In frigid northeastern China, in the city of Harbin is hosting its 26th annual International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival. Massive buildings built of ice from the frozen surface of the nearby Songhua River, large scale snow sculptures, ice slides, festival food and drinks can be found in several parks in the city. At night, visitors who endure the bitter cold will see the lights switched on, illuminating the sculptures from both inside and outside. This year's festival opened yesterday, January 5th, and will remain open until some time in February. Collected here are several photos from just before the festival, and of the opening night. (31 photos total)
Here is the scenario. You are trying to fly. While waiting at the airport some nincompoop walks around the security checkpoint. All the sudden you and thousands of your closest friends are delayed while security tries to find the perpetrator and re-screen everyone in the terminal. Talk about a grand 'ol lemon moment.
Well, by now you know that happened Sunday night at Newark airport. Fortunately for many of the passengers they had a lemonade maker in their midst. Josh Wilson, a "Contemporary Christian musician" broke out his guitar and led the group in song.
I’ve been a fan of Josh Wilson now for a while. His music is powerful and he’s truly one of the good guys. Don’t know if you’ve seen this video yet, but if you haven’t you’ve got to watch this.
Josh was stuck, along with thousands of other travelers, as police were searching for the perpetrator of the security breach at the Newark airport on Sunday night. So how do you react when your plans are totally ruined and you’re surrounded by a bunch of unhappy, impatient, travelers in Newark’s Terminal C? Why not bust out in a song, right?
My inside source tells me that CNN and Inside Edition have been trying to contact Josh to ask him about the event but he’s actually in India with his wife on a mission trip. Just one more reason to be a huge fan!
I just read the following statement from Mark Batterson in his new book, Primal. He said,
"In my experience, it’s much easier to act like a Christian than it is to react like one. Anyone can put on an act. But your reactions reveal what is really in your heart."
How true and convicting is that? How do you react when you’re caught in less than ideal circumstances? Like everyone else around you, or can you rise above the circumstances and react with joy, love, and maybe even a song.
The present commander of the International Space Station, Jeff Williams, recently mounted two HD camcorders together to give an interesting perspective on flying through the International Space Station.
The resulting video provides a really cool perspective on the station.
I found this article very interesting. Click on either of the pictures to read the full NY Times article.
For Atsushi Nakanishi, jobless since Christmas, home is a cubicle barely bigger than a coffin — one of dozens of berths stacked two units high in one of central Tokyo’s decrepit “capsule” hotels.
“It’s just a place to crawl into and sleep,” he said, rolling his neck and stroking his black suit — one of just two he owns after discarding the rest of his wardrobe for lack of space. “You get used to it.”
When Capsule Hotel Shinjuku 510 opened nearly two decades ago, Japan was just beginning to pull back from its bubble economy, and the hotel’s tiny plastic cubicles offered a night’s refuge to salarymen who had missed the last train home.
Now, Hotel Shinjuku 510’s capsules, no larger than 6 1/2 feet long by 5 feet wide, and not tall enough to stand up in, have become an affordable option for some people with nowhere else to go as Japan endures its worst recession since World War II.
Now that it’s January, it’s time to prepare for two things: the NFL playoffs and terrifyingly low wind chill reports. What does it really mean when my weatherman is telling me that it feels like minus-20 in Chicago, though? Is there a wind chill thermometer somewhere, or is he just using a mathematical formula? Let’s answer these and some of the other pressing questions about the ubiquitous winter statistic.
Click the image above to read the MentalFloss blog post.
