Zappa, a toothless 15-year-old Italian greyhound that looks surprisingly like Sid the Sloth from the animated movie Ice Age, is redefining dog beauty. Owners Sadie and Rosalie Millen, of Pewaukee, Wisconsin, say that Zappa started sticking her tongue out a few years ago when she lost her teeth.

At the end of rice harvesting season, the folks of the Kagawa and Niigata Prefectures in Japan hold a straw festival to celebrate the abundance of the harvest. Dried straws cover wooden frames to form larger-than-life sculptures from animals like sharks and gorillas to vessels such as ships and tanks. The family-friendly event invites visitors of all ages to engage, interact, and play on the enormous structures.

Competitors prepare backstage before the 2015 Brazil Miss and Mister Fitness contest in Sao Paulo, Brazil, June 18, 2015. Some 96 men and women from all across the country competed in the event. (Photo by Paulo Whitaker/Reuters)

The zombies, cowgirls, and witches were out in force Saturday night on Clematis Street as thousands of people came to Moonfest to celebrate Halloween. They came from Broward County, Boynton Beach, Wellington, Port St. Lucie, and as far away as Germany and Sweden. Photo: Joe Smith, 60, Boca Raton. (Photo by Thomas Cordy/The Palm Beach Post)

A stunning variety selected by Carl Barnes, a part-Cherokee farmer and breeder, from several traditional corn varieties. Given to NS/S by one of his students, Greg Schoen. Produces a diversity of gorgeous translucent, jewel-colored ears, each one unique. A popcorn, the kernels may be ground into cornmeal or popped. This corn became an Internet sensation in 2012.

Every year in Fairbanks, Alaska, the World Ice Art Championships takes place, and it is no cute little side hobby. Praised as one of the world’s largest ice sculpting competitions and exhibitions, the World Ice Art Championships has grown into a month-long event featuring more than 70 teams from around the world. The works are stunning and often massive in both size and visual appeal.

American artist Kim Keever did new abstract creations for his exhibition “Across the Volumes” at the Waterhouse & Dodd in April 2014. From a mixture of paint and water, kinds of colorful volutes appear in the air, under the shapes of clouds, mushrooms or jellyfishes. His work is to discover in the next part of the article.

American photographer Austin Tott created the series ‘Tiny Tattoos’ that matches miniature hand-drawn tattoos with the backgrounds from which they draw visual reference. A small bicycle is placed in its urban environment, little trees and envelopes find their bigger brothers and a tiny fox is put in the context of wooden logs.