La Conchinchina

Interviewer: What are your plans when this movie [Fitzcarraldo] is all over?

The arm folding intros for the World Cup always keep me entertained. Enjoy the best one, and some of the worst ones.  "How does I fold arms?"

Last time we visited the Department of Awesome Natural Wonders we drank in the majesty of one of the oldest, tallest trees in the world. Today we’d like to direct your attention to the forest floor. Photographer Steve Axford lives in the Northern Rivers area of New South Wales, Australia and spends his time seeking out and photographing rare plants, animals, fungi, and sometimes even people. Axford has traveled to remote locations in order to document - sometimes for the very first time - some of the world’s strangest and most diverse mushrooms and other fungi. His stunning photos capture their incredibly varied and alien forms as well as their astonishing beauty.

We can only share a small sample of Steve’s work in a single post, so be sure to visit his Flickr and SmugMug accounts to view more of his photos.

Scottish artist Jessica Harrison created a beautiful new series of exquisitely rendered porcelain figures entitled The Painted Ladies. Each piece depicts an elegant woman with delicate features, dressed in a lovely ball gown, whose skin is covered in traditional tattoos.

The Painted Ladies are part of Harrison’s first solo exhibition, FLASH, currently showing at the Galerie L.J. in Paris through June 24, 2014.

Norway has just emerged as a challenger for Japan’s title as Masters of Awesome Cuteness. These photos were taken on the set of “Piip-Show”, a live reality tv show following the lives of a cast comprised of wild birds and the occasional squirrel. Conceived by Norwegian freelance photographer Magne Klann, the show takes place on a set which is an outdoor bird feeder modeled after Java, a well-known coffee shop in Oslo, Norway.

“Different personalities meet inside the bar. Among others a short tempered nuthatch, a blue tit with the memory of a gold fish, a happy-go-lucky great tit, and a depressed bullfinch. Like in any other bar there is bickering, petty theft, fighting and attempts at romance”.

We can’t help but try to pair these animals with various cast members from Seinfeld.

Billed as the very first reality show for birds, the “Piip-Show" is a three-month-long project that’s being broadcast live on the Norwegian broadcasting network NRK.

Click here to watch the “Piip-Show” online