From the Email Inbox: Big Rooster, Ransom KS

 

Happy 60th, Catsup Bottle!

It was another great Catsup Bottle Birthday Bash in Collinsville IL this past Sunday, July 12, despite the torrential downpour that forced festivities inside.  Here, tireless (and damp) volunteers slice up the birthday cake for loyal fans.  Thankfully, it was not catsup flavored cake.

From the Email Inbox: World's Largest Flamingo

at M Schettl Sales, Oshkosh WI

Catsup Festival Time!

Today is prep day, tomorrow driving, and SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY join us for the 11th Annual World's Largest Bottle of Catsup Birthday Bash and Car Show!

 

At the American Legion, Collinsville Illinois.  WLT will be bringing the smaller Art Car 'Scout', with mobile displays of Rt. 66 WLTs and a newly developed expanded rotate-o-matic WLT Whirlwind Wonder House.  See you on the road!

 

-E

WLT Biz, busy.

Just got the July batch of Weekly What's Large Where off to the presses, and sending out this week's installment to members. Also, look for a little WLT contribution to the California State Fair - we just scanned and sent some images to their Exhibition crew for a Quirky Travel site display.

Anyone eating a World's Largest Thing this summer, festival-wise? There are giant Cherry Pies to be had in George, Washington, the W.L. Pecan Pie in Okmulgee, and countless other feats of food fare to be had out there... If you partake, please post a pic or two!

-EN, dir. WLT

Great image found on Flickr...

lucas, kansas, originally uploaded by david haggard.

... of the World's Largest Souvenir Travel Plate. The vignetting and rusty tones of the crop are amazing in this one.

World's Largest Knefeh, Nablus, Palestine

Palestinian sets Guinness record for world largest knafeh By Avi Issacharoff, Haaretz Correspondent 

 

A Palestinian man from the West Bank city of Nablus set a Guinness world record recently after baking the world's largest knafeh pastry, the Palestinian Maan News Agency reported Sunday.

 

Some 600 kg of cheese and 300 kg of sugar were used in the making of the sweet pastry, along with 35 kg of pistachios.

The enormous knafeh measures 75 meters long and two meters wide, and has an estimated weight of about 1,350 kg.

 

According to 36-year-old Mohand Arabi, one of the project's initiators, the group that prepared the massive dessert has all the Guinness documentation in their possession, securing their attempt as an official record.

Knafeh is a sweet pastry, renowned throughout the Arab world, Turkey as well as in Israel. It is made primarily of noodles and honey-sweetened goat cheese.

The town of Nablus is considered to be the birth place of the knafeh, which it is believed to have first appeared at the beginning of the 15th century.

Nabulus's knafeh is famous thanks to the special Nabulsi cheese used in its preparation.

 

found on http://www.haaretz.com

'World’s largest peach cobbler’ at festival in Fort Valley (Georgia)

By Eric Newcomer

 

FORT VALLEY— Seventy-five gallons of fresh sliced Georgia peaches, 150 pounds of self-rising flour, 150 pounds of sugar, 32 gallons of milk and 90 pounds of butter go into making Peach County's peach cobbler as part of the Georgia Peach Festival.

People from across the state came to Fort Valley on Saturday to participate in the festival and to have a bowl of "the world's largest peach cobbler."

Whether it actually is the largest is unclear.

"We just say it is," said Rich Bennett, the Georgia Peach Festival's president and the head cook.

But who would dispute the claim, with cooks mixing the ingredients in six large clean trash cans using rakes and boat paddles before spreading it out on a metal pan for almost eight hours of cooking.

People said they enjoyed their servings of peach cobbler, doled out in Styrofoam bowls and served hot.

"It's actually pretty good," said Jerome Owens of Macon. "Being a pot that big, it's actually pretty good."

Most agreed that considering the size it was not half bad.

"Well compared to my late wife's, it's not as good, but she didn't make it this big," said Jack Broshar from Atlanta.

The cobbler is cooked on a large metal pan under a wooden pavilion, which sits all year ready for the next year's cobbler.

There are some problems that come into play when cooking such a large concoction.

"It's very, very hard not to burn the bottom," Bennett said. And some of the bottom of the cobbler burned Saturday.

"This big, it's kind of hard to get a pie crust," he said.

Cooks started arriving at 4 a.m. and covered the pan at 6:02 a.m., according to Bennett. Dessert was served at 2 p.m.

Besides the giant peach cobbler, attendees could pick from a wide selection of foods and peach products available for purchase.

Michelle Yingling, who has worked at the festival for 21 years, said she expected to sell 5,000 peaches Saturday. This was the 23rd Georgia Peach Festival, Bennett said.

"The purpose of the festival is to celebrate the peach growers," Bennett said. "Peach County wouldn't exist without peach growers."

World's Largest Newton's Cradle

The world's largest Newton's Cradle, designed by Chris Boden, is on public display in Kalamazoo, Michigan. It is made of seven 15-pound (6.8 kg) bowling balls suspended from the ceiling by 20-foot (6.1 m) cables and is regularly used for scientific demonstrations.

 

Geek Group was on a mission to create the world's largest Newton's Cradle. The cradle was made of 15 bowling balls that hung three feet above the ground, and the entire apparatus was held up by a pair of 20 foot cables.  300 pounds later, this mega sized Newton's Cradle looks terrifying. Physics lovers, this just might be your dream perpetual motion toy.

From http://everything2.com/title/Newton%2527s%2520Cradle: The hand that rocks the (world's biggest) cradle

Wiki also tells us of the world's biggest set of balls. Up to twenty full-sized bowling balls lined up in the classic cradle arrangement, suspended from girders by aircraft grade steel cables. To be honest, they usually only run it with 16, as the building shakes a bit too much with all 20 in operation. This also leaves four spares in case of a disaster, but it still looks impressive, even on a web page.

"The problem," according to builder, Mark Broker, "was having the balls to build it."

After a number of trials, the team started working with AMF, a leading supplier of bowling balls, and AMF made them a set of 20 balls matched for weight (15lb each) and size and internal composition.

I can't find a video on the web, but the website (the Geek Group) is listed below, and the installation is at 2309 N Burdick St, Kalamazoo, Michigan.

The guys at Geek Group say,

"In the 2008 season we are working to secure a larger facility for the cradle and rebuild it to an even larger setup with higher-weighted balls and many more of them. We hope to not only set a world's record with this, but to break our own existing record."

Lambs Farm Attempts to Beat a World Record Dog Biscuit at Woofstock 2009

For Immediate Release: May 12, 2009
Contact: Jackie Rachev, Communications Coordinator 847.990.3706 jrachev@lambsfarm.org

Lambs Farm Attempts to Beat a World Record at Woofstock 2009

Libertyville, IL - Lambs Farm's Participants and staff are baking a dog biscuit guaranteed to treat hundreds of hungry hounds. How big must this delicious treat be? In order to break the current world record, the biscuit should weigh nearly 400 pounds and measure 16 feet, and that is what Lambs Farm plans to do. The organization will unveil the world's largest dog biscuit on Saturday, June 20 at Woofstock - One Day of Puppy Love.

The agency has already applied to attempt the record-setting feat, and will submit its official results after the final weigh-in. The mammoth dog treat's recipe includes 300 pounds of flour, 50 pounds of peanut butter and 20 pounds of eggs. After the official weigh-in and photos, the biscuit will be cut up and samples will be available for all four-legged Woofstock attendees.

Lambs Farm's Woofstock is a full day dedicated to man's best friend. The free event will feature, in addition to the world's largest dog biscuit, a wide variety of vendors displaying specialty food items, toys, clothing and more; demonstrations from Cross Roads Search and Rescue, Robin's Dog Stars and Bark N Park; arts, crafts and games for both two-legged and four-legged attendees; a pet parade; and Lake County's premiere Couture Canine Fashion Show. A live band will also perform all day.

Woofstock will be held Saturday, June 20 at Lambs Farm from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and is presented by Suncast Corporation, and sponsored by Record-A-Hit Entertainment and Natural Balance. For more information on Woofstock, or to be a vendor or demonstrator, please visit www.lambsfarm.org, or contact Claudia Stevens at 847.990.3750 or crs@lambsfarm.org. Lambs Farm is a non-profit organization dedicated to empowering adults with developmental disabilities to lead personally fulfilling lives through a full range of vocational, residential, social and recreational programs. Based near Libertyville, Illinois at the intersection of Rt. 176 and I-94, Lambs Farm has assisted individuals to create their own pathways to meaningful experiences, at home and in the community, since 1961. For more information on Lambs Farm, please visit www.lambsfarm.org.

Learn more about Lambs Farm

Click here for more information

Lucas featured in two new national publications

NEWS RELEASE:  June 17, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE PUBLICATION

CONTACT:  Erika Nelson, info@worldslargestthings.com

 

LUCAS FEATURED IN TWO NEW NATIONAL PUBLICATIONS

 

Residents sometimes forget the unique place Lucas Kansas has on the national (and international!) roadmap.  Two new publications again focus on this amazing tiny town, with a lot of print space given to local attractions and culture.

 

First, the Society for Commerical Archeology Journal Spring 2009 issue features a 2000 word article, with over a dozen full color images, examining the Garden of Eden and it's impact.  This is an academic Journal, sent out to scholars and researchers, universities and members only.  It's used as the benchmark for a specific industry, the study of the American roadside.  Articles here often find themselves used as the basis for major thesis projects, cited in additional articles, and used as a valued resource.  The article in this issue was originally produced by Erika Nelson and Jon Blumb for Raw Vision magazine, and is re-printed here in its entirety.  Not only are there 8 full color pages inside, an historic photo of the Garden is used for the cover art.

 

Second, Rare Visions and Roadside Revelations have released a new Coast to Coast Travel-O-Pedia, a 200-plus page book listing all the interesting, amazing, and offbeat sites their fan-base needs to see.  The chapters are broken up by region, and the entire Midwest section starts out with Garden of Eden photos and kudos in the second paragraph:  "The list always begins in Lucas with the Garden of Eden."  These folks LOVE Lucas, and all it has to offer.  Town sites also grace the cover, as well as the standard listings in the information section, detailing hours and type of attractions found in Lucas.  And, one of S.P. Dinsmoor's sculptures is the largest element in the cover design, pointing the way to amazing things.

 

Congratulations, Lucas, on being exactly what you are.  Please, take a moment to remember how special and amazing a town like ours is, and that we have friends across the nation.

 

 

Bacolicious a Big Tasty Success!

All enjoyed the most recent WLT project, the Bacolicious installation at the Smoky Hill River Festival (http://www.riverfestival.com/salina/)  in Salina Kansas. 

 

Using a specially-designed product called Put-In-Cups (http://www.putincups.com/shop/index.php), the oversized strips of bacon are assembled from plastic inserts in a chain-link fence.  Three pieces made it up this year, with a lot of volunteer help.  There had been plans for four, but 20 hours and numberous bleeding fingers later, we decided on the traditional serving-size of three...

 

This was a temporary display, only up through the Festival weekend (June 12 - 14), but will re-appear on the North Tennis Court fence at the next fabulous event.

 

Thanks for help, Bacolicious Brothers, and for the great comments and pictures, WLT fans!

 

-Erika

BACOLICIOUS installation already hits the Bacon Blogs!

Our weekend project, creating giant slabs of bacon at the Smoky Hill River Festival, is already hitting the bacon blogs.  Yay, Bacon!  And, Yay, Volunteers who made it happen!  And YAY, Put-In-Cups!

 

http://skullsandbacon.blogspot.com/2009/06/bacolicious-art.html

 

-Erika, Director, WLT Inc.

 

P.I.C. link:  http://www.putincups.com/shop/index.php

Croatia claims world's largest pair of jeans

Croatia claims world's largest pair of jeans

1 day ago on AFP

ZAGREB (AFP) — A pair of jeans the size of six tennis courts, stitched together from thousands donated for charity, should be recognised by Guinness World Records as the biggest anywhere, organisers said on Sunday. 

Original story:  http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5grhXIukF7yQEinHLyfZvRwivTBLg?index=0

Member Packets, WLT Fans, and Tourist Season

Two more packets go out today, one new, one renew... Best Back Yard Visitors of the month go to two WLT Fans who are meandering their way across the US, visiting only kitsch environments.

 

Now, packing for the big BACOLICIOUS project at the Smoky Hill River Festival - we're installing tomorrow and Thursday, on the upper tier of the tennis courts, visible throughout the festival this weekend in Salina Kansas.  C'mon by!

 

-Erika Nelson, Director WLT Inc.

People have ALWAYS loved WLTs...

 

 

...even in Maugerville, New Brunswick Canada.

 

PT Cruiser Club

...came through today on a Mystery Tour, from Wichita. Before that, two exploratory WLT Fans came by with a notepad and an atlas, looking for the best routes. They're hittin' 'em all between Colorado and Mid-Missouri, in a wonderfully zig-zagging route which will take them to the Ball of Twine in Cawker City, the Spur in Abeliene, Shuttlecocks in Kansas City, Goose and Pecan in Sumner County MO, and more. They'd even stopped by to see the World's Largest Cow Hairball in Garden City - brave explorers!

And, they bought a tee-shirt - always a welcomed event.

Waymarking with Zippy the Pinhead!

This is completely brilliant - utilizing the awesome metaphysical powers of Zippy the Pinhead and his appreciation for Roadside Vernacular Architecture, along with the group-think of Waymarking:  Here it is!  Waymarking Category for Sites Featured in Zippy the Pinhead strips. 

 

Whoop!  Here's the basic idea:

 

The purpose of this category is to locate and waymark specific locations featured in Zippy the Pinhead Comics.

Bill Griffith is the creator and artist of Zippy the Pinhead. Week after week Zippy visits interesting locations worldwide. In his daily-strip incarnation, Zippy spends much of his time traveling and commenting on interesting places; recent strips focus on his fascination with roadside icons featuring giant beings; Zippy also frequently participates in his long-running conversation with the giant fiberglass doggie mascot of San Francisco's "Doggie Diner" chain (later, the Carousel diner near the San Francisco Zoo). The website encourages people to send photos of interesting places for Zippy to visit in the strip. Source and additional information: Wikipedia Mark your maps with this new method!  And, we'll start incorporating the links on our own List of What's Large Where

 

 

It's Official: Bacolicious Artist

Just got the packet in the mail from the Smoky Hill River Festival, with my official nametag.

 

Not only am I now an Official Installation Artist, the important points are in bold:  Erika Nelson: Bacolicious.

 

Meat Man approves.

World's Largest Things lecture in Lakin Kansas

...today, 11:30 lunch, 12:30 program, at the Lakin Senior Center.

New WLCoWSVoWLT signage

Done during tornado warnings (we saw nothing at all here), as a procastination measure (only partially worked - ended up doing both this AND that...).  Visible from our neighbor, S.P. Dinsmoor's Garden of Eden.

Tourist Season is Here!

Four BYVs yesterday, chatted with a large group of Slope Fliers (RC Airplanes - we have good winds here...) this morning, and member packets are off to Arkansas, Ohio, and Kansas new members. The noon whistle just blew, and I see a pack of people headed over from the Garden of Eden... Must have been brought in by the new Home Base signage!

Welcome to Lucas, friends.

New Postcards on Flickr

OK, so they're old postcards, but new postings of the World's Largest Things kind.  Check 'em out on our photostream:

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/worldslargestthings/

Jasonville Indiana Yo-Yo

http://thelongestlistofthelongeststuffatthelongestdomainnameatlonglast.com/largest28.html

 

New Yo-Yo Info:

 

The the woodworking class of Shakamak High School in Jasonville, Indiana built a giant Yo-Yo.

The world's largest Yo-Yo is 6 feet in diameter and weighs in at 820 pounds.

 

World's Largest Yo-Yo Inquiry

Subject: Inquiry

Can you please tell me if the world's largest yo-yo is officially the one Shakamak High School made in 1990 or the one in a museum in California? Thanks for your help, L.B.
 

In looking at the comparison stats, the Shakamak High School Yo-Yo is the largest.  When interviewing the Chico California Yo-Yo owner, he insisted that the other larger Yo-Yos didn't actually 'yo', but according to the Shakamak HS site, theirs does. 

 

Shakamak HS = Winner!

 

Chico Yo-Yo:  75 foot string, 250 pounds, 50 inches high, 31.5 inch width, 5.5 foot diameter, first used over the bay (which bay, I forgot to ask, but assumed San Francisco) in 1996 using an 80 ft. crane

 

Shakamak Yo-Yo: 6 feet in diameter and weighs in at 820 pounds, March 29, 1990 they dropped it from a crane and watched it yoyo up and down 12 times.

 

Thanks for asking, as it clears up some disputes here, too...

 

-Erika Nelson, Director

World's Largest Things, Inc.

WLT dot Org

 

Dot Org site now pointing to the right place - thanks to a phone call from a confused woman, who didn't know what she was looking at when typing in the address... Thanks for the warning!  Cyber work never seems to end...

May Weekly What's Large Where

... off to newspapers in the MidWest. 

 

Also, we've just re-installed the WLCoWSVoWLT at the Home Base in Lucas, after the two-month Belger Arts Center Show.  Just in time for tourist season!

 

Up next, a Cabinets of Curiosities Show which will include some WLTs and WSVs, at the Lincoln Art Center, Lincoln KS, opening Friday May 8, 5-7 p.m.  Look for the Art Cars...

Successful Blogging Today!

We just completed the Blogging update, with everyone typing up a storm...

From the Email Inbox: World's Largest Cheese Postcard on Ebay

GREAT CHROME POSTCARD OF WORLD'S LARGEST CHEESE, 34,591 LBS.  MADE BY STEVE'S CHEESE, DENMARK, WISCONSIN.  THIS FAMOUS CHEESE WAS ON DISPLAY AT THE NEW YORK WORLD' FAIR (1964-65).  STEVE SIUDZINSKI, OWNER.

BRAINSTORM!!!!

The WLCoWSVoWLT TRAAM needs a Museum Catalogue.  AND, there's usually GRANT MONEY for that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Please, dear members and readers, don't let me forget this....

Florida World's Largest Lightbulb

One of our WLT Members has been championing the World's Largest Lightbulb designation for a series of displays in Florida.  Check out his blog post, comparing the geographically diverse Bulbous offerings:

 

http://studiohourglass.blogspot.com/2009/04/worlds-largest-lamp.html

Cabinets of Curiosities Show

May-June 2009, at the Lincoln Art Center, Lincoln Kansas.

 

Join us for the opening reception May 8, 5-7 p.m., where you'll hear the obtuse and obfiscated motivations for the show, from WLT Board Member Don Robertson and WLT Director Erika Nelson.  It's gonna be a great show, with some WSVs and WLTs included...

 

 

In Memory of Art Car Friend, Tom Kennedy

The Art Car world lost on of its greats on Easter Sunday.  Through the numbness that still coats our hearts at this unexpected absence in our lives, the Art Car community is mourning.  Sometimes our reflections lead to bigger and better works, carrying on the unifying desire to inspire through creativity and public artworks that yank the viewer out of their everyday lives.

 

Obituaries have been printed from coast to coast, as Tom Kennedy touched many lives, with a big happy poke from creative fingers.  This L.A. Times obituary is a god illustration of Tom's wide wide circle.  In memory of Tom, please remember to do something silly in a serious way, and build it big.

 

Tom Kennedy dies at 48; sculptor created outlandish Art Cars

Tom Kennedy, a San Francisco artist whose whimsical wheeled sculptures and colorful personality helped popularize the fringe Art Car movement, has died. He was 48.

Kennedy drowned April 12 while body-surfing off San Francisco's Ocean Beach, said Kat "P.K." Ramos, a close friend and roommate. He was struggling with the riptide when a companion tried to pull him to shore.  

The dozens of vehicles that Kennedy transformed into outlandish, original art were joyful creative expressions, his way of winking at the world and daring people not to smile.

His "One-Eyed Wonder" started out as a Ford Ranger and featured a giant eyeball turret with a cannon that shot Twinkies. For a clown, he made two "Hippopautomobiles," converting the front hoods into the animal's broad, grinning mouth. A 1972 Volkswagen-turned-dolphin displayed a signature Kennedy touch, fins.

His first and perhaps most famous creation was "Ripper the Friendly Shark," which he gave a saw-toothed jaw and a tail that swished. The once-simple Nissan Sentra eventually achieved something akin to landmark status in Houston, an early epicenter of the Art Car movement that started to coalesce in the 1990s.

The movement may have gotten a psychedelic assist from the hippie-themed VWs of the 1960s. But it is largely defined by an anything-goes mentality that likely appealed to Kennedy, widely described by friends as a merry prankster.

He was pursuing a career in circulation sales at the Houston Chronicle when he sought to enter the city's annual Art Car parade in the early 1990s.

Kennedy "brought in this picture of this car that he had spray-painted and stuck these metal cutout shapes on and asked, 'Can my car be in the parade?' " recalled Susanne Theis, a former director of the company that produces the parade.

"It was a primitive Art Car, but it morphed into a car that was iconic, and he turned himself into an artist," she said. "He had this instinctive understanding that you needed to connect with people, and he worked at it."

"Ripper" emerged as one of the Art Car movement's "most recognized and inspiring" icons partly because Kennedy took the car "everywhere," including to five Burning Man festivals of artistic self-expression in the Nevada desert, according to "Art Cars," a 2007 book by Harrod Blank.

Kennedy's cars stood out for their sculptural quality and for the way he used them to make political statements, said Philo Northrup, cofounder of ArtCar Fest, an annual Bay Area gathering.

When Ben Cohen of Ben & Jerry's ice cream wanted to protest military spending, he hired Kennedy, whose team built the satirical "Topsy-Turvy" a school bus that had a second upside-down bus welded to its top. Completed in 2007, it was a visual pun that alluded to the idea that military spending came at the expense of education and health.

For the most part, Kennedy's wheeled visions veered more toward buggies that were a "powerful bundle of whimsy," he once said, capable of "reclaiming the commercialism of our culture."

Kennedy was born Oct. 8, 1960, in Elizabeth, N.J., and had a nomadic childhood before settling in southern Oregon when he was about 12.

He studied business administration at Michigan Technological University from 1978 to 1981 then started out on the loading dock at the Houston Chronicle and rose to become circulation sales manager.

In 1992, he earned a bachelor's degree in marketing from the University of Houston and spent the next two years studying sculpture at the school.

After leaving newspapers in 1995, he moved to the Bay Area to build Art Cars and concept vehicles and evolved "into the realm of being an Art Car character," Kennedy once said.

There wasn't much money in it, but between jobs he made functional art, such as gates and globes out of metals. And he reveled in the "growing tribe" of Art Car artists he saw as "goodwill ambassadors."

Through a program he founded in 1996, he shipped bicycles to children in Bosnia during the war there and led an Art Car-inspired bicycle parade.

He ardently entered parades in the U.S. Over four years, he put 80,000 miles on "Max the Daredevil Finmobile," a tow vehicle with 13-foot-high fins that could touch the trees.

In 2007, he married Haideen Anderson, a political performance artist who collaborated on his projects.

The artist defined himself as an "adventurer" and once said: "It seems the world is a little short of adventurers right now. Too many people sitting behind a TV or like a computer screen. Someone's got to be out on the street creating the content. That's me."

In addition to his wife, Kennedy's survivors include his mother, Pat; sister Margret; and brothers Matt and Andy.

Plans for the May 1 memorial include an Art Car convoy that starts in San Francisco and ends with a celebration in Oakland. For details, or to make a memorial donation, go to tomkennedyart.com Donations may be earmarked to the Nonviolent Peaceforce,to a fund to retrieve "Ripper" from storage in Europe, or to defray the cost of the memorial service.

valerie.nelson@latimes.com

Weekly Whats Large Where Archives for Members

Members of World's Largest Things, Inc., are entitled to access to the Weekly What's Large Where archives. If you're a member, just let me know, and I'll add your profile to the 'reader' list for full access!

-Erika

Lecture Schedule Now Online

... finally slowed down enough to update the What's New section of the main site, with a list of upcoming "World's Largest Things: Roadside Attractions" and "Inside Outsider Art in Kansas" lectures through the Kansas Humanities Council:

What's New with World's Largest Things

Lucas Airs Again: Driven by Vision

A Canadian production company came through in 2007, just in time for the 100th anniversary of the Garden of Eden.  Their series, Driven by Vision, focuses on Outsider Art environments, the people that make them, and the communities that embrace them.  Lucas gets a full episode devoted to it in the current second season, airing this month across the US on the Ovation Network, and across Canada on Vision TV. 

 

"Are We Still in Kansas?" - Wednesday, April 15

"Expect the Unexpected" is the official town motto of Lucas, Kansas – population 436. This tiny community is home to S.P. Dinsmoor's famed Garden of Eden: a collection of enormous cement sculptures depicting the ravages of big business, along with – incongruously – some of his favourite Bible stories. Lucas is also known for such curiosities as a museum of visionary art, a shrine of repurposed mutant Barbie dolls, and the ever-popular "Worlds' Largest Collection of the World's Smallest Versions of the World's Largest Things."

 

Driven By Vision is produced by Judy Holm and Michael McNamara for Markham Street Films Inc.

 

Said Michael McNamara: "This is a series with a host of themes: inspiration, creation, redemption, defiance. But ultimately it's about the people who brought these places into existence. What inspired them? What obstacles have they overcome? And why do some of these sites continue to live and breathe while others fall victim to the wrecking ball?"

Added Judy Holm: "As artists and filmmakers, we are fascinated by the subject of inspiration. The people who create these sites are compelled by visions and dreams to share their inner worlds. We feel privileged to have encountered these incredible men and women. It makes us see the world differently, and deepens our faith in humanity."

 

They spent a good deal of time in cranes getting never-before-seen scenes of the Garden, as well as conductin interviews with townspeople to get the full story.  This research, enhanced by some great historical photos, makes the Driven by Vision production a new benchmark in telling the story of Lucas and the Garden of Eden.  Search your local listings on the Ovation network to see for yourself!

You can also see a preview on their video site - just click on the Driven by Visions tab...

Babe and Paul Backstory

from the Bemidji Chamber of Commerce, and Convention and Visitors Bureau:

 

http://www.visitbemidji.com/bemidji/paulbabe.html

I've been Phoon'd!!

Found on Phoons Around the World, from a backyard visitor, Januar 2008

 

http://www.phoons.com/smlarge.html

Mr. Blandings went to the Belger

... and blogged about what he found.  A GREAT overview of the show, and collection of stories behind the art currently on display at the Belger Arts Center in Kansas City

 

http://mrsblandings.blogspot.com/2009/04/take-detour.html

Edison Bulb

... The Menlo Park bulb is actually made up of a lot of little bulbs, haven't found the wattage of those to add 'em together.  But, this is neat:  Article from Feb. 1938 Modern Mechanix magazine

KCUR's Laura Spencer reviews Rare Visions Detour Art show

Artist Erika Nelson of Lucas, Kansas, co-curator Kelly Ludwig, and Michael Murphy, in front of Nelson's van full of tiny sculptures based on "World's Largest" roadside attractions.
photo: Laura Spencer, KCUR

 

http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/kcur/arts.artsmain?action=viewArticle&sid=11&id=1485521&pid=77

 

Belger Arts Center Presents Large-Scale Folk-Art Show
An exhibition, "Rare Visions – Detour Art," at the Belger Arts Center pays tribute to outsider art, works by self-taught artists that aren't often viewed in museums and galleries.

by Laura Spencer

An exhibition at the Belger Arts Center pays tribute to outsider art, works by self-taught artists that aren't often viewed in museums and galleries. There are one hundred fifty works by more than sixty artists, from around the country, from Fulton, Missouri's sign painter Jesse Howard to Georgia's Howard Finster, a preacher and folk artist who collaborated in the 1980s with bands like Talking Heads and R.E.M.

"Rare Visions – Detour Art ," Curated by: Mike Murphy & Kelly Ludwig, March 6, 2009 - May 1, 2009 at the Belger Arts Center, 2100 Walnut Street (one block east of Main) in the Belger Cartage Service building. Wednesday through Friday, 10 am – 4 pm; Saturday, noon – 4 pm; First Fridays from 10 am – 9 pm, and by appointment.

I'm a Web Extra!

On KCUR, Kansas City Public Radio, in association with the Rare Visions Detour Art Show at the Belger Art Center...

 

http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/kcur/arts.artsmain?action=viewArticle&sid=11&id=1485546&pid=77

MP3s of Shows Now Online

Just uploaded the few MP3s of WLT interviews to our site, in the Meet the Press:  Radio section.

 

When we find more, we'll add 'em in!  For now, enjoy the Recent Past Walt Bodine show from Thursday, a Minnesota conversation about Big and Little from 2005, a Houston program about Outsider Art from 2006, and a KFRM radio show from 2006.

 

http://www.worldslargestthings.com/press/radio.htm

 

Just look for the MP3 link under the listing for the program.

Great Show!

You'll be able to hear archives online within the day...

 

Interview with Mike Murphy of Rare Visions, and Mo Dickens from Belger Arts Center on the Walt Bodine show, about the Rare Visions/Detour Art exhibition.

 

http://www.kcur.org/waltbodine.html

Walt Bodine Show: THURSDAY, March 26: Folk Art Talk with "Rare Visions and Roadside Revelations"

"Rare Visions and Roadside Revelations," is a popular, Kansas City-based television program featured on public television. The program has taken viewers across the country to see lesser-known art of lesser-known places, and to meet the people who create it.  We'll talk about memorable experiences and sites from the show's travels. Plus, hear about an exhibit in Kansas City featuring the very rare visions that make up the show.

 

Listen live online, Thursday at 10:00 a.m.:

 

http://www.kcur.org/ListenLive.html

Wooden Nickels and Member Packets

... going out tomorrow before a Salina trek to re-connect with Artist Exchange participants from the last 3 years. See the original project (a look at the events leading up to the World's Largest Collection of the World's Smallest Versions of the World's Largest Things Traveling Roadside Attraction and Museum) in our WLT Archives:

Artist Exchange Project - behind the scenes of WLT

and the Flickr Photo set:

Photos of the Panel Project

Rare Visions/Detour Art Show profiled on tomorrow's Walt Bodine Show

You can listen live online:

KCUR dot org

Or, if you miss it (10:00 a.m., Thursday March 26), you can listen to archived programs.

You'll be introduced to some GREAT folk Art around the country. Mike Murphy from Rare Visions and Roadside Revelations, and Mo Dickens from the Belger Art Center are guests...

If you didn't make the opening on March 6th, this will give you a good audio tour of the show! The WLCoWSVoWLT is a part of the exhibition, and will be on-view through May 1.

Giant Chinese Checkers in Dali, Yunan Province

From a Corporate Runaway America blog:

 

http://blogs.bootsnall.com/Leaott/my-ancient-chinese-hero-dali.html

Weekly Whats Large Where off to the papers!

And, as a reminder to WLT Members - we do have an online archive for Members Only.  If you'd like access, I just need to add your email address to the Blogger permissions page.

World's Largest Sword

at the National Knife Museum, Gatlinburg Tennessee. Made by Brian Wilhoite, who works at Smoky Mountain Knife Works and the guy that designed the Sword in the Stone. He designs knives and advertising that you see in the shop and in the catalog.

 

As seen on JacobK's Flicker Photo page:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/jacobkrejci/sets/72157608829571144/

Special Edition KHC Speakers Bureau Offerings

Member Packets out in the mail...

...New and Renewals, containing the special Limited Edition WLT Wooden Nickels!

Enjoy, and don't spend 'em all in one place...

Coming up on Driven by Vision, Markham Street Films, on the Ovation network

Garden of Eden and Lucas in Mandarin

NEW World's Largest Popcorn Ball!

Photos:  Andrea Melendez - Des Moines Register

 

The folks of Sac City Iowa have re-gained their title, as reported by the Des Moines Register, February 28, 2009. 

 

UNOFFICIAL WEIGHT: 5,060 pounds

HEIGHT: 7 feet, 4 1/2 inches

CIRCUMFERENCE: 28 feet, 8 inches

 

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20090301/NEWS/903010347/1001

Hannah Schmidt, 10, of Sac City, tries to clean the bottom of her shoes between rounds of packing.

Workers wear gloves so they can touch the hot popcorn ball material without it sticking to their hands.

The backs of the participants' shirts show their determination.

Jack Bensley of Odebolt catches freshly made popcorn ball material as it comes off the conveyor belt. Sac City Townsfolk attempted to build the world's largest popcorn ball. They have set the record twice before, only to be upstaged by Boy Scouts in 1997 and an Illinois popcorn maker in 2006. They spent all day on Saturday packing the sugary popcorn onto a platform. They want to bring the title back to Iowa.

The popcorn ball material is dumped from the pot onto a conveyor belt where it cools a little and then is dumped into buckets and then packed onto the ball.

 

More Popcorn Ball Drama!

 

Popcorn Ball Supremacy - March 3, 2009

In small town America, there's a ceaseless struggle underway for recognition. Sac City, Iowa, makes its mark as home of the World's Largest Popcorn Ball, a title the town lost for a time, but has snatched back with a new, super-sticky corn boulder.

 

 

Read the whole story on Roadside America's Trunkations pages:  http://www.roadsideamerica.com/blog/popcorn-ball-supremacy/

Why I Love My Job - Bowling Ball Field

During the recent Belger Arts Center opening, I met this wonderful man, who told me a bit about his bowling ball field in a small town south of Kansas City.  In today's mail, I received the full story:

 

I have this little slab house on 28 acres in the country.  I had a bowling ball a few years ago and told the grandkids who are onery as hell and bang around in this little house when they come to visit that a big bird had been on the property and they needed to go out on the trails I have mowed and find his nest.  They came in all excited after they found it.

 

I thought this is kinda fun so I got a couple of bowling balls at a garage sale the next week and then when they came out I had two nests.  Well, it went on for a year or two and I must have had about 18 bowling balls scattered around in nests all over the place and they came in after a search and yawned and said, "Grandpa, thems just bowling balls." 

 

Well what to do with 18 bowling balls.  I had a tent in the garage that the mice ate but the poles were functional so I took them up in this three acre field by the road and stuck them up in the thumb holes and people started stopping by asking what the hell is this?  I went out after the mail one day and there were two bowling balls just laying there by the mailbox. 

 

I kept adding to the collection and when I had over a hundred bowling balls somebody called the Kansas City newspaper and they came out and did an interview and put a picture of the whole silly thing on the front page.  I got calls from all over.  I did an interview with a radio station while I was on the crapper that morning.  A lady from the next little town called and asked if I needed any more bowling balls and I figured she had a couple so I said sure and she showed up with bowling balls sticking up beyond the back of her pickup and dumped a hundred and twenty more. It seems her sister bought a bowling alley and closed it and opened a furnature store at the location and dumped all the bowling balls out on her sisters farm.

 

Today there are more than 350 bowling balls in that field and it has taken on a life of it's own.  People are coming by all the time and whenever a friend comes by I save up my newly aquired bowling balls so they can put one up.  I have everybody who comes by put one up of my most recent aquisitions so they can't talk about the crazy old guy with the bowling ball field because they are an accessory and put one up, too.  We live 30 miles south of Kansas City, Missouri, outside a little town named Freeman. 

 

There you have it.  Well, except for the fact that it is a big deal in my little town that every new years eve I drop a bowling ball into a bucket of horse shit in front of city hall at midnight Rome time.  About 5 in the afternoon here.

 

You can see the field at 7208 Poney Creek Road, Freeman, Mo. .

Detour Art Show Images on Flickr

For those of you who  missed the opening, QueenODesign and NarrowLarry are now uploading their finds on Flickr:

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/detourart/sets/72157615028556386/

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/23280022@N08/sets/72157615050436664/

Rare Visions/Detour Art Show Opening

Great event!  And, you can finally see some images, uploaded by photographers at the scene (AND, who just happen to have provided most of the collection - Miss Detour Art herself!)

 

Check out her Flickr Photo Stream here:

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/detourart/sets/72157615028556386/

Raven

Ravendon Arkansas

 

http://www.weird-tourist-attractions.com/arkansas-tourist-attractions.html#E0195

KCUR Public Radio interview

Laura Spencer from KCUR stopped by the Belger Arts Center in Kansas City's Crossroads district for a pre-opening night look at the new Rare Visions/Detour Art show, on display through May 1st.

Listen for the final piece in the near future, or find it online once it's edited:

KCUR Kansas City Public Radio 89.3FM

And, come by and see the show!

Belger Arts Center

Goin' to Kansas City!

The Mobile Museum is on its way - here's to living large and outsider art!

Big Idea Volume 2 Number 2

Re-construction Started

The Kansas Collection of WSVs had been living happily on the front porch of the WLT Home Base, until a major wind eddy did some major damage.  We're now half-way to getting back to this point, and doing maintenance work on the background for re-installation. 

 

Hoping to have all of this done before leaving for Kansas City next week, but reconstruction takes more time than initial construction... No World's Smallest Versions were hurt in the damage, just the wooden cases themselves, and the glass and plexiglass. 

Another Book from a WLT Board Member

You may have already seen Brian and Sarah Butko's books on roadside attractions (titled "Roadside Attractions", and "Roadside Giants" - go figure!), and Brian is at it again - he's putting the finishing touches on a look at the recently destroyed Grandview Ship Hotel, formerly of Pennsylvania.

 

We'll keep you posted on publications dates!

 

Blog Posts of the Day, from Unusual Life

We love to be included!

 

http://unusuallife.com/2009/02/22/bill-gates-livin-large/

New and Renewing Members

Packets going out tomorrow to Renewing Members in:  Salina, Downs, Wichita, Inman, Lucas, Humboldt, and Kansas City Kansas, as well as New Members in Brooklyn NY and the Solomon Valley Highway 24 Heritage Association.  Thank to everyone for your continued support!

 

WLT on TV!

Just got our copy of the DVD in the mail yesterday, and the Driven By Vision episode featuring Lucas KS and all of our eccentricities airs in Canada on April Fools Day (Whoops - pre-empted by Easter.  April 15th).  The Ovation network has picked up the series, so the episode should air shortly after our Great White Northern Neighbors see the piece.  Find out more at their site:

 

http://www.visiontv.ca/Media/Releases/DrivenByVision.html

 

"Are We Still in Kansas?" - Wednesday, April 15, 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT
"Expect the Unexpected" is the official town motto of Lucas, Kansas – population 436. This tiny community is home to S.P. Dinsmoor's famed Garden of Eden: a collection of enormous cement sculptures depicting the ravages of big business, along with – incongruously – some of his favourite Bible stories. Lucas is also known for such curiosities as a museum of visionary art, a shrine of repurposed mutant Barbie dolls, and the ever-popular "Worlds' Largest Collection of the World's Smallest Versions of the World's Largest Things."

WLT Biz Humming Along

Working on interpretive signage for the Mobile Museum, coming out of mothballs briefly for the Belger Art Center show opening March 6th, Kansas City

 

Re-insured said de-mothballed museum

 

Caught up on posting Weekly What's Large Where for members, and welcoming a new batch

 

Notice received from Kansas Arts Commission that last month's grant is in order, and organizational fingers are crossed for funding from the Legislature.  TBA.

 

Now, back to the endless Big Little Big list!

 

Good Weekend for World's Largest Things

The WLT Board met to hash out short-term and long-term strategy, as well as logistics for the upcoming Kansas City Belger Art Center Rare Visions/Detour Art Show. We're all in a wait-and-see by necessity, but support from members (we have 3 new since January!) is still strong, and we're known for doing a lot with a little.

Advice request: Is there an easy online calendar/scheduling system? Fans want to know about upcoming lectures and shows, so we're looking for an intuitive, social-network-friendly way of posting events.

Today's Project: Interpretive signage for the formerly Mobile Museum, and investigating insurance and licensing as a parade vehicle

Tonight's Project: New and renewing Member Packets, and Mailing List updates.

Tomorrow's Project: Completing above list, and remembering to enjoy the Big World out there in all of its Small Wonders.

Coffeyville Lecture today!

Join us at the Coffeyville Center for the Arts today for a Roadside Attractions lecture and dinner. Dinner at 6:30, lecture 7:30, call for tickets:

Cultural Arts Cabaret, "World's Largest Things, Roadside Attractions, 620-251-0088

Coffeyville Center for the Arts

Member packets off today

We welcome five new members and one renewing member, with packets in the mail today. All new and renewing members include a Genuine WLCoWSVoWLT Wooden Nickel, along with the normal premiuums. Your support helps us tell the story of World's Largest Things across the US.

Become a Member, get neat stuff, and help preserve Roadside Vernacular Architecture.

World's Largest Pencil now at City Museum, St. Louis MO

City Museum is now the proud owner of the World's Largest Pencil. This mother-of-all writing utensil stretches 76 feet long and weighs 21,500 lbs. It writes--and erases. It's a No. 2, so it's accepted for standardized testing.

From the City Museum website, via WLT fan email:

When World's Largest Pencil creator, Ashrita Furman, needed a place to keep his Giant Pencil, he had one choice: City Museum. As current holder of the World's Largest Underwear, the World's Largest Pencil fit right in. City Museum and many St. Louis citizens welcomed the arrival of the World's Largest Pencil on January 18, 2007.

Though the pencil arrived at City Museum in two pieces, City Museum plans to re-assemble this 76-foot, 21,500-pound bad boy. And, when City Museum is finished weatherproofing, sharpening, and writing with the World's Largest Pencil, we plan to add it to City Museum's outdoor MonstroCity. Where, exactly, hasn't been decided quite yet.

http://www.citymuseum.org/pencil.html

Wally's Eccentric Creations, Mt. Horeb Wisconsin

Wallace Keller from Mt. Horeb Wisconsin (home of the Mustard Museum) phoned this morning, to make sure we'd gotten his images of the amazing things dotting his property along Hwy. 78.  Giant clothespins, pirates, slinking beasts, and an amazingly put together hand drill are just the tip of the iceburg. 

 

He's had a colorful life, dabbling in antiquing and real estate along the way, and when he retired he just couldn't help but start something new.  He started making sculptures.  Lots and lots of sculptures.  He'd grown up on a farm, where, by necessity, he learned to weld and fix and tinker until things worked, and was a machinist in the Navy.  That, combined with his fabricating shop past (yes, another carrer path - when you're curious, they add up!) informed his current creations.

 

They're mostly old metal, combining bits and pieces to make what looks 'right', and there are more than a few Big Things hidden in the menagerie.  He said that the clothespin is one of the few 'new metal' pieces, but the hand drill is an amazing amalgamation of pre-used parts.  He's not sure what part of his brain generated the Big Stuff, he just likes 'em, and makes things that will stand out.

 

His work can be seen along Highway 78, only an hour from the Wisconsin Dells, and an hour from House on the Rock.  In the realm of metal sculpture, he's also well aquainted with Dr. Evermore (Tom Avery) and his giant Forevertron - they met in the 70s, and the friendship has been a source of inspiration (and scrap metal!) for Wally ever since.

 

You can also see his work in numerous books, including "Weird Wisconsin", and "Miracles of the Spirit".  Stop on by - he'd be glad to show you around!

They have ARRIVED! WLCoWSVoWLT Wooden Nickels

We put off fufilling new and renewing Membership Packets, in hopes that these lil' beauties would arrive for inclusion, and they just did!  A whole big(ish) box of Americana, going out to WLT Fans.  These are exclusive items, for New and Renewing Members or through the Belger Art Center Rare Visions show, coming up in March, Kansas City MO.

 

Whoop!

Kansas Arts Commission, We Love You.

And hope you feel the same about our newest grant proposal/request, in the mail today.

KIND Radio Friday Morning Show

Just recorded an interview with KIND Radio, Independence KS, about the upcoming Kansas Humanities Council lecture on World's Laregest Things and Roadside Attractions.  Event will be in Coffeyville, at the Coffeyville Center for the Arts, with dinner and a presentation.  Dinner starts at 6:30, lecture 7:30, contact the Center for details.

 

http://www.coffeyville.com/Culture.htm

 

You can listen to the interview online, which should air Friday morning:

 

https://radiotime.com/station/s_33169/KIND-FM_1029.aspx

 

We'll also post audio on our Blog, Facebook, MySpace, and Press section of the WLT online network.

 

Thanks for Living Large, in Kansas: As Big As You Think.

Wooden Nickels, Whats Large Where, and Members

All coming in, going out, and in the mail!  Member packets for the newest three will be slightly delayed, as our San Antonio Shipment of Wonderfullness just left Friday, and we wouldn't want to make a packet without the Newest Super-Special Limited Edition Premium!

 

Thanks for your patience, and welcome to 2009!

Writers Block, Unblocked.

...amazing what a deadline can do.

World's Largest Things is now caught up to the submission deadlines for the upcoming Think Big! articles for American Road magazine.

The first column should come out in the Spring 09 issue of the quarterly publication from Mock Turtle Press. One WLT Member has already subscribed (with some of the loot from his Christmas stocking), bringing stories of the American Road in glossy form to his mailbox.

American Road Magazine, now with World's Largest Things.

Driven by Vision - coming in March

...if you're in Canada...

 

Great series looking at sites and environments driven by vision - check out images and excerpts from their first season:  http://www.shrines.tv/index.html

 

In the second season, they came to Lucas and visited many many sites, including the Garden of Eden.  Ask your northern relatives to keep an eye out for Kansas Quirky!  Season II begins on Wednesday March 11, 2009 at 10:00pm EST

 

Vision TV (Eastern Time) Wednesdays - 10:00pm, Thursdays - 7:00am and 3:00pm

 

http://visiontv.com/

 

 

Big Idea Vol 2 #2

...now on its way to your eager lil' mailboxes!  The Winter Edition includes some regional Kansas highlights, details about the Fall SCA Conference, and upcoming lectures and events.  Enjoy!

 

-EN

From the Email Inbox: WL Pistachio, Alamogardo NM

as seen on Flickr, a new giant found at McGinn's Pistachio Tree Ranch, 7320 US Hwy. 54/70 North, Alamogordo NM

 

http://flickr.com/photos/thehorror/3183989987/in/photostream/

Exploring Winchester

Spent another great three days at the Retreat for Rural Leaders, put on by the Kansas Sampler Foundation.  This year's hands-on day included team exploration of an assigned town, and presentation of our research.  The Divine Team, which also Crossed the Delaware, went to Winchester, with a resulting Flickr and Blog that we will gift to the community.  Check 'em out:

 

http://winchesterkansas.blogspot.com/

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/34586369@N05/

Welcome President Obama!

I was honored and thrilled to be able to watch the inauguration while on the road... After the Monday WLT Kansas Humanities lecture, I overnighted in Topeka KS.  The Brown vs. Board of Education site hosted an inauguration viewing in their main presentation room, so that's where we gathered. 

 

This photo is from the Topeka Capitol-Journal, of some of the crowd gathered. 

Presses are rolling!

... the Winter Newsletter is due out soon!  We've had to change publichers, so there's been a bit of a delay, but things are finally rolling.

 

Thank you for your patience...

Grant Wrapups

... just finalized the FY09 Kansas Arts Commission Final Report.  Thanks, KAC, for funding projects that help World's Largest Things, Inc., expand and enhance programming!

 

-EN

-RW

Belger Art Center Show March 6 - May 1, Kansas City MO

KANSAS CITY, MO – On March 6, 2009, the Belger Arts Center will launch "Rare Visions – Detour Art," a tribute to outsider art curated by two Kansas Citians with extensive knowledge in the field. Curators Mike Murphy and Kelly Ludwig will bring more than 150 pieces of art to the ground floor and third floor galleries of the Belger building. The exhibit will run through May 1, 2009.

Ms. Ludwig is the author ofDetour Art: Outsider, Folk Art,and Visionary Environments Coast to Coast. This 160-page hardback book was recently published by Kansas City Star Books. Ms. Ludwig says her obsession with outsider art has roots in her family: "I grew up with an outsider artist of sorts, my mother. Like so many of these artists who are products of the Depression-era, mom was thrifty and resourceful, and resourcefulness inevitably spawns creativity – using common objects in uncommon ways." Ms. Ludwig is a graphic designer and holds a BFA from the University of Kansas in Lawrence.

Mr. Murphy is co-host of "Rare Visions and Roadside Revelations," a PBS television show that can be seen on stations across the United States. The show is produced by KCPT of Kansas City. Mr. Murphy, with his co-host Randy Mason and "Don the Camera Guy," has traveled to more than 40 states over the last twelve years and filmed hundreds of artists in their homes, studios, and workshops (sometimes all at once). Mr. Murphy once said he knew the show was taking a special place in the field of folk art when he found out her appearance on RVRR was mentioned in the obituary of one of his interviewees.

Ms. Ludwig and Mr. Murphy plan to exhibit work from their personal collections, plus borrow works from artists and organizations such as The World's Largest Collection of the World's Smallest Versions of the World's Largest Things. The Grassroots Arts Council of Lucas, KS, also will lend some of their collection for this exhibit.

The Belger Arts Center is located at 2100 Walnut Street, one block east of Main Street, in the Belger Cartage Service building. The gallery is open Wednesday through Friday from 10 am – 4 pm, Saturday from noon – 4 pm, non-holiday First Fridays from 10 am – 9 pm, and by appointment. The office for the Belger Arts Center is open Monday through Friday from 8 am – 4:30 pm. For more information please visitwww.belgerartscenter.orgor contact Gallery Assistant Mo Dickens at 816-474-3250, email:mdickens@belgerartscenter.org.Since March of 2000 the Belger Arts Center has hosted more than 35 exhibitions featuring a variety of media including fiber, ceramics, painting, sculpture, digital projections, and innovative design. More than 50,000 visitors have attended exhibits and other events at the Belger Arts Center.

Originally posted on the Detour Art blog

Bid Idea Volume 2 Issue 1: Summer 2008

Get your own - Open publication

Big Idea Volume 1 Issue 2: Winter 2007

Get your own - Open publication

Big Idea Volume 1 Issue 1: Summer 2007

2008 Governors Tourism Award: Community of Lucas

 

Writing writing writing

... but things are getting marked off the list!

 

We got the first batch of Weekly Whats Large Where posted, added a little to an article on Five Favorite Kansas Quirky, located a missing Illustrator file for an American Road column, and can now get back to the next Big Idea. 

 

Oh, and some draft reviews of another Kansas Humanities Council lecture proposal...

 

For fun, we've ordered wooden nickels from the site of the World's Largest Wooden Nickel - they'll debut at the Belger Art Center show in Kansas City Missouri in March.

World's Largest Things Small World Story

The WLT Cub Reporter just sent me a Flickr mail, saying "you oughtta see this!"... which just happened to by my cousin Josh Porter's Flickr page!  Small world, and I told the cub reporter all about it...

 

"Yes, he's done quite a few monuments. I had no idea he was producing his own until I went to the talking Paul Bunyan's new home, outside of Brainerd, and was chatting with the clerk about the nice restoration. I asked who did it, and when I heard his name I was floored.

It was Father's Day, and I said something about what a small world, and she said "well, he's here today, too - right over there in the snack bar!" I hadn't seen him in 10 - 12 years, and he and his whole family (and me and my whole family) just happened to be there at the same time - weird!

So, he showed us around what he did, we almost had the park to ourselves (family-wise), and an attendant followed us around to the various rides strapping us in and turning them on.

Wonderfully weird small world-li-ness!!!"

 

See Josh's photo stream online:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/31338368@N03/

!!!They're one and the same!!!!

I thought I'd look up a WLT Member, who is ALSO working on an Art Car book, only to find out that the images I just sent are for her project - Great wonderful wee world!

 

Upcoming from Fulcrum Publishers, from their Speck Press imprint:

 

http://www.fulcrum-books.com/productdetails.cfm?PC=6020

Speck Press, a Fulcrum Publishing imprint: Road Art: Art Cars and the Museum of the Streets

Just sent a slew of Art Car images to the editors, for a new book.  We'll see what they use...

 

Yay, Publishers!  Yay, Art Cars!  Yay, Art in Unexpected Places by Real People!

Speck Press's site

Tuesdays - the Most Productive Day of the Workweek

... according to some studies, of which I don't have the real reference, so it's a Factoid. (Factoid: an unproven fact - guarenteed to make something seem important!!)

But, yesterday was purty darn productive too!

Received the FedEx Flickr prints for hi-res scanning, starting to figure out FTP uploading with a new interface, and sent off the first of the American Road articles.

And, talked to the Superintendant of Public Works for Tipton, Missouri, about the 8-Ball watertower. It's one of my top favorites, as it was one of the first impressions of the middle of Missouri when the family moved there in 1977 or 78...

Today, just re-calibrated the scanner and working on Fulcrum Books images, still writing a years worth of columns, and new Humanities Council proposals for talks. And, working through a months worth of leftovers...

Dole Pineapple Remembered

http://archives.starbulletin.com/2001/07/29/features/story3.html

First Monday of the New Year

... and things are a-changin'. The Kansas Arts Commission and Kansas Humanities Council have re-addressed needs in the current economic climate, with some changes in funding and programming. Luckily, WLT Inc. is still on the KHC Speakers Bureau, as well as the KAC Arts on tour Roster - they're great ways to bring us in to your community, with affordable programming.

KAC Arts on Tour

KHC Speakers Bureau

Book a project or a lecture, and keep the Arts and Humanities in our communities! They build better people through cultural enrichment, and it's up to you to make sure they're preserved...

Thanks for the opportunity!
-Erika Nelson, Director
WLT Inc.

WLT Online for another year...

In wrapping up yearly business, we've renewed our SCA Membership, as well as our Hosting and Domain registrations.  Here's to making lists, checking twice, and marking those suckers off!

Art Car Books a-plenty

Working on permissions and hi-res files for a Fulcrum Books project... this is a detail from Jan Elftmann's Cork Truck.

Snapfish Archiving - Done!

From the beginning of WLT Inc, we've been using an online photo printer, with a convenient system for mailing in film.  One of the super-special added bonuses was that they would also post a digital version, which you could simply right-click and download. 

 

Two years ago, we realized how many images were only (digitally) stored on Snapfish, so we started archiving.  Mid-way through, other projects got in the mix, and the archiving process was put on a back burner.  Today, when checking on accounts, we discovered that the download feature had been altered to a pay only download.  For our own images...

 

SO, our sneaky clever computer department figured out a work-around, and finished the archive download of all hosted images.  It's been a long final 10 hour stretch, but it's done!  And, a good reminder that anything online, especially services, should be backed up immediately upon realization, as technology and information presentation changes rapidly.  Save it while you're able!

 

Thanks, Rachel, for the emergency download day...

-EN, Dir. WLT

Favorite Five Quirky Kansas Sites...

... off to the editor! I'll keep you posted on publication. And, it's in by the end of the year - whoop!

From the Flickr Email Inbox: Worlds Largest Saxaphone, Houston TX

From our Southern correspondant, a great shot of the World's Largest Saxaphone, Houston Texas, created by artist Bob Wade.

Back to work, World's Largest!

It's amazing how much can stack up in a brief time away from the computer - up next (with deadlines at the end of the year - yikes!) are article ideas, January WWLW, and a 5 Favorites list for writing projects, financial wrap-up with the accountant and reports for the Kansas Arts Commission, thank-yous, a Member Renewal, some email address updates, and we're still not quite to the printers for the last issue of Big Idea 2008 ... Whew!  So what am I doing typing here? 

 

Thanks, everyone, for Living Large, and putting up with small delays...

 

-Erika Nelson, Director

WLT Inc.

Martha's Bloomers Teapot, Navasota TX

 

Subject: World's Largest Teapot

I hate to disappoint but the teapot in Chester West Virginia is not the largest!

The one at Martha's Bloomers on Highway 6 in Navasota Texas is. I've attached a picture for you.

I'll have to get you the dimensions but it's definitely bigger. The owner of Martha's Bloomers has visited the Chester teapot in person, took a picture with it and can confirm it's smaller than our's.

Tammi Veronesi
tammi@marthasbloomers.com
www.marthasbloomers.com

Oh, the Chester folks will be disappointed, but I'm so glad to know about this teapot - it's great!  Please do provide dimensions when you get a chance so I can build a complete page for the Martha's Bloomers Teapot.

 

Thanks for sharing!

-Erika Nelson, Director

World's Largest Things, Inc.

Another World's Largest Dreidel, Chabad Jewish Center, Basking Ridge NJ

World's Largest Dreidel at Chabad

BASKING RIDGE, NJ -- (November 26, 2007)

T

T he largest Chanukah dreidel in the world stands 18-feet tall, a local landmark, in front of the Chabad Jewish Center in Basking Ridge, New Jersey. As the toy of choice on Chanukah, the dreidel is reminiscent of the spinning tops played by the Jewish children leading up to the first Chanukah more than 2,000 years ago. The four letters that adorn the dreidel are an acronym for the Hebrew words, nes gadol hayah sham, a great miracle happened there.

We're trying to recreate the miracle of Jewish survival and growth right here," said Rabbi Mendy Herson, director of Chabad of Greater Somerset County."

Another World's Largest Dreidel, Montreal

January 03, 2006

When most people put up Chanukah decorations, they typically involved some streamers, paper banners and maybe an oversize menorah. But unlike the project recently undertaken by West Island Hillel in Montreal, scaffolding and a 25+ ft. pole aren't usually required.

Those two pieces of equipment were vital, though, as local students constructed what is possibly the world's largest dreidel in the lobby of a Montreal synagogue. Under the leadership of Yoni Petel, a law student and acting chair of West Island Hillel, a 23-person team came together with hammers, nails and blowtorches to build the 22-ft., 2.5-in. dreidel. And yes, it does spin.

"Nobody realized just how big it would be when we started out," Petel said. "I'm 6'2" and four of me standing on my head wouldn't even make it to the top."

The idea for the dreidel grew from a brainstorming session between West Island Hillel leaders. Bored with the same old Chanukah ideas, Petel jokingly suggested they build a giant menorah, and to his surprise, it was a hit.

"It was 100 percent a joke, but everyone said, 'Let's go!'" Petel said.

But the cold Canadian winter prevented them from building the menorah outside, and lighting one inside would be a fire hazard, so the students decided to construct a dreidel instead. According to Petel, no record currently stands in the Guinness Book of World Records for the tallest dreidel, though he heard that the Chabad at Rutgers University had previously built one that was 16 feet tall.

The students proudly unveiled the finished dreidel last Tuesday during a Chanukah celebration at the Beth Ora Synagogue. Though only 60 people attended the party, a bounty of news coverage by local and national media helped the dreidel draw a steady stream of visitors until it was taken down yesterday.

The project is a prime example of the creativity behind West Island Hillel, a community-based division of Hillel Montreal that serves the large number of Jewish students who live in the city's West Island region. After formally coming together last year, it kicked off with a Shabbat dinner featuring "The Apprentice" finalist Andy Litinsky. Defying all expectations, the event quickly sold out. Other programs, such as a version of another reality TV show, "The Amazing Race," a benefit concert for Hurricane Katrina victims and Hypnotic Shabbat, have continued to draw in many new faces.

"In the past, the synagogue was the only center of Jewish life for students in the West Island, and for many of them, it's not too exciting to go to activities at a synagogue," said Yossi Lanton, the Israel affairs coordinator at Hillel Montreal. "These programs have really opened people's minds about Hillel and what it's about."

from Hillel, the foundation for Jewish Campus Life:  www.hillel.org

From the Email Inbox: World's Largest Dreidel

From an item on Ebay: 

 

...the worlds largest dreidel which is 5.5 meters high!!! Displayed in Caserea port...

From the Email Inbox: New World's Largest Dancing California Raisin, Fresno CA

 

I am one of 8 Marketing Students at Fresno State who just broke a world record. We have created the Worlds largest California Dancing Raisin for our Marketing 188 class at Fresno State. Dr. Rice, Our teacher has done these things with past classes and we decided to do it as well. I have attached a link that was on the news and also a picture. Thank  you very much, Andrew Ferrua

 

http://www.ksee24.com/news/local/35828734.html?video=YHI&t=a

 

Re: California Raisin

Wonderful - thanks for the information!  Was there a previous record for a Dancing Raisin, or did you set a new one?  And, where will this new record-breaker live after your semester ends?

I'm familiar with Dr. Rice's class, and even sat down to chat with him five years ago about the Marketing 188 projects.  Glad to see them revived!
-Erika Nelson, Director
World's Largest Things, Inc.

WLT and the American Road...

... surely a good match!

 

Check out the magazine online, and who knows, there may be submissions from WLT Inc. in the future!

 

http://americanroadmagazine.com/

Giving the Gift of Flickr

WLT Inc. just sent out four Flickr Pro and Pro Extension gifts to photobloggers who document World's Largest Things.  Our mission is to promote and preserve these giants of the American Road, and we really appreciate those who do the same...

 

Check out their photo streams:

Agility Nut, a.k.a. Debra Jane Setzer

Brian Butko

Queen O' Design, a.k.a. Kelly Ludwig

Southern Cub Reporter, Paul McRae

Merry Christmas!

 

(Oh, and the Santa is from Santa Claus, Indiana.)

Chilly, with chili...

Oh, wintertime, how bright and frigid you are...

The perfect time to get work done!

Just compiled the list of online networking results for a board report, and a meeting at the end of the month.

Also, new member! Packet being assembled for mailing tomorrow.

License Plate Mona Lisa

...now appearing on a French Blog, which seems to specialize in appropriations of Mona Lisas:

 

http://papou.blog.lemonde.fr/

 

Here's to Networks!

Art Network

...Expanding!

 

Just chatted with friends from all over the US - one teaching at RISD, one on the board at Greensburg KS Art Center, one teaching at yale, one retired from international performance art, on doing amazing science-related stuff in NY, and an activist in SF CA... Join in the rural/urban arts and architecture conversation via Facebook!

 

Search for Erika Nelson or World's Largest Things, or even Lucas Kansas, include a message with your friend request, and get the inside poop on how projects happen...

 

-EN, WLT Inc.

Small Town USA Documentary in Lucas - Webisodes

IMG Pictures has just posted their first webisodes from the Lucas visit, gathering footage for their newest project.

 

They interview Erika about small town promotion, take a look at the WLCoWSVoWLT, and jog around the Chair-E Tree.

 

They also talk with Rosslyn Schultz about art in small towns, and explore Brants Meat Market and the Flying Pig Studio.

 

Webisodes here:

http://smalltownusamovie.com/webisode01.html

 

and their blog of the visit here:

http://smalltownusablog.com/2008/12/05/lucas-kansas-an-artists%E2%80%99-community-like-no-other/

 

Enjoy!  And, it'll be fun to follow their travels. 

 

-from the staff at World's Largest Things, Inc., from the home base in Lucas Kansas - one of the most amazing places to live in the entire world.

From the Email Inbox: Cross in St. Augustine FL

While this isn't a World's Largest, it certainly is a gorgeous shot of a Very Large. What a great shot from one of the newest WLT Members from Kilby Creative: http://www.kilbycreative.com/

 

Compare to the World's Second Largest Cross in Groom TX:

http://www.crossministries.net:80/

 

and the World's Largest in Effingham IL:

http://www.thecross-photo.com/The_Cross_in_Effingham_Illinois.htm

FINALLY...

... we found a printer. Our local printer lost the ability to produce the WLT Newsletter "Big Idea", and we've finally tracked down one with comperable prices. We are sad to lose a local resource, but will keep on providing News of the Large with the next issue, due out this Winter.

Thanks for Living Large!

WLT Tee Off!

... to Olathe. We'll be updating the WLT Souvenir Stand soon, to reflect a new line of tees. Until then, enjoy the classic selection!

Finding Minnesota: North St. Paul's Giant Snowman

It has stood in stoic silence against traffic's constant hum for more than 30 years.

People around Highway 36 and Margaret Street in North St. Paul, Minn. said they just take it for granted because it's been there so long.

The welcoming sight of a 44-foot-tall snowman along the busy highway began as a pipedream during one man's Disneyland vacation.

Carol Koesling is the widow of the snowman's creator.

"He saw the structures (at Disneyland) and that's what he thought North St. Paul could use,'" Koesling said.

Lloyd Koesling was the local businessman who hatched the idea, after some warm winters spoiled the city's festival fun. In 1972, plans were drawn and work began on a permanent snowman, made of stucco and steel.

"When you're going up the highway and they see that snowman, they know they're in North St. Paul," Carol Koesling said.

Unveiled in 1974, the snowman quickly became the city's symbol. It was put onto postcards, iron-on patches, stationery and street signs.

"Well they say it's the world's largest snowman," Carol Koesling said.

It wore a 16-foot smile until March 2002, when Lloyd Koesling died.

A young child was so saddened by the news, she colored a picture for Carol Koesling. It showed the snowman crying.

"She drew this picture and sent it to me, and then of course it wasn't just the snowman crying, Carol was crying," Carol Koesling said.

While Mother Nature poses no threat to the stucco snowman, the Minnesota Department of Transportation might. The snowman sits very close to Highway 36 and major improvements are on the way.

"We will be lowering Highway 36 at Margaret Street and there's as much interest in the snowman as the new bridges along the way," said city engineer Dave Kotilinek.

Kotilinek promises protection saying there are currently no plans to move the snowman, unless the city finds something better.

Lloyd Koesling's gravestone will forever bear an etching of his legacy, of the snowman that is symbolic of a city's warmth.

"It's a nice memory of Lloyd that will last for quite awhile," Carol Koesling said.

(© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

Broken Record

from http://www.thesmartset.com:80/article/article11260801.aspx
Why the unending quest to get into Guinness?
By Greg Beato 

At first glance, you might mistake Guinness World Records 2009 for a book-sized can of some energy drink. Its metal foil cover shimmers with such pulsating greenish-gold intensity it could give a disco ball a headache. Inside, its pages are jam-packed with factoids and photographs, including life-sized 3-D portraits of the world's tiniest man and the world's largest tarantula. Such touches are gimmicky but necessary: While the phrase "world record" once conveyed a sense of accomplishment so palpable no 3-D glasses were required to see it, those days are long gone.

The first edition of Guinness, then called The Guinness Book of Records, was published in England in 1954. As journalist Larry Olmsted recounts in Getting Into Guinness, his new history of the book that has sold more copies worldwide than any other title in history save the Bible and the Koran, it was the brainchild of Sir Hugh Beaver, a Guinness Brewery marketing executive who'd gotten into an argument over which European game bird was fastest — the golden plover or the grouse. When no reference volume readily yielded that information, Beaver saw an opportunity. Why not publish a book made up solely of facts about world bests? Beaver suspected it would be a big hit in his country's 81,400 pubs, where drunken patrons regularly jousted over such quandaries, and thus a great promotional item to emblazon with his company's name.

A year after its English debut, Guinness showed up across the pond. At a time when America was determined to put a man on the moon, end poverty and disease, and find a cure for black-and-white TV, The Guinness Book of World Records, as it would eventually be known here, was an apt companion piece for our optimism. It showcased the extraordinary feats human beings could accomplish. It encouraged the pursuit of elite achievement by broadening its domain — world records weren't just for sports anymore; they were for everything. It was a serious book, the product of a purposeful culture that still had faith in the power of Science, Industry and, most of all, Progress. The four-minute mile? We could break it. A skyscraper taller than the Empire State Building? We could build it. The future was surely going to surpass the past.

As it turned out, though, breaking the four-minute mile didn't cure cancer. Sending a man to the moon didn't end poverty. Things were getting better in some ways (cable TV, super-premium ice cream, infinite varieties of tennis shoes), but also worse (AIDS, homelessness, global warming, custom ringtones). Our faith in progress was eroding, and The Guinness Book of World Records was contributing to the malaise. Whereas it once championed elite achievement, it now trivializes it. Thousands of people want to earn a place in its pages as the world's best something-or-other, and Guinness, in need of new content to keep its annual updates fresh, is happy to accommodate them. For example, Guinness World Records 2009 includes entries for "Most snails on the face." And "Fastest time to push an orange one mile with the nose."

Instead of inspiring us, such pseudo-records merely remind us that we value publicity more than achievement now. They reinforce how purpose-driven our lives have become, how silly and trivial we are. Before Guinness, world records signified something important, the mastery of something that was considered worth pursuing, even if that something was no more ennobling of the human heart than competitive hamburger eating. After Guinness, world records didn't need to have a context, or a purpose, outside the context of Guinness itself. The goal is no longer to demonstrate the capacities of the human spirit; the goal is merely to get into Guinness.

In Missouri, attendees at a science fair recently broke the world record for blowing up balloons in one hour. In Germany, 15,000 puzzle fans assembled the world's largest jigsaw puzzle. As Wall Street implodes and the War on Terror percolates, we've pretty much stopped believing that tomorrow is going to be better than yesterday. At this point, we'll be ecstatic if Social Security lasts one week longer than the polar ice caps do. To distract ourselves from such depressing notions, we create the world's largest plastic duck, the longest ballpoint pen, the most expensive ice cream sundae, and Guinness treats these endeavors as if they're noteworthy achievements. In truth, they're all so meaningless that even drunken Englishmen have better things to argue about. • 26 November 2008

New Display Component!

We've found a new display component for mobile displays of World's Smallest Versions of World's Largest Things... Will be developed for this year's Kansas Sampler Festival in Concordia, first part of May - woohoo!

QuickBooks

... seems to be a great tool! Started setting up program and accounts, with a tutorial from a pro.

Shameless Self Promotion day

Working on gathering screen shots and archiving video that features the Travel Plate or the WLCoWSVoWLT, and making some signs for the next tourist season (as inspired by this year's visit to Tinkertown). 

Voice of America: Cultural Odyssey

Broadcast in Mandarin, Fall 2007

Girls can Drive article on WLT

http://rachelrebibo.com/rachel/strange_attractions/roadside_weird.html

Quirky Kansas: Ready Made Adventure

KS T&T Screen Shots

From the Kansas Travel and Tourism video featuring Quirky Kansas Ready-Made Adventures:

 

http://www.travelks.com/s/indexp.cfm?aid=184

Quirky Kansas Ready-Made Adventure

What an honor!  The WLCoWSVoWLT is featured in the new series of Ready-Made Adventures from Kansas Travel and Tourism!  Check out the day trips and video now featured on the official Kansas site:

 

http://www.travelks.com/s/index.cfm?aid=184

 

Whoop!  Just a reminder that it pays to be exactly who you are...

Ditty Bops in Lucas, July 18, 2006

 

Up and at em!

For today:

Copying DVDs of newly completed Digital Documentary about the Post Rock Scenic Byway, measuring for the mural about same, making sure the Member Archives of Weekly Whats Large Where columns are current, fixing typos from the recent batch of renewals, and double-checking appointments for next week's grant work.

From the Email Inbox: The Rock - Utah

Sent in by member and World Famous Artist, Eric Abraham of the Flying Pig Studio and Gallery here in Lucas Kansas.

 

http://www.ericabraham.net/

1000s Gather for Stuffing of Giant Rockefeller Center Turkey

from The Onion: http://www.theonion.com/content/node/90339

NEW YORK—In what has become a Thanksgiving tradition, more than 10,000 locals and tourists alike braved the cold Monday to watch the annual stuffing of the Rockefeller Center Turkey.

The nationally televised event, which has rung in the holiday season for nearly 80 years, began at 5 p.m., when workers propped open the skin flaps of the 55-foot-tall bird, and pushed an 11-ton mixture of bread crumbs, onions, and other fixings into its massive trunk.

"This year's stuffing is shaping up to be the best one yet," said Mayor Mike Bloomberg, addressing the crowd from a podium next to the giant avian carcass. "Look at that beautiful glistening turkey!"

"Let Thanksgiving begin," Bloomberg added as he ceremoniously picked up a handful of salted butter and coagulated grease from the pile and threw it into the cheering crowd.

Moments after a 150-foot-tall crane stuffed the raw turkey to overflowing, ground crews fastened the bird's gargantuan legs together with nearly 200 yards of kitchen string. According to organizers, the Rockefeller Center Turkey will be basted hourly with 30,000 gallons of natural juices, pumped from industrial hoses, to prevent it from drying out.

The largest Thanksgiving centerpiece to date, the 70-foot-long turkey was personally selected by the mayor from a Maine farm and transported to Rockefeller Center on the back of a flatbed truck. Throughout its journey to the Big Apple, a record number of onlookers greeted the enormous, vacuum-sealed animal, with many a passerby scrambling to get their picture taken alongside it.

"The guidelines we use to find the perfect turkey are based not only on height, but also plumpness and just the right amount of dark meat," said David Murbach, who has helped procure Rockefeller Center's giant turkey for the past 25 years. "While this year we did opt for a commercially grown bird, in 2007 a family living in Vermont donated a 45-foot-tall turkey they had in their backyard."

Crowds reportedly started arriving before noon to watch the festive turkey-stuffing spectacle, which included live musical performances by Josh Groban and American Idol–winner David Cook. In addition, the entire cast of NBC's Chuck received the honor this year of walking inside the turkey's abdominal cavity to retrieve the 1,000-pound giblets packet.

"I knew the crowds were going to be huge, but I wanted my son to be here on the day all the stuffing went in," said Cleveland resident Dean Carlson, who was visiting New York with his family. "You should have seen the look on his face when they peeled back the skin with that giant skidder. This is something he'll remember for the rest of his life."

On Tuesday, gravy boats came up the Hudson River, while dump trucks heaped with mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, and boiled corn lined Sixth Avenue for nearly a mile. Several dozen workers have also been added to the payroll to shovel congealed fat and gristle off the sidewalks until the end of December.

"You know the holidays are right around the corner when you can smell raw turkey from 50 blocks away," SoHo resident Stephen Finney said. "Thanksgiving in New York just wouldn't be the same without it."

According to historian Steve Medina, the custom of stuffing a Rockefeller Center turkey first started in 1931, when exhausted workers laying the plaza's foundation kept their spirits up by preparing a 10-foot-tall bird right on the construction site. The tradition quickly caught on, and has only grown in pomp and popularity since.

"The Rockefeller Center Turkey has given us so many wonderful memories over the years," Medina said. "From the first honey-glazed bird in 1957, to that image of Mayor LaGuardia raising those giant gizzards above his head to signal the start of another Thanksgiving season."

"Through depression, war, and even food shortages, this incredible tradition has always endured," Medina continued. "Except of course for 1951, when the enormous bird rolled off a cargo train and crushed 64 people before plunging into the East River."

The Rockefeller Center Turkey will be slow-roasted from 5:30 p.m. to midnight each day until Thanksgiving, when the red button pops out, indicating that the bird is fully cooked and ready to be served.

Officials claimed that the turkey would not be wasted this year, as its leftovers will be used to make enough sandwiches to last for the next 10 months.

We're in Serbian!

Voice of America came through Lucas, and evidently they also posted a Serbian version of the story on their news site:

 

http://www.voanews.com/Serbian/archive/2008-01/2008-01-02-voa10.cfm

From Vision TV - 2008 - 2009 Seasons

It sometimes pays to google yourself:

 

Found a press release from VisionTV, Canada's multi-faith and multicultural television network.  This was in their list:

 

Documentary Series: NEW SEASON
Driven By Vision - Airing 2009
All over North America, eccentric visionaries have created homemade shrines and holy sites to share their devotion with the world. The new season of this Gemini Award-nominated series from creators Judy Holm and Michael McNamara will introduce viewers to more of these unusual – and sometimes inexplicable – creations, from the legendary Beer Can House of Houston, Texas to artist Erika Nelson's World's Largest Collection of the World's Smallest Versions of the World's Largest Things in Lucas, Kansas.

Re: World's Largest Clams in Pismo CA

Subject: World's Largest Clams in Pismo CA
FYI, the two clams in Pismo were created by my Grandfather, Freeman Davis, a local resident and sculptor for many years.  He died around 1982, can't remember the exact year, think I was in  third grade at the time.

Thanks for making a web-site about them.  The historical society should be able to confirm he is the sculptor.
-K.K.


Thank you for the information!  I had talked with the Chamber of Commerce, but will ask the Historical Society for the rest of the story.

 

And, I still think about the great clam chowder I got while there...

 

Thanks again,

Erika Nelson, Director

World's Largest Things, Inc.

NEW POSTCARD: World's Smallest Version of the World's Largest Badger, Birnamwood Wisconsin

 

Workin'!

Up early to go to an Amazing 100 Miles banquet, but first:

Started arrangements for another Kansas Humanities Council talk, for April in Lansing KS...

Developed proposal for non-profit designation help for a sister entity...

Checked on shipping for new postcards...

Wrote draft brochure design funding request...

And that's it. Had a nice brunch, passed out more information about WLT and Lucas and upcoming Digital Documentary Premier for the Post Rock Scenic Byway, and home.

And, in the mail, one new member request, and three renewals. And, a message on the phone that the re-done new XXL tees are in and ready for pick-up.

Now, off to City Council to present the 2008 Governor's Tourism Award to the Community of Lucas, and propose some infrasture enhancements that will benefit both WLT and the City of Lucas.

And, somewhere in there I took out the trash, too.

NEW World's Largest Ball of Twine, Highland WI

Man Creates 10-Ton Twine Ball Nearly 30 Years in Making

Thursday, November 13, 2008

SUPERIOR, Wis. —  Jim Kotera says the challenge hit almost three decades ago and got the ball rolling, so to speak.

He heard of people claiming to have amassed the largest ball of twine in the world and decided to beat them.

Kotera told Superior's online newspaper, The Daily Telegram, that he started his twine ball April 3, 1979. It now stands about as tall as he does.

He's weighed the twine as he added it, including the bags of string saved for him by friends and neighbors, and he estimates the ball weighs just under 20,000 pounds. If it could be unraveled, he claims it would stretch from northern Wisconsin to the Wyoming border.

Kotera, who lives in the town of Highland near Lake Nebagamon, has worked at the Highland dump for nearly 30 years.

WLT Green-ness

Just did the calculations, and we use approximately 38 trees a year in our paper consumption.

 

https://www.rainforestmaker.org/rain/php/calculator.php

Veteran's Day Poem

In Flander's Fileds: -By John McCrae-

In Flander's fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place, and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flander's fields.

World's Largest Baltic Sprats Tin, Mamonovo Russia (proposed)

As found on EnglishRussia:

 

In the Kaliningrad they are planning to make a monument for Baltic Sprats tin can (like on the picture ...) .

As "Radio Baltics" mentions, in the downtown of the city Mamonovo would appear a giant bronze tin would be built. As people from the local goverment say: "Such a monument should comemorate the fact, that the most tasty sprats in tin cans are being produced in this city".

The construction of the monument would cost approximately 5 000 EUR (around $6900), and probably would be collected from the volunteers who like the sprats.

Lily-Tulip Cup, Springfield MO

From the Email Inbox - a Springfield fan who named her dog Lily Tulip!

Why Drive an Art Car? A story from Kansas.

From the driver of an Art Car, the daily driver "Scout", which is used in conjunction with independent artist and educator Erika Nelson's travels and lecture circuit.

 

This weekend's trip was a great reminder of "Why Drive an Art Car?"  On the way from my home base in Lucas Kansas, home of the Visionary Art Environment "The Garden of Eden", to a Kansas Humanities Council lecture in Park City KS, I remembered some of the many varied reasons.  Driving an Art Car brings art into an everyday, unexpected experience, which has great impact on both the viewer and the driver.

 

While driving the back roads of Kansas, I'm often passed.  The reasons for this are varied - I tend to drive between 60 and 65, as that's the very best mileage speed for my vehicle.  Sometimes, that means that I'm just on the speed limit, while others really really really need to pass.

 

Also, it's not a good idea to speed in an Art Car, as you're the first one a patrol man sees in the sea of automobiles, and the long yellow topknot sprouting from the cab of the vehicle makes for good a good tracking point for aiming your radar.

 

One of the hazards of being passed in an Art Car is the occasional "WHOA!" moment of the other vehicle, which usually occurs right in your blind spot.  The passing car slows down in the middle of the pass, hovering in your blind spot, while they or their passenger hunt for a camera or try to figure out the camera function on their phone. 

 

This trip was no different - I could see the "WHOA!" coming, from a white SUV.  We were on a two-lane, small-shouldered blue highway, with grain truck traffic coming the other way.  They didn't pause too long, but passed and accelerated over the next hill.  A few miles later, I saw it parked in a farmer's pull-off, with a man standing by the road.  As I passed, he raised his camera.  I waved and chuckled.

 

Within another mile or so, they'd moved up in traffic again, car by car.  They passed, slowly.  I waved.  As they got past the blind spot and parallel, I saw that the back window sprouted a large, long camera lens. 

 

Once again, they sped over the next hill and became indistinguishable in the Saturday afternoon country traffic.

 

As I entered the next town, I was eyeing the gas gauge, doing mental calculations of regional price differences, projecting potential fuel savings in the next 40 miles (as prices were dropping approximately 2 cents per mile while driving Southwards), and approximate remaining fuel level as divined from tank capacity divided by automobile manufacturer's interpretation of level marks modified by point percentage difference as determined by past AAA-calling events.  This, coupled with Kansas weather predictions in relation to warmth of emergency fleece (in case I needed to walk or stand outside for an extended period of time), and approximate car density on the next rural route (adjusted upwards with harvest time activity) didn't have me too worried, but I checked out the posted Co-Op prices anyway.

 

While passing the Co-Op with math sections of brain buzzing, I saw the white SUV again, parked at an angle in the 'out' drive.  Once again, camera, wave, and smile.

 

As this particular Kansas town marks the intersection of two main routes, it was unlikely that I'd see them again.  I continued South, enjoying the day.

 

The white SUV appeared three more times, twice in passing, and once in wait at the entrance to a college campus.  By this time, I realized that they were intent on getting all angles and views of the truck, and one of their company was a stickler for getting the perfect shot.  By now, I was feeling like an exotic bird being captured by a friendly photo shoot, or perhaps, more appropriately, like the GEICO gecko in the current run of commercials.  It was a good reminder of the purpose of driving an Art Car, and I hope it planted the seed in the minds of my photographer friends.

 

The weekend continued with three more "WHOA!" blind-spot moments on two-lane roads, one more pull-over to see (this one was a very nicely tinted Mary Kay Cadillac, with the pink pearl automotive paint changing with the sun, housing three nicely done ladies, who had no reservations about turning completely around in their seats and waving), a Dixie horn toot from a large rumbling 80s Ford pickup, and an extended thumbs-up from a passing Prius while on interstate. 

 

Art Cars are a wonderful way to travel, and passing out postcards of your vehicle is an easy way to brighten even the moodiest surly teenager.  Art Cars can open doors that you didn't even know were there, and will make you a better, more aware driver.  You develop a habitual wave and smile, which carries over to non-Art Car vehicles, as well. I strongly recommend the experience, as there's a whole network of friends just waiting for you over the edge.

Park City KS World's Largest Things lecture

What a good weekend. Yet another Kansas Humanities Council lecture, booked through their Speakers Bureau, in Park City KS. Good crowd, great technical setup, illustrating how a community can work together to get some great things done. Their PRIDE program puts out a monthly newspaper, sent out to everyone with a Park City address, to keep the citizens posted on what's going on. Amazing!

And, got more information about the old Red Apple Restaurant that used to be a part of the Wichita area landscape, remembrances from some citizens and resource hints from local library staff.

You can (virtually) visit their community here: Park City Kansas

Off to Park City

... for another KHC lecture. Great day for a drive!

Reminder Postcards sent to Members

Here's yet another perk of Becoming a Member of WLT, Inc. - you're renewal reminder postcards are neat!

 

Just sent out the fall batch today...

World's Largest Tuned Musical Windchimes, Eureka Springs Arkansas

Hey Erika,
Ranaga Farbiarz here, of The World's Largest Tuned Musical Wind Chime  (TWLTMWC), in Eureka Springs, Arkansas.
...

So, when are you going to come down and finally see it and make a replica?  ..  Anyway, hello from Arkansas and ...I hope you'll be able to  come down soon and visit.  I'll be looking forward to meeting you!
et's a man,
N. Ranaga Farbiarz
Celestial Windz Harmonic Bizaar
Home of the world's largest tuned musical wind chime
381 Highway 23 South
Eureka Springs, Ar 72632

Here are links to stuff you might like to read or hear.  Please feel  free to distribute to anyone and everyone.
Thanx for your friendship & support, Namaste, et's a man, Ranaga 
Farbiarz
NPR-National Public Radio-Jan. 15, 2007-"All Things Considered"
Wind Chime Puts Arkansas Town in Guinness Records
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6861078
This is a short 3 minute piece, but it was broadcast nationally
KUAF-University of Arkansas NPR affiliate
Dec. 31, 2007-"Ozarks at Large"
*Those large chimes just outside of Eureka Springs are getting more attention...this time for setting a world record*
http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/kuaf/news.newsmain?
action=article&ARTICLE_ID=1020846&sectionID=1
This piece was closer to 10 minutes long and was broadcast regionally  in the Northwest Arkansas area only.  Fast forward 25 minutes into  the broadcast.
Arkansas Democrat Gazette-Jan. 15, 2007-Perspectives Section
The Holocaust and me:  A son tells how his parents survived the war by Natan Ranaga Farbiarz
This is the permanent archival link for the article, it has the full  text, graphics and photos:
http://epaper.ardemgaz.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=QXJEZW1vY3JhdC8yMDA3LzAxLzE0I0FyMDk1MDE=&Mode=HTML&Locale=english-
Eureka Springs, Arkansas weblinks:
Eureka Springs Artists: http://www.eurekaspringsartists.com

CAPC/Festivals Website: http://www.eurekasprings.org/
Chamber of Commerce: http://www.eurekaspringschamber.com
Spirituality: http://www.spiritofeureka.com/
Tourism Information: http://www.eurekasprings.com

Postcards! We've got Postcards! We've got Brightly Colored Fun and Fabulous Postcards!

OK, so we don't HAVE them yet, but they're both ordered and uploaded.  The Post Rock postcards are for invitations to the upcoming Digital Documentary Premeir, Wed. Nov. 19th at the Lucas Area Community Theater, and the others are for World's Largest Things. 

 

From my favorite postcard printers, Overnight Prints.

Doh!

...it's a busy week, so time is precious. Got a call from the printers, saying the NEW BATCH OF WLT TEES is ready, so drove the 130 mile 'round trip, only to discover that they used the wrong design...

On the good side of the wasted trip, gas is under $2.00/gallon in that region, so it didn't hurt as much as it could have!

And, I always solve some sort of problem while driving, so not completely useless.

World's Largest Skateboard, Wilmington Ohio

Just got a call from the woman who purchased the World's Largest Skateboard for her community - take a look at the article when it was delivered!

 

Honey, I shrunk the skateboarders

GARY HUFFENBERGER
Staff Writer

Either the riders had shrunk, or it was one ginormous skateboard.

Motorists driving Thursday morning on Main Street couldn't help but be all agog when they saw a 31 1/2-foot-long skateboard on the bed of a tow truck from Michigan.

Residents will have plenty of opportunity to check out the world's largest skateboard. Skateboarding enthusiast Jen Stewart of Jen's Deli in Wilmington acquired the skateboard, and she said it will show up at local parades and serve as a stage at fundraisers for the Clinton County Skatepark Association.

Its first appearance will be a 5 p.m. Nov. 7 fundraiser at the Clinton County Family YMCA for a costume dodgeball tournament.

The huge skateboard, a product of an engineering class project, is recognized as the world's largest skateboard in the 2009 edition of the "Guinness Book of World Records." In order to qualify to be in the book, a "Big Wheel" skateboard has to be operational just like a normal skateboard.

"There's no motors, no brakes, and it moves side to side. It has a 50-foot turning radius. Takes 12 people to ride," an elated Stewart said Thursday after her first time on board.

A while back, Stewart and her father Dan talked about building a float for the upcoming second annual Holidazzle Parade in Wilmington.

"So we thought it would be really cool to build a skateboard for the parade. And we thought if we're going to go to the time and trouble to build a skateboard, why don't we build the world's largest skateboard?" Jen recalled.

She began googling to find out how big the largest existing skateboard is and heard about this 31-1/2 feet long board. Jen's subsequent phone call was answered by an engineering professor at Bay de Noc Community College located in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

The professor told Jen it was funny she had called because he and his students were thinking of putting the skateboard up for sale the following week, and he asked her whether she wanted it. After an exchange of e-mails, Stewart bought the skateboard, with all the money going to Special Olympics, Toys for Tots, and to the school's engineering department to engineer a special walker for a man with a handicap so he can exercise.

The community college's engineering department regularly takes on these larger-than-life projects, according to Stewart. The department also can lay claim to having built the world's largest tricycle. As a learning experience, they build the world's largest things and then sell them with the proceeds going to charities.

There are still some logistics to figure out with the skateboard, Stewart acknowledges.

"We're excited. Maybe we can be in the 'Guinness Book of World Records' for riding the longest distance on the world's largest skateboard. So, we're hoping to get some sort of world record along with it," she said.

"I pity the fool who wants to build a bigger one. Because how are they going to move it?" laughs Stewart.

World's Largest Horseshoe Crab, Blanchester Ohio

photo credit: Freedom Worshop Babtist Church

In the conversation with Jennifer Stewart, World's Largest Skateboard owner and active fan of World's Largest Things, she mentioned another odd Big Thing in her area - a giant Crab, which is part of the Freedom Worship Baptist Church. 

 

Excerpt from the Wilmington (Ohio) News Journal:

 

(Pastor Jim) Rankin has lived quite an interesting life thus far, and yet there is still more to tell. He is known for his ministry and work in the entertainment field, but he also is affiliated with the "World's Largest Horseshoe Crab," which is housed at his church in Blanchester.

Rankin explained how he acquired the crab. "The giant crab was built by the group that helped design the Tower of Terror at Disney World and that also worked on special effects for the movies 'Star Trek V' and 'The Little Shop of Horrors.' It was built for the Columbus Center Maritime Museum in Baltimore, but to regain revenue, the crab went up for sale and was purchased for the future Creation Museum in northern Kentucky. As this museum was nearing completion, they realized the crab was too big for their purposes, and ultimately our church agreed to take it."

Rankin explained why his church was interested in the crab, "The biblical purpose was to counter the evolutionist claim that all things have evolved because the fossils of the horseshoe crab are still the same. Plus, this animal is a true gift from God, with its blood being used as a clotting agent for disease in scientific research. Thus, the World's Largest Horseshoe Crab is now surrounded by a beautiful scripture garden and fossil courtyard."

The crab is 68 feet long, 28 feet wide, with a 13-foot domed ceiling. It has gained much fame, and on Aug. 30, Rankin's church will even host a Crabfest. The fest will feature a nationally televised firewall motorcycle jump over the crab by Gene Sullivan, Evel Knievel's former bodyguard.