World's Most Expensive Bicycle

I realize that blogging about 24 karat plated, crystal adorned bicycles during the United States present economic climate is nothing short of obnoxious. But it doesn't detract from the perverse fascination I have for these sort of luxury items. And this one is a doozy. And costs $102,418.60 USD

Each bike is hand built, plated with 24 carat gold and hand-adorned with more than 600 Swarovski crystals.

The limited to ten, the crystal and gold bike was created by a company named Aurumania, whose self-proclaimed purpose is to conceive of and design items with the extravagant use of gold, thereby turning familiar objects into collectible art. Their collection thus far consists of fifty 24 karat gold plated bikes, a gold plated bike rack and the special Swarovski crystal adorned 24 karat plated version. As one would expect for these prices, their products are hand delivered anywhere in the world.

These 10 limited-edition bikes represent a cornucopia of delights for any feinschmecker. The designers have employed all the classic principles in their overall appearance, and every detail has been under careful consideration.

The handlebar grips (above) are made of hand-sewn, chocolate-brown leather and a moulded Brooks leather saddle (below) provides the right nostalgic touch.

The Aurumania logo appears stylishly and enticingly on the crossbar (below). A limited edition number is discreetly embossed with gold leaf and set into a leather badge, placed prominently on the front of the bike.

To ensure potential buyers the greatest possible degree of discretion, these gold bikes are exclusively available via www.aurumania.com and they are delivered to the buyer personally using a White Glove service, in a specially designed package that exudes extreme luxury on par with the golden bike inside.

Of course, they have a matching gold and crystal wall mountable rack for the bike:

Pricing:
GOLD BIKE CRYSTAL EDTION €80,000
GOLD BIKE €21,000
BIKE RACK €5,000

The crystals a little bit too much for you? Don't fret, they've made 50 of the gold plated bikes without the Swarovski Crystal adornments. These too, have the leather Brooks saddle and hand sewn leather handles.

World's Biggest Liger (Lion+Tiger)

Know what's a Liger? It's a cross breed of a Lion male and Tiger female...

Read on......

The 10ft Liger who's still growing...

He looks like something from a prehistoric age or a fantastic creation from Hollywood . But Hercules is very much living flesh and blood - as he proves every time he opens his gigantic mouth to roar. Part lion, part tiger, he is not just a big cat but a huge one, standing 10ft tall on his back legs. Called a liger, in reference to his crossbreed parentage, he is the largest of all the cat species.

On a typical day he will devour 20lb of meat, usually beef or chicken, and is capable of eating 100lb at a single setting. At just three years old, Hercules already weighs half a ton.

He is the accidental result of two enormous big cats living close together at the Institute of Greatly Endangered and Rare Species, in Miami, Florida , and already dwarfs both his arents. "Ligers are not something we planned on having," said institute owner Dr Bhagavan Antle. "We have lions and tigers living together in large enclosures and at first we had no idea how well one of the lion boys was getting along with a tiger girl, then loo and behold we had a liger."

50mph runner... Not only that, but he likes to swim, a feat unheard of among water-fearing lions. In the wild it is virtually impossible for lions and tigers to mate. Not only are they enemies likely to kill one another, but most lions are in Africa and most tigers in Asia . But incredible though he is, Hercules is not unique. Ligers have been bred in captivity, deliberately and accidentally, since shortly before World War II.

Today there are believed to be a handful of ligers around the world and a similar number of tigons, the product of a tiger father and lion mother. Tigons are smaller than ligers and take on more physical characteristics of the tiger.

Look at the size of the head on this thing.. :o)

The Blue Dock

Blue Dock Beautiful Wallpaper (1920x1200)

Credit goes to dimage.deviantart.com