Obscura Day 2012: Learn Something New

Expand your horizons this Obscura Day: This year’s line up includes some extraordinary - and unusual, to say the least - opportunities to learn something new. Like, for example: the history of a mysterious cryptozoolological beastie from the man who tracked him through the night, or the techniques of human tissue embalming. Where else are you going to find this kind of line up? Nowhere. That’s where.

In Portland, Maine, Cryptozoologist Loren Coleman will present the mysterious history of the Dover Demon that terrorized a small town in 1979. The Dover Demon at the International Cryptozoology Museum

In Kensington, Australia, the fine people at the Museum of Human Disease will be offering a truly unusual opportunity: A hands-on embalming session, focusing on the techniques of preparing and preserving tissue, led by the Museum’s resident embalmer. Get down and dirty embalming your very own pig heart - Pickled People: An Evening at the Museum of Human Disease

In New York City, take advantage of the opportunity to polish your post-apocalyptic survival skills with a lesson in urban foraging in the heart of the city. Naturalist  and wild foods expert “Wildman” Steve Brill will point out the weeds and mushrooms that are safe to eat and the ones that best be avoided (or hoarded, for the purposes of dispatching one’s end-times enemies).  Urban Foraging in Central Park

MORE WAYS TO BE A SMARTY: 

• In Miami Beach, Florida: Guided Tour of the World Erotic Art Museum in South Beach - Learn about the history behind a Miami grandmother’s collection of erotic artifacts (and get tipsy on gin while doing so!).
• ALSO in Miami Beach, Florida: Obscure to Obscura: Unusual Artifacts of the Wolfsonian Collection - Earlier in the day, dive into some of the most unusual pieces of ephemera at Miami’s Wolfsonian Library.
• In Los Angeles, California: Maja’s Mysteries: Rapture & Release: Esotouric Tours - Hop on a bus in Los Angeles, California, to tour some of the most incredible spiritual sites in the city.
• In Cambridge, Massachusetts: High Speed Imagery at the MIT Edgerton Center - get hands on with some high-speed photo and video equipment.
• In Boston, Massachusetts: Explore Boston’s African American History with Context Travel - Learn about the pivotal role of African Americans in Boston’s history.
• In Cleveland, Ohio: Magic Lanterns at the Dittrick Museum - Discover the Dittrick Museum’s seldom-seen collection of World War I medical photographs with and an authentic period magic lantern show.

Obscura Day April 28, 2012 - EVERYWHERE