This doesn’t seem to be an officially sanctioned public artwork, but rather the work of either a kindly local patron of the arts (or possibly just the result of incredibly bad driving).

This mysterious artwork reminded me of Spindle in Illinois, a sculpture consisting of 8 actual cars impaled on a 15m spike, which we looked at from above way back in 2006, but which has since received an inspection by the Street View camera.

Back in 2006, locals informed us that this work of utter genius was under threat from those who, incredibly, felt it was an “eyesore”! The debate raged on until May 2008, when Spindle was sadly dismantled and scrapped.

All may not be lost however, as the top two cars (a 1967 Beetle and a BMW donated by the man who commissioned the artwork) were actually saved from being scrapped – in the hope they might one day be re-used as part of “Spindle 2″!

Is there a petition we can sign somewhere?

Thanks to John Burns

Locations: Illinois, New Zealand / Categories: Other Vehicles, Street Views

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8) Indecent Exposure

This woman’s dignity has been saved by a bit of face-blurring! Of course her nipples are exposed for all the world to see. Fail!

7) Antisocial Behaviour

These pesky kids are setting up a trip-wire between two bollards. The youth of today, eh? If only the Street View camera had captured the moment they tripped a passer-by…

6) Blocking the road

Five of Providence’s Police Force have blocked up this road for a bit of a pow-wow. How inconsiderate! Someone should give them a ticket.

5) Having a camera on the roof of your car

The French authorities obviously deemed the large camera on top of the car to be a suspicious device, and pulled the Google driver over for an investigation.

Move south down Rue de la Garde and you’ll experience a thrilling chase scene!

4) Grand Theft Auto

It’s one thing to steal a car, but propping that car up on six-foot stilts in your garden is probably unwise.

3) Grafitti

This the the work of Invader, whose Space Invader themed artworks can be spotted all over Paris. He’s even branched out into Oscar the Grouch artworks¹.

2) Taking Hostages?

Of course this could be any crime really, but if it requires an armed policeman hiding behind a car, you can expect whoever’s inside did more than steal some sweeties.

1) Alien Invasion

Presumably there can be no greater crime than invading our planet in little red UFOs?

All these Street View sightings were previously posted to our Twitter account – make sure you follow us for instant updates!

Locations: France, Illinois, Japan, Rhode Island / Categories: Street Views

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The work of British artist Anish Kapoor, the $23 million bean is constructed from solid stainless steel panels that reflect Chicago in all manner of warping shapes, making it a fantastic way to take brilliantly-bizarre self portraits.

The bean is a massive tourist attraction, and there are some 30,000 photos on Flickr, including a few I took when we visited Chicago in 2006.

Kapoor is also responsible for the Sky Mirror at Nottingham Playhouse. A similarly-shiny object, this time he built a concave mirror which directs light from above onto the courtyard.

Unfortunately it’s difficult to see from the aerial shot, but we can just see two sparks of reflection. You can see ground level pictures of the mirror on Flickr.

Locations: England, Illinois / Categories: Crowds, Structures

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Currently standing at a staggering 688 m, construction of Burj Dubai is set to continue for another year, and the final height will not be announced until the building opens in September 2009.

As you can see, the Google Earth image was taken while the building was still just a toddler, but you can get an idea of how it might look with a 3D model.

Before the Burj Dubai came along the process for deciding on the world’s tallest building was strangely complex – there’s actually 4 possible categories to consider – and there were separate records for supported masts.

Burj Dubai simplified the debate by taking the top spot in all possible categories, but it gives us an opportunity to revisit all the previous record holders, many of which have been updated since we previously looked at tall buildings and the world’s tallest towers.

Taipei 101 in Taiwan once held the “tallest building” record in 3 of the 4 possible categories with its architectural height of 508 m, highest occupied floor of 438 m and roof height of 448 m.

For the moment at least, Taipei 101 retains the title of largest completed building, but after the completion of Burj Dubai it will have to settle for being the location of the world’s fastest ascending elevator, which can get you up to the 101st floor at a gut-wrenching 37.7 mph!

Chicago’s Sears Tower was once the holder of all tall building records. Taipei 101 failed to conquer its record of “height with antenna”, at 529 m, but Burj Dubai has easily cleared that without the need of extra-reaching aerials.

Lastly, the rope-supported KVLY-TV mast in Blanchard, North Dakota, was officially the tallest man-made structure on the planet at a height of 629 m. The fact that Burj Dubai already tops this height without any external supports is testament to just how amazing an engineering feat it really is.

Further reading at the Wikipedia pages for Burj Dubai, Taipei 101, Sears tower and KVLY-TV mast.

Locations: Illinois, North Dakota, Taiwan, United Arab Emirates / Categories: Buildings, Towers

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However, the most recent update somehow manages to make the car disappear, so that you can see the road below.

We presumed this was a simple processing effect that blends the images from either end of the car, but it is in fact wearing an invisible cloak.

The give-away was in the invisible car’s shadow, where you’ll notice the ruffles of the cloak skimming the ground. Are Google licensing technology from Harry Potter now?

Thanks: Zoe Lozada

Locations: Illinois / Categories: Street Views

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There’s not much more to be said about Crocs that hasn’t been said already, and yet someone has managed to devote an entire blog to hating their very existence.

Sheesh, the stupid topics blogs manage to base themselves on huh?

Anyway, here’s some links to some giant crocodiles and giant alligators as seen by satellite!

Thanks to mnj1233.

Locations: Illinois / Categories: Crowds, Structures

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In the next frame we can see that the “intended victim” is still standing, so maybe this was just a couple of kids playing with water pistols, but sooner or later Google will presumably let images of a terrible tragedy slip through into their mapping services.

See our Street View archive for more sights like this.

Originally via Streetviewfun, thanks to Scott, Marc James, Martyn and biauas.

Locations: Illinois / Categories: Crowds, Street Views

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Thankfully for her, the main event was not captured, proving that even the most shameless behaviour still requires good timing!

In the past, we have had more opportunity-grabbing clowns, such as those who have been caught relieving themselves, people who attempt to perform complex bicycle stunts, and the man who made himself famous for giving the Google crew the finger. Perhaps an extension of their new face blurring technology is needed to curb these miscreants?

Locations: Illinois / Categories: Rudeness, Street Views

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We’ll start at the entrance, which is marked with large inflated letters that you can just about read from the aerial shot (ground level pictures). Don’t worry about paying though – we’re Access All Areas!

Let’s head south of the entrance, past these pretty star shaped balloons (ground level picture).

Continue south and we arrive at the “AT&T stage“, which played host to the likes of Daft Punk and Lupe Fiasco¹.

If Daft Punk aren’t your bag then let’s go all the way north (past the previously featured Clarence Buckingham Fountain) to the “Bud Light Stage“, where there’s currently a larger turn out. This stage featured The Roots, Snow Patrol and Amy Winehouse, amongst others.

You can explore Lollapalooza 2007 further with a kml image overlay I’ve created from the official festival map, and complete the festival experience by watching some of the acts on Youtube.

Thanks to Steve H.

Locations: Illinois / Categories: Crowds, Large Type, Shadows

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• Albuquerque, New Mexico
• Anchorage, Alaska
• Austin, Texas
• Cleveland, Ohio
• Fairbanks, Alaska
• Little Rock, Arkansas
• Madison, Wisconsin
• Nashville, Tennessee
• Rockford, Illinois
• Richmond, Virginia
• Spokane, Washington
• St. Petersburg, Florida
• Tampa, Florida

Finally, Google have also added imagery for the few roads that run through Yosemite National Park, California, which enables us to see some pretty stunning scenery.

Here’s El Capitan, a 910 metre vertical rock formation that’s a popular challenge for rock climbers, and some spectacular Giant Redwoods living up to their name!

Read the full story at the Google Lat Long Blog, read more about El Capitan and Giant Redwoods at Wikipedia.

Locations: Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, New Mexico, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin / Categories: Natural Landmarks, Street Views

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