Thirteen years ago this month, Strobist.com launched with a cutting edge design (heh) and a novel mission (at the time) to be a free source of education for small flash lighting techniques.
Today, a triskaideka-appropriate post: thirteen of the most important principles I have learned related to lighting.
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[ By Steve in Art & Sculpture & Craft. ]
These 12 modern homages to Stonehenge would likely bemuse, befuddle and bewilder those who constructed the original prehistoric standing stone circle.
Much like the original Stonehenge built roughly 5,000 years ago, these so-called “Clonehenges” were built for reasons that aren’t always obvious. Take the quite realistic standing “stones” above.
Even if they were to survive in situ for several thousand years, it’s extremely doubtful future archaeologists would deduce they were merely props used in the movie Transformers: The Last Knight. Already in the can and scheduled to be released on June 23rd of 2017, the hollow faux Stonehenge was constructed not too far from its real-world model in Wiltshire, UK.
Stonehenge in Africa? It’s more likely than you think at this riverside lodge, conference and team-building venue in Parys, Gauteng, South Africa.
To quote the company website, “As Guests enter Stonehenge, they are greeted by (a) large replication of the celebrated Stonehenge Monument.” OK, so the stones are obviously machine-cut and don’t look more than a few months old but keep it to yourself: you’re here to build a team, not an ancient ceremonial site.
Self-described as “A Place of Healing”, Stonehenge of Orem is a small (36 beds) assisted living facility for the elderly located in American Fork just west of Orem, Utah.
Built in 2012, the home’s henge is smaller than its inspiration both in breadth and height though at least the designers resisted the urge to smooth out the rough spots. We’ll leave the debate over whether an ancient monument, fake or not, is appropriate decor for the grounds of an old age home to others.
China is infamous for recreating other nations’ cultural properties (the Eifel Tower, London Bridge and an entire Austrian alpine town named Hallstatt come to mind) and indeed, there are several fake Stonehenges in China. Typical of the genre is this ersatz Stonehenge in Hefei, Anhui province.
The actual reproduced stones and layout are actually better than most but when it comes to context, well… let’s just say that a major part of the real Stonehenge’s mystical grandeur derives from its relative isolation. Somehow the sight of modern highrise apartments in the near background detracts from the overall sense of wonder any monument should inspire. Dudes, do you even henge?
[ By Steve in Art & Sculpture & Craft. ]
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[ By Steve in Abandoned Places & Architecture. ]
Disco ducks and dancing queens can no longer shake their booties since these dozen decrepit abandoned discotheques took down their mirror balls.
The 1970s haven’t aged well and the various labels applied to the much-maligned decade haven’t helped its rep: The Me Decade, the Malaise Era and the Age of Disco don’t evoke a wealth of fond memories. Even worse, Disco music and discotheques somehow managed to outlast their best-before-date in many places, notably Europe.
Take the Discoteca Excalibur, an Italian disco housed in a fake medieval castle. The dance hall was only open for a few years in the early 1990s, and again in 2004-05. Boogie knights!
A disco by any other name, still sucks it would seem. Take the Good Omen Garden, a once-thriving dining & dancing emporium near Osaka, Japan. Building it out in the boondocks was neither a good omen nor a wise business decision.
Like many Japanese urban and rural abandonments, the Good Omen Garden displays a creepy “frozen in time” look with tons of fixtures and decor pieces left in situ, if not totally unmolested. Urbex explorer Florian from Abandoned Kansai ventured inside back in November of 2012 and lived to show & tell the tale.
When Club Zillion in Antwerp, Belgium opened in October of 1997, it did so with a bang courtesy of an indoor fireworks show, smoke blowers, confetti cannons, and programmed industrial robots. The place’s main claim to fame was a hydraulic dance floor that not only rotated, it rose and dipped in tune with the music.
Club Zillion closed with a whimper in 2001: its owner was convicted of human trafficking and did time while city authorities plotted the demise and demolition of the so-called “blue cancer”. Thanks to YouTubers Bros of Decay, you can take a twelve-minute video tour filmed in November of 2016, mere weeks before Club Zillion was razed. Images above courtesy of Flickr user Roger Price (antwerpenR) and Urban Treasure.
The abandoned Dolphinarium discotheque in Tel Aviv, Israel looked kinda cool and funky from the get-go thanks to its distinctive curved facade. Long abandoned by 2015, the former nightclub proved to be an irresistible template for Israeli street artist Dede, who re-imagined the building as a gargantuan set of wind-up chattering teeth – key included.
“Without any doubt this is the biggest art challenge I have ever had,” explained Dede. “I’ve had this vision for almost a year now.” With visions like this, who needs hallucinogens?
[ By Steve in Abandoned Places & Architecture. ]
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[ By Steve in Abandoned Places & Architecture. ]
Golf isn’t the hit sport it used to be and one consequence is the proliferation of abandoned driving ranges closed due to changes in recreational pursuits.
The good thing about abandoned driving ranges – at least, for those who photograph and/or write about them – is that they’re usually outdoors and as such, are often overgrown with invasive vegetation. Kinda adds to the post-apocalyptic vibe if you know what we mean (and we think you do). In any case, Flickr user Josh Lightbody visited one such overgrown abandoned driving range in Northern Ireland just this past summer. “No Golfing”, in my abandoned driving range? Indeed, it’s more likely than you think.
Welcome to Kejonuma Leisure Land, or maybe “unwelcome” is more apropos. Located in northern Japan, KLL opened in 1979 as a sort of pay-as-you-go themeless theme park: visitors could partake in amusement park rides, a campsite, a six-hole golf course and last but not least: a driving range. The shattered clock in the first photo, by the way, now houses a nest of suzumebachi… “sparrow bees” in the direct Japanese translation, Giant Asian Hornets to the rest of us. Yep, the fun never stops at Kejonuma Leisure Land even though the park itself has.
The intrepid urbex explorers from Abandoned Kansai visited Kejonuma Leisure land – with the owner’s permission – in May of 2014. We would have gone during the winer, what with the Giant Asian Hornets and all, but that’s what makes those guys so intrepid… and presumably unaffected by extreme pain.
Flickr user Brett Sanderson took the strikingly detailed HDR photos above at an abandoned driving range in Charlottetown, PEI, Canada in mid-September of 2013. Bud the Spud unavailable for comment.
Driving ranges can be so large it takes, say, a camera-equipped drone to take them in properly. Cue YouTube Eric Milewski, who accommodatingly brought just such a device to an abandoned driving range in Burnaby, British Columbia in the summer of 2015. Milewski employed his ZMR250 250mm Carbon Fiber Mini FPV Quadcopter drone at the now-closed Hastings Golf Centre. Watch the entire 4:13 video here.
[ By Steve in Abandoned Places & Architecture. ]
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[ By Steve in Gadgets & Geekery & Technology. ]
Ring the bell or knock on the door? It’s one of life’s conundrums to be sure, but these dozen delightfully daffy doorbell designs can help button it down.
(images via: Ian Brooks/Viacom and Dave’s Geeky Ideas)
We’re not exactly sure if the simply Stimpy-licious “Space Madness” doorbell above actually exists or if it’s merely a figment of Dave’s (of Dave’s Geeky Ideas) incredibly twisted imagination. Imagine the hilarity that’s sure to ensure should you install this doorbell at your own front door. How can any visitor possibly resist the maddening urge to announce their presence via the mere push of a single button? The beautiful, shiny button? The jolly, candy-like button? Will they hold out, folks? Can they hold out? Of course they can’t. NOBODY can, and you’ll wisely disconnect the doorbell before it drives YOU mad.
(images via: mmarano, Reepicheep and The Discriminating Explorer)
Flickr user Michael Marano posted the now-iconic photo of a Deer Butt Doorbell shown above on April 1st, 2009… no foolin’! We’re not sure who’d want one of these butt, er, but a market definitely exists for re-purposed deer butts such as those converted into wall-mounted beer-bottle openers. Suddenly a Deer Butt Doorbell doesn’t sound so bad.
(image via: Rampant Techpress)
Behold the Redneck Deer Butt “Doe Bell”™, depicted against the backdrop of a Confederate Army battle flag (or towel, whatever). According to the site featuring this masterpiece of folk craftsmanship, the $ 379.95 device is a “working doorbell, available with male or female orifices.” Splendid! It gets better: “Southern redneck art is one of the fastest growing areas within the art world and prices are skyrocketing for some of the finest deer butt works by renowned butt artists.”
(images via: MODD3D)
If your Deer Butt Doorbell isn’t preventing persistent subpoena servers, cookie-flogging Girl Scouts, obsequious Mormons and menacing newsboys (“two dollars!!”) from disturbing your domain of domestic bliss, it’s time to break out the heavy artillery: the creepy DIY Gross Squishy Eyeball Doorbell. They’re not sold in stores, mind you, so set aside an hour or so and follow the helpful detailed instructions provided by the madcap modders at MODD3D. Moe of The Three Stooges would approve.
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