Miscellany Redux

There's a fine, discretionary line between collecting, and, Ok,  I'll say it: hoarding.  Sometimes I wonder which category I fall into. I like cool old things, but I don't want to end up like the Craig's List Cautionary Tale of Too Many Salt Shakers. Once upon a time an Arlington woman started a salt and pepper shaker collection. She was six years old, and it seemed like a harmless activity, but when she died, her sister had the sad task of selling about ten thousand pairs.  Three thousand were enough to fill shelves lining the entire second floor of a bungalow and then some.  I thought the collector-woman should have opened a museum, but her sister told me one already exists in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.

Recently on a fun filled vacation in Pittsburgh I visited a couple who justified their fascination with things macabre by turning their home into a museum. Trundle Manor, where the Addams Family meets steam punk, features grisly displays of abandoned prosthetics, skeletal remains and lots of cleavers.

The occupants within curate all things creepy...

and create personal touches themselves like a human size chute jutting out the second story as well as a robotic man to guard the kitchen.

They also have a penchant for taxidermy which doubles as a leisure activity.

Back here in DC, local musician Al Sevilla solved his passion for musical instruments by opening a shop called Big Al's Trading Post which used to be in Silver Spring by Crisfield's. Al closed the store after a few years, but he never stopped collecting, and his current cherished accumulation will be up for sale at Atomic Music- just in time for their 25th anniversary event.

Atomic is the bomb for musicians looking to sell or buy gear, and their honest reputation has brought them great success through the years though marketing may not be their strongpoint. When I first watched the video advertising the anniversary sale, I thought I was back at Trundle Manor.  The frowny Pinocchio-like marionette jittering about gave me the impression he was hopped up on speed as he flitted between drums and amps waving one spastic arm, but then I realized I forgot to turn up the volume.  It's amazing the difference a sound track makes. With a falsetto narrator and comical horns blaring, a maniacal puppet turns into a benign little tour guide with a slightly filthy mouth.

Atomic's sale/anniversary party runs all afternoon and includes live music from five bands and refreshments. Congratulations Luis and Eric!