Land of Odd: Odd Facts

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Just Think of it...

• There is a chemical waste dump in the Soviet Union that is twice as big as the whole state of Vermont.
• More than half-a-million trees are used every Sunday to produce America's Sunday newspapers.
• Two to four million tons of oil leak into the Soviet water table every year from the Siberian pipeline.
• Americans use eight times more fuel than people anywhere else in the world.

• Over seven percent of adult Americans are alcoholics.
• The screaming of an upset baby can damage your hearing. Kids can scream at levels up to 90 decibels, and permanent damage can be caused at 85 dB. One dB is the minimum amount of sound detectable by the human ear.
• Last year 81 million Americans got sick from food poisoning and 9,000 of them died.
• Sixty-six people per day are killed by drunk drivers. This is down from 70 per day as it was a couple of years ago.
• Every day in America, the average office worker goes through 2.5 pounds of paper. This is more than before computers were common. Computers were originally expected to bring about a condition known as the "paperless office."
• Americans throw 694 plastic bottles into the trash every second.
• The rain in New York carries so much acid from pollution that it has killed all the fish in 200 lakes in the Adirondack State Park.
• The world's smog is so thick that astronomers are complaining.
• We grow more tobacco than wheat in America.
• 11,000 cigarettes are lighted every second, just in America.
• There are three million new cigarette smokers in America each year.
• You can accidentally kill yourself by drinking over 40 cups of coffee in one day. The amount of caffeine is sufficient to cause respiratory failure.

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Land of Odd: Strange Cars

Sort of like a convertible ?












A very unique concept car from Volvo












High Heel Shoe
It looks just about as comfortable as a pair of high heels, too. Is it a car, a shoe, or a motorcycle? Yes

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Land of Odd: Who Could Possibly Live In This House ?

Land of Odd
"You are looking at pictures of our family home in Wales. It was built by myself and my father in law with help from passers by and visiting friends. 4 months after starting we were moved in and cosy. I estimate 1000-1500 man hours and £3000 put in to this point. Not really so much in house buying terms (roughly £60/sq m excluding labour).

The house was built with maximum regard for the environment and by reciprocation gives us a unique opportunity to live close to nature. Being your own (have a go) architect is a lot of fun and allows you to create and enjoy something which is part of yourself and the land rather than, at worst, a mass produced box designed for maximum profit and convenience of the construction industry. Building from natural materials does away with producers profits and the cocktail of carcinogenic poisons that fill most modern buildings."

Some key points of the design and construction:

• Dug into hillside for low visual impact and shelter
• Stone and mud from diggings used for retaining walls, foundations etc.
• Frame of oak thinnings (spare wood) from surrounding woodland
• Reciprocal roof rafters are structurally and aesthaetically fantastic and very easy to do
• Straw bales in floor, walls and roof for super-insulation and easy building
• Plastic sheet and mud/turf roof for low impact and ease
• Lime plaster on walls is breathable and low energy to manufacture (compared to cement)
• Reclaimed (scrap) wood for floors and fittings
• Anything you could possibly want is in a rubbish pile somewhere (windows, burner, plumbing, wiring...)
• Woodburner for heating - renewable and locally plentiful
• Flue goes through big stone/plaster lump to retain and slowly release heat
• Fridge is cooled by air coming underground through foundations
• Skylight in roof lets in natural feeling light
• Solar panels for lighting, music and computing
• Water by gravity from nearby spring
• Compost toilet
• Roof water collects in pond for garden etc.

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More on Land of Odd:
Land of Odd: Drunk Builders, Or What ?

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Land of Odd: Drunk Builders, Or What ?

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Summary only...