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Eight Strange and Wonderful Statues from around the World

Ever since man’s predecessors figured out that they can use one stone to make holes in another, there have been statues and carvings.  As time and technology progressed, these creative endeavors became larger and more elaborate.  Most of the earliest examples of statues revolve around religious motivations, though there are plenty of different reasons for people to create art.  Statues have been erected to commemorate famous people, to convey legends and folklore, to show devotion to one religious belief or another and to demonstrate the spirit of a country or other cultural center.  Some of these have turned out grand and hold a place as remarkable artistic efforts.  Others, particularly modern ones, are more bizarre peculiarities than anything else.  Here, I’ve collected eight interesting statues from around the world, running the gambit from monumental to just plain insane.

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What is the concept?

The picture above all but sums up the concept of my first novel: A work of historical fiction that depicts the Doolittle Raid of WWII in a manner best described as Thirty Seconds over Tokyo meets "Band of Brothers." The way Jimmy Doolittle and his men (along with USS Hornet captain Marc Mitscher) are posing in the shot is especially evocative of promotional pics of the cast of "Band" like the one pi

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How come the bad authors almost always score big?

E.L. James is a best-selling author; she also has not talent whatsoever in my unvarnished opinion. How else could you describe a trilogy with wafer-thin plots, one-dimensional characters and an insipid writing style? To cap it all off, it was not even based on an original idea: Twilight fan fiction was the basis for James’ infamous Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy; a work of “literature” about as wholesome as dirty laundry. However, her much-vaunted trilogy has not won so much as a single award.

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Japanese soul food, bento boxes and Ryokan feasts

On a side street in the town of Sakai, a small restaurant sits emblazoned with welcoming banners full of kanji characters. Inside, two low tables are embedded with long, metal warming trays and seat no more than 20. Across the small space, two chefs chop and stir over a low griddle, pouring out round batters of eggy batter filled with seafood, wagu beef and vegetables in various combinations before spreading sauces on top.

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Mt. Denali and Mount Fuji are missing

Trips overseas can take months of planning. Visions of famous sites pepper the imagination. You feel yourself standing there – seeing, smelling and hearing it all. Venturing into the world takes a certain amount of surrender. Things however will never go completely according to plan – sometimes for the better and others not. That’s just part of the bargain. At some point, there’s only surrender. Here are two life-changing trips that turned out a bit differently than expected:

Alaska and Mount Denali:

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Snow Monkeys in spring

Five hours north of Tokyo by car, the freeway leads to a street in the city of Shibu Onsen in Nagona. The street follows the river and narrows, ending at a gravel lot. An elderly woman and her grandson sold us tickets and offered directions to the hot springs where the Snow Monkeys often sit. The air was a treat after Tokyo - clear and vibrant as we hiked along the path edging a tall forest and up a narrow river valley.

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6.5 animated movies for adults

If you're an animation fan looking for long-form entertainment, the pickings can be slim. By my calculations, about 99.8 percent of animated feature-length films are aimed at kids. And while the better ones (like Wall-E, Monsters Inc., and Brave) are fun for adults, too, sometimes you crave something a little more… sophisticated.

Image copyright Akira/Manga Entertainment

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Ashio Copper Mine, Japan

This week in urban exploration for the armchair traveler, another Japanese city-turned-wasteland.  This time around it’s the industry town of Ashiodozen, a place once known for being the center of copper production in Japan and one of the biggest providers of this metal in all of East Asia.  The Ashio copper mine and its desolate town are location north of Tokyo and make for a fairly convenient day trip for those interested in meandering through the wreckage of Japan’s industrial past.

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