fart guy.

This new $300 million ad campaign, one of the largest in Microsoft’s history, and pitting it against Apple will no doubt insure minimal market “shrinkage” for a company which identifies itself only as Microsoft.

We here at Unusual Life are devout lifetime fans of Jerry, attend his sold-out shows at the Paramount, and watch Seinfeld reruns incessantly, so we salute you Bill for crashing at Jerry’s place or whatever you’re going to do in the ads. This sounds like great fun and I want to sit in on those ad brainstorming meetings.

As much as this excites us however, The second bit of news Microsoft announced today is the release of the much anticipated Photosynth online software.

Photosynth is an amazing new way to share and experience photography in a 3D environment.

Our introduction to Photosynth here at Unusual Life happened a couple of months ago when we were contacted by our pal Janet Galore, asking if Microsoft Live Labs could film at our home for a new top secret software project called Photosynth to be released soon.

Apparently, for their Photosynth “How To” software release video they were looking for an interesting home with some cool art, and the right amount of synthy quality…?

Of course!, we replied, and the film crew with talent Laura Foy arrived two days later for the shoot, which was lots of fun. I immediately began researching Photosynth, and realized that in the near future I would have a new tool that would fundamentally change the way that I thought about taking photos in a most profound way. At the shoot, my initial conversation with David Gedye set my mind spinning with creative possibilities and practical applications of synthing photos together in 3D environments: online virtual galleries, travel, real estate, anything to do with sharing visual information.

Like the best of any viewer created online community, it opens the doors to a whole new experience in open community visualization and interactive possibilities.

And guess what?

You can create your own synth – fast, easy, and free.

Here’s the Photosynth release video, featuring our living room.

Here is a Flickr Set of the Photosynth shoot at our place, and the actual Synth that was created of our “92% Synthy” home by Photosynth group manager, David Gedye.

Our friend Blaise Aguera y Arcas speaks eloquently about Photosynth in this very popular TED Talk.

Nit Wit Ridge is a house built entirely of junk located between San Francisco and LA near the Pacific Ocean. It is considered a fine example of folk art and is a California State Historic Landmark. It was built by one man (Arthur Harold Beal) over the course of 51 years.

Art began his creation in 1928 by digging out a hillside in Cambria. He used rocks, abalone shells, wood, beer cans, tile, car parts and other assorted junk to create his “Hearst Castle”.

Nit Wit Ridge is in Cambria (881 Hillcrest Drive), about 20 minutes north of Cayucos. Tours are available from the owners (Michael and Stacey O’Malley) by calling 805-927-2690. To get there, take highway 1 north to Cambria. Turn right at Main Street and continue through East Village into West Village. Turn right on Cornwall Street and then right again on Hillcrest Drive.

Via Weird Universe

MoMA's Home Delivery: Fabricating the Modern Dwelling

What better way to celebrate the closing of Weep Week in Memphis than to look at some Elvis real estate for sale.

Scary Elvis’ Graceland replica for sale in L.A. for only $999,000.

It’s located at 17912 Parthenia St, Los Angeles, CA 91325, and has 3 bedrooms and 3 baths.

I wonder if it comes furnished?

And a REAL Elvis house for sale in Palm Springs.

The 5,000-square-foot estate at 845 W. Chino Canyon Road was bought by beloved music legend Elvis Presley in April 1970. He paid $85,000 for it, according to previous Desert Sun reports. According to the Wall Street Journal, it’s now on the market again for $17M. Right.

Elvis Honeymoon House photo tour

Artist Jennifer Marsh covered this 50-year-old former Citgo station with a giant blanket. Jennifer was sick of paying high gas prices and bothered by the abandoned gas station that was an eyesore on the drive to her studio each day, so she decided to do something about it. With the help of professional and amateur artists from 15 countries and more than 2,500 grade-school students in 29 states, Marsh covered the 50-year-old former Citgo station — pumps, light stands, signs and all — with more than 3,000 fiber panels that are crocheted, knitted, quilted or stitched together.

The panels cover 5,000 square feet and come in every color, hue and texture. There are panels in burlap, leather, even silk. There are panels of solid color and others with patterns, prints or scenes.

The project cost about $29,000, much of it her own money. There were also grants and contributions from individuals and businesses.

Want to cover your own gas station? Jennifer offers helpful hints and ideas to create your own jumbo art work.

Catholic nuns and priests in Italy are following their flocks to the beach this summer, establishing an inflatable church and a beach-convent in the sands to lure sunbathers.

The 98 ft long blow-up church — staffed by priests ready to take confession — will debut on Saturday on the Adriatic coast in the Molise region, an organiser said.

“There will be four or five people singing, with music about God,” said Chiara Facci with Catholic group Sentinelli del Mattino. Night time activities, which will not include Mass, will run from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m.

Goats on the Roof and Tiger Mountain Market is just south of Clayton, GA, in Rabun County Georgia, via Neatorama.