The toys that parents weren't buying for Christmas...

These toys aren't as strange as some of the other objects I've posted about, but then again dolls can look just as creepy as Fiji Mermaids...

These mixed-up toys were created by Las Vegas artist NAY. They remind me of the mixed-up toys in Toy Story, like the baby doll head on the spider body and the fishing rod thing with Barbie legs.

NAY thinks that all toys should look as strange as the ones he creates:

Photo credits: http://www.l-page.net/auction/2007_06_17_archive.html

Mütter Museum

Do not visit the Mütter Museum in Philadelphia, USA, if you are squeamish. Do not visit the Mütter Museum if you have recently had a meal.


The Mütter Museum is part of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia. The displays consist of all things medical and gross - things like the conjoined liver of Siamese twins, anatomical deformities and medical tools. 



I have a sort of phobia of depictions of eye injuries. I'm not sure I could bring myself to look at the wax models of faces with eye injuries. Ugh!

The Museum

Photo credit: Melissa Dixon

'Evidence' of Fairies

 Please note the use of inverted commas!

Artist Takeshi Yamada creates rogue taxidermy pieces - his creatures look real, but never existed in live form.

Yamada has also created pieces which look like genuine fossils. Two of these fossil pieces are his 'fossilized fairies'. They look very real!

Photo credits: Sideshow World

The Island of the Dolls

Last year I came across  a video and article about this place called the Island of the Dolls, La  Isla de la Munecas in Spanish. The island is known as one of Mexico's strangest tourist destinations. Everywhere you look, there are dolls. Dolls hanging in trees, on walls and sitting on chairs.

The island is stands between Xochimilco and Mexico City, in  Teshuilo Lake. The ghost of a little girl who drowned in the Xochimilco canal near the island is said to haunt the Island of the Dolls. The tale of the island goes that Don Julian Santana, the man who lived on the island, found the body of the drowned girl in the canal. He believed that her spirit haunted him, and so he collected dolls to hang in the trees to appease her spirit. The dolls on the island were found floating in the canal and in rubbish dumps. Santana also traded produce he grew on the island for dolls. People said that the spirits of the dolls were responsible when Santana died in 2001 - he drowned in the same canal as the little girl all those years ago.

Go here and here for more creepy doll pictures!

Photo sources:
 1, 2 , 3, 4 and 5

Fiji Mermaids

Yesterday I was reading Antler magazine. In the sidebar, there are pictures of the past issues. Volume #2 was titled Wunderkammer, and it was about curious objects and places.

So, for the next few posts I will be writing about curious objects and places. The magazine mentioned Fiji mermaids. They were believed to be real when they first appeared in public. They were actually skilled taxidermy jobs, and made up of the torso of a monkey and the tail of a fish. Some were made to look more human-like.

Here are some pictures so you may satisfy your curiosity immediately!

This Fiji Mermaid doesn't look quite as scary as the others (I think...). The head and body are  man made and the fins are real.

 Photo credits:
http://www.eso-garden.com/index.php?/weblog/the_mermaids_of_juan_cabana/
http://bakka-deliviano.blogspot.com/2009/02/jenglot.html
http://www.roguetaxidermy.com/gallery_images/528_78712.jpg

Define 'Maturity'

What makes you mature?


I suppose maturity means different things to different people. I think maturity includes being able to make independent and informed decisions, being able to support yourself (and dependants, if you're at that stage), being honest with someone even if what you're saying is harsh, and being able to shove aside your pride and just say sorry, etc.

I don't think maturity should include not watching cartoons. I will probably never grow out of cartoons. I watch the news sometimes, as well as more sophisticated programmes. If anyone tells me that I'm too old for cartoons, I will fix them with such a piercing glare that a hole will appear on their torso. Occasionally being whimsical and childlike doesn't seem like a bad idea to me - after all, adult life can get boring sometimes! I'm not saying run away from responsibility - I just think adults need a break sometimes from being an adult.

Fish and Frogs have Fallen from the Sky, now it's Birds

Today I came across an unusual story about how over a thousand birds fell from the sky in Arkansas, USA. The birds fell on New Year's Eve. A video on BBC News shows  loads of blackbirds dotting the road in the town of Beebe. At this stage, their cause of death is a mystery - it could've been lightning, hail or stress caused by New Year's Eve fireworks.

Red-shouldered blackbirds fell from the sky over Beebe. Image found at http://misterfweem.blogspot.com/2010/04/hail-telephone-bird.html

Oh How I Laffed

I meant to do this post on December 31, to end the year on a lighter note. Didn't get round to it.

Anyways, I recently found a whole bunch of funny dudes on Youtube.  Thanks to them, I will have abs of steel from all the laughter their videos generate. Go check 'em out, and laff, laff and laff some more.


Philip De Franco: Find him here.

Shane Dawson:  Dressing up is his trademark!

Outback Zack: ''Where insanity is reality''.


If these guys don't appeal to you, there's tons of stuff on Youtube that will. That's why Youtube is awesome!