All posts tagged: Wacky

Soar, Slide, Splash? It’s Skiers’ Choice as Spring’s Wacky Pond Skimming Tradition Returns

Soar, Slide, Splash? It’s Skiers’ Choice as Spring’s Wacky Pond Skimming Tradition Returns

Published by skeptic

GILFORD, N.H. (AP) — A costumed skier races down a slope, hits a pond and hydroplanes halfway across. He pirouettes and then plunges into the icy water before jumping up and waving to the cheering crowd. It’s the wacky spring tradition of pond skimming, and it’s happening this month at ski resorts across the country. It’s often held to celebrate the last day of the skiing season before the chairlifts close until the following winter. Among the resorts holding pond skimming events this weekend are Snowbasin in Utah and Winter Park in Colorado. Mountains in New England and California have already held events or have them scheduled for later in the month. The tradition dates back decades, made famous by the late filmmaker Warren Miller who began documenting the annual Mt. Baker Slush Cup in Washington state in the 1950s. These days, most resorts make their own ponds with plastic sheeting and water about 3 feet (1 meter) deep. The idea is that skiers and snowboarders try to gain enough downhill momentum to skim clear …

Vienna’s wacky Hundertwasser museum gets even greener

Vienna’s wacky Hundertwasser museum gets even greener

Published by skeptic

Hundertwasser oversaw the opening of the museum in 1991 – which holds the world’s largest collection of his work – after transforming the abandoned factory “according to his aesthetic ideals into a unique piece of art”, curator Andreas Hirsch told AFP as the new permanent exhibition opened. The artist described himself as a “doctor” repairing “sick” buildings to achieve harmony with nature. In one of his manifestos, he railed against “rationalism in architecture”, declaring that “the straight line is godless”. NAKED PROTESTS Born Friedrich Stowasser in Vienna in 1928 to a Jewish mother, Hundertwasser managed to survive the Nazis by passing himself off as a member of the Hitler Youth, wearing the swastika armband “as protection”. Almost 70 family members perished in the Holocaust. He later changed his name to Friedensreich Hundertwasser – meaning “Kingdom of peace, 100 waters” in German. Having suffered such tragedy, he was all the more eager “to achieve something great”, said Hirsch, who wrote two books on the artist. Hundertwasser designed more than 30 architectural projects all over the world …

The latest It-bag is a joke … Inside the wacky world of MSCHF | Fashion

The latest It-bag is a joke … Inside the wacky world of MSCHF | Fashion

Published by skeptic

February is often a dreary month – so a bit of fashion joy is always going to go down well. Enter, the Global Supply Chain handbag. It might not sound like a barrel of laughs but, this new design, a kind of Frankenstein of different It-bags – the Birkin, the Celine luggage bag, the Dior saddle bag and the Balenciaga hourglass handbag – is the work of Brooklyn-based company MSCHF. It is wonky, misproportioned and – to the right eyes – a witty comment on where we are at with the It-bag in 2024. To give you some context, MSCHF (pronounced “mischief”) is the group responsible for the Big Red Boot, which boinged its way across 2023 to the sound of laughter. Very much how they sound, the Big Red Boots were oversized and bright, something like the footwear worn by Japanese cartoon Astro Boy, or Sonic the Hedgehog. But, if those were literal cartoons, the Big Red Boots could be worn in the real world – and they were, by celebrities including Janelle Monáe, …

Wacky world of baby names: guess how much mine cost? | Baby names

Published by Sam

Taylor Humphrey can find you a baby name that fits your family’s personal brand, but it might cost you $30,000. That is the top end of what a package with the US-based baby-name consultant costs. Fortunately, she also offers a more accessible option for $350 and, for customers who are willing to share their experience of her service on social media, a $150 discount on any subsequent naming needs. A bargain, really. Humphrey, who set up her company What’s in a Baby Name in 2015, has helped a number of high-profile (albeit top-secret) clients find the perfect baby name. She’s now taken to TikTok, posting advice, sharing lists and solving baby-name dilemmas for her 70.1k followers. (Sibling for Florence? Tricky, apparently, because the name sits between “high renaissance” and “cutesy vintage”. Humphrey suggests, among others, Daphne for a girl and Arthur for a boy.) At the upper end of the spectrum, Humphrey caters to celebrities, influencers, professional athletes, politicians and tech executives, among others, who are keen on market research, brand-strategy development, feedback from thinktanks …