Sketchbook Project ON VIEW in Atlanta Georgia

This Friday and Saturday (January 29 - 10, 2010), the first showing of the Sketchbook Project goes on view at ARTHOUSE GALLERY in Atlanta Georgia - 309 Peters. Our hand-drawn book "And Suddenly - There it WAS! A WLCoWSVoWLT Road Trip" can be checked out and perused during this first of many showings around the country.

If you're not in the area, you can also check out the posted scans on our page of the Art House Co-Op site:

http://www.arthousecoop.com/projects/sketchbookproject/submissions/12572-and-suddenly-there-it-was-wlcowsvowlt-road-trip

See ya' on the road, and in the galleries!

-Erika

February 2010 - Thing-A-Day - Writing the story before it goes away

Just signed up for an exciting project in February, committing to create a Thing-A-Day.  It'll all be posted online, on a NEW special blog (as if we needed another one - sheesh!):  Worlds Largest Things on Posterous

I'm devoting my Thing-A-Day to telling the story behind the World's Largest Collection of the World's Smallest Versions of the World's Largest Things Traveling Roadside Attraction and Museum. I believe I'm in that crucial time, where memories are starting to fade (but can be revived), but haven't yet deteriorated into a glossy nostalgia. Distance of time has that double edge to it, making you varnish over some of the rough spots, yet enabling you to distance yourself enough to see some things that weren't so obvious up close and "in the time".

I've tried to capture or map out part of the story out a few times. I have a composition book with a breakdown of how to structure a book proposal, did a set of large panel paintings that reflected on my time in the desert and on the road in a non-linear, image-based way, and most recently completed a hand-drawn book that combined the words and images.

Now, I think it's time to really focus on the words and feelings that the images bring back, before they're gone forever. I have the previous 'maps' here for guidance, and a folder of images taken along the way that are sorted by date taken. Funny, how a tool so necessary while DOING the 'thing' ends up being a roadmap itself, a chronology that contains its own set of sparks. I'm hoping not to rely too heavily on the narrative that has become the 'tour' of those times - the sound bites and repeated story that I tell when someone asks about that time period.

Anyone who has ever been a tour guide at any historic structure knows exactly what I mean - the 'tour' becomes an automatic response, repeated so often that it becomes meaningless, a song you hum to yourself, even if the subject matter is of great importance to you. The period from 1999 - 2009 is in danger of becoming that sort of sing-song synopsis, and I'd like it to be real again.

A sincere Thank-You

I am overwealmed and humbled by WLT Friends, Fans, and Members, their generosity and encouragement.  Thank you, everyone, for your support, in word and deed, during difficult times.

 

-Erika

Small Town USA Documentary - webisode with Erika

Architectural Sculpting Class, Feb. 22-26

From the wilds of Minnesota, a GREAT opportunity to hone your skills, or produce your own World's Largest Thing...  Call now to reserve a spot!  Josh, the instructor, has vast experience in creating and preserving WLTs, including the Talking Paul Bunyan in Brainerd, restoration paint job on the Big Fish Supper Club in Bena MN, and creating new icons for Chambers of Commerce and promotional endeavors. 

Now we're communicating!

I think we've done it... Members may not notice a difference, but I believe we've gotten Weekly What's Large Where bugs worked out, and automated to send out each week.

Also, a record NINE Member Packets (both new and renewal) went out today, making a great start to Aught Ten.

So, here we go!

-E

Hendersonville NC start World's Largest Puzzle Attempt

Volunteers begin assembling 'World's Largest Puzzle' By Jessica Goodman, Times-News Staff Writer.

Saturday, January 9, 2010

MILLS RIVER -- The temperature was in the teens, with a severe wind chill, on Friday outside the church on Presbyterian Church Road. By 7 p.m., people bundled up were scurrying to the side door of the fellowship hall.

Inside, the conversation, the food and the fellowship warmed up the 40 or so people who braved the cold to participate in assembling part of the "the World's Largest Puzzle" at Mills River Presbyterian Church.

"It's a warm place in every sense of the word," said the Rev. Randall Boggs, pastor of the church.

Larry Sunday, a member of the church, donated the puzzle as a way to create community outreach for the church. He supervised the scene on Friday and held on to a timer, which records the group's progress. He watched as people move and mingle from group to group.

...

On the puzzle's Web site, at worldslargestpuzzle.com, a Hall of Fame showed all the groups who have completed the puzzle. Sunday said the Hall of Fame made no reference to any group in North Carolina completing the puzzle, nor any churches. Sunday predicted the puzzle will be completed some time on Monday.

...

Read the entire story here:

http://www.blueridgenow.com/article/20100109/news/1091032

...

Volunteers can still sign up to participate in the puzzle piecing process by calling 891-7101. Sunday hopes construction continues around the clock. The church is located at 10 Presbyterian Church Road in Mills River.

1964 World's Fair - Unisphere slide scan

1964 World's Fair - Unisphere slide scan, originally uploaded by worldslargestthings.

Testing to see if all of these various things will network - Just uploaded this from the Ephemera Archives to Twitter and Flickr at the same time, but will they share with the corporate blog?!? Let's find out...

From the WLT Christmas Stocking: New Batch of Ephemera!

It's always a good haul for WLT, with folks sending in their historic postcards from roadside attractions, past and present. This one features the Pineapple that used to lord over Honolulu, before it was removed. Sadly, the decapitated top still rusts in a parking lot, while a painting of the former shadow commemorates the former fruitty fantastic watertower.

World's Tallest Structure opens, with World's Tallest Dancing Fountains, to boot!

From Travel Agent Central:

As much as debt concerns plagued Dubai's publicity in the end of 2009 opened, the nascent luxury destination is kicking off 2010 with an epic first to turn the tide as the world's tallest structure, the Burj Dubai, opens.

Although the property's official height remains a secret, it is known to be at least 2,625 feet and exceed the next highest structure (the Taipei 101) by 1,000 feet. The opening has been delayed twice since construction began in 2004.

Worth $1.5-billion, the building will reach 200 stories and will include an observation deck on the 124th floor where visibility can reach 50 miles.

The building also includes the world's largest performing fountain as design firm WET created the 50-story-high Dubai Fountain, a 32-acre lake that is the largest choreographed fountain in the world. Using synchronized lights, music and water that leaps over a record-setting 140 meters into the air, the Fountain also uses projected light to paint with light on its darting water forms

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Happy New Year! And, to getcha in the mood for Spring...

 

 

NEW World's Largest Pysanka, in Ukraine!  See the whole review here:

 

http://armchairtravelogue.blogspot.com/2010/01/worlds-largest-easter-egg_02.html