Do you have a penchant the odd and unusual? Do you prefer to travel off the beaten path? Do you seek out things that will surprise the hell out of you?

If you’re reading this blog, I’m going to go ahead and guess you answered “yes” to all three, and I have resource you’re going to love: Atlas Obscura.

The Atlas Obscura is the definitive guidebook and friendly tour-guide to the world’s most wondrous places.

User-generated and editor curated, the Atlas is a collaborative compendium of amazing places that aren’t found in your average guidebook.

If you’re looking for miniature cities, glass flowers, books bound in human skin, gigantic flaming holes in the ground, bone churches, balancing pagodas, or homes built entirely out of paper, the Atlas Obscura is where you’ll find them.

This online resource features attractions from all over the world. Regardless of where you’re going, I highly recommend searching this site before taking off on your next adventure. You may even find a few hidden gems in your hometown that you were unaware of.

Enjoy!

Q. How did you get involved in circus arts?

A. I first fell in love with the circus as a freshman in high school in the Sarasota Sailor Circus program. I signed up for circus class to fulfill my PE requirement, and little did I know that I had signed up for a lifetime career in and around the circus.

I became a catcher and flying trapeze instructor for Trapeze School New York – Beantown. I then owned and operated my own trapeze school (Circusoul of Tulsa) and was a director of the circus camp at Camp Lohikan. I’m currently performing and producing with our troup of performers, Circusoul Productions.

Q. When did you first get involved with aerial yoga hammocks?

A. I first got involved with aerial yoga hammocks in the Spring of 2011, while recooperating from a back injury. Through my exploration of aerial hammocks, aerial yoga and it’s transformational ability, I fell in love. I had been studying and teaching yoga over the last several years and found that this new form of aerial yoga could incorporate both my aerial and yoga background! I was totally hooked and could not wait to share this gift with everyone I met!

Q. Can you tell us a little bit about the equipment involved in aerial yoga?

A. The flying yoga hammock is really unique, as it uses minimal hardware, is very versatile and can even be used to lounge in. It combines nylon webbing that allows you to adjust the height of your hammock. The flying yoga hammock also includes a set of handles that can be used to do extra yoga moves, and it works great for aerial fitness and aerial dance. The entire yoga hammock is made from fabric, so it’s more comfortable and feels more secure, and there is a whole slew of things (cocooning and flying savasana to name a couple) that you can do in this hammock that other hammocks might fall short in delivering.  Check out some of the things you can do here: Flying Yoga Pictures.

Rosie Wijenburg, aka Rosie Delight, is an academic and burlesque dancer battling Dystonia, “a disorder characterized by involuntary muscle contractions that cause slow repetitive movements or abnormal postures” (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke). Rosie has decided to document her struggle and challenge her condition in an unusual way:

Her approach to dealing with such a debilitating condition is much different than you would expect. After being told that Rosie Delight and all the character’s endeavors may be a thing of the past, Rosie had a lot to think about. She choose to throw caution into the wind and deal with this the way that only Rosie knows how. She would act, dance and sing about it. She approached the Vancouver International Burlesque Festival and had them agree to allow her a 45 minute slot to showcase a burletta  about Dystonia and it’s effects. With the V.I.B.F’s blessing she has six weeks till the curtain goes up to a sold out audience and all she has to do is write and choreograph the play, cast the support, make the props, do the wardrobe……a daunting task to say the least. (Vimeo Bio)

You can keep up with the progress of Rosie’s documentary on Facebook and Twitter. Best of luck, Rosie. We’ll be awaiting your film.

June 15. Mark it in your calendars. On this date, Nik Wallenda will walk across Niagara Falls on a high wire and ABC will be covering the event live.

According to the Herald-Tribune,

Canada and western New York are buzzing over the potential for a $20.5 million tourist windfall emanating from Wallenda’s conquest of the fabled cascades, which share two national borders. Wallenda, who holds six Guinness World Records for high-wire acts, will attempt to cross the Niagara Escarpment at Horseshoe Falls, through which 90 percent of the Niagara River flows.

Wallenda plans to walk from Goat Island in the United States west into Ontario at Table Rock. The estimated distance is 1,800 feet, and will take an about 40 minutes to complete. The great-grandson of circus legend Karl Wallenda has never performed a skywalk without stabilizing guy wires, but the length of the span makes those precautions impossible and presents an engineering challenge of unparalleled magnitude.

The 33-year-old stuntman has come a long way since he first stepped foot on a practice wire at age 2. Today, he will be walking across the Inner Harbor in Baltimore to celebrate the grand opening of a new Ripley’s Believe It Or Not Museum.

Best of luck, Nik! The world will be watching your triumph.

Attention sideshow banner collectors! I’ve just been informed that an original Snap Wyatt banner of The Viking Giant has turned up at an estate and will be sold at a public auction in Kansas City, MO on May 20th at 10 am. (Click here to view auction details.) Although it’s not the clearest image, you can see the banner in the background at the 5:11 mark in the above video.

If you have any questions, you can contact Kevin Ulmer at 660-287-1410 or sprint20k@yahoo.com.

Hi,

I’m working with a touring film, and we’re looking for amazing, astounding, awe-inspiring opening acts to get the crowd riled up and ready for fun. The film is called The Devil’s Carnival, and it’s directed by Saw II, III, IV director Darren Bousman and written by Repo! The Genetic Opera creator/star Terrance Zdunich.

I’m not sure where you’re located, but here’s a list of the cities we’re booking. If you’ll be in any of them while we’re there, we’d love to have you!

Cheers!
Kimmie
kimmieyan@gmail.com
323.559.6567

Coney Island Love Letter from Land of Nod Inc. on Vimeo.

The above video comes to you courtesy of Land of Nod Inc, a Brooklyn-based cinema production house (To view more of their work, click here.) and the featured music is Claire de Lune by the French composer Claude Debussy.

If you are interested in donating to Coney Island USA, click here.

“Performing dogs were often strays or purchased from the pound, because these mixed breed dogs were usually very intelligent and learned tricks quickly. The dogs traveled in special accommodations. Wagons 99 and 98 were designed specifically for the dogs, with each animal having its own space in the wagon. In between performances, the dogs were kept in outdoor kennels.”

-Ringling Circus Museum, Tibbals Learning Center

Given the commonly held belief that circus dogs should be poodles with ridiculous haircuts, I found this to be quite fascinating. Go mutt or go home!

*The image at the top of this post did not come from the Ringling Circus Museum. It is actually a poster that is available for sale here.

Sarasota, Florida has been home to the Ringling Circus Museum since 1948 and at the time, it was the only museum of its kind to take on the challenge of documenting (and celebrating) the legacy of the American circus. Once it was established, the museum grew quickly due to the exceptional number of circus performers in the area, many of whom contributed to the collections.

Over the decades, this important resource did not grow as quickly or gloriously as I think it deserved to. Last year, however, the Ringling Circus Museum received a significant upgrade; in September, 2011, a sizable expansion to the Tibbals Learning Center opened on the Ringling grounds.

This new addition is truly a cohesive, educational and beautifully designed space, with engaging and interactive elements in every corner. It is also chock-full of fun trivia regarding the Ringling-era circus. Did you know that high wire performers use to perform on hemp rope before commercially made cable became readily available? Or that the steam calliope at the tail end of the street parade typically played the Pied Piper to lead the masses to the circus tent?

If these factoids make you as unexplainably excitable as they do me, I highly recommend making a trip to see the new and improved museum. It’s clear that a pretty penny was invested into this institution and there’s no better way to show your appreciation is to support it. To read more about the history of this museum, click here.

Kunstkamera

Russia’s first museum might seem an odd selection for a “weird museum,” but even a casual glance at Peter the Great’s cabinet of curiosities reveals some bizarre items.

The massive collection of more than 200,000 natural and human oddities was originally assembled to dispel the Russian people’s belief in monsters, though it’s difficult to see how the strange exhibits might have accomplished that.

The czar put together a ghastly personal collection of curiosities including deformed fetuses, creatures with extra heads or limbs, even a decapitated human head preserved in vinegar. The building is now home to the modern Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography, with many remnants of Czar Peter’s collection of medical freaks hidden behind mannequins of local tribes and rather uninteresting presentations.

Don’t miss: Hundreds of preserved human fetuses, every one of them with an odd anatomical mutation from flippers to deformed heads.

The Kunstkamera, 3 University Emb., St. Petersburg, Russia

International Cryptozoology Museum

Cryptozoology is the study of unverified animals, mystical creatures only rumored to exist by legend or belief, such as the Yeti or Loch Ness Monster.

For Loren Coleman, who has become one of the world’s leading experts on creatures that may not exist, “belief” is purely within the realm of religion.

Coleman has created a museum amassing a collection of purported specimens, relics and artifacts dealing with mythical creatures, including a life-size coelacanth and P.T. Barnum’s Feejee Mermaid, as well as a wealth of hair samples, fecal matter and footcasts of animals that probably have never walked the face of the earth.

Don’t Miss: A 2.5-meter, 130-kilo “Crookston Bigfoot,” probably your only chance to see the legendary creature with your own eyes.

International Cryptozoology Museum, 11 Avon St., Portland, Maine

Clown Hall of Fame and Research Center

Look out for the hand buzzer and seltzer bottle, but this clown museum is more than a barrel of laughs.

The clowns who joked (and sometimes terrified) America are honored inside, with every one of the fascinating stories behind the inch-thick layer of makeup featured in the world’s largest archive of clown artifacts.

Don’t Miss: The scrapbooks of legendary circus clowns, allowing you to finally discover what exactly it is that makes a clown cry.

International Clown Hall of Fame and Research Center, 102 4th Ave., Baraboo, Wisconsin

To read the article in full and check out the 12 other museums, click here. (Trust me, it’s worth it if you have a minute to spare!)