Eye of the Beholder: "Hideous" Gargoyle Statue Brings Big Money at Auction

Beauty really is in the eye of the beholder after a "hideous" gargoyle statue recently sold at auction for a record-setting £66,000 ($105,000 US).

Despite the statue's grotesque appearance, people fought to obtain the unique objet d'art when it hit the auction block this week at the Wooley & Wallis auction house in Salisbury, England. The statue was created by the prestigious pottery manufacturers the Martin Brothers circa the turn on the 20th Century. 

The figure depicts a squat, smiling gargoyle holding onto its ample chest with gnarled fingers, with a beaming smile on its porcine like face. Auctioneers attribute the record sum paid for the figurine to the upcoming release of the new film The Hobbit, the prequel to the Lord of the Rings saga based on the classic books of J.R.R. Tolkien. 

 Gargoyles first began appearing over 2000 years ago, originating in Ancient Greece and Egypt. They became popular cathedral and building adornments during the Middle Ages, as they were used to decorate buildings and to provide a spout for rainwater to drain. They also became popular as a good-luck charm, as many people believed that placing gargoyles atop structures would help keep evil spirits at bay.

  

World's Narrowest Street Shrinking

A street in Germany confirmed as the world's narrowest by Guinness is in jeopardy of relinquishing its title, as the wall of a near-derelict half-timbered house is starting to bulge outwards because water has seeped into the ancient beams, making the street impassable.

Spreuerhofstrasse Street in the town of Reutlingen in the German region of Swabia has held the record of the world's narrowest street since 2007. The street measures only 12.2 inches (31 centimeters) across and is only 12.5 feet long, but it has become a top tourist draw for the small village, as people flock from across the world to photograph and walk the Spreuerhofstrasse.

However, the street might possibly have to surrender the record, if one of the old houses located on the street continues to bulge outward, making it impossible for people to pass through.  "A street is no longer a street if no one can get through it," a city official has pointed out. If the house is torn down, that would then make the street too wide, which would also take away the world record.

Local experts warn that if nothing is done, the street will become impassable by next year and will have to be closed down for public safety reasons. The city owes its world record to a devastating fire and a city official who was either unfamiliar with his town or extremely thin. The conflagration tore through the city in 1726, prompting local authorities to rule that buildings should have gaps between them in order to prevent fires from spreading too quickly. Then, in 1820, a town hall administrator decided to elevate the status of this particular crevice to that of a full-fledged public street.

Wedding Locomotion: Bride Wears World's Longest Train

If you thought Pippa Middleton had a job carrying sister Kate's wedding dress train at last year's Royal Wedding, you haven't seen anything!

A Romanian design house debuted the world's longest bridal train in stunning fashion, by having a model wear the outrageous wedding accessory while on a hot air balloon. The balloon landed near the Palace of the Parliament in the Romanian capital of Bucharest. The model's train measured a staggering two miles in length, and took ten seamstresses over one hundred days to hand sew, using French lace and Italian taffeta. The cost of the materials was almost $8000, not including all of the labor.

The new record breaks the old one by some considerable distance, as the old record for the world's longest bridal train was not even a mile in length. The lovely bride modeled the amazing dress, as the gown's train stretched almost the entire length of one of Bucharest's main boulevards. The world-record breaker is actually a good nose thumbing by the Romanians at the Dutch, who held the old title. Seems the Netherlands tried to block Romania's inclusion in the visa-free European travel zone, which didn't sit very well with many in the country. The Romanian fashion house Andree Salon came up with the idea as a way to get back at the Netherlands for the snub and promote the country's growing fashion industry.