Photo of the Day (11.22.10)

by Mike Barish on

As you may or may not know, I write Gadling’s SkyMall Monday column. That leads me to seeing a lot of ridiculous SkyMall products. I also end up talking about SkyMall quite a bit, with people often suggesting products for me to review. One of the more frequently mentioned contraptions is the Forest Face. Personally, I was never that impressed by anyone shoving some some Mr. Potato Head features into a tree. I’d rather see a real tree with a real face.

Thankfully, now we have this photo by Flickr user fourfourmedia. I have no idea what’s going on here. I don’t care. That tree has a face. Enough said.

Have a picture of any other flora with faces? Or maybe just some great travel photos? Submit your images to Gadling’s Flickr group and we might use one for a future Photo of the Day.

Statue used to strike Berlusconi now a popular souvenir in Italy

by Aaron Hotfelder on

An incident in which Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was injured by a man wielding a statue has proven profitable for souvenir sellers in Italy.

According to Yahoo News, vendors say they’ve noticed a sharp uptick in sales of the Duomo statue, the same one a mentally disturbed man used to bloody Berlusconi’s face while he was signing authographs in Milan a week ago. Berlusconi suffered a broken nose, two chipped teeth, and cuts on his lip as a result of the attack.

“People are definitely buying it as a souvenir of the event,” said one vendor. “It seems to be one of the most popular Christmas gifts.”

The statue retails for anywhere between 5 and 10 euros.

For some pricier (but better!) gifts for travelers, check out Annie Scott’s recent post 10 Ways to Give the Gift of Travel.