MOTW Admin – Page 15 – Museum of the Weird

Posted on December 23, 2014 by MOTW Admin

Big Sale at Museum of the Weird/ Lucky Lizard: TODAY ONLY!

TODAY ONLY – TUESDAY, DECEMBER 23! Come down to Lucky Lizard Curios & Gifts for our extended annual Christmas Celebration Sale! That’s right we are extending our weekend sale into one more day, TODAY ONLY! Today we are offering up to 50% off all day long on almost everything in the shop! BUT HERE’S THE CATCH: to get access to our special sale, you must use the code word: SFANTHOR!

Many unique, handcrafted or one-of-a-kind gifts! 25-50% off

MUSEUM OF THE WEIRD® t-shirts! 20% off

All jewelry! 20% off

FURRY BONES® and all other figurines! 20% off

ARCHIE MCPHEE/ACCOUTREMENTS novelty toys and gifts! 20% off

also:

KEEP AUSTIN WEIRD® t-shirts and merchandise! 10% off

HORROR/SCI-FI t-shirts! 10% off

If you haven’t done your Christmas shopping yet, today is your day to SAVE $$$!

Posted on December 22, 2014July 29, 2024 by MOTW Admin

The Bigfoot Gift Guide for the Cryptid-Hunter Who Has It All

Still having trouble what to get for that cryptid-hunter in your life? There does seem to be a bit of a cap on Bigfoot accessories available. Many of the more popular items you can buy at The Museum of the Weird, located at 412 E.6th St in Austin, TX, so please, come on down and shop in our gift shop! But the point of this post is to hunt down some of the more off the beaten track items. Lets explore Sasquatch gifts for the fan who seems to have it all…

First off, tis the season for outrageous holiday sweaters. Why not make your giftee happy with their very own Bigfoot one?

This beautiful (?) bit of hirsute holiday habiliment is available over at Archie McPhee. Alternately you’ve got this great one…

Available from middleofbeyond.com, which make crazy sweaters for lots of different obsessions, including Dungeons & Dragons, Cthulu, Krampus, Gremlins. Zombie and Santa. They also make scarves, rugs. t-shirts, Christmas ornaments and more using images from these same off-beat topics.

Perhaps your friend is somewhat circumspect about engaging others in conversation about the beast-man. A more appropriate gift for them to admire in the privacy of their own home might be this:

The story goes that Teddy Roosevelt had a Bigfoot encounter. Of course it probably didn’t go quite like this, but what fun is history if we can’t patriotically embellish it a bit (not sure if this is sarcastic or not)? This beautiful, handmade, 11×17 print is available from Etsy. The store also offers other US Presidents and historical figures fighting various monsters or using them as steeds. I’m partial to Paul Revere on a “Tron” lightcycle.

I don’t like to assume things about people. Like for instance, who am I to say that none of you are close personal friends with supermodel Megan Fox? That would be just plain rude of me. Especially considering that she’s a devoted cryptid fan.

In an interview for Esquire Magazine, she extolled the virtues of Bigfoot and more…“Would you not be so much more interested in finding out that Bigfoot existed than in watching a really good movie?” she said.

Assuming you’re that guy tasked with buying her something nice, or really anyone who’s got to get something sexy for your lady that espouses her Bigfoot-belief, may I suggest the tasteful…

What says “I love you” (or, at least, I love your body) better than a “Bigfoot for President” thong? I can’t think of anything (and believe me, I looked for Bigfoot engagement rings). You can pick this up. or the same slogan printed on just about everything else, right here.

You’ve got to decorate your tree, and there are a lot of cryptid-specific ornaments out there to choose from. But let me point out two of the best…

This lovely fellow is extremely popular and tends to sell out well before Christmas every year, so this might be in prep for NEXT year, but you can pick him up from designToscano.

Bigfoot rides Nessie. I love it. And on a Christmas star. I think this one is a loch for the perfect christmas gift.

Of course, your friend may not be quite so passive. Do they have a big trip planned this year to Washington State or Canada? You should know that they’re probably planning on traipsing through the woods hoping to catch a glimpse of the fabled creature. Why not help them out with professional Bigfoot hunting gear?

Roadtrippers.com not only has assembled a list of the best Sasquatch hunting equipment out there, but is even sponsoring a contest where you can win it all!

So there ya go. We here at Museum of the Weird hope that not only will you consider some of our off-beat suggestions, but perhaps as well consider buying some of the items we offer ourselves. For instance, we offer this “Bigfoot Lives” t-shirt that you can see our intrepid leader Steve Busti wearing as he poses next to our “Minnesota Iceman” exhibit.

We’ve got lots of Bigfoot gifts along with a plethora of downright weird items of every stripe. Come visit us at 412 E. 6th st in Austin, Texas or call at 512-476-5493 to see about shipping options. And have yourself a Merry, Hairy, Little Christmas!

Posted on December 13, 2014 by MOTW Admin

Collect ‘Em, Trade ‘Em: New Star Wars Characters Revealed in Throwback Trading Cards

Now how cool is THIS?

Star Wars director J.J. Abrams and Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy have released the names of all the characters from the new Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer in the most novel, fun and inspired way imaginable — they’ve released a set of retro Topps-style trading cards!

Can you say… Freakin’ AWESOME!!??

Anyone who was lucky enough to have grown up in the late-seventies and remembers all the Star Wars mania of those days — myself included — will instantly recognize the heartwarming feel of nostalgia these cards bring back. They are almost identical to the original set of Star Wars trading cards put out by Topps back in 1977, even down to the starbursts and numbering system (and yes, according to Abrams those numbers DO have some significance — could they be in chronological order of events from the film?).

Here’s a couple of scans of the original 1977 cards for comparison:

Entertainment Weekly broke the story yesterday with their exclusive release of eight cards, which we have reproduced here in numeric order for your speculative enjoyment.

Now for my next question: will we be seeing the rest of the cards?

Anyone interest in picking up some of the original trading cards should come down to our sister store, Sfanthor! at 1101 South Congress! We have almost the complete set!

SOURCE: ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ character names revealed (in coolest way possible) — exclusive

Posted on December 8, 2014 by MOTW Admin

Chocolate Skulls and Anatomy Cakes

Looking for some stocking stuffers for that Museum of the Weird avid blog fan on your ‘nice’ list this year? Traditionally (in my family, anyway) the stocking is where the sweets went; any kind of sugary sweet that we could immediately shove down our child-gullets was most welcome. I can only assume the plan was that we’d use all that hyper energy tearing open our gifts afterwards and then would crash for an hour or so giving our parents some peace.

These sweets might not be so kid-friendly, but your weird-fans will love ’em.

Whatcha got right here is a baby skull. A CHOCOLATE baby skull. Because there’s a place for everything and everything has a place. Even chocolate baby skulls. Talk about your niche markets. But Conjurerskitchen.com has got your nichey needs for your chocoholic fantasy cannibal friends. But perhaps the chocolate baby skull is too tame for you. Perhaps you need something a little more wild for your sweet tooth.

That’s right, CONJOINED chocolate baby skulls. Because, why not? SOMEBODY out there has got to be saying to themselves, “damn, if only I could pop a sweet chocolate conjoined baby skull in my mouth!”. Well hypothetical someone, you can pick up one (two?) of these babies for roughly 80 American dollars a pop. All you gotta do is visit their website and smack your lips at their ghoulishly tasty treats. Heck, you can even get them custom painted with the name of your, erm, loved one. Because it’s not morbid enough as is.

Lest, I forget, you can also eat Vincent Price’s face. Heaven forbid I leave that one off the list. And I’m not even gonna discuss their ‘CAKES’ section…

*gags*

Posted on December 6, 2014 by MOTW Admin

The Tomb of Santa Claus

Hey parents, here’s a cheery yuletide story, or even a winter vacation, to give to your kids. Why not take them to Demre, Turkey to see the very grave of Santa Claus! Ho ho ho! Or even better yet, head on over to the Basilica di San Nicola in Bari, Italy to see some of his remaining bones (stolen from his grave in 1087 by Italian sailors to protect them from Muslim invaders) where they spontaneously leak a clear liquid once a year said to have miraculous healing powers! Presumably CHRISTMASY healing powers.

What child wouldn’t be filled with joy to be in the same room with ol’ Saint Nick? He doesn’t have much of a lap left anymore but I think you could probably fit three or four of the tykes on top of the tomb at once. That’ll get that interminable line moving.

Ok, enough of my Grinchiness. The myth (sorry kids) of Santa Claus evolved from Saint Nicholas who was revered among many different Christian groups. He was a Bishop and a strict Orthodox Christian who was present at the First Council of Nicaea which was gathered to establish the church’s position on canonical law as relating to the Bible, including setting the date of Easter. Thus adding further fire to the great Santa Claus vs Easter Bunny rivalry. Arrgh, just kidding, I’ll settle down…

St Nicholas was a real, erm, saint of a guy according to legend. Apparently he was really into secret gift-giving and many of the stories about him center around this aspect. He also took on a serial child killing butcher and resurrected his victims, but that is given a bit less credence by historians. Regardless. his legend evolved, as legends do and from his Dutch name “Sinterklaas” and Saint Nicholas Day (Dec 5th) celebrated there, mixed with a bit of the Norse Odin, the British Father Christmas, and sizable doses of highly-motivated capitalists, we get the Santa Claus as we know him today in shopping malls across the world!

Posted on December 5, 2014 by MOTW Admin

The University of Texas is Short a Few Brains

That’s the kind of headline that I’m pretty sure is going up in newspapers at rival school Texas A&M, whose rivalry with UT goes back to 1915, a rivalry so well known as to have been featured on a Wheaties box. Lots of jokes almost certainly are currently making the rounds there about a shortage of brain-power and so forth. But the truth behind the japes is pretty weird.

The Austin State Hospital (an asylum) has been around since the 1800s. From the 50s to the 80s the head pathologist was collecting abnormal brains from his autopsies on mental patients housed there. Forget about all your ‘mad scientist’ imaginings, it was all pretty standard. After gathering about 200 of them, it was decided that space was too limited at the hospital. After a bit of a contest with Harvard Medical School, the brains were donated to UT’s Animal Resource Center. They were looked at as an important research tool, being used to examine how those with mental illnesses brains differed from the normal ones and how such diseases impacted the ol’ grey matter. Included in the batch was even the brain of Charles Whitman, who infamously in 1966 took a sniper rifle to the top of the UT tower and killed 16 people.

In 2013 a photographer, Adam Voorhes, who had found out about the collection, started photographing them and discovered that some of them were missing. And not just a few. HALF of the collection. He and a journalist, Alex Hannaford, began the quest to discover what had happened to them. But there seems to be no small amount of confusion about it.

In the mid-90s, Dr. Jerry Fineg, the Center’s director at the time, asked the collection’s curator, Tim Schallert, to move half the jars elsewhere to make more room. When he went to do so, he discovered the collection was no longer complete. He asked Fineg about it and he reportedly told Schallert that he got rid of many of them, although he never told him where. Why he would have asked Schallert in the first place to move the brains when he already knew he had is another question entirely. Fineg, now retired, was asked where they went and he told the questers that as far as he knew they were sent back to the Austin State Hospital…by Schallert. Schallert of course denies it. The Hospital says when they originally gave the brains to UT was the last they saw of them…and the circle goes ever on.

“I have been racking my BRAIN trying to remember where those brains went and although ASH says they know nothing about them I still believe that is where they went … SORRY.” said the now retired Fineg to Hannaford in a recent email. Not sure why the Austin State Hospital would lie about it…UNLESS THE INMATES ARE RUNNING THE ASYLUM!! Hey, UT, did a guy named Igor come by asking about the brain of Abby Normal?

You can read more about the mystery in the book published by Voorhes and Hannaford, “Malformed: Forgotten Brains of the Texas State Mental Hospital”. Will we ever solve the mystery? I bet Texas A&M hopes we don’t.

Posted on October 29, 2014 by MOTW Admin

Wednesdays are also weird at the Alamo Ritz!

The Alamo Drafthouse Ritz is right down the street from the Museum of the Weird and just to show how much we love ’em, if you and a friend are heading down to check out their “Weird Wednesday” screenings at 10 pm (ish), you can get your friend into the Museum of the Weird for free! How, you ask? Show up early to pick up your ticket (at least an hour) and bring it into the museum. Show it to the staff, buy an admission for yourself, and your friend gets in with you for free!

Watching your friends get literally mowed down by “The Lawnmower Killer” is certain to leave a few scars. Just ask Mary Graves (Julia Duffy) who in her senior year of high school is still dealing with some post traumatic stress from the incident. She has some intimacy issues with her boyfriend, Norman Bates, and her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Doctor Graves (George Kennedy and Stella Stevens) , just don’t seem to understand her. To make things worse, it seems like The Lawnmower Killer may be at it again! Detective Dick Harbinger (Joe Don Baker) is on the case. WACKO is a horror movie parody that is gleefully stupid and full of references to classic horror and the golden era of the slasher. Filling out the all-star cast of late-70s/early-80s character actors are Charles Napier, Elizabeth Daily, Andrew “Dice” Clay, and Austin’s own Sonny Carl Davis (as “The Weirdo!”). Director Greydon Clark (of Weird Wednesday favorite, JOYSTICKS fame) dedicates every minute of screentime to groan inducing, side splitting, head scratching inanity. Trick or treat. (Laird)

Posted on October 28, 2014 by MOTW Admin

Terror Tuesday at the Alamo = Free +1 at Museum of the Weird

Tuesday is the day that the Alamo Drafthouse Ritz on 6th street features their curated “Terror Tuesday”. At 9:45 pm they show some of their favorite horror films, accompanied by weekly drink and food specials. And you can get a two-fer if you show up early! Give yourself an extra hour before the show starts, pick up your ticket, bring it and a friend into the Museum of the Weird, just down the block, show our staff your ticket, and if you buy admission to the museum, your friend gets in with you for free!

RARE ARCHIVAL 35MM SCREENING for only three bucks! Sponsored by VULCAN VIDEO!!

Michael Myers is back. AND HE IS FILLED WITH RAGE! In the grand tradition of Universal’s BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN, HALLOWEEN II picks up immediately where its predecessor left off. After a climactic battle with Dr. Loomis/Donald Pleasance (“I shot him SIX TIMES!!”), Michael terrorizes a hospital where Laurie Strode/Jamie Lee Curtis is recovering. But this time, The Shape doesn’t mess around with off-screen violence and post-kill introspection. The suggestive horror of HALLOWEEN is swapped out for the chaotic destruction of FRIDAY THE 13TH, as Michael Myers becomes a ferocious rage-beast who is out to destroy!! Hammers-to-heads! Syringes-to-eyes! Boiling-water-to-faces! Combining the small-town paranoia of THE TOWN THAT DREADED SUNDOWN with the uneasy darkness of THE TOOLBOX MURDERS, HALLOWEEN II is a masterful, beautifully made early-80s slasher that thrives on tension and shocks. This includes the scene where Michael Myers walks through a door instead of opening it. (Joseph A. Ziemba)

Posted on October 23, 2014 by MOTW Admin

Support Texas Film: Found Footage 3D: THE MOVIE

We here at Museum of the Weird (and our sister store SFANTHOR on South Congress) love horror movies, and as a locally owned small business, we understand as well how much work goes into a project like making an indie horror film. So when we heard about the devotion and love going into the Texas made film “Found Footage 3D” by writer/director Steven DeGennaro, our interest was piqued.

The plot follows a group of indie filmmakers making the first 3D found footage horror film who find themselves trapped IN a found footage 3d horror when a evil entity from their own movie starts showing up in their behind-the-scenes footage. Going for the funny and scary in the vein of Wes Craven’s “Scream”, the canny crew use their knowledge of cliches and rules of the found footage genre to survive.

While the principal photography is complete, a movie like this requires a good deal of work in post, funds to complete practical effects shots and money for marketing. Which is why Steven turned to Indiegogo to help fun the post-production work. Making a plea for backers is an art in and of itself and I can safely say that the Found Footage 3D crew put together one of the most appealing and funny support videos I’ve yet to come across:

But that’s not nearly all of the free horror funnies the gang has put together to entice you into helping make what looks to be a great film. If you go to their indiegogo page, which you can by clicking at the link at the bottom of this page, you’ll see a fun diorama swede (inexpensive re-creation) of Johnny Depp’s death from the original “Nightmare on Elm Street” film as well as a few scenes from the movie, making-of footage, the award-winning short by the director “First Date” and more.

You know Steven, you had me at “I wanted to do as much of the movie’s effects practically as possible. Especially the gore effects. Nobody likes CG gore effects.”. No, no they don’t. At least not any respectable horror fans. Check out their fun website for the film and go to their indiegogo to support the film and get all kinds of cool perks including very rare signed collectibles from the original “Texas Chainsaw Massacre”.

Posted on October 20, 2014 by MOTW Admin

The Women Who Lead the Charge in Rogue Taxidermy

The field of Taxidermy has been the domain of more than just the family from “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” and your weird, creepy uncle. To the circus sideshow, taxidermy mad-skillz, and off the beaten path mad-skillz, were pretty much essential. Sewing together parts from different animals to make a new one is how the sideshow Gaffs began, most notably P.T. Barnum’s famed Fiji Mermaid. Gaffs have run the gamut from furry fish to the always popular Jackalope (which as I previously reported may have actually been based on a thoroughly disgusting natural phenomenon). But now, the portmanteau stuffing of animals have moved from out of the darkness of circus tents and into the art galleries…and it’s a group of rather attractive women who are leading the charge.

Meet the women of “Rogue Taxidermy”. From left to right, Sarina Brewer of Minneapolis, Kate Clark of Brooklyn, Lisa Black of Brisbane Australia, Katie Innamorato of New Jersey and Amber Maykut of Brooklyn. They all share an interest in this new art form that is, according to Robert Marbury, co-founder of the Minnesota Association of Rogue Taxidermists, “a pop-surrealist genre of sculpture that uses taxidermy materials, traditional materials, in an unconventional manner. The attempt is to be as ethical, to reduce and reuse as much as we can of the animal so there’s no waste, feeding back to stewardship and conservation.”

Abstract and strange, rogue taxidermists don’t hunt but re-use, often combining other forms of art into their pieces. The results vary and quite a bit, but these creations are strange, beautiful and sometimes kind of haunting. Check out some of these examples…

Amazing.

You really should check out this article from Vice.com which explores the new art form and interviews each of these women about their style and techniques. Coolness.