Odd News

Empire State-Golden Gate in toothpicks

Published: Sept. 21, 2006 at 7:37 PM

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 21 (UPI) -- Steven Backman's toothpicks, a familiar sight in his hometown of San Francisco, are to be viewed rather than chewed.

Backman is an artist with the skinny little slices of wood, creating fancy toothpick keepsakes for the past 30 years.

He has turned out some remarkable designs from abstract art to the Empire State Building -- where he had a recent show featuring an ambitious 13-foot-long, 30,000-toothpick replica of the Golden Gate Bridge.

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Flags-In Ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery

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Staff Sgt. Jeffrey Roskos with the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment, "The Old Guard," participates in the annual Flags-In ceremony, May 23, 2013, at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia. Soldiers place American flags in front of more than 260,000 gravestones in the cemetery in honor of Memorial Day. UPI/Kevin Dietsch

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