Masterpiece: The Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci

Over the last 35 years, he has grown more and more accomplished, reproducing masterpieces by Van Gogh, Dali and Leonardo da Vinci.

And perhaps the most extraordinary part of his incredible talent is Jeff did not even have an Etch-A-Sketch as a child.

Swirls and stars: Starry Night by Van Gogh

He first took up his nephew's board when he was a college student at the School of Visual Arts in New York.

"I did a drawing of the Taj Mahal complete with reflecting pools.

"Quite frankly, I didn't think it was a big deal, but my family wouldn't let me erase it," he said.

Ptichforks at the ready: American Gothic by Grant Wood

"From that point on it became apparent that I had some sort of gift for drawing on this silly little toy.

"People would walk past the serious work I was doing as a painter and want to see the Etch-A-Sketches."

We're off to see the wizard:

Jeff, who is married with three children, combines Etch-A-Sketching with more traditional painting.

He describes the art as "a quintessential American art form, where the medium truly is the message."

"I love creating works that you wouldn't expect to see — like a reproduction of a Renaissance master's work, or the corner of a five dollar bill," he added.

"It's a totally familiar subject, but it now has an element of disbelief."

Salvador Dali: The Persistence of Memory

Part of Jeff's skill is to create works that hang vertically despite having to sketch sideways and producing lines which seem to have no connections.

His art has been displayed at the Denver Art Museum and the Berkshire Museum in Massachusetts, as well as galleries around the country.

The Etch-A-Sketch was created by Arthur Granjean and discovered at a European toy fair in 1959.

Scroll down for more amazing Etch-A-Sketch pictures

Leonardo Da Vinci

A self-portrait of the artist

The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel by Michealangelo

Cards anyone?

You can't get more rock n' roll than combining Chuck Berry with Etch a Sketch

The Taj Mahal in India

That Kid: Who Got Stuck Down a Well

The Story: Back in 1987, an 18-month old “Baby Jessica” McClure captured the nation’s attention when she tumbled into an old well in her aunt’s backyard. Emergency workers piped fresh air and heat into the well, and expert miners spent 58 straight hours digging a parallel shaft 22 feet into the ground to rescue her. While healthy at the moment, The Today Show reported that Jessica has undergone 15 surgeries and 9 blood transfusions since reemerging.
The Post-Puberty Report: Adult Jessica seems to be, pardon the phrase, well-adjusted. Now 21, she’s married, has a child, and according to all reports, remains thoroughly down-to-earth. In fact, she’s refused to get plastic surgery to cover up her scars because it reminds her to be thankful for her life. Of course, she’ll probably be even more thankful for her life in 4 years. That’s when a trust fund, set up in her name with public donations, should kick a few million dollars her way.

That Kid: Who Was Too Old to Play Little League

The Story: Back in 2001, Danny Almonte didn’t just pitch his Bronx, NY team to a third-place finish in the Little League World Series; the 12-year old phenom also pitched a perfect game along the way. Of course, there was just one problem: turns out little Danny wasn’t so little. After a rival Staten Island team hired a private investigator to look into the case, Sports Illustrated followed-up with their own investigation. Unbeknownst to Danny, his father had falsified his birth certificate by two years to hand his son an arm up on the competition.
The Post-Puberty Report: Well, to be accurate, the story actually started post-puberty. That said, while the team was stripped of their Little League title, all the players including Danny Almonte were cleared of any wrong-doing (since he didn’t know his own age at the time). As for where Danny is today: after helping his high school team win 2 public school athletic league championships (and garnering MVP honors), ESPN is reporting that he’s now pitching professionally, throwing “90s plus fast-balls” for the Southern Illinois Miners.

PLUS: We catch up with rock ‘n’ roll’s favorite baby, a 13-year old cover model and the kid who outspelled Dan Quayle after the break.

That Kid: from Nirvana’s Nevermind album

The Story: According to CommonGate, when Nirvana initially brainstormed on CD artwork, they started by looking at stock photography of babies swimming. But when the costs proved too stiff for their slim wallets, the band hired a photographer who in turn paid a friend’s couple $200 to use their 4-month old baby in the shoot. Supposedly Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love were so pleased with the pic, they vowed to take the kid out to dinner when he grew up as thanks for his contribution to the album. As for the hook and dollar also featured in the pic? Those were actually Photoshopped into the scene later.
The Post-Puberty Report: Now 16, Spencer Elden has been featured in various Nirvana documentaries and magazine features. He claims to be a big fan of the band, and proud of his child labor for the album. And while there’s no word on whether Courtney Love has followed up on her promise to feed the kid, Nirvana’s isn’t the only album on which he’s been featured. Elden also appears on the cover of Skinny Puppy founder cEvin Key’s 2003 album The Dragon Experience.

That Kid: Who Spelled Potato Right (until the VP corrected him)

The Story: In 1992, Vice President Dan Quayle made a pit stop in Trenton, NJ, where he acted as judge in a 6th grade spelling bee. Unfortunately for Quayle, the cards he’d been handed hadn’t been spell-checked. So when William Figueroa, who’d been bused in for the event, spelled out his word correctly, Quayle told him “You’re close, but you left a little something off. The e on the end.” The press immediately picked up the story, Figueroa appeared on Letterman and Quayle’s reputation as a mental midget was solidified in the public’s mind.
The Post-Puberty Report: Not good, from what we’ve read. In 2004, a New York Times reporter met up with Figueroa, who’d since dropped out of high school, had his first child by 16, two more by age 24, and was reportedly working a low paying job.

That Kid: from the National Geographic

The Story: While visiting a Pashtun refugee camp in Pakistan, photographer Steve McCurry snapped a pic of a 13-year old orphan with hauntingly beautiful eyes. The image made the cover of a 1984 National Geographic, and the girl became an international celebrity. Well, sort of. Despite securing a great shot, McCurry never took down the girl’s name, and despite taking more than 10 trips back to the region to locate her, it would be another 17 years before she was tracked down.
The Post-Puberty Report: Now a wife and mother of three, Sharbat Gula lives in a remote village in Afghanistan. She lives in purdah, and while only female reporters were allowed to visit and photograph her for National Geographic’s long awaited follow-up, supposedly she’s now “being looked after” by the magazine. Of course, as the BBC reports, the most amazing part is that she hates the iconic photo. She never liked the red scarf she was photographed in, she doesn’t like media attention, and has since moved to avoid future interviews.

Plus, a few more tykes you might’ve forgotten about:
Louise Brown, the world’s first test tube baby, has had her own baby.
Elian Gonzales is now a Cuban celeb, has a lot of pets, gets front row seats to Castro speeches, and apparently helped land his father a plush gig in Cuba’s national assembly.
And Heather DeLoach, who tapped danced her way into MTV viewers’ hearts as a tap-dancing bee in Blind Melon’s “No Rain” video, has since landed several acting jobs, including 2 episodes of ER.

Special thanks to Kara Kovalchik for all her research work on this piece.

While zebrulas have been in existence since the 19th century, this one is particularly unique: its coat is sharply divided between horse and zebra, says Safaripark, a zoo near northern Guetersloh.

The animal, which is slightly more than a year old and is named Eclyse, has a zebra head, while the first half of the rest of its body is white and the second half is zebra-colored.

It arrived at the zoo three weeks ago from Italy.

However, ufologists and scientists were greatly disappointed when they found out that the fishermen had eaten the monster. They said that they were not scared of the creature so they decided to use it as food. One of the men said that it was the most delicious dish he had ever eaten.

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Fortunately, curiosity didn't quite kill off Tinny the cat when he got his head stuck in a tin can.

But as these pictures show, he's not alone when it comes to biting off more than he can chew.

Just last week, one cub was out-foxed by a car wheel, and Keano the Husky spent much longer than intended peering through the garden wall. Yet they're just the latest in a long line of animals who really do have a nose for trouble...

And now Nessie's back.

An amateur scientist has captured what Loch Ness Monster watchers say is among the finest footage ever taken of the elusive mythical creature reputed to swim beneath the waters of Scotland's most mysterious lake. (Watch the 'monster' footage )

It was driven by daredevil Marek Turowsk who yesterday set a brand new Fastest Furniture Land Speed Record in Leicestershire. 

Gardener Marek, 38, from London, won a charity auction for the privilege of being behind the wheel, with cash going to The Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths.  After the drive, he said: "It was terrifying. You feel every bump and it seems like you might take off."

The previous record of 87mph was set in 1998 by engineer Ed China - the man who built the new wacky machine for company sofa.com.  Despite being disappointed about seeing his crown slip, he added: "At least I still have the constructor's title to boast about."  The feat will be featured in the 2008 edition of The Guinness Book of World Records along with The Sun's very own Lup Fun Yau.  Last week he ate six doughnuts in three minutes without licking his lips, equalling the current best. See his video here.

Builder Colin Jones is so sick of attacks from dive-bombing seagulls he's hired a £6-an-hour bodyguard to fend them off with a kitchen broom.

Colin, 38, put a job advert up in his local Asda after he was repeatedly pecked by the birds while working on rooftop projects in Brighton.

He received 20 phone calls and the successful applicant Steve Jackow - now nicknamed Steven Seagull - spends his time scaring off pesky gulls by waving a broom in the air.

Steve, 28, wears a fluorescent yellow bib to scare off the airborne predators and has a referee's whistle for persistent offenders.

Colin said: "I don't know what it is about me they don't like but I've got cuts and bruises all over my face and body.

"I started off by wearing a hard hat but it kept getting knocked off - then I had my sandwich box stolen."

Experts say the birds are merely defending their nests but Colin said they go too far. He said the last straw came when he needed two stitches in a cut to the back of his head after he was targeted while loading roof timber onto a pulley.

"I felt like I'd been shot in the skull and when I when I touched my hair it was streaming with blood. I looked around and I was surrounded in a cloud of feathers - that was it, something had to be done."

Colin said he could just about afford to fork out the minimum wage for a personal bodyguard.

Steve said: "When he told me what the job was I thought he was taking the mickey but then he showed me some of his scars. This bloke was deadly serious.

"I try not to clobber the birds, just scare them away. They can be quite vicious though and you really need eyes in the back of your head.

"My arms ache at the end of the day and I almost dislocated my shoulder once with a life-saving swipe.”

A shrill scream pierces the afternoon air. Gingerly, I prise my sweaty hands away from my eyes to find all of my dinner companions staring at me in shock. It's then that I realise the noise is coming from me.

"Are you OK?" asks the young man to my left. "That was some scream." Paralysed by fear, I am physically unable to reply or even to blush. Instead, I screw my eyes shut and emit a long, low moan.

The reason for my distress is simple: I have foolishly accepted the worst dinner party invitation of my life. But it's not the other guests that are so unbearable, it's the location.

Instead of a sitting round a cosy kitchen table, we are dangling from a crane 150ft in the sky, complete with dining chairs, table, crockery and even a slick-suited waiter who pours us a glass of wine as we swing gently in the breeze.

Dinner In The Sky is for people who expect more from their restaurants than four concrete walls and a solid floor. Instead, diners perch around a massive table, which is suspended from a crane high up in the air.

It sounds completely insane, but as the most unusual - and entirely legal - way of getting high over dinner, it is the new must-do experience for the super-rich and adventure-hungry who yearn for something a little more extreme at mealtimes.

Although based in Belgium, the "restaurant" can be driven to any destination in the world.

There have already been dining events in Paris and Brussels, while New York and Niagara Falls are on the agenda.

What's more, for a mere £10,000, they'll drive it over to Britain for you to host your own sky-high dinner party.

A busy day of hunt-and-chase seemed to be the last thing on this moggy's mind as he allowed a little mouse to walk all over him. (First the Royal Navy goes soft on us, now this.)

The mouse, on the other hand, is far from being a scaredy-cat. He sees a tempting ball of string and away he goes, oblivious to the danger of receiving a smack in the face - or worse - from a feline paw.