Rabih Dagher

If you’ve never watched this documentary, then I urge you to do so unless you have a weak heart.

Earthlings is a 2005 multi-award-winning documentary about speciesism by Shaun Monson. The film was narrated by Hollywood actor and animal rights activist Joaquin Phoenix. Earthlings also features a score by musician and activist Moby, who’s one of my favourite musicians.

The documentary is about the suffering of animals for food, fashion, pets, entertainment and medical research. It is nicknamed “the Vegan maker” for its sensitive footage shot at animal shelters, factory farms, slaughterhouses, circuses etc… The film took around six years to complete because of the difficulty in obtaining footage within these profitable industries.

You can watch the documentary online for free at www.earthlings.com .

Watch the trailer below. Viewer discretion is advised:

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If you think the Man Bra is weird, well check this out.

Ever been in the middle of something, then realized you really want a game of golf? Well the Japanese lingerie manufacturer Triumph have come up with a solution: a putting mat bra. The bra can be transformed into a 1.5 meter long putting green which is fully equipped along with a special skirt to ensure silence during the game.

Check it out in the video below:

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Where would you find the weirdest creations on earth?

Japanese online lingerie shop Wishroom has recently unveiled a strange addition to its new product line: the Man Bra. Strangely, the $30-dollar Man Bra is now Wishroom’s fastest-selling men’s garment. The Man Bra comes in three colours - black, white, and of course, pink.

Check it out in the video below:

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After bringing you the Beer Bath in Czech Republic and the Chocolate Bath in Hanoke, Japan, a new type of bath will be added to the list. It’s the Noodle Bath, again in Hanoke, Japan.

The Yunessan Spa House have launched a bath containing noodles and broth for their customers. Health authorities have banned edible noodles , so a synthetic noodle is used. A noodle bath is apparently good for the skin, and can increase metabolism.

Check it out in the video below:

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Now, I feel like doing laundry.

In Hamburg, Germany, the Wash-Bar is no ordinary laundromat. It’s in fact a disco laundromat! While the spin dryers get to work, DJs spin tunes for the customers. The laundromat even serves food and drinks.

Check it out in the video below:

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I have previously blogged about beer bath as the ultimate relaxation treat, but for non-alcoholics or chocolate lovers, these top it all. They are the latest craze in Valentine’s gifts: the chocolate spa in Israel and the chocolate bath in Hanoke, Japan.

Check them out in the video below:

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The New York Cat Show in 2004 was the first public exhibition of cloned cats. Three cats, which were named after Lebanese culinary dishes, wowed the visitors. These cats were Tabouli, Baba Ganoush, and their genetic donor Tahini. At 50,000$ for the clone, Tabouli and Baba Ganoush are two of the most expensive cats in the world.

Check them out in the video below:

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If you’ve been dreaming about flying a personal jetpack for way too long, then your wait is finally over! Jetlev Sports Inc. is proud to introduce the Jetlev-Flyer, the recreational jetpack almost anyone can enjoy over water. But just one thing, it’s priced around 130,000$.

Check it out in the promotional video below:

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In Tokyo, Japan, this recital is the only one of its kind in the world, since most of the audience members… are asleep. In this two-day event called “Dolce Heavenly Concert”, spectators are invited to relax in luxury beds and since it’s sponsored by Haagen-Dazs, they are provided with as much ice cream as they can eat.

Check it out in the video below:

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The Kayabukiya Tavern in Utsunomiya, Japan, employs two waiters with special background: they are both macaque monkeys. If you’re wondering how they are tipped, well they earn boiled soybeans as tips. Though in line with animal regulations, they only work for two hours a day.

Watch them while they’re working in the video below:

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In October 2007, the Japanese firm NTT DoCoMo unveiled a prototype “fitness phone”. Designed to help you stay fit, it has devices that measure burnt calories, heart rate, and even body fat. But most useful of all, the phone can tell you if you have a bad breath. An alcohol-breathalyzer is apparently due next.

Check it out in the video below:

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In Uttar Pradesh, India, the 29 year old Saroj Kumar claims to be shock proof. To demonstrate this, he plays with high-tension electrical cables and holds naked live wires. Saroj discovered his ‘gift’ when his village got electricity six years ago. He claimed that after touching two naked wires, he emerged unhurt.

Watch Saroj Kumar in the video below:

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The Chodovar brewery in Chadova Plana, Czech Republic, has come up with the ultimate relaxation treat that draws people from all over Europe: a beer bath.

According to its creator Dr. Roman Vokaty, the mineral water in the bath relieves the carbon dioxide which highly impact the capillaries and allows muscle relaxation. The bath also contains beer with additives which are good for the skin, because of the vitamin B and the ale yeast. These have a very positive effect against skin illnesses.

Nevertheless, drinking your bath water is generally frowned upon.

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I strongly believe that every now and then we should interact with the public in some way or another because it relieves us from the life of robot that most of us live. A very good illustration of my point would be in the interactive big screen stuck out in the middle of a heavy pedestrian traffic area in Liverpool in September 2009.

Check out this idea made by Chris O’Shea below:

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NASA’s twin Stereo spacecrafts “Behind” and “Ahead” captured rare footage of the Sun erupting over about a 30-hour period between 26 and 27 September 2009. The eruption was so large that the spacecrafts were able to observe it for hours on end, one of the few times this has occurred.

Check it out in the video below by BBC:

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Fuamen, which is located in Nagoya, Japan, is the newest addition to the list of funky Japanese restaurants. Standing for ‘Fully Automated Ramen’, this restaurant prepares Ramen - which is a Japanese noodle dish - using robots!

Launched by the robot manufacturer Aisei, the restaurant’s robot chefs even put the food into bowls and serve it. The entire process of making the noodles takes a minute and 40 seconds. In their downtime, the robots also spin plates and fight each other with kitchen implements.

Check them out in the video below:

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Aged 23, Jyotiraju from Karnataka, India, has a special skill: scaling walls with no rope. He got the nickname ‘Monkey King’ when he started imitating manoeuvres of monkeys while jumping and climbing up trees and walls.

Climbing walls and buildings is not something new, and people already do that such as the famous French spiderman Alain Robert, who scaled more than 85 skyscrapers around the world, most of them using his bare hands. But Jyotiraju adds an artistic touch to it, especially with his his signature move, the Backflip.

I recommend you watching him and his signature move in the video below:

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Among Hong Kong’s many bars, this one is fairly unique. Customers do not come here for alcohol, but instead they come for something else: oxygen. Check it out below in the video from Diagonal View:

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An Indonesian woman has given birth to an 8.7 kilograms (19.2 pounds) baby boy, the heaviest newborn ever recorded in the country, a doctor said Wednesday.

The baby, who is named ‘Akbar’ which in Arabic means ‘Great’, is 62 centimeters (24.4 inches) long and was born by cesarean section last week at a public hospital in North Sumatra province. He’s got strong appetite and the way he cries is very loud. The boy’s massive size was likely the result of his mother, Ani, 41, having diabetes.

Check how big he is compared to other babies in the video below by ITV News:

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I like it when religions update themselves. And now, religion takes to the catwalk as these British priests show off the very latest Spring/Summer Clerical Collection. Enjoy the show:

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I do believe that worshiping God should be fun, and should take any form the devotee is comfortable with, so I’ll introduce this church in Bogota, Colombia. Named ‘Pantokrator’ (Greek for ‘All Powerful’), this Colombian church is designed for devotees who want to express themselves through heavy metal.

Check it out in the video below by Diagonal View:

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I like it when people create things out of a need they had, and this innovation is one of them, but sadly enough it didn’t pick up. I would have found a use for it at the time when I used to smoke. Check out the self-lighting cigarette that was created in Seoul, South Korea, in 1972 by Whang Kyu-bong in the video below:

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In Tokyo, Japan, a diner has taken a new turn where the customers are served by ‘french maids’. However in this restaurant, all waitresses are… Find out below in the video from Diagonal View:

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It’s the most bizarre weather accessory you never knew you needed. Check it out in the video below by Diagonal View:

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You can now watch the movie Home by Yann Arthus-Bertrand below. For those who don’t know about it, HOME is an ode to the planet’s beauty and its delicate harmony. Through the landscapes of 54 countries captured from above, Yann Arthus-Bertrand takes us on an unique journey all around the planet, to contemplate it and to understand it.

By bringing us unique footage from the Earth and sharing with us his wonder and his concern, Yann Arthus-Bertrand lays a foundation stone for the world that, together, we must rebuild. The film HOME intends to shift people’s perceptions, to make us aware of the tectonic movements at work and to incite us to act.

More than a movie, HOME will be a major event around the globe: for the first time ever, a film will be released on the same day in over 50 countries. June 5th 2009, World Environment Day has been chosen as the highly symbolic date for this simultaneous, and free of charge, release on every format: movie theatre, TV, DVD and Internet. The aim of director Yann Arthus-Bertrand is to reach the widest possible audience, and to convince us all of our individual and collective responsibility towards the planet.

Watch it below:

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