Strange Buildings - Part V: Basket Building - Ohio, USA

What started out as a dream by Dave Longaberger, Founder of The Longaberger Company, has been built into a giant basket to house the entire corporate offices of the company.
Dave believed the idea was one of his best and would draw attention to the company, while simultaneously helping to build the brand.
However, when he started spreading the idea of building a Home Office that was really a basket, he found that most people just thought that Dave was making a joke as Dave was a notorious practical joker.
Not only did the bankers, architects and construction companies not take Dave seriously, neither did many of the employees who worked for The Longaberger Company, but Dave persevered.
One of Dave's most admirable attributes was that when he had a dream and believed in it, he always found a way to accomplish it, and he did. Dave's dream was achieved on December 17, 1997 when the Home Office that is designed to resemble a basket finally opened for business.

In 1998, The Longaberger Home Office also received a Build Ohio Award for its synthetic plaster system.
The building is made of stucco over a steel structure, which helps create the look of an actual Longaberger Basket.
The Home Office continues to attract the attention of media from around the world, even as far away as Tokyo.
While the exterior of the Home Office is a marvel in itself, the building's interior is truly breathtaking.
A grand staircase, player piano and marble floors are just part of the beautiful décor of the building's seven story atrium. The majority of the cherry woodwork used in the Home Office was harvested from the Longaberger Golf Club in Hanover; dried in theirs facility; sawed and shaped at theirs Construction Woodshop; finished in theirs Construction Paint Booth and installed by theirs Construction Division.

The Home Office is a site worth touring whether you are on your way to Longaberger Homestead or any other Longaberger destination.

Bart's Blackboard

I do not have diplomatic immunity

in Marge in Chains, Episode 80, Season 4

Quem tem medo do lobo mau?!

Bart's Blackboard

I will return the seeing-eye dog

in Whacking Day, Episode 79, Season 4

Darwin Awards - Clotheslined!

Named in honor of Charles Darwin, the father of evolution, the Darwin Awards commemorate those who improve our gene pool by removing themselves from it.

Here's one of the most recent stories:


Clotheslined!

2008 Darwin Award Nominee - Confirmed True by Darwin
(13 January 2008, Florida)

Wearing only swim trunks and sneakers, a 37-year-old man raced his motorcycle toward the Manasota Key drawbridge.
As the bridge began to open, it was clear that he intended to "shoot the gap."
Bridge designers had anticipated such lunacy and invented the crossing guard.
The closing gates swept him off his Suzuki, over the side of the bridge, into the water, and out of the gene pool.
By a twist of fate the motorcycle continued up the ramp and made it across to the other side.


More stories in www.darwinawards.com. Don't miss it!

Bart's Blackboard

I will not sell miracle cures

in The Front, Episode 78, Season 4

A idade pesa a todos...

Wonderwoman


Thor

Superman

Spiderman

Hulk

Batman and Robin

Bart's Blackboard

No one is interested in my underpants

in So It's Come to This: a Simpsons Clip Show, Episode 77, Season 4

Alegria no Trabalho

Bart's Blackboard

Mud is not one of the 4 food groups

in Last Exit to Springfield, Episode 75, Season 4

Strange Buildings - Part IV: Le Palais Idéal - Hauterives, France

Ferdinand Cheval (1836 – 19 August, 1924), was a French postman who spent 33 years of his life building Le Palais Idéal (the "Ideal Palace") in Hauterives which is regarded as an extraordinary example of naïve art architecture.

Cheval began the building in April 1879. He claimed that he had tripped on a stone and was inspired by its shape. He returned to the same spot the next day and started collecting stones.

For the next 33 years, during his daily mail route, Cheval carried stones from his delivery rounds and at home used them to build his Palais idéal, the Ideal Palace. First he carried the stones in his pockets, then a basket and eventually a wheelbarrow. He often worked at night, by the light of an oil lamp.

Cheval spent the first two decades building the outer walls. The Palace is a mix of different styles with inspirations from the Bible to Hindu mythology. Cheval bound the stones together with lime, mortar and cement.

Cheval also wanted to be buried in his palace. However, since that is illegal in France, he proceeded to spend eight more years building a mausoleum for himself in the cemetery of Hauterives. Cheval died on August 19, 1924, around a year after he had finished building it, and is buried there.

In 1969 André Malraux, the Minister of Culture, declared the Palace as a cultural landmark and had it officially protected. Cheval's palace is open every day except Christmas Day and New Year's Day.

Bart's Blackboard

Goldfish don't bounce

in Duffless, Episode 75, Season 4

Fotos Famosas - Capítulo 13

"Protegendo a cria"

Uma mãe cruza o rio com os filhos, durante a guerra do Vietname, em 1965, fugindo da chuva de bombas americanas.

Bart's Blackboard

I will not call the principal "spud head"

in I Love Lisa, Episode 74, Season 4

Darwin Awards - Thou Shalt Not Steel

Named in honor of Charles Darwin, the father of evolution, the Darwin Awards commemorate those who improve our gene pool by removing themselves from it.

Here's one of the most recent stories:


Thou Shalt Not Steel
2008 Darwin Award Nominee - Confirmed True by Darwin
(8 March 2008, Czech Republic)

Steel is valuable, especially the high-grade alloy used in steel cable.
Scrap metal dealers do not ask questions. They pay in cash.

And a good supply of steel cable can be found in elevator shafts.

This particular gold mine was a towering shaft inside an empty granary near Zatec, forty miles northwest of Prague.
The cable was tightly fastened, and the far end of it disappeared into the shadowy distance above.
After substantial wear and tear on a hacksaw, our man finally cut through the strong steel cable.
At that instant the counterbalance, no longer held in check, started to move silently downward, accelerating until it reached the bottom of the shaft.

Result: one proud winner of a "terminal velocity" Darwin Award.


More stories in www.darwinawards.com. Don't miss it!

Bart's Blackboard

The principal's toupee is not a frisbee.

in Brother from the Same Planet, Episode 73, Season 4

Strange Buildings - Part III: Torre Galatea - Figueres, Spain

The first thing you notice are the giant egg sculptures along the roofline.

Then it hits you that the Salvador Dali Theater Museum in Figueras, Spain, is no ordinary building.

The museum’s tower, Torre Galatea, was named for the surrealist artist’s deceased wife, and Dali himself lived there until his death in 1989.

Interestingly, the museum sits next to the parish church where Dali was baptized in 1904; he is buried in an unmarked crypt in the museum’s main exhibition hall.

Bart's Blackboard

I will not yell "she's dead" during roll call.

in Selma's Choice, Episode 72, Season 4

Fotos Famosas - Capítulo 12

"Triunfo dos Aliados"

Esta fotografia do triunfo dos Aliados na Segunda Guerra, onde um soldado russo agita a bandeira soviética no alto de um prédio, demorou a ser publicada, porque as autoridades russas quiseram modificá-la.

A bandeira era, na verdade, uma toalha de mesa vermelha e o soldado aparecia com dois relógios no pulso, possivelmente produto de saque.

Sendo assim, foi modificada para que não denegrisse a imagem dos Soviéticos.

Bart's Blackboard

I will not eat things for money

in Marge vs. The Monorail, Episode 71, Season 4