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Friday, April 04, 2008

Creative Ads, Issue 10


"QUANTUM SHOT" #399
link


Read previous issues here.

Imagine that: these ads actually enrich our life

Of course, they have commercial content - but in our humble opinion, some of these print campaigns are startling and spectacular enough to be watched with a bucket of popcorn in hands, giving you no less (and sometimes more) "bang for the buck" than your average DVD rental.

The following collection of "creative advertising" will focus mainly on visually rewarding ads, such as the ones, made for Citroen by Jaap Vliegenthart:
(click to enlarge)




(images credit: Jaap Vliegenthart)

More epic advertisement by Jaap Vliegenthart:





The Urban Trap (every building is a mousetrap of some sort) -


(images credit: Jaap Vliegenth)

Here is a great ad campaign for Tylenol, featuring people falling asleep in most embarrasing situations. Some of real life "extreme sleeping" was featured in our popular article. However, this spot uncovers some more -













The director behind this spot is Josh Miller.


An interview with director Josh Miller

Josh began his career in advertising in a very unusual way. After printing the words, "Josh Miller. A copywriter willing to start at the bottom," on rolls of toilet paper, he placed them in the bathroom stalls of Kirshenbaum & Bond, NY.

They took him literally, and he went on to create a number of fabulous ad spots also for Cliff Freeman & Partners and Team One Advertising. As a full-time Director with Little Minx, a company of RSA, Josh was recently featured in Shoot Magazine as one of "The Ones To Watch."

His most recent project? Documenting the slow degradation of commuting daily to the cold, staid industrial office complex in El Segundo - by photographing the bottom of a plane landing at LAX each time he passed! The photographs, over 350 of them, are currently being published in a book entitled, "Underbelly".


Josh Miller, Director

We asked Josh some questions about his advertising / directing experiences:

1. What was your most challenging project - and the one you’re most proud of?

I just got back from shooting a pretty hellish job in Buenos Aires... It was a long shoot, and there were all these in-camera effects, invisible cars crashing into things, and sometimes it was really difficult communicating to crew exactly what I wanted. Everything had to go through three layers of translation. There’d be 20 people in every meeting. And then to top it off, I got food poisoning on day 2 of 5. Honestly, I thought I was going to die. And it figures, it was the one day we were running three cameras. It’s different when you’re both writing and directing, there’s a lot more on the line. So, for all this, I think it’s one of the things I’m most proud of.


(photo by Gregory Crewdson)

2. Who influenced you early on, in movies, art, etc?

Filmmakers: Jacques Tati, Terrence Malick and Truffaut are a few that really inspire me. "A Thin Red Line" and "Day For Night" are two of my favorite films. And I remember when I saw "La Haine", by Mathiew Kassovitz. That really made me want to direct. Come to think of it, I patterned the reveal of the Winnebago in "Waffles for Breakfast" after the opening shot.

But I’m just as influenced by photographers like William Eggleston, Stephen Shore and Todd Hido. A cinematographer friend just turned me on to the painter, Robert Bechtle, whose compositions are so contemporary even though many were painted in the 70s. I love stories, and I think even still photographs tell stories. Look at Gregory Crewdson’s work. He does these enormous set ups, they’re like elaborate films sets, but he snaps a single frame. That’s the kind of thing that inspires me.




(photos by Gregory Crewdson)

3. How do you see advertising/promotion industry today (your opportunity to rant)

I actually think it’s a pretty exciting time. Brands are being forced to entertain people in ways they never have. On TV, the web, everywhere. And people are willing to, and actually demand to be entertained. They want to laugh out loud, or get choked up. The commercial is a 3o or 60 second short film. The best ideas, in my opinion, come from brands that don’t take themselves too seriously. And are willing to let their messages be simple and human.


(photo-realistic painting by Robert Bechtle)

4. What do you think about "subliminal advertising" (see this video for reference) and subversive product placement?

I think the word “subliminal” seems a bit paranoid and even dated. People are open to seeing logos, products, and brands everywhere. We know they’re trying to sell us stuff. It puts us, the consumers, in the power position, not the other way around. As far as product placement, as a director, maybe I’ll embrace that. Make a film entirely financed by the products that are featured in it. Kind of a reverse merchandising. Okay, that’s pretty obnoxious.

5. You're now a full-time director - what's the most challenging aspect of making your own movie? Script? Choosing actors? Camera work? Budget constrains?

For me it’s definitely the material, the script. All the other stuff would just fall into place. Financing could be another story, of course. But the most difficult part I’ve found is finding or writing the script I want to devote the next couple years of my life to.


(photo by Todd Hido)

6. Any background history behind this wonderful piece of "gritty realism" film-making "Waffles for Breakfast"?
(see this wonderfully unpredictable short movie here)

This film was done as one in a series of films that are very loosely connected with the first and last lines. The last line of one film is the first of the next, and so on and so on. I decided to take the line I was given and make it into a song to be heard over the radio of a car speeding by. That car became the Winnebago, which became one of the main characters in the story.

The rest kind of it unfolded from there. I just wanted to tell a story that had a series of little surprises, and had these unpredictable shifts of pace, with a little humor and intensity. I just wanted it to feel like a little movie, even though it’s only 8 minutes short.

7. What genres / themes would you like to explore in your directing career?

I’ve been working on what you’d call a, well, a cancer comedy.

That sounds pretty intense. Thank you Josh, for this interview - can't wait to see your future productions.


(photo by: William Eggleston)


Visually Arresting Ads

These images will make you stop and take a second look, and maybe even consider the subject they advertise:



Unfortunate Grim Reaper: World Aids Day -














(image credit: Herman Churba)





"Geek Patrol" inside the PC:



Easiest way to travel:



Great series for the "really sharp" knives:









Brute force (Mercedes) -



Apparently, using SAP Business Software can improve your financial situation:



Virus & Pest Control:





Soldiers are building the Playstation 3 Gamer Idol:
(click to enlarge)



"A different kind of construction company":



Political Commentary: "Flags of Our Fathers" -


(Agency: FCB, Cape Town)

Pork and steak demolished by Alka-Seltzer:





Exciting way to the... toilet:



"After 70 years we've seen it all" -



"Full Throttle" energy drink - by Sullivan, Lane



Eyes/Lenses Storage for AbraPhoto:




(Agency: Euro RSCG Brasil)

Composers for Kids:


(image credit: Frieke Janssens)

And finally, welcome Homer, one of The Real Simpsons! -



Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4

READ THE PREVIOUS PART HERE

Read all previous issues here.

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Category: Cool Ads

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BEST OF THE YEAR
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Articles to inspire and inform, plus fun!
COMMENTS:

4 Comments:

Anonymous T. Benjamin Larsen said...

Wow! Thanks for the tip on some really great stuff (that real Home scared the beejeezus out of me)!

Great blog you've got running so I've bookmarked you. As you seem to have a coffee-connected team I can of course not pass on the chance to some good old fashion self advertisement: I recently made a small small film about coffee on my blog, ;)

___  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I don't know about those photos for the tylenol ad campaign. Reminds me too much of the 1982 tylenol murders... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tylenol_Crisis_of_1982

Sixties flashback for me. Our family had a 67 puke green Ford Country Squire with fake vinyl wood panels similar to the one int he picture...

___  
Anonymous Franqie said...

The real name of the Dutch ad-maker is Jaap Vliegenthart, but I can understand your confusion with 'art' at the end of his name ;)

Great pictures here!

___  
Blogger Avi Abrams said...

Thank you Franqie! All fixed.

___  

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  • Broken link for the Antarctic huts.
    Read more

  • fixed, thank you!
    Read more

  • Cool post.

    Re: the custom barcodes on products, the late Rick Tharp, a graphic designer here in the U.S., was also known for that. It caused a bit of a stir at the time. I want to say that he did it first, during the late eighties, but in the absence of solid research, I shouldn't. Who knows ... perhaps he got the idea from the Japanese.

    Hmph. Maybe I shouldn't write rambling comments on others' blogs when I've just woken up.
    Read more

  • Back in the early days of bar codes on periodicals, Mad Magazine used to do some quite imaginative things to the bar codes on the front cover. Look at the CollectMad web site collection of covers, starting around the last half of 1979.
    Read more

  • Check out the album 'Seed to Sun' by Boom Bip. It is on the Warp/Lex label and has a very beautifully illustrated and combined inner and outer sleeve which when inserted correctly reveals the bar-code through a cutout window.
    Read more

  • Two of my favourite things! Barcodes and Japanese stuff.

    Amazing blog :)
    Read more

  • I remember seeing one of these on a bottle of Axe in Osaka. I bought one to bring back, but I think it was confiscated by the TSA :)
    Read more

  • The EE/CS building at the University of Minnesota: Twin Cities has a barcode on the sidewalk containing the date the building was erected.
    Read more

  • Eye-opening post, really like the examples you put together, especially the clock.

    Barcodes carry a lot of information, but one neat thing about them is the permutations of the word:

    abc redo
    coed bar
    rode cab
    bra code
    drab ceo
    bad core
    race bod
    bod care
    brocade

    :)
    Read more

  • Cans of Tecate beer have an eagle-shaped UPC code.
    Read more

  • i love the one that says "free range human" in the flower pedals
    Read more

  • http://blog.yam.com/kiroro9930/article/14450063

    GOOD~~
    Read more

  • Wow, those are some interesting designs.

    Congrats on being featured on BoingBoing!
    Read more

  • Cool barcode from Slovenia:

    http://shrani.si/?2j/Uo/3nW8zF6t/barcodefructal.jpg
    Read more

  • LA based artist Guillermo Bert has a great series of Bar Code pieces.

    http://www.gbert.com/barcod5.htm
    Read more

  • My favourite is the barcode building!!
    Read more

  • The japanese barcodes were awarded the highest distinction the most coveted Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival gives out to the most breakthrough, groundbreaking, media changing idea.
    Read more

  • it's good article, You can make your video more popular to primary Indonesian Social Community site at InfoGue.com. Get more traffic from Indonesian community members by installing INFOGUE widget. your article:

    http://design.infogue.com/barcode_jepang_yang_kreatif_dan_unik
    Read more

  • What a pretty barcodes in our country there is no barcod like this
    I want to thank you for this images
    Read more

  • I'm very impressed with all of the barcodes. I never thought that an artistic bent could be put on them.
    Read more

  • These are sooo amazing. I am determined to do something nifty like this on my next book - but do they really work?
    Read more

  • My company had made a business card with a bar code --- the numbers under the bar code was our contact phone number.. it looked pretty spiffy.

    www.theDNAlife.com
    Read more

  • The one I like most is that of the bloke lifting the barcode as if it was a heavy box
    Read more

  • Your site is so nice. Esperially it is nice as visual.
    Read more

  • Ok, now I want a screensaver of those dizzying four dimensional cubes.
    Read more

  • the check is two-tenths of a cent. E to the i*pi is -1 and the infinite sum is 1 so the total is .002 dollars.
    Read more

  • The Verizon check is from the great XKCD. Randall Munroe is the creator of the webcomic.
    Read more

  • Speaking of Rubik's Cubes, I was pissed off recently to discover that in Korea, they are known as "Edison Cubes." Even in death Edison continues to steal the inventions of better inventors.
    Read more

  • what is the blue lego-spaceship thingy?
    i kind of have the feeling, that i know it from somewhere. maybe from some computer game?

    and did i recognize the spaceship benaeth the blue one right as the one from the game "Descent"?
    Read more

  • I wrote these about 10 years ago, sorry if they're a bit crude: http://byrden.com/puzzles/
    Read more

  • René - the bottom one does superficially resemble Descent's Pyro-GX, but with some substantial differences.

    http://www.funbox3d.com/rebirth/3d_images/3D%20-%20Pyro%20GX.jpg
    Read more

  • That Blue ship you're talking about is most certainly a Vaygr ship from the Homeworld 2 game.

    Or is it ???

    I could not be less sure.

    Great post, as usual. Keep up the good work Avi !
    Read more

  • The German steampunk stuff is not "Nazi", but for a fictional German Empire, doubtless inspired by that of the Kaiser.

    ("Deutsches Reich" just meaning "German Government"; that's why the Nazis were the "Third Reich", because they were the third notional unified German state, after the Holy Roman Empire and the Kaiser's unification of Germany.

    The term has no specific relation to fascism and its repulsive ideology.)
    Read more

  • It would be so cool to see a slow motion video of the lego car hitting something head on at a high speed...
    Read more

  • I think the "blue lego-spaceship thingy" is the military spaceship from "Aliens" (which carried Ripley and a detatchment of Marines back to the planet where the beastie was found).

    I want to say it was the Scirroco, or Suroko, or something like that.

    Best of the series, IMHO
    Read more

  • hey guys the blue one i,m 90% sure is the "Sulaco" first seen in Aliens ;)
    Read more

  • don't forget the Touch Rubik's Cube!

    http://www.techeblog.com/index.php/tech-gadget/touch-rubiks-cube
    Read more

  • Very interesting!! Very cool!!
    Read more

  • The blue ship is definitely NOT the Sulaco, it's more inspired by the homeworld ships, and they in turn are inspired by the Sulaco... also, the Predator head is made of Lego!
    Read more

  • Now this is a LEGO model! Over 180Kg in weight and over 300.000 pieces used!

    http://damncoolpics.blogspot.com/2007/01/lego-aircraft-carrier.html
    Read more

  • Thank you guys for info - post updated
    Read more

  • The M.C. Escher model was built by Andrew Lipson, whose page is here. Sadly, that picture has been reposted all over the internet without credit to the builder.

    The life-size Han Solo in Carbonite is by Nathan Sawaya, not Erik Varszegi. This is his post about it on LUGNET.

    The Homeworld-inspired blue spaceship and the gray fighter right below it were built by Danny Rice, whose Flickr page is here.
    Read more

  • Oh, and the "geekiest" in the title is meant as a highest compliment :)
    Read more

  • The red and white cruiser type Lego ship bears a slight resemblance to HMS Endurance

    Here on wikipedia...
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Endurance_%28A171%29
    Read more

  • The ship is a US Ticonderoga Class Cruiser. Not an HMS cruiser. Sorry. Love how it even has the AEGIS array and the SONAR bubble on the bow. Very well done.
    Read more

  • This was always my favorite lego sculpture.

    http://www.henrylim.org/Harpsichord.html
    Read more

  • The Escher staircase is really something. I happen to have a print hanging on the wall right here and the lego version is pretty much perfect. ... And look, he's done other Escher's in legos too. (On his site.) Very cool!
    Read more

  • Sir:

    I believe that 'crystal Rubik' is originally from

    http://plasmadesign.co.uk/
    Read more

  • The ship is a US Ticonderoga Class Cruiser. Not an HMS cruiser. Sorry. Love how it even has the AEGIS array and the SONAR bubble on the bow. Very well do

    Do naval vessels (American or British) typically have large rocket engines in their aft quarters?

    You're both wrong, I'm afraid. It's quite clearly a Republic heavy cruiser from the Star Wars prequels. ;-) It's beautifully done, even duplicating the color scheme of Republic livery.
    Read more

  • Some LEGO sets look almost impossible to build:
    "M. S. Escher's Staircase" -


    His name is M.C. Escher or Maurits Cornelis Escher.
    Read more

  • I loved the Leningrad Cowboys! This is a terrific song and they all looked like they were having a great time. Just shows how music really is the universal language! Watching this gives me hope that someday we could all live together as friends. Totally fun!
    Read more

  • I wish you enable yourr site with http://piclens.com, just view ur cool things with cool view
    Read more

  • The "vintage arrangement" above is Toto's keyboardist, Steve Porcaro, arranging the wiring on his analog synth system in the studio, probably sometime in 1977-78 or so. I recognize the face, even though I've never seen that actual picture. Back in those days, synths came in "stacks", since they were pretty much analog. Nowadays, just like computers, one digital keyboard system replaces that entire mess...
    Read more

  • Oops! I was wrong. That pic was from 1982. More info, and more pictures of studios, here: http://usuarios.lycos.es/audionautas/Paranoias/santuarios6.htm
    Read more

  • I reckon the first pipe pictures loop is t prevent an open sewer connection, and so takes care of any smell.
    The blue one seems like a diy radiator.
    Read more

  • The first pipe loop looks like a moisture catch...it has a drain tap.
    Read more

  • The scary part is when places network older buildings, they look just like the first picures of cables in a crawl space.
    Read more

  • The 'unnecessary' bends in the pipes are mostly to allow the pipes to expand and contract (due to thermal changes) without breaking - since a pipe can BEND OK, but they don't COMPRESS (longitudinally) very well at all!
    Read more

  • Quelle 2 = http://www.offtop.ru/misi/v20_579528__.php
    Read more

  • Quelle2= http://www.offtop.ru/misi/v20_579528__.php
    Read more

  • Soundtrack for this post: "La vida es llena de cables" (Life is full of wires), by Los Samplers.

    Los Samplers is one of Uwe Schmidt (Atom-Heart, Señor Coconut) experimental music alter-egos.

    You can hear the track here at the end of the post, there is a player.
    Read more

  • The blue spirally pipe must be a wall heater...
    Read more

  • Similar,
    vintage wiring.
    Read more

  • Priceless... I honestly laughed more at this wonderful collection than any other I have ever seen. The smooth transition to pipe was such a stupendous surprise!.. thank you.

    Personal fav.... russian white pipes pic, monkey with dangerous cable 2nd.
    Read more

  • now try to tell me that first pic wont overheat..?
    Read more

  • Geez, Blade Runner and Brazil are coming to pass!
    Read more

  • Hey a page on the neatest wiring would be cool - I've seen some awesomely anal server rooms!!
    Read more

  • Those phone wires actually aren't that bad. I mean, they're not attractive, but as long as they all go where they say they're going, then the tangles don't really matter.

    Until you get a short or an open halfway down the cable. Then you're fucked no matter what.
    Read more

  • That picture of the Pope looks like something hellish from Dante's Inferno.
    Read more

  • About the pope picture : At first glance, I tought it was a scuplture from H. R. Giger!
    Read more

  • I forgot to say that the baby sculpture was creepy!
    Read more

  • The picture of the guy with parrot could have been taken in Tucson, AZ. I have seen just a guy like him (same bike but with longer hair) and a scarlet macaw on Oracle road over a year ago. I also seem to see Mount Lemon in the background. The macaw was enjoying itself a lot and would walk all over his back during traffic stops. The moment the guy was driving off, the parrot hunkered down behind him and occasionally sticked his head into the wind.
    Read more

  • 1 with the cat is kinds sad because somewhere in japan i think they do something like that...
    Read more

  • If you are ever find yourself driving down I-90 and feel the need to stop into Mitchell to see the "famous" Corn Palace - Don't. Those pictures are enough.

    (BTW - I live in Mitchell, SD)
    Read more

  • Dark Roasted Blend- Cute cat pictures do not good content make.
    Read more

  • I'd like to have that baby doll. I'd find random people in public and toss it to them and tell them to "catch"!
    Read more

  • Great site! I'm a regular visitor. Next time you need some ice storm sculptures, check out these at our local airport:

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/10695746@N02/2340683807/in/set-72157604140007608/
    Read more

  • Thank you, kcav8or - will keep this on file for ice formations! glad you like drb :)
    Read more

  • WOW! Incredible pictures. Makes me think of an expedition of an alien planet, or maybe of aliens exploring Earth...

    The arctic ghost town and the mammoth bones (can that really be possible?) are also gems.

    To save anyone else who was interested from having to search through the Quark site, prices for a 16 day trip on the "50 Years of Victory" this year start at $23k and go up to $33k!
    Read more

  • They will lose their jobs in a few years because of global warming :-Þ
    Read more

  • Wow,awesome pics, but they make me feel a little cold... ;-P
    Read more

  • There is no such thing as global warming.

    It's a scam by the left to terrify the feeble minded.

    You see any global warming in those pictures?
    Read more

  • I can see why you choose to stay anonymous...
    Read more

  • nice shots although I believe those are whale bones, not mammoth
    Read more

  • There is no such thing as global warming.

    It's a scam by the left to terrify the feeble minded.

    You see any global warming in those pictures?

    --

    Shut up and come back when you've done some research.
    Read more

  • Among all the posts of Dark Roasted Blend, an absolutely great site, the frequent Russian posts are distinguished by their almost uniform excellence. Speaking just for myself, but I suspect many others too, I would love to see a specialized DRB "Best of Russia" site.

    And please, let's stop name calling and rudeness not only on DRB, but all forums.
    Read more

  • Best of Russia, eh?
    Probably worth a separate category... good idea.
    Read more

  • You sure about that 75000 horsepower figure? That seems rather low. A single 747 engine gets about twice that.
    Read more

  • That's what quoted on "Quark" site. Wiki also mentions 171 megawatt output for each reactor.
    Read more

  • Nuclear-powered icebreakers? North Pole? Which travel agency I have to go to?
    Read more

  • This is simply an amazing post. The photography is more than outstanding. Such huge icebreakers and sitting so low in the water.....2 nuke reactors on one ship.....WOW!
    Read more

  • Wow, that was one of the best post from the past few days (along with the radioactive mines exploration one.)

    The part with the bears is so sweet! (pun)
    Read more

  • 171 megawatts * 2 is much more reasonable!


    171 megawatts = 229314 horsepower
    2 * 171 megawatts = 458629 horsepower
    Read more

  • To anonymous:

    Sure, theres no such thing as global warming...

    ...And the earth is, of course, flat.

    Hopefully, you got the sarcasm. Instead of mindlessly regurgitating a political line, perhaps educating yourself would be a good idea. (As its obvious your IQ score wouldn't even buy a candy bar).
    Read more

  • Global warming .. I agree with Mr Anonymous...this was the coldest Winter in 80 years for the entire globe. Maybe you should quit buying the party line and start doing some research. Back in the 1970's we were headed into a new ice age...everyone freaked out like you are now. Don't kid yourself, the planet is a lot bigger and has more staying power than you do/will.
    Read more

  • Great photos !!
    Read more

  • What a bunch of jerks for feeding the bears condensed milk in a can. Firstly, the bear runs a risk of choking to death, secondly, the metal can tear its mouth and internal organs to shreds, and lastly, must we pollute every nook and cranny on this bloody planet?
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  • What an amazing piece. Thank you very much for posting this.


    There has been some global warming, just as there has been global cooling in the past and the cycles have continued since there has been an earth.

    The new thing is the effort to blame any slight uptick trend on humans and the motivation is political, economic, and sociological because even if we were 100% to blame the situation could not be stopped, let alone reversed, without less than the entire world human population reverting to hunting/gathering and eschewing fire to cook the game--for hundreds of years. We might then see a tiny change of no significance.


    It's the sun, stupid.

    It's also global elites manipulating the masses to achieve goals that failed by other means.
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  • Anonymous, you obviosuly have never had sweetened condensed milk. Giving it to the bears is the best thing that could ever have happened to them (the bears, I mean).
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  • $23K for two weeks on an icebreaker, hmm. I didn't know you could buy a ticket on an icebreaker at all. I'd love to hear if anyone knows about any cheaper ways to get a ride on an icebreaker.

    thanks
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  • Don't blame global warming,blame the icebrakers for loseing the part of the ice-cap on top of the world which help the global image of depleeting ice formation,slicing in a straight line to the North Pole...don't blame the hunters of the Arctic on polar bear depleation...
    Those were not mammoth bones but Bow head whale bones...as usual false information...probiganda to blame the innocent habitants,shame...
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  • what is less known is that good share of Soviet-now-Russian icebreakers were done in Finland as part of their post-WWII retribution.
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  • A skeptic of the global warming alarmists leaves a comment, and everyone starts hurling insults?

    Did it ever occur to you that there are scientists who are skeptical of global warming? I guess you'll tell me that those are stupid scientists, simply because they don't believe what you think they should? Don't assume that anyone who disagrees is just ignorant.

    For some valid arguments, and SCIENTIFIC DATA against the global warming scare, visit

    http://www.globalwarminghoax.com/about

    Unless you're just too afraid that you might be wrong.
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  • What is also less known is that those MIR deep sea subs are both made in Finland. Based on the quality of the soviet/russian tech I presume that the only thing soviet that made its way to the north pole were the crews on board.
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  • Great pics, and I'm sure it was a thrill to feed the bears, but why did you give them a CAN? I'm sure that feeding them a can that will get chewed into sharp chunks of metal is a great way to help an endangered species. To the guy that said this was the best thing that ever happened to the bears; What the hell are you talking about? A slow painful death is good?
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  • Ya, about the milk. Why didn't they just freeze it on deck, cut it open then throw them the chunk of iced milk? Not like they had no means of freezing a can of condensed milk and I KNOW they had time. You'd think a crew of engineers would have a little more ingenuity. Those pictures are really great.
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  • have you ever stop for sec to think it could be possible that somone accildentally drop the can? jus maybe this friendly japanesse were drinking some in the edge of de ship to admire the viw and his wife in a lovely hug make him drope it? we most learn to see beyond our sight....golobal warming? who knows,most of the humans do nothing about serious problems such as disease, hungry nacions,etc...i guess you took that for granted....stop fighting and beeing disrespectful to others...do something about it.
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  • About the mystery picture:

    I think it was taken in the Republic of San Marino, a small independent state in the middle of the Italian Republic. It's on its eastern medieval ramparts, facing a sheer (and very high) cliff to the right.
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  • Yes, I confirm.
    This is a famous "passeggiata delle streghe" (witchs' promenade).
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  • another picture:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Sanmarino5.jpg
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  • The Urban Surprise picture was taken in Venice. It is an (I think temporary) art object in front of one of the city's many museums located at the Canal Grande.

    Esther D., The Netherlands
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  • That are a lot of cats in one tree!
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  • Thank you for the San Marino info - post updated.
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  • http://www.core77.com/competitions/GreenerGadgets/projects/4609/

    About the "weird" toilet seat.
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