How to avoid falling on ice? Walk Like a Penguin

Source: lifehacker.com via Kathryn on Pinterest

As winter is in full swing where I live, I thought I would share this infograph I spotted over at Lifehacker where changing the way you walk outdoors in winter to prevent falling.

I only have done this in the past when it is really icy because it takes longer to get anywhere and I know I look like a dork.  In college when walking to class on particularly frosty, slippery day, a mean jerk made a comment that I walked like duck (perhaps because I have more junk in my trunk that a penguin).  Even so, it sure beats falling down and getting injured.  

ICE TYPOGRAPHY

VIEW PIER, originally uploaded by mamzellenix.

I have always had a fascination with ice sculptures, so of course I love the idea of inserting words comprised of ice in an unexpected outdoor setting.

The above was a creation by environmental artist Nicole Dextras.  The letters were cast from a 6 foot high mold and installed on a Lake Ontario on the pier to Toronto Island.

Here is artist's statement on her Ice Typography installations:

"The visual poetry in this series aims to subvert the authority of the English language and the commerce of signage by representing words as vulnerable and shifting. Ice Typography absorbs light, melts and eventually leaves no trace; these words have more in common with dreams and oral stories than linear language. Words cast in ice interrupt our literal narratives, allowing a more integrated reading of the land we inhabit, as opposed to the past and current commodification of land as limitless resource. This fundamental split in perception lies at the crux of our environmental crisis. I therefore choose to create within an ephemeral vernacular to accentuate the collective physical and psychological experience of flux and change."

Here is a time-elapsed photography of the word "Consume" melting that was installed on the seawall in Stanley Park across from the Information center in Vancouver, BC.

Artist's website: Nicole Dextras
Flickr:  mamzellenix

Ice Bath House in Baikalsk

While this may look like something out of an icy fairy tail, it is a ice bath house in Baikalsk, which is  is a small town in the south of Lake Baikal in Russia.

It has been built by Andrew Pylyuh and Vladimir Zolotchenko.  The bath house hold up to 15 people and cost 5,000 rubles (approx $167 USD) for 2 hours.  Unfortunately, it is not breaking even as there are few visitors, which is sad because it is very unique.

Only thing I would be hesitate to visit if I ever went there...the ice commode.

Photos from and more info at Zyalt @ livejournal

Ice Age in Ice in Moscow

See more of these amazing sculptures at English Russia - Ice Age in Ice