Mid Year Breeze Search Results

How To: Play xiangqi, also known as Chinese chess

Chinese chess is the world’s most popular board game. Chinese chess, also known as xiangqi, has been played throughout East Asia for over 1000 years. The playing pieces have traditionally been identified using Chinese characters, so only those who could read Chinese characters could play. Now, Chinese chess is available in a set in which the pieces are identified by symbols on one side and Chinese characters on the reverse side so that anyone can enjoy this challenging strategy game.

How To: Make a container topiary

Topiaries are no longer just speciality plants. They have become very popular and are showing up in garden centers and nurseries across the country. Topiaries have been used for thousands of years, in places like Babylon and England. Today we take the mystery out of topiaries and discuss pruning trees and shrubs to look like geometric forms. As well we talk about designing topiaries, selecting the trees and shrubs and maintaining them to look their best and show you how to create small topiar...

How To: Control Running Bamboo

Most bamboo in the United States is running bamboo, because nearly all cold hardy bamboo is the running or invasive type. The tropical bamboos are mostly "clumpers" and stay in a nice, tight clump. Running bamboos spread far and wide and can be very invasive. I grow many kinds of running bamboos and over the past 20 years I've had to learn how to control it's spread.

How To: How Anyone Can Retire Early & Wealthy, Part 1: CDs

I'm pretty sure that it's a universal dream for everyone in the world to retire early. Who wants to to be stuck with the rest of the country and retire when you're almost 70 years old? You heard me right, 70! Most people can't go out and do the things they love to do by the time they're 70, unless they've been practicing good health and exercise their entire life.

News: 4 Years of Spectacularly Pointless Marble Machines

So very pointless, yet unquestionably spectacular. The best kind of "art" performs no other function than to delight the viewer, and Japanese YouTube user Denha's complex marble machines do just that. But are marble machines art? You can call them that—or toys, scientific contraptions, engineering feats—but however you choose to label them, the best marble machines are complicated, skillfully crafted, and driven by the principles of potential energy, kinetic energy and gravity.

How To: Learn how to make a balloon animal dog from this simple video

http://www.BalloonLibrary.comMr. Fudge teaches how to make a balloon animal dog the easy way on this simple step by step balloon animal video from youtube. Your Balloon Man, Mr. Fudge has been a balloon artist and entertainer for years, specializing in teaching other entertainers how to twist balloons. With his years of expertise in the balloon world, you're sure to find this tutorial easy to follow and fun to watch. Happy twisting!

News: Build Your Own AT-AT Imperial Walker Snow Sculpture

It's been a legendary year for snow art. First there was the Eiffel Tower penis. Then the crash-landed AT-AT. Then the beautiful snowdecahedron and the skull-shaped igloo fortress. Found on Unreality Mag, the latest newsworthy snow sculpture is every Star Wars-loving little kid's dream: an AT-AT "pony ride". Okay, so it's freezing cold. And it's technically immobile. Who cares. It's awesome.

News: Chinese Ironworkers Build Massive Transformers Megatron Tank

Jiiang Chen and Yang Junlin, of the Wing Wah metalcraft factory in Huizhou, China, forged together a 10,000-pound replica of the Megatron tank as seen in the movie Transformers 2. The tank is from a series of other massive works from the company's "Legend of Iron" project (see last year's insane Megatron below). The tank was assembled and welded together with mostly scrap metal by the two expert craftsmen. In a word... insane.

News: Alpine Racer Swaps Surfboard for Skis

Chuck Patterson has spent much of his life riding majestic mountains in boots and bindings, ski poles in hand. In recent years, the extreme athelete decided the massive Hawaiian swells needed conquering as well. Below, Patterson ditches the traditional surfboard for his trusty skiis, and towsurfs into some of the biggest waves of the year at Jaws, Maui's legendary surf break. More at Jaws:

News: Gino Cavicchioli Sculptor

Gino was born in Australia, but spent his formative years in Rome. As a child he was fascinated by the architecture, sculptures, fountains and the works of the masters that surrounded him. The craftsmanship and attention to detail was indelibly etched into his own creative expression and his drive to achieve the same level of perfection in his work.

News: The 2011 No-Pants Subway Ride

Improv Everywhere's 10th annual no-pants subway ride gave 10,000 New Yorkers an excuse to ride the tubes in their skivvies this month. Good, but not as good as last year's April Fools faux-genital baring ride. Scroll below the video of the NYC ride to see other participating cities around the world.

Human Mutation Through Age: Year 0 To 100 Side-By-Side

Luckily for us, human aging is a long, slow process. One day newborn babe... 36,500 days later, you're old. Really old. And how you looked in between is all but forgotten. To see a side-by-side mapping of the long and slow human mutation process, check out Danish photojournalists Sofia Wraber and Nanna Kreutzmann's 101 photographs of males, ages 0 to 100.

News: Say Goodbye To 2010 With 150+ "Best Of" Lists

Staying in tonight? Here's something that could occupy you for days. Fimoculous has posted the mother of all "Best of 2010" lists: a collection of over 150 lists from across the web in 37 different categories. Sit back, crack out the champagne, and take in all the amazing things that happened in the past year.

News: Apple Engineer Builds Fully-Functional Ancient Computer With LEGOs

Apple software engineer Andrew Carol built a fully-functional replica of the Antikythera Mechanism, the world's oldest known scientific computer. The 2000-year-old analog device was used by the ancient Greeks to predict the year, date, and time of future solar and lunar eclipses accurately to within two hours. Carol put together the 110 gears (made with 1,500 LEGO Technic parts) in just 30 days. See how it works below. For more information, check out Fast Company's interview with Carol.

HowTo: Blood Slide Candy (à la Dexter)

Season 5 of Dexter is set to premiere on September 26th, and it's looking bloody as ever. The trailer for the highly anticipated season debuted at this year's Comic-Con. Things aren't looking so good for Dex... Not a fan (yet)? Instructables user Forkable offers a brief synopsis, and more importantly, an edible party favor for your upcoming premiere party.