Quirky Things About the Place in Which I Live
 

Okay, so I thought it would be fun (yes, I'm bored) if we were to write about some of the more quirky things associated with the places - buildings, towns, whatever - in which we live.

I'll start.

W/we live in a 300 year old cottage in a small town in Sussex, England. When W/we moved in, O/our landlady warned us that once a month, the members of some kind of society - similar to the Freemasons but not the Freemasons - meet in the building that runs above O/our summer house (photo in gallery) and, amongst other things, 'dance around'. She was right, and several months later, W/we've become used to hearing them prancing and stomping all over the place.

The other night, however, during one of their regular meetings, B. and I went out to the yard for a cigarette and suddenly, W/we hear the sound of bagpipes coming from above. Not only do W/we hear bagpipes, W/we hear loud - very loud - bagpipes...and continue to do so for the next couple of - very, very long - hours. Interesting. Yes. Entertaining. Uh, no.

So...let the quirkiness begin.

Words

We, that is the Space Cadet (level iv) and me live in a 1937 terraced house. We have all the original bath room fittings and the original cream and green 30's tiling in the vestibule and the kitchen. That's not what's quirky though. From the end of my road you can see Blackpool Tower. All 518 feet and 9 inches of it. Inspired by the Eiffel Tower it can be seen for miles.

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We have a group of pranksters that have been around for over fifty years.

They've built a gazebo on the town green overnight, plopped a giant (25 ft high) paper-mache chicken on the roof of the town library, and hauled a "museum" dedicated to their own tricks to the green on a hay wagon and left it there.

The messages are almost always political. Several years ago one of their pranks involved giant figures made to look like our town selectmen with real manure busting out if their stomachs.


Every Halloween night something appears and then disappears a few days later.

Not that I live in NYC ~ about four hours from it ~ but I thought these were interesting:

Dutch explorer Peter Minuit purchased the island of Manhattan (really its southern tip) from the Algonquin tribe for trinkets and tools worth about $24.

New York City was the U.S. capital from 1789 to 1790

Although many legends exist about the origin of New York City's nickname, the Big Apple, most historians agree that it can be traced back to a writer who covered horse racing in the 1920s. In The Morning Telegraph, he wrote that stable hands often referred to New York as the Big Apple, meaning that any thoroughbred that raced in New York had reached the pinnacle of racing.

( These facts are copied over from http://hubpages.com/hub/20-Interesti...-New-York-City )

I live in a city whose motto is "Keep Austin Weird".

Here are some examples:

Keeping Austin Weird: Museum Sells Willie Nelson Braids
June 7, 2010

AUSTIN, TX - Keeping Austin Weird, one Willie braid at a time. The Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum is taking the haircut of one of Austin's favorite musicians and selling them as novelty items. Country singer Willie Nelson shocked fans last week when he cut off his trademark tresses. The museum decided to hone in on the historic event by offering a novelty Nelson headband.

According to a press release, emulating the locks the soul-stirring star sported for more than three decades, this adjustable, one-size-fits-all piece features a red bandana with synthetic ponytail braids. Its the perfect noggin-topper for fans of all ages, or anyone who just likes to keep things weird.

The headresses are on sale at The Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum for $10.

There's also:

Live Music -- By January, 2009, Austin, Texas supported over 1700 live music venues in the city, so by picking up a copy of the free Austin paper, The Austin Chronicle, you will find listings of most of these venues (note: if you are looking for independent bands, this paper is a great place to start. For those who are more classically inclined, a better place to look is at the University of Texas). Austin bills itself as the "Live Music Capital of the World," and with more live music venues per capita than any other city, might just live up to the advertising.

The Bats -- Austin is home to the largest urban colony of Mexican free-tailed bats and the largest urban bat colony in the world, and their exit at dusk has become a major tourist attraction. A million and a half bats fly out to forage for insects, and it can take up to half an hour for the bats to exit the Congress Street Bridge. For the best view, park down by the Austin American-Statesman building, and walk up to the bridge. (On the bridge itself, the traffic is noisy, and you just do not get the best view.) You can also take a boat cruise from the Capital Cruises or Lone Star Riverboat companies to travel up the river that will time its arrival at the bridge with the bats' exodus. A few restaurants may have bat viewing, but be sure to make reservations well in advance, as the seats fill up quickly. June through October provides the best viewing, as the bats are migratory.

William Sydney Porter House -- William Sydney Porter, known to most of the world as O. Henry, lived in a small Victorian cottage in Austin from 1893 to 1895 (and got himself thrown into prison for three years). The author of "The Gift of the Magi" and "The Ransom of Red Chief" as well as many other stories with a surprise twist, Porter was an active fixture in Austin during the years that he lived there. Although moved a block and a half from its original location, the original house, built in simplified Eastlake style still stands, and a tour of the house is free (a docent will be provided as a guide to the house and exhibits). Each spring, in May, the house is home to the annual festival of puns, known as the "O. Henry Pun Off," where you can hear some of the world's worst puns live!

Uncommon Objects -- A store, located at 1512 S. Congress Street, with a giant collection of some of the oddest objects around, from a giant stuffed goose to . . . well, you just have to see for yourself, because the collection defies description. This store is like Antiques Roadshow in the weirdest dream you have ever had.

Museum of the Weird -- in the back of Lucky Lizard Curios and Gifts, on East Sixth Street (and only a block or so from the O. Henry Museum), is another astounding collection of bizarre objects. Mummies, a two-headed chicken, and other strange and wonderful objects are featured, much in the tradition of P. T. Barnum and the carnival sideshow attractions. The museum is operated by Steve Busti, and is open most days, but call ahead because the owner could be taking a day off, and the museum is run only by a single person.

The German-Texan Heritage Society -- housed in historic downtown Austin, the German-Texan Heritage Society building was originally the German Free School building. Most people do not realize that Texas was a major immigration point for Germans looking to come to the New World, and that Texas therefore has one of the largest concentrations of German immigrants (many Texas towns and families still have German names). The German-Texan Heritage Society maintains cultural and genealogical records, and hosts events such as free German classes, a German film festival, and more.

Famous Trees -- some of the famous trees of Texas are in and around Austin, Texas, including the famous Treaty Oak, which was almost a victim of a love triangle gone awry. The vandal, who poisoned the tree in an attempt to break up a couple, killed two-thirds of the original tree, but the remaining third is alive and thriving (the vandal received a fine and a prison sentence). Also not to be missed are the Austin Auction Oaks, which were on the site where the city of Austin was laid out and land auctioned off to homesteaders and developers to pay for the construction of governmental buildings, and the Seiders Oaks, the site of the first playground and weekend getaway for wealthy Austinites.

Of course...
 

Huh.

We have drive-thru liquor stores in Michigan. What does that say? lol

Honestly, I live in what I think is the most boring small Midwestern city there is. I really don't like it here, and only live here because my work is here.

Other than that, I live (we rent) in a house that was built in 1916. About 10 years ago, a fire apparently destroyed the inside of it and the woman who owned it at the time had it completely redone inside, but she recreated some of the historic elements (it originally was a Sears-Roebuck kit house). I live in a very diverse neighborhood on a little street that is only one block long. We have a mix of seniors, African-Americans, and at the end of the street is an apartment building full of Mexicans. In the summer, they have a little street party and play great music.

I'd say this about sums it up.
 

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Non-consensual "decor" (this guy was replaced by a jacked Santa for the holidays) on our communal front door, courtesy of McDrunkerson who lives downstairs, who is, himself, item #2 on the list of "Quirky Things About the Place in Which I Live."

O/ours is tiny as well.

O/our 'summer house,' which was originally the outside toilet/wash house, isn't too bad but O/our lounge is so small that the only way that W/we could fit in a (very small) double couch and armchair was to place said chair in front of the front door (which opens into the lounge), seal up the letter box on the front door, and put a mail box next to the back door (which leads into the kitchen). Great, except now W/we have to climb over said chair to turn the wall lights on and off...but at least W/We have somewhere to sit.

As to basements, no, no basement. W/we do, however, have a loft (what you'd call an attic). Which is actually quite neat because it means that W/we'll never find O/ourselves locked out of the house. Why? Because O/ours is the last in a row of attached cottages, all of which share one collective loft (which was brilliant in the old days when smuggling was rife in the area and the smugglers could disappear into one house and exit from another). And yes, it has been known in more recent times for one of the neighbours to knock on the door of another and ask ''I've forgotten my key. Mind if I climb into your loft so I can crawl along into mine and from there get into my house?''

Weird.

Words

He'd look good on O/our back door. Especially as the only way visitors have of letting U/us know that they're here is to ring the old brass ship's bell right next to it. (O/ours is a listed building and there are very strict rules regarding what can and what can't be done to it, both internally and externally. I guess O/our landlady was worried that a normal door bell would be considered a no no?)

On the other hand...perhaps not.:)

Words

I live on a small island created by a tributary of one of the many creeks and rivers in Portland. I can stand on my balcony and look straight down at the creek, and when the water is high I can sit in my living room and listen to it rushing by. Within a few yards of my house, there are wetlands, a wildlife refuge, a fish ladder and a couple of trees that some beavers have felled.

None the less, I'm 5 minutes in any direction away from everything that urban living has to offer.

I love Portland. :cheer:

As Words said, we live in an ancient town. No, I mean Ancient. This town has been on the map long before 1100 A.D. So, it's no wonder it has quirks. Like the gibbit, a body shaped cage that held the bodies of hanged (or killed some other 'gawdawful' way) criminals. The gibbit was hung on a gallows where the bodies were allowed to rot on display at major crossroads and waterways to discourage any would be criminals.
Yes, Rye has a gibbit, complete with the bones of John Bread, the town's butcher who, in 1742, murdered the mayor's brother by mistake...he meant to kill the mayor. They left him on display for 20 years! He is in storage today, gibbit and bones, in the townhall attic.


This might not qualify as a quirk...but living in a house that's older than my country ...well, it's a trip. You know what I'm saying?


Blue

This is by far one of the most interesting threads I've read..Words I'm pretty excited you were having a boring day...

Everything about Portland is quirky. It's awesome. Where else can you go to Saturday Market on a Sunday?

Shortly after I moved to Portland a friend asked if I wanted to go to Saturday Market. I said, sure. She said ok well meet me there on Sunday at such and such time. I said, you mean Saturday? She said, no on Sunday. Saturday Market is open on Sunday too.

Most places have a 'rush hour' where traffic is heavy! The ONLY rush hour we have in the tiny town I live in, is when the ferry arrives from Edmonds/Seattle~otherwise it's clear sailing:hangloose: