Announcing the Atlas Obscura

[rich]

i've been to the Czech bone church--its in Kutna Hora which has a few
other gems like the Church of St. Barbara which is also pretty
stunning (she graces my refrigerator door)

rich


On Wed, Jul 8, 2009 at 5:30 PM, Dave Monroe<against.the.dave at gmail.com> wrote:
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Atlas Obscura <info at atlasobscura.com>
> Date: Wed, Jul 8, 2009 at 1:51 PM
> Subject: Announcing the Atlas Obscura
> To: against.the.dave at gmail.com
>
>
> Announcing the Atlas Obscura!
>
> We're thrilled to announce the launch of the Atlas Obscura: A
> Compendium of the World's Wonders, Curiosities, and Esoterica, founded
> by Joshua Foer and Dylan Thuras, creators of the Athanasius Kircher
> Society and Curious Expeditions.
>
> The Atlas Obscura is a collaborative, wiki-like project whose purpose
> is to catalog all of the singular, eccentric, bizarre, fantastical,
> and strange out-of-the-way places that get left out of traditional
> travel guidebooks and are ignored by the average tourist.
>
> What kind of places are we talking about? Here are a few that were
> recently added to the Atlas:
>
> A hidden spot in the Smoky Mountains where you can find fireflies that
> blink in unison
> An 80-year-old house in Massachusetts made entirely out of paper
> A giant hole in the middle of the Turkmenistan desert that's been
> burning for four decades
> A Czech church built of bones
> The world's largest Tesla coil
> A museum filled with the genitals of every known mammal in Iceland
> Enormous concrete sound mirrors once used to detect aircraft off the
> English coast
> The self-built cathedral of an eccentric Spanish ex-monk
> A museum of Victorian hair art in Independence, Missouri
> An underwater sculpture garden off the coast of Grenada
> Galileo's amputated middle finger
> An island in the Canaries where people communicate by whistling
> The corpse of a 14th-century Japanese monk who mummified himself while
> he was still alive
>
> Anyone can contribute places to the Atlas Obscura, or edit content
> that someone else has contributed.  We're counting on you to help us
> fill out the map and document all of the world's wonders and
> curiosities!
>
> We're hopeful that we if can get a bunch of like-minded travelers (and
> armchair travelers) to share their obscure knowledge, we can build a
> truly awesome resource for everyone. So, please check the site out!
> Explore! Get involved! Add a curious place! Let us know what works and
> what doesn't.
>
> Atlas Obscura in the Press
>
> The Atlas Obscura has been live for less than a month, but we've
> already received some nice notices in the newspapers:
>
> "Atlas Obscura is really the type of site that should be labeled as
> not safe for work. Not because there's anything offensive about it —
> don't worry, you can click safely — but because the posts make you
> really, really want to get out of the office." - Time.com (7/7/09)
> "Even if you don't have time to actually visit the places in the
> atlas, you can wile away that six-hour layover in Charlotte just
> browsing through all the bizarre, fascinating entries. Indulge your
> wanderlust. Explore!" - Economist (6/28/09)
>
> "If you like Loverboy records and French milkshakes, then you’ll love
> the newly launched AtlasObscura.com... As a co-founder, Joshua Foer,
> put it, the site is a catalog of all the 'wondrous, curious, and
> esoteric places' that don’t make it into your average guidebook. Like
> the world’s biggest manmade hole in eastern Siberia. Or the Sonorous
> Stones of Ringing Rocks Park, in Pennsylvania. Or the Pigeon Towers of
> Isfahan. Or Carhenge in Nebraska... Access to the Atlas is free;
> flying to Kampong Kedah, Malaysia, to witness the synchronized
> flashing of fireflies is not." - New York Times Frugal Traveler
> (6/17/09)
>
> "Every city has that one weird place -- the museum of bizarre
> artifacts, the out-of-place sculpture, a historical landmark for a
> not-very-historical event. Enter Atlas Obscura, 'a compendium of this
> age's wonders, curiosities, and esoterica' and a community-generated
> clearinghouse of strange delights." - EWPicks: Today's Best in Pop
> Culture (7/5/09)
> "Joshua Foer and Dylan Thuras are cataloging the world’s weirdest
> places to foster a new age of curiosity...Obviously, they both share a
> fascination with the world’s moldiest, weirdest corners. But the
> sensibility, if anything, is ancient, harking back to Wunderkammern,
> or Wonder Cabinets." - Good Magazine (6/12/09)
>
> Atlas Obscura Seeking Interns
>
> The Atlas Obscura is seeking a pair of dedicated interns with a strong
> writing/editorial/research background to help us grow the site. Our
> team is currently based in Brooklyn, San Francisco, and New Haven, but
> we are open to having interns located in other cities. Applications
> are available at www.atlasobscura.com/internship. For more
> information, contact info at atlasobscura.com.
>
> Atlas Obscura 187 Berkeley Place #3 Brooklyn, NY 11217
>
>