Blame the craziness of life for not blogging all week. There is life outside the internet? No, you must be lying. Wait…what’s the internet? As far as I know, the internet was not invented by Al Gore, but it is a well-known fact that a couple of Belgian lawyers birthed...
The London Sewing Machine Museum contains what else…a collection of antique sewing machines. There are 600 domestic and industrial ones, dating from the 1850s to the 1950s. Probably the best piece of the collection is a unique sewing machine, given as a wedding present to Queen Victoria’s eldest daughter 150...
In recognition of what would have been Jack Kerouac’s 90th birthday I bring you a one-way alley in San Francisco’s Chinatown. Located between Grant and Columbus Avenues, this isn’t some random alley, it is located next to a pub and bookstore that Kerouac used to go to when he lived...
Off to another new country with a visit to Singapore. The Haw-Par Villa is a Chinese Mythological park (outdoor or open-air museum) created in 1937 by two brothers who developed and got rich from Tiger Balm. It contains 1,000 fiberglass statues and 150 giant dioramas depicting scenes from Chinese folklore,...
Jul 30, is #MuseumCats Day…no joke. I don’t know about you but I am a cat lady myself so I’m excited museums are celebrating all things kitty cat. I have written quite a few posts about cat-related museums, like the Moscow Cat Museum, Amsterdam’s Katten Kabinet, the “guard cats” at...
I will most likely be watching the Oscars. But I think I’d rather be in the middle of a state park visiting a former actor’s crazy castle. Actor and Connecticut native William Gillette, known for his portrayals of Sherlock Holmes on stage, spent more than $1 million (quite a lot...
A couple months ago I told you about the Musée Français de la Carte à Jouer, a museum in suburban Paris dedicated to playing cards. In our digital world it is sometimes hard to remember that humans have been shuffling card decks for a long ass time. Gambling is even...
The Museum of Soviet Arcade Machines is located in the basement of a small technical university in Moscow. A green cinder block walled stairway leads down to a military-grade metal door. When the door is unlocked, you enter a room full of old games. The entrance fee is 300 rubles...
The Polish Museum of America is one of the oldest ethnic museums in…you guessed it…AMERICA! In honor of Casimir Pulaski Day, a holiday that only appears to be celebrated in Chicago, (even though Wisconsin supposedly gets some action on this day too) I bring you this Polack museum. I’ve been...
Trying to continue with the religion theme I set for myself because of the Passover/Easter week. What better way to honor the holidays with a visit to the Palestinian Gardens, a 20 acre recreation of the Holy Land made out of cinder blocks and concrete. Constructed between 1953 and 1960...
