Pope Benedict XVI arrives at the Santa Sabina Basilica for the Ash Wednesday service on March 9, 2011 in Rome, Italy. Ash Wednesday opens the liturgical 40-day period of Lent, a period of prayer, fasting, penitence and alms giving leading up to Easter.

Artist Terry Border gives new life to old books in his latest series titled Wiry Limbs, Paper Backs. The artist, who is no stranger to breathing new life into inanimate objects, utilizes his handcrafted technique of bending wires to serve as limbs and combines it with a great sense of humor. Each whimsical creation in the ongoing project is a sculptural work that stands on its own, reflecting its respective text.

This graceful husky appears to be smarter than your average dog having apparently mastered the art of walking on water. The soft-footed canine was photographed while making its way across a lake in northern Russia. Photographer Fox Grom captured a remarkable set of images after heavy rain fell on a frozen lake to create the amazing illusion. The 40-year-old, who works as an all-terrain vehicle driver, regularly walks his pet dogs, Alaska and Blizzard, near the natural beauty spot. “I always take pictures of my dogs whilst walking them but on this occasion there was an extraordinary phenomenon“, he said. “The ice was already very thick when it rained heavily making for a spectacular scene”. Here: Husky dog Alaska walks on water in Northern Russia, January 2015. (Photo by Fox Grom/Visual Press Agency)

This outrageous display of facial hair configurations made an appearance at the 4th Annual National Beard and Mustache Championships in New Orleans. Luckily Las Vegas-based photographer Greg Anderson was on-hand to give us a front-row seat as the bizarre spectacle of facial hair paraded in front of his camera lens. The championships involved some 150 contestants from the U.S., U.K., and Canada who competed in 17 different categories.

Harper’s Bazaar August 007 “The Simpsons go to Paris with Linda Evangelista” “Models”: The Simpsons, Linda Evangelista, and various designers with Illustrations by Julius Preite. Marge lets down her hair for Versace. Lisa gives up her pearls for Alber Elbaz. Homer dresses as Karl Lagerfeld. Selma & Patty in Viktor & Rolf. Maggie rides around in Jean Paul Gaultier’s Birkin Bag. Quite possibly the most incredible fashion spread i’ve seen (ok maybe tied with the Marie Antoinette Vogue spread?). To see the spread, see the pics below, and for some great animated versus reality pics of the dresses and designers.

“It’s Fashion Week in Sao Paulo, Brazil and you don’t have to be a celebrity or a designer to check out these couture pieces. Subway stations were used as improvised catwalks in order to give the general public a chance to see these creations up close and at the price of a subway fare”. – Reuters. Photo: A model presents a creation in a subway station during the Sao Paulo Fashion Week in Sao Paulo October 27, 2013. (Photo by Paulo Whitaker/Reuters)

Artist Victor Nunes combines every-day objects with simple illustrations to turn them into pictures of faces, animals and other playful scenes. His images invite us to look at the world differently and find creative images in our surroundings. Nunes’ art is a great example of pareidolia, which is our propensity to give meaning to random objects (like in this post about seeing faces in random objects). It’s the reason why we associate a smiley face with a human face and why some of Nunes’ pieces of popcorn or bread resemble faces to us.