The Mona Lisa experience

When I encountered this picture on the web last weekend, I was stunned - I have seen the Mona Lisa at the Louvre, and this is not at all like I remembered. Turns out that in April 2005 the painting was moved to a new location within the museum, where it is displayed in a purpose-built, climate-controlled enclosure behind bulletproof glass. About 6 million people view the painting at the Louvre each year - and most of them from a distance by the looks of it. Baffling that the tourists flock together to catch a glimpse of this one, rather than spend their time leisurely looking in detail at all the other treasures. First seen here.

Storseisundet bridge

I have blogged about this special Norwegian bridge before in Art for Art's Sake, but this angle on "the bridge to nowhere" is really special. First seen here.

The 20 worst Life covers

What makes this list of 20 worst Life Magazine covers of all time so special is that the magazine editors compiled it themselves. This gem is from December 1967, and in their own words "Mix one part LSD with one part liberal guilt, drop a black-and-white photo on top of a multi-colored illustration, and you get . . . . this." Highly recommended to click through them all. First seen here.

Music everywhere

I would love to credit whomever it was that made this little masterpieces of musical instrument insects crawling over music sheets. Simply love it. First seen here.

Liza(rd) Minelli

Ever since our years in Singapore I despise gekko's: they laid eggs in my laser printer and decomposed in the company's coffee machine. I would never have expected to see one of these critters draw a "cute" from me, but this one did. First seen here.

Canary Warf 3D - a new world record

This amazing 3D drawing at a street in London's Canary Warf is the new record holder for biggest 3D street artwork to date. The piece is nearly 350 ft long and measures 9,601 square feet. First seen here.

Fish eyes

I'm pretty sure I have seen such a photograph before (I may even have posted it here in the past), but it made me smile. So I decided to share it. First seen here.

Pointillism beagle

A wonderful piece by art student Joel Brochu. Inspired by the pointillism technique, he created this beagle portrait from over 200000 small and colourful nonpareils (tiny balls made from compressed sugar, used to decorate cookies). First seen here.

Mickey RIP

Simple, I know, but it did make me smile. Also because I never liked that mouse anyway (I thought the Southpark take on him was hilarious). First seen here.

Swinging necklace

This pendant is a great example of a lovely creative design that makes you go: why didn't I think of that? First seen here.

Liszt - My piano hero

Everything is so wrong with this one, even aside from the playing itself. The title is cheap, and that cover... Lang Lang's infamous orgastic face expression is bad enough, but in combination with that hands gesture and the psychedelic waving lines... Awful. Seen on any classical music site.

Top 10 most remote places on planet earth

A fascinating overview of the 10 most isolated places on earth, some predictable, some I had never heard of. An example is given above, La Rinconada, a small mining town in the Peruvian Andes. Located over 5000 m above sea level, La Rinconada is considered the “highest” city in the world, and it is this stunning geography that makes it so desolate. The city is located on a permanently frozen glacier, and can only be reached by truck via treacherous and winding mountain roads. First seen here.

Tianmen Mountain Skywalk

Maybe I am a bit more sensitive than most, because I suffer from vertigo, but the idiot who thought that it was a good idea to construct this treacherous mountain path of glass all around should be strung up. First seen here.

Moses bridge

This bridge with its apt nickname can be found in Halsteren in the south of the Netherlands. It connects to an ancient fort in an absolutely unique way. On my "to see for myself" list... First seen here.

Journey into microworld

An example taken from many in the link at the end. A great collection of scanning electron micrograph showing the world of small crystal close-ups in scenes that look like they come out of SF movies. This example is of complex tin oxide crystals made by chemical vapour deposition. First seen here.

Model Airplane News August 1934

Another lovely cover of days gone by for model aircraft enthousiasts - like myself when I was a teenager. Pure nostalgia, but not artistic enough for the under cover series in Art for Art's sake. First seen here.

iMania

Wonderful cartoons like this make me glad that we do not have children. Picked this one up in a slightly different version at 9gag.

Lulu

I have not heard a single note yet of the recently released cooperation between Metallica and Lou Reed, but the album cover is simply awful. It hurts me even more as Lulu is the name of my wife. First seen, well all over the place.

Best. Pillow case. Ever.

Fantastic design. Cute, original and to the point. Simply would love to have this. First seen here.

Catable

Whoever thought up this monstrosity should be banned forever from the design tables... First seen here.

The geek kamasutra

A wonderfully imaginative (and accurate) variation on the old kama sutra theme for the laptop age. Picked this one up at Google Plus without further reference.

Thirteen most bizarrely shaped islands on Earth

The linked site gives a great overview of 13 peculiarly shaped islands from all over the world. The winner is the heart-shaped one from Croatia depicted above. Well worth a click through. First seen here.

Shots on leaves

What an amazing idea: using leaves to print photographs on. I would love to give credit to whomever came up with these but the linked article does not give more information. First seen here.

Daliesque

One of those WTF shots you find on internet where you cannot even begin to imagine what it is all about. Daliesque for sure. First seen here.

Dragon

A magnificent piece of origami, this dragon by Shuki Kato. More of this artist in months to come. First seen here.

Spooning

Here is another one of those lovely scenes created by Terry Border from food, toys and bent office supplies. First seen here.

The Greek Euro

No further comment required. What a mess we have got ourselves in in the Euro zone. First seen here.

Out of the box

A wonderful piece of photoshopping, creating a fun picture that looks so real. First seen here.

Bear with me

Cuteness overdose alert. Simply love this. Don't know where I got it from, it's been on my hard disk for a while.

Ape Lincoln

I have seen plenty of shots using dollar bills in different ways, but this is one of the few that made me smile. First seen here.