Fantastic Landscapes of the Bolivian Salt Lake

"QUANTUM SHOT" #44


Salar de Uyuni - Bolivian Salt Lake and islands

The Bolivia's Salar de Uyuni is perhaps one of the most spectacular landscapes in the world. A magnificent area with an impressive Salt Desert (the world's largest), active volcanoes, tall cacti islands and geyser flats, it exists like an alien mirage, something completely out-of-this-world...


(image credit: Yves Dumaresq)


(image credit: desman)

One travelogue goes like this:"...We finally reached the salt flats. Imagine being surrounded by endless white salt covered by a few inches of water. Without any reference points the sky meets the salt and creates an odd illusion that objects in the flats are flying. I had never seen anything like it... The truck drove through the salt flats and stopped at an island full of cacti. We had lunch on a table made of a large salt tablet and eventually stopped at a hotel made completely of salt."

- here the salts are gathered...


(image credit: calimero74)


- bizarre islands with giant cacti:


(image credit: vado)




(images credit: leo61)

- "a stone tree":




- a haunted train cemetery:





- a geyser's valley:




(image credit: leo61)




(image credit: desman)


(image credit: desman)

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Source: Gigazine, more photos are at Trek-Earth

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Electric Light Truck Decoration in Japan

"QUANTUM SHOT" #43


"Decotora" Trucks Shine in the Night

What happens if a Japanese truck "dies and goes to heaven?" It becomes one of the glorified "Decotora" trucks! Decorated trucks, vans and semis glow in the night with the million lights, adding to the already incredibly bright Japanese urban landscape.
(click to enlarge images)







They might not look very refined in the daylight, but at night they shine in the most inimitable way. If you meet such an embellished apparition on a highway at midnight, it may either scare you off the road, or cause you to start to believe in alien encounters. The amount of chrome on these babies is probably equal to a monthly chrome production of a small African republic. I have to admit I'm still scratching my head after seeing this.







"Decotora" mod culture is not only for trucks. They make similiar modifications to
- Bicycles:



- Jeeps:


...and if you'll allow them they will outfit in the same way your refrigerator :)

Pink Tentacle has a few more links to explore, and you can read Wikipedia article about it. Disneyland’s Electric Parade should seriously consider importing a few of these vehicles...

(other image sources: 1, 2, 3)

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Category: Auto
Related Posts: Scary Trucks
Russian Ballistic Missile Carriers

Dark Roasted Blend's Photography Gear Picks:

Steampunk'd Airplane

"QUANTUM SHOT" #42


This "wooden" airplane surfaced in Ukraine, a cool "Victorian" mod

One of the Ukrainian small plane manufacturers Aeroprakt Company has come up with an interesting plane modification:





The original model A-22 looked like this:

Source: Link

UPDATE: This wooden look turns out to be only a custom paint job. Looks neat, though. I guess we will have to keep dreaming on to see one day such concepts as on this page:


These are steampunk airplane transformers.

Retro-futuristic Aviation Helmet

To Order with the previous "wooden" airplane - this
TRANSDIMENSIONAL HELMET
- leather aviation helmet, wired with a pair of concealed headphones (and who knows what else...). It looks like something out of the Moebius comic book. It is actually part of the props made for the Cthulhu Lives! game environment (more here)




BTW, Russia probably does not need steampunk props, as it dwells already in a time-warp, source of endless inspiration to SF writers :)

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Kids, Parents and Tiny Animals on Fingers

"QUANTUM SHOT" #41 Link - by A. Abrams PARENTING FUN AND GAMES Our little son Benjamin is one month old tomorrow. We are absorbed in the parenting adventure, and my mind is largely occupied by the cuteness (and the occasional "gross-ness") of it all. To celebrate the cuteness, here is the most adorable page on the internet, which I just "stumbled upon": Tiny Animals on Fingers ...is just what it says. Marvelous Flickr photo set of cute critters clutching to, and climbing over, our fingers, thumbs and pinkies. Click here to savour the whole set.. Be careful! It can give you "cuteness overdose" in a wink! A few examples: The moth above is not technically an animal, but it's verrry furrry nonetheless... I can almost feel their little feet on my fingers. Wonderful sensation. (images via 1, 2) ...but time to return to parenting realities: Wry Baby will provide you with a handy chart to split your responsibilities (click to enlarge): and will help you to reflect on the changes the baby has brought into your life: And this brave Swedish company will sell you the "friendly pee- and poo- companions" as plush toys (to help parents psychologically cope with these "baby by-products", perhaps) - Interesting things you find out when you have sons I received this in my mail not too long ago. It probably has been around for some time, but I got a kick out of it. Especially since we have 2 boys now, and our oldest son is a wonderfully active 6 year old :) You find out interesting things when you have sons, like... 1. A king size waterbed holds enough water to fill a 2000 sq. ft. house 4 inches deep. 2. If you spray hair spray on dust bunnies and run over them with roller blades, they can ignite. 3. A 3-year old Boy's voice is louder than 200 adults in a crowded restaurant. 4. If you hook a dog leash over a ceiling fan, the motor is not strong enough to rotate a 42 pound Boy wearing Batman underwear and a Superman cape. It is strong enough, however, if tied to a paint can, to spread paint on all four walls of a 20x20 ft. room. 5. You should not throw baseballs up when the ceiling fan is on. When using a ceiling fan as a bat, you have to throw the ball up a few times before you get a hit. A ceiling fan can hit a baseball a long way. 6. The glass in windows (even double-pane) doesn't stop a baseball hit by a ceiling fan. 7. When you hear the toilet flush and the words "uh oh", it's already too late. 8. Brake fluid mixed with Clorox makes smoke, and lots of it. 9. A six-year old Boy can start a fire with a flint rock even though a 36-year old Man says they can only do it in the movies. 10. Certain Lego's will pass through the digestive tract of a 4- year old Boy. 11. Play dough and microwave should not be used in the same sentence. 12. Super glue is forever. 13. No matter how much Jell-O you put in a swimming pool you still can't walk on water. 14. Pool filters do not like Jell-O. 15. VCR's do not eject "PB & J" sandwiches even though TV commercials show they do. 16. Garbage bags do not make good parachutes. 17. Marbles in gas tanks make lots of noise when driving. 18. You probably DO NOT want to know what that odor is. 19. Always look in the oven before you turn it on; plastic toys do not like ovens. 20. The fire department in Austin, TX has a 5-minute response time. 21. The spin cycle on the washing machine does not make earthworms dizzy. 22. It will, however, make cats dizzy. 23. Cats throw up twice their body weight when dizzy. 24. 80% of Women will pass this on to almost all of their friends, with or without kids. 25. 80% of Men who read this will try mixing the Clorox and brake fluid. By the way, the recent series of "Yes, it blends!" videos here and on YouTube, strikes the fear in my heart what kids might do with our blender... Better go hide it now, see ya in a bit... One of Marilyn's childhood pictures? - (image via) Also read: Nightmares and Joys of Parenting in 3 Parts! Permanent Link......+StumbleUpon ...+Facebook Category: Animals,Humor