Monday, October 3, 2011

Museum Slut

Thought for the day: There are three kinds of men. The ones that learn by reading. The few who learn by observation. The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence.  Will Rogers
                                                                               
                                                                               
courtesy of dribbleglass.com



Michael C. Carlos Museum




Well, perhaps the word slut is a bit harsh, but I'll admit to being a pushover for a good museum. Absolutely love 'em. All kinds. How about you? Are you a museum kinda person? Over the years, we've been to countless fine art museums, wax museums, Ripley's Believe it or Not museums, the Smithsonian, and museums for baseball, railroads, the U.S. Infantry, ordinance, aviation, the Civil War, P.O.W.s, the Civil War Navy, Jimmy Carter, Martin Luther King, Jr., medicine, electronics, radio and TV, and on and on. And we've been to most of them multiple times. Like I said, I love museums.

So,  natch, I was pretty excited to see an article in last week's newspaper about the opening of a brand new exhibit in town. And even more excited when my sweet hubby offered to take me there last
Thursday.

The new exhibit is at the Carlos Museum, located on the Emory University campus in Atlanta. The picture doesn't do the place justice at all. Its architecture is exquisite, but what really makes the building outstanding is the unique coloration and quality of its stone. Looks like marble, and has delicate pink veins throughout. Just gorgeous.

Anyway, this museum holds the largest collection of ancient artifacts in the Southeast, and the new exhibit we went to see is designed around a mummy. Now, I've seen lots of mummies before, and have always found them to be fascinating, but what's unique about THIS mummy is his position. He isn't lying on his back, like we usually see. He isn't stretched out all stiff (no pun intended) and formal-like, either.

No, he's positioned on his side, half-curled up, in a sleeping position. With his head on a headrest. As though he were taking a nap.
This is what the head rest looks like.

                                                                                 
This is what one of the rooms of mummies looks like.

And THIS is how our star is positioned.

Pretty cool huh?

My husband thinks I'll go to any kind of museum, and judging by some of the ones I've dragged him to, maybe he's right. But to tell ya the truth, I'm not sure about some of these:

National Mustard Museum. Yeah, mustard, as in that yellow stuff  you put on a hot dog. This museum is located in Middleton, Wisconsin. Don't believe me? Here 'tis:

 Maybe the founder graduated from Poupon U?


Mutter Museum. Located in Philadelphia, this museum contains weird, gruesome, and unusual medical specimens. (So sue me. I think I'd like this place ...)


Cockroach Hall of Fame.  Located in Plano, Texas, this place got started by an exterminating company as a publicity stunt to advertise its business, but their collection multiplied like ... well, like a bunch of dirty roaches, and it ended up being a permanent display. Now they boast such "attractions" as Libe-roachi, a flamboyantly dressed creepy crawly. (I wonder if he has his own piano?) Good thing this place has free admission. I don't believe you could pay me to go. (For fear of causing you nightmares, I'll skip showing you a picture of one of their gargantuan specimens.)

Museum of Salt and Pepper Shakers. The name says it all. Located in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.




Museum of Bad Art. No kidding! And there must be a LOT of bad art, too, because this museum actually has three different locations in the Boston, Massachusetts area. 

I mean, B-A-D art!

New Orleans Historic Voodoo Museum. Kinda self-explanatory. I'd probably have to drink a lot of Irish coffees before I'd be game to venture here.




Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum. If I'm ever in Farmington Hills, Michigan, I definitely want to visit this cool place. It looks like a boardwalk penny arcade gone wild. Busy, busy, busy. Lots of stuff to see, especially old coin-operated machinery and gadgets.  


So, what's the weirdest or neatest museum you've ever visited? And which ones listed here would you like to see? I might even enjoy that bad art one. (Might make me feel better about my own paintings ...)

Until next time, take care of yourselves. And each other.
















                                                                                

23 comments:

  1. I have never even been inside a Ripleys. I am not a fan of weird stuff, never have been. But I have been to all of the Smithsonians [too many times to count] and Civil War museums - because it just happens to be the area where I grew up and live now.

    I really want to go to the baseball, football and rock n' roll halls of fame.

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  2. Give me the stranger the better. I'm with you on museums - especially those that show us the history of an area - course come to think of it, that is pretty much what a museum is.

    Mutter Museum looks fascinating - love medical marvels.

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  3. I must say, I rather like both the Mona Lisa and the Bunnies. Which probably says a lot about my own work!

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  4. Hi-ya, Skippy. Yeah, I've been to all the museums in the Baltimore-D.C area multiple times, but still LOVE the Smithsonian. I haven't been to the halls of fame, but there is (or used to be) a pretty cool Babe Ruth Museum in B'more.

    M.G.- I agree. I think Mutter Museum would be fascinating. (Wonder what that says about us?)

    Cro- Well, I suppose they do have a certain "je ne sais pas." HA!

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  5. I'd have to say if I had to pick, it'd be the one in Boston. Anywhere in New England is fine. I like art too so even if it's bad art, it's still art. My favorite museum is the RISD art museum.

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  6. I love museums! I'd go to all the ones you listed, with the exception of the cockroach one. *shudders*

    My fave is the Smithsonian's Natural History Museum. They used to display the body of a man who'd been turned into soap by water leaching into his grave, but sadly they had rotated it out last time I visited.

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  7. That mummy does NOT look comfortable.
    I think I'd like a look at that museum of salt and pepper shakers. My mom used to have a collection of over 100 pair. It would be a walk down memory lane for me.
    We aren't much on museums here. We've been to the local museum, the county museum and the farming museum in Milton as well as Black Creek Pioneer Village which is like a living museum and the Doon Pioneer Village (same deal).

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  8. I still love the NYC museums that I grew up with; the Met, the MOMA, the Whitney, etc. But the museum I love best there is The Cloisters. You have to see it!!!
    http://www.metmuseum.org/visit/visit-the-cloisters/

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  9. my idea of heaven is to being able to mooch around a museum alone

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  10. Hi, Anne. Well, I suppose bad art is better than no art at all. (On second thought, I've seen some reeeeeally bad NEA-supported art ...)But since you can leave that bad art museum and go have some ultra fresh clam chowder, it sounds like it'd be an awesome outing.

    Linda- The Smithsonian's Natural History Museum is my favorite, too. Unfortunately, I often got overruled by the males in our family, and ended up spending the day at the ordinance museum looking at tanks and guns. (Seen one tank, seen 'em all!)

    Delores- Evidently, that head rest is what the ancient Egyptians used when they slept. I agree. Doesn't look very comfy. Kinda like those tribes in Africa who still sleep on their sides with elbow bent, arm up, and head resting on their hand. I know it's to keep the bugs out of their ears, but still ...

    Austan- You lucky stiff. New York has some of the best museums in the country.

    John- Why am I not surprised? Actually, I always loved going solo, too, so I could move at my own rate and not worry about the glazed-over eyes of my companions.

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  11. We, who live in the Philadelphia area, are very proud of our Mutter Museum. Some of the favorite things to see there is a massive human colon containing 40 lbs. of fecal matter, and a tumor removed from President Grover Cleveland.

    And they say there is nothing interesting to see in Philly...

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  12. Great title! Isn't the mummy positioned a little like Burt Reynold's centerfold in Cosmo? I too love Musuems, and remember dragging my boys through the Smithsonian! I still enjoy going to The Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, which brings back so many wonderful childhood memories! Julie

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  13. Hi-ya, Arleen. Ooooh, sounds like my kinda place! And hey, you guys have the Franklin Institute, or at least you used to. I was there in the early 60s, and loved it. (Would probably enjoy Mutter just as much!)

    Julie- Ah, you could be right about that Burt Reynold's pose ...

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  14. I love looking at and studying old artifacts. If they are everyday household items from hundreds of years ago, all the better. I can get lost thinking about the people who used those items.

    Love museums, but I might draw the line at cockroaches.

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  15. Hi, L.G. I'm with you. Cockroaches aren't on my top ten list, either. Take care.

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  16. The Franklin Museum is still there and has been expanded upon. It is always packed with children "of all ages". However, the place to see is our beautiful Museum of Art. It is a treasure.

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  17. That mummy is way cool! I have been to the Smithsonian and loved it. I think I would definitely enjoy the Bad Art Museum. Glad you went & enjoyed something you love!

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  18. We love museums, too. In fact we even have a word for what happens when you spend all day in one ("museum back"). I won't say my favorite, but when we went to the Smithsonian History and Technology museum, which contains an awful lot of cool stuff, we spent half an hour watching the TV monitor doing a loop of reruns in Julia Child's kitchen.

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  19. I love museums, especially art museums, although I'd love to go to that Salt & Pepper Shaker museum too. :)

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  20. I haven't been to a museum in ages. Anything gross, weird, scary, or historic, floats my boat. I love the shrunken heads at Ripley's. :D

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  21. Hi, Arleen. I'm so glad to hear Franklin Institute is still going strong. That was such a neat place. Even had a planetarium, if I remember right.

    Tracy Jo- I can't imagine anyone going to the Smithsonian and NOT finding something there to enjoy. Sooooo much stuff to see.

    Murr- "Museum back" is a good description for it. Not to mention "museum feet" and "museum eyes." But worth every single ache and pain.

    Liz- I'm glad you (and so many others) enjoy museums. (I'm not the only pushover!)

    Carrie- I like the weird stuff at Ripley's, too. And it sounds like you're overdue to visit a museum of some kind pretty soon, eh?

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  22. I'm with you Susan. I love museums and historical sites as well and always visit one when I can. I'm also a sucker for things like aquariums. I'm jonesing to see the Atlanta Aquarium.

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  23. Hi, Mr.C. If you have the opportunity, the Atlanta Aquarium is a must-see. We finally went this year for the first time, and no sooner than we came out, I was ready to visit all over again.

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