Common Sense and Whiskey

Strange Museums #8

If you're in the southeast U.S. next weekend, you won't want to miss this:

"The International Towing and Recovery Hall of Fame and Museum will be hosting a ceremony for the 2011 Hall of Fame Induction on Sunday, September 18th.  Each year between 5 and 10 towing and recovery industry professionals are honored in the Hall of Fame for contributions to improving the industry as well as outstanding professional and community service. The Towing and Recovery Hall of Fame and Museum is located at 3315 Broad Street in Chattanooga."

Enjoy the International Towing and Recovery Hall of Fame and Museum web site. Go ahead.

And see the other Strange Museums.

Captain Beany Paints Himself Orange: Silly Museums #7

Meet Captain Beany, Curator, the Baked Bean Museum of Excellence, in Port Talbot, Wales (Which looks like it just may be in Captain Beany's back room).

Or, maybe, don't.

Slower Than Paint Drying, Actually. Silly Museums #6

In 1927, Professor Thomas Parnell heated a sample of pitch and poured it into a sealed funnel. Then, he waited.

As Atlas Obscura tells it, "Pitch is the name of a number of hard tar-like substances and in this case bitumen was used. Though at room temperature pitch appears to be a solid and can be shattered by a hammer, it is in fact a very high-viscosity liquid, and Professor Parnell wanted to prove it."

Between 1927 & 2009, the pitch has dripped eight times. If you don't have much else going on, you can watch the pitch live with a video player here.

This is a screen capture of the pitch earlier today. Better run check, eh? Looks ready to drop.

If the Super Bowl's not for you, you can attend this experiment live in person at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia. Not in Australia? Take a tour here at EarthPhotos.com.

A Compendium of Odd Places

The Jesus Tree of Malta? The olm, the blind "dragon babies" of southeastern Europe? How about the Mystery Spot in Santa Cruz, California, an "ineffable, natural phenomenon that cannot be described or explained (I'd describe it, but I can't. It's the Mystery Spot, see). They're all there, at Atlas Obscura.

Unique Museums #9

"Out amid the green fields of sleepy Wallonia, what appears to be a modernist yacht or a large, flat spaceship has docked on the edges of the university town of Louvain-la-Neuve, about 30 kilometers south of Brussels," says Bloomberg, in a story about the new museum dedicated to Hergé, the pen name of Georges Remi (1907–1983), creator of TinTin. The museum's grand opening is today.

Silly Museums: #9

Welcome to The Corkscrew Museum, in Menerbes, "one of the most beautiful village in France in the center of Luberon."

It's "A private collection of over one thousand pieces from all over the world, dating from the middle of the XVIIth century to the present day."

(Photo from the Corkscrew Museum website.)

Visit Silly Museums: #7

Welcome to the Museum of Drinking Water, Taipei, Taiwan.

Just remember, no photographing or filming in the museum unless authorized, because buster, "A violator who has incutted damage to the building, any facility, or collection dhall be responsible for compensation or even chatged."

Don't make us chatge you.

(Photo from the Museum of Drinking Water website.)

Visit Silly Museums: #11

The Brilmuseum, Amsterdam - the National Museum of Spectacles (eyeglasses, that is).

"... presented to you in two marvellous chambers, established in a shattering premises, dating back to 1620!!!"

(Photo is a screen grab from The Brilmuseum, Amsterdam.)

Visit Silly Museums: #4

The World's only Salt and Pepper Shaker Museum has moved to Gatlinburg, TN!!! Who knew!?

(Photo from Salt and Pepper Shaker Museum web site.)

Visit Silly Museums: #14

 

Next time you're in downtown Lancashire, The British Lawnmower Museum is across the street from Discount Mower Warehouse. The museum has a gift shop with postcards of lawnmowers.

Visit Silly Museums: #47

The Mustard Museum of Mount Horeb, Wisconsin.