Recent Activity

• May 5, 2012 jlev commented on Museum of Bad Art

  There is also a MOBA branch in the basement of the Somerville Theatre, in Davis Square, right next to the men's room. Free admission with the purchase of a ticket. Open whenever films are running.

• May 5, 2012 jlev updated the Heinold's First and Last Chance Saloon
  

  Heinold's First and Last Chance Saloon

  Dive bar built out of the remains of a whaling ship

  Opened way back in 1883, this dive bar was cool before any of us knew what cool could be. It was so cool that Jack London would often hang out here. (The proprietors of the place say that London... »

  Commercial Curiosities, Bizarre Restaurants and Bars, Architectural Oddities, Repositories of Knowledge | Edited by brettyoung, Nicholas Jackson and 2 others

• February 5, 2011 jlev added Dead Pals of Sam Sanfillippo
  

  Dead Pals of Sam Sanfillippo

  Amateur taxidermy museum known for its large collection of white squirrels

  A funeral director and taxidermist, Sam Sanfillippo opened up a gallery of his more creative works in the basement of the low-slung brick funeral parlor that he owns and operates in Madison,... »

  Hunting and Taxidermy | Edited by jlev, Nicholas Jackson and others

• February 5, 2011 jlev has been to Carhenge
  

  Carhenge

  A curious replication of Stonehenge

  Jim Reinders, an experimental artist with a history of using curious media, became so enthralled by the beauty of the famous Stonehenge in England that he had to recreate it. However, Reinders,... »

  Outsider Art, Strange Statues, Outsider Architecture | Edited by CPilgrim and Dylan

• February 5, 2011 jlev has been to Iron pillar of Delhi
  

  India

  Iron pillar of Delhi

  An ancient iron pillar in Delhi which seems to be rust proof

  On first appearance it doesn't look like much, a 22 foot tall iron pillar, slowly rusting away in the middle of an empty square in Dehli, India. The surprise comes in learning its age, some 1600... »

  Inspired Inventions, Instruments of Science, Retro-Tech, Hoaxes and Pseudoscience, Long Now Locations | Edited by Dylan, littlebrumble and others

• February 5, 2011 jlev has been to Basilica Cisterns of Istanbul
  

  Istanbul, Turkey

  Basilica Cisterns of Istanbul

  A marvel of Byzantine engineering under the streets of Istanbul

  A Frenchman visiting Constantinople in the 1500s heard stories of locals fishing and drawing up fresh water from holes in their cellars. Upon further investigation, he rediscovered a subterranean... »

  Subterranean Sites | Edited by Annetta

• February 5, 2011 jlev has been to Santa Maria della Concezione
  

  Santa Maria della Concezione

  The crypts of Capuchin friars decorated with the bones of over 4000 friars, including an entire "crypt of pelvises"

  In 1775, the Marquis de Sade wrote of it, “I have never seen anything more striking.” Granted, the crypt was to his tastes. Mark Twain wrote about it in his 1869 book Innocents Abroad. When... »

  Memento Mori, Relics and Reliquaries, Ossuaries, Mummies, Catacombs, Crypts, & Cemeteries, Curious Places of Worship | Edited by michelle, Dylan and 2 others

• February 5, 2011 jlev has been to Lago de Atitlán
  

  Lago de Atitlán

  Central America's deepest lake is actually an volcanic caldera, surrounded by three volcanoes.

  Although it is recognized as Central America's deepest lake (estimated at over 340 meters), Atitlán is so deep it has yet to be properly sounded. It is the result of a massive volcanic explosion... »

  Watery Wonders, Fiery Wonders, Geological Oddities | Edited by Michael Peters and Annetta

• February 5, 2011 jlev has been to MIT Museum: Arthur Ganson
  

  MIT Museum: Arthur Ganson

  Bouncing, delightful, mechanical art at the MIT Museum

  Housed in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology museum in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is a permanent collection of wondrous and playful machines from MIT's former artist in residence, Arthur... »

  Museums and Collections, Outsider Art, Unique Collections | Edited by Josh, pdarnows and 4 others

• February 5, 2011 jlev has been to Museum of Bad Art
  

  Museum of Bad Art

  Museum dedicated to awful artwork

  Underneath the Dedham Community Theater, this little gem of an art gallery has since 1994 sought to preserve horrible artwork. Known as MOBA (the Museum of Bad Art), the collection started one... »

  Outsider Art | Edited by jacksondaisy

• February 5, 2011 jlev has been to Old New Synagogue
  

  Praha, Czech Republic

  Old New Synagogue

  Synagogue built from the stones of Solomon's temple contains the golem of Prague

  In the darkness along the banks of the Maldau River near the city of Prague, Rabbi Judah Loew ben Bezalel and his assistants fashioned a form in the mud. The year was 1580 and anti-semitic... »

  Architectural Oddities, Curious Places of Worship | Edited by ronin, Nicholas Jackson and others

• February 5, 2011 jlev has been to Stari Most
  

  Stari Most

  Bridge that died in war and was resurected

  The Bosnian War of the early 1990s had many victims, both human and architectural. One of the best known among these was the Old Bridge of Mostar. Once one of the most iconic landmarks of Bosnia... »

  Architectural Oddities | Edited by stanestane

• February 5, 2011 jlev has been to Mapparium
  

  Mapparium

  An enormous, inside-out glass globe built in 1935

  In 1930, Boston architect Chester Lindsay Churchill was commissioned to design the new Christian Science Publishing Society headquarters to compete with the other grand newspaper headquarters of... »

  Unusual Monuments, Small Worlds and Model Towns, Inspired Inventions, Instruments of Science, Marvelous Maps and Measures, Architectural Oddities, Eccentric Homes, Outsider Architecture | Edited by Josh, Dylan and 2 others

• February 5, 2011 jlev has been to Boston's Old Burying Grounds
  

  Boston's Old Burying Grounds

  Macabre headstones carved with winged skulls, dancing skeletons, and pithy reminders of impending death

  "Stay! thou this tomb that passeth by, And think how soon that thou may'st die..." The morbid imagery on the headstones in Boston's oldest cemeteries—such as skulls and crossed bones, winged... »

  Catacombs, Crypts, & Cemeteries | Edited by Annetta and wythe

• February 5, 2011 jlev has been to Krak des Chevaliers
  

  Hamah, Syria

  Krak des Chevaliers

  Ruins of the Crusaders' headquarters

  Krak des Chevaliers is the single most imposing symbol of the Crusades. The Krak is a massive Crusader fortress built during the First Crusade on a strategically important spot 40 kilometers... »

  Micro-Nations, Incredible Ruins | Edited by stanestane, Annetta and 2 others

• February 5, 2011 jlev has been to Petra
  

  Muhafazat Ma`an, Jordan

  Petra

  An ancient capital city 3000 years old and harboring many surprises

  Built sometime between 1550 and 1292 BCE as a capital city for the Nabataeans, a Semitic people, Petra is perhaps one of the most astonishing wonders of the ancient world. It lay undiscovered to... »

  Long Now Locations, Curious Places of Worship, Incredible Ruins, Subterranean Sites | Edited by LongNow, wythe and 2 others

• February 5, 2011 jlev has been to The Crystal Maiden of the Actun Tunichil Muknal Cave
  

  The Crystal Maiden of the Actun Tunichil Muknal Cave

  Belize cave containing the sparkling, calcite covered skeletons of Mayan children, sacrificed to the rain god

  The skeleton of an eighteen year old girl lies legs akimbo on the cave floor, two of her vertebrae crushed. She is known as the Crystal Maiden, and after a thousand years, she has a new found... »

  Curious Caves, Rites and Rituals, Curious Places of Worship, Subterranean Sites | Edited by Dylan and A Facebook user