One of the coolest stops Hillary and I made on our recent trip to Texas was at the Austin Museum of the Weird. The museum is on 6th Street and it’s open until 11 PM, so it’s easy to stroll in during a night out on the town.

It’s a tripped out collection. The museum itself is pretty small, but the eclectic display they’ve packed into it is very impressive.

Classic movie monster props combine with an arcane mix of occult artifacts and sideshow curiosities. Featuring the Fiji Mermaid, a two-headed sheep, and a fish with a human face.

There is a fairy fossil displayed on a wall. . .

A voodoo guardian stands in one corner. . .

And for all those fans of The Invisibles out there, there is even a Hand of Glory.

Supernatural, Travel | 3 Comments »

Wired’s Manhunt for Evan Ratliff

On August 13, 2009, Evan Ratliff wrote a feature article for Wired entitled Gone Forever: What Does It Take to Really Disappear? In the article, Ratliff profiles the disappearance and subsequent hunt for family man Matthew Alan Sheppard as well as the stories of other infamous missing people including Marcus Schrenker, the money manager who attempted to fake his death by crashing his plane in Florida. The article goes on to note that every year, thousands of adults decide to abandon their lives: according to a British study, two-thirds of missing adults make a conscious decision to leave.

The article inspired Evan Ratliff and Wired editor Nicholas Thompson to stage a manhunt of their own. Starting on August 15th, Evan Ratliff disappeared and challenged Wired’s readers to find him. The first person to find Ratliff, pass on the codeword “Fluke”, the name of Matthew Alan Sheppard’s black labrador, and email Ratliff’s response to nicholas_thompson@wired.com will receive $5,000.

Link

The search continues at the links below:

Wired
Facebook
Twitter

Let’s find him.

News, Travel | 1 Comment »

(Image by Wildplaces)

I didn’t expect to be posting another mermaid article so soon, but the news just keeps coming in.

Israel’s Mermaid Fever

“Many people are telling us they are sure they’ve seen a mermaid and they are all independent of each other,” council spokesman Natti Zilberman told Sky News.

The nautical nymph is only seen in the evening at sunset, according to media reports, drawing crowds of people with cameras hoping for a glimpse.

“People say it is half girl, half fish, jumping like a dolphin. It does all kinds of tricks then disappears,” Mr Zilberman said.

Asked whether a dolphin or large fish could be a more rational explanation, he insisted: “They say it is a female figure, it looks like a young girl.

The Kiryat Yam city council is offering a one million dollar reward for a genuine photograph.

See also:

Mermaid Sightings

The Living Mermaid

Supernatural, Travel | 6 Comments »

Elephants March through Hotel Lobby Built on Migration Trail

Mfuwe Lodge in Zambia happens to have been built next to a mango tree that one family of pachyderms have always visited when the fruit ripens.

When they returned one year and found the luxury accommodation in the way, they simply walked through reception.

Now the family group, headed by matriarch Wonky Tusk, return every November to gorge on mangos – up to four times a day.

Andy Hogg, 44, director at the Bushcamp Company that runs the Lodge, has lived in South Luangwa National Park since 1982.

But in all his years of dealing with wild animals he has never seen such intimate interaction between man and beast.

‘This is the only place in the world where elephants freely get so close to humans.