“The Miss Exotic World Pageant (officially, the Miss Exotic World Pageant and Striptease Reunion) is an annual neo-burlesque pageant and convention, and is the annual showcase event (and fundraiser for) the Burlesque Hall of Fame (formerly the Exotic World burlesque museum). The pageant, sometimes referred to as the “Miss America of Burlesque”, attracts former burlesque queens from past decades, as well as current participants of the neo-burlesque scene. The pageant consists of burlesque performances spanning a weekend, culminating with the competition to crown a single performer as Miss Exotic World. Because of the significance of the Exotic World Burlesque Museum to the burlesque community, winning the pageant is considered a top honor for a burlesque performer”. – Wikipedia

Here: Stephanie Blake removes a stocking at the Miss Exotic World Pageant at the Exotic World Burlesque Museum on June 7, 2003 in Helendale outside of Barstow, California. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)

“Wells Cathedral is a Church of England cathedral in Wells, Somerset, England. Built between 1175 and 1490, Wells Cathedral has been described as “the most poetic of the English Cathedrals”. The Wells clock, an astronomical clock, is located in the north transept. The surviving mechanism, dated to between 1386 and 1392, was replaced in the 19th century, and was eventually moved to the Science Museum in London, where it continues to operate. It is the second-oldest surviving clock in England”. – Wikipedia

Photo: The clock face of world's oldest continually-working mechanical clock is seen as it is hand wound for the very last time on August 21, 2010 in Wells, England. (Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

“Lorenzo Quinn (born May 7, 1966) is an Italian artist and sculptor and the fifth son of the actor Anthony Quinn. By the age of 21 he gained the respect of the New York art community when he was commissioned to make an art work for the United Nations of which a stamp was later made. Quinn was later selected to head the Absolut Vodka ad campaign for which only top international artists are chosen”. – Wikipedia

Photo: Lorenzo Quinn's Vroom Vroom sculpture is installed in its new setting on Park Lane on January 23, 2011 in London, England. The four-metre high sculpture, consists of a vintage Fiat 500, the first car that the sculptor ever bought, grasped by an oversized aluminium child's hand modelled from Quinn's son. The exhibition has previously been displayed in Valencia and Abu Dhabi. (Photo by Matthew Lloyd/Getty Images for Halcyon Gallery)

“The September 11 attacks (called September 11, September 11th or 9/11), were a series of four coordinated suicide attacks against targets in New York City and the Washington, D.C. area on September 11, 2001. On that morning, 19 terrorists from the Islamist militant group al-Qaeda hijacked four passenger jets. The hijackers intentionally crashed two planes into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City; both towers collapsed within two hours. Hijackers crashed a third plane into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. When passengers attempted to take control of the fourth plane, United Airlines Flight 93, it crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, preventing it from reaching its intended target in Washington, D.C. Nearly 3,000 died in the attacks”. – Wikipedia

Photo: A firefighter breaks down after the World Trade Center buildings collapsed September 11, 2001 after two hijacked airplanes slammed into the twin towers in a terrorist attack. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

“Mr. Brainwash (“MBW”) is a pseudonym for Thierry Guetta. According to the Banksy directed film Exit Through the Gift Shop, Guetta is a French citizen who now lives in Los Angeles, having been a proprietor of a clothing store and videographer who evolved into a street artist and gallery artist, influenced by the street artists he documented through video over the years. According to the film, Guetta was first introduced to street art by his cousin, the French street artist, Invader”. – Wikipedia

Photo: Artist Mr. Brainwash stands with his paintings “The Queen” (R) and “Kate Moss” at the Opera Gallery on October 3, 2011 in London, England. Works by pop artist and film maker Thierry Guetta, known as Mr. Brainwash, are on display at the gallery from October 6th to 31st, 2011. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)

“The Great Barrier Reef is one of the most important sea turtle habitats in the world, with Lady Elliot Island being a key part of that habitat. Every year between November and March the green and loggerhead turtles lumber up the same beach on which they were born more than 50 years ago. These turtles nest on Lady Elliot Island up to nine times in a season, laying between 80 and 120 eggs per clutch. About eight weeks later, young hatchlings leave their nests and head towards the ocean (January to April)”. – Wikipedia

Photo: A Hawksbill sea turtle is seen swimming on January 15, 2012 in Lady Elliot Island, Australia. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

“A Hadaka Matsuri (“Naked Festival”) is a type of Japanese festival, or matsuri, in which participants wear a minimum amount of clothing; usually just a Japanese loincloth (called fundoshi), sometimes with a short happi coat, and rarely completely naked. Whatever the clothing, it is considered to be above vulgar, or everyday, undergarments, and on the level of holy Japanese shrine attire. Naked festivals are held in dozens of places throughout Japan every year, usually in the summer or winter. The most famous festival is held in Okayama, where the festival originated. Every year, over 9,000 men participate in this festival”. – Wikipedia

Photo: Japanese men wear loincloths as they splash about in freezing cold water during Saidaiji Naked Festival, at Saidaiji Temple on February 18, 2012 in Okayama, Japan. (Photo by Buddhika Weerasinghe/Getty Images)

“Sergey Mikhaylovich Prokudin-Gorsky (August 30 1863 Russian Empire – September 27, 1944 Paris, France) was a Russian chemist and photographer. He is best known for his pioneering work in color photography of early 20th-century Russia”. – Wikipedia

Photo: Dinner during haying. Russian Empire, Novgorod province, county Cherepovets, 1909. (Photos by Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky via US Library of Congress and Prokudin-Gorsky.org)

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