This Is Just Cool!

A Beluga Whale has recently been added to the list of animals that is capable of painting. The whale, named Xiao Qiang, is a resident of China’s Polar Ocean World where trainers noticed that he seemed to like some posters better than others. The trainers decided to see what would happen if they handed him a paintbrush and he’s been actively painting watercolors ever since.

Xiao Qiang is hardly the only animal known for his in-captivity paintings, however. In fact, there are at least 12 other species of animals that have gained attention for their artistic endeavors:

1. Dogs. Attach a paintbrush to a bone and watch Sammy the Foxhound go to town on a canvas.
2. Dolphins. Chinese water parks also show off the painting skills of these smart creatures.
3. Elephants. Several in-captivity elephants paint beautiful pictures with paintbrushes held in their trunks.
4. Horses. A horse named Cholla has painted pieces of art that sell for over $2000 each.
5. Meerkats. Two meerkats at the San Diego Zoo are known for painting with their paws.
6. Parrots. They can talk with their mouths so why shouldn’t they be able to paint with them as well?
7. Pigs. Just look up “Pigcasso” in England.
8. Primates. With hands that aren’t that different from ours it’s no surprise that primates can paint.
9. Raccoons. Raccoons at the Hutchinson Zoo actually push shells and other objects around in paint to create their works of art on paper.
10. Rhinos. A Rhino at the Denver Zoo was taught to paint by her trainers.
11. Sea Lions. The Oregon Coast Aquarium has their sea lions paint with their flippers.
12. Turtles. Koopa the Turtle has pieces of artwork hanging in 35 different states!

There is some debate as to whether or not these animals should be exploited for their ability to paint. Nevertheless, though, you have to admit that these are some cool creatures!

Check out that amazing hand-carved guitar from Southern California artist Grey Van Kuilenburg. Kuilenburg engages in many different art forms as part of a wholly creative life. He writes poetry, does drawings, works as a tattoo artist and sings. However, his ultimate art form is the creation of custom-made hand-carved guitars in a variety of unique shapes and styles.

He works primarily with wood but also uses other materials to finalize his guitars. The guitars are functional musical instruments. In fact, he works carefully to make sure that the process he uses to create the guitars is the one that will give them the best musical tone. The base design is taken from high-end brand name guitars and then the design is tweaked and customized to create a unique guitar shape. The hand carving provides the true artistic detail that sets each of these guitars apart.

Kuilenburg technically works alone but these guitars are a collaborative essence in a sense. The customer choosing the guitar will provide the basic design and sometimes even rough out some of the wood base. Kuilenburg then uses his artistic sensibilities and hand carving technical skills to make the piece come alive. Each guitar that he makes can take up to several months and is absolutely one-of-a-kind. He has made more than 30 of these guitars.

Kuilenburg’s guitars sell for $2000 – $4000 although customized requests may cost more or less depending on the work involved.

Image credit: acemicaylak, fatmeatisgreasy. Via WebUrbanist.

Steampunk is an interesting subculture that is bringing a lot of cool artwork to the world. It takes us back to a time when steam engines were prevalent. Then it looks forward to a fantasy-based future that suggests what might have happened in industry if steam power had remained a primary source of power. It’s based in both mechanics and science fiction. And the art it results in is impressive.

One of the coolest areas of this art is steampunk tattoo art. Specifically, there are tattoos that are designed to look as though the skin around the tattoo has been peeled away to reveal the mechanical inner workings of a body part. For example, in the images above, it looks like there are cogs and machines beneath the arms of the tattooed individual.

There is so much blending of different levels of reality today. We have augmented reality on our mobile phones that brings virtual reality together with the reality around us. We have mechanical body parts that are inserted into us for medical purposes. These tattoos suggest that blending of the mechanical and human worlds while hearkening back to an era when these things were nearly unimaginable.

Very cool stuff!

Photo by Lars Tunbjork for The New York Times (via Inhabitat)

This is a totally modern home that has built inside of a huge cave. It is interesting in its design because the exterior doesn’t blend with the cave at all and yet the interior does!

The cave is located in Festus, Missouri and it has long been a spot for interesting activities. It has been used as an amazing natural concert hall by a variety of big stars. It has also been used as an ice skating rink. But now it’s owned by a private family who wanted to live someplace interesting without leaving the Midwest behind.

There are three different chambers inside of the 15,000 foot cave. This essentially means that the home consists of very large cavernous rooms. The walls have been left unfinished in many areas which creates a unique interior design that you simply don’t see in other homes anywhere in the world. The furnishings are all modern, however, and the juxtaposition of the natural earth with the modern decor provides an appealing aesthetic.

The home isn’t just cool because it’s built into a cave. It’s also cool because it’s energy-efficient. The designers of this house really worked with the unique natural environment of the cave to make this home a green home. There is no need for heating or cooling here because it’s all done naturally by the cave itself. A green home that’s in a cave in Missouri where concerts and ice skating once occurred. Definitely a cool place.

TwistedSifter recently posted this awesome video that features the Top 10 Low Pass Fly-By’s of All Time.

In each of these videos you will see so many cool things including:

• Awesome aircraft. These videos show off some really cool planes in action. And, of course, you get to see them all up close since the videos were shot so close to the action.
• Planes that practically touch the video camera. These fly-bys are all so low to the ground that the people who videotaped them were as close as close could be when they captured the images for you.
• Crowds cheering. You can hear the crowds cheering in these videos, excited and probably a bit frightened by their proximity to these amazing monster machines.
• The whoosh of the plane. It almost feels like you’re right there participating in the wind-blown excitement of the events!
• Some cool plane tricks. Some of these planes don’t just fly by; they proceed to do some cool tricks in the air as well.

These videos truly reveal the amazing action that takes place when a fast man-made machine is pitted next to man himself. Very cool!

People have mixed feelings about Apple’s iPad. Sure, it’s the first generation of the device. And maybe it’s too big to be useful to some people. But this is a really cool product that has some interesting features.

Here are ten reasons why iPad is cool:

1. Take movies with you. This is one of the first lightweight devices that allows you to watch high-quality movies on the go. It’s believed that the iPad will allow up to ten hours of movie-viewing. If you choose a 64GB model then you should be able to store plenty of HD movies. It has a great display that is enjoyable to watch.
2. Take books with you. The iPad is going to be able to compete with the Amazon Kindle reader so if you’re interested in eBooks then this device should appeal to you.
3. Apps, apps, apps. Take all of the apps that you love for the iPhone, add some that will be made just for the iPad and you’ve got an entertainment and productivity suite at your fingertips.
4. Wi-Fi and 3G. All of the iPad models can connect to the Internet via Wi-Fi and half of them also have a 3G connection. You’ll be connected wherever you go.
5. Affordable. Okay so the device itself costs about as much as a laptop or a new release of the iPhone. However, the affordability comes into play when you look at the monthly costs. There’s no subscription required, you can cancel or sign up for monthly plans from the device itself and the cost for unlimited monthly usage is only $30.
6. Photo storage. This device has everything you want for organizing your photos. You can connect your camera right to it and use features like face recognition and geotagging to keep all of your pictures organized.
7. Fast processor. The iPad uses a brand new processor that offers fast speeds on the device.
8. Smart links in email. You’ll get links to relevant content through word recognition in your email.
9. Built-in dictionary. This is one of those cool perks for us nerdy types.
10. It’s in demand. Lines are long to get the iPad. Let’s face it; other cool people want it and that makes it cool for the rest of us.