If you're interested in something weird to do this March you can take a drive down to Bucks County to celebrate Obscura Day with a rock concert at Ringing Rocks park. What's Obscura Day, you ask? Why, Obscura Day is only the 17th best day of the year. March 20th is designated as an international celebration of wondrous, curious, and esoteric places or "Obscura Day."
One of the official Obscura Day events is a concert created by banging on the rocks at Ringing Rocks Park in Bucks County. And anyone can participate. As Obscura Day's website describes: March 20, 2010 1PM: Bring hammers, mallets, bats, and other percussive instruments for this gathering at the mysterious Ringing Rocks Park in eastern Pennsylvania, where the stones have a most curious property: they ring out musical tones when struck. The exact mechanism by which these rocks ring remains a mystery, though it may have to with the freeze-thaw cycle that helped created the boulder field in the first place. The unusual property has been observed at only a few other locations in the US. Join us on Obscura Day to collectively rock out in this most curious of rock parks. Obscura Day Ringing Rocks Concert website: Click Here
Although WeirdNazareth.com won't be hosting an official Obscura Day event we are going to create a WeirdNazareth map that you can follow on Obscura Day or any day of the year. It will allow you to enjoy the impending Spring weather and some of the stuff we've posted here in-person. Dust off your GPS's and check back in a little bit for your official Spring 2010 WeirdNazareth.com map!
Registration is is now open for the 3rd annual adult soapbox derby. Hop over to point-o-eight.com for the registration form so that you can register your own home made monstrosity. Be sure to check our Maker Diaries site in the near future because I'll be blogging about the creation of WeirdNazareth's 2010 car (if you're interested in doing the same, email me at weirdnazareth@hotmail.com). To get you in the spirit, here are pics from:
Not since Kendra Hoffman's 2009 pretzel coaster attempt has the Bath area been so abuzz about one of its native sons. Aaron Nikles of Bath made a valiant attempt at breaking a Guitar Hero world record at Wilkes College but came up short. Read the story here. Witnesses say he collapsed from exhaustion during the bridge of Radar Love and his avatar was booed off the virtual stage. On the positive side, $100 dollars were raised for the American Cancer Society and he unlocked the leopard-print stretch pants after beating his own high score on Slow Ride.
As the Morning Call reports, Nazareth native and actress Kate Micucci was on Jimmy Kimmel Live last night and told the world a little bit about our little town of Nazareth. Maybe not the world, but the 15 people that watch Jimmy now know that we have an annual July 4th kazoo-related event in town. Since you didn't see it, click here.
The kazoo event is a few years old but last year it wasn't a parade; It was a concert. And as l'il Kate Micucci said on Jimmy's show, it was a bit of a bummer. She even said she'd write the mayor. I know that'll never happen. So I decided to create a petition to bring back the parade format. People need the exercise.
We are seeking information, tales, photos, legends, rumors, anecdotes, and details about the "rock room" at Nazareth High School. Please send us what you know. E-mail at weirdnazareth@hotmail.com
I didn't go to NAHS so I don't know anything about it. But I'll bet you do!
Local radio DJ Jarret Brown is droppin' it like it's hot in this dope rap about Nazareth. You'll think this track is ill even if you ain't from south of Prospect...
This site is evidence of all the interesting stuff that I see while venturing around town. But some of the more interesting stuff is located all the way down on the ground where many people ignore. An unhealthy combination of low self esteem and bad posture allow me to focus on what other people may miss. I don't care about the obvious. Cigarette butts are a dime-a-dozen. The best stuff makes one wonder about the story behind it and how it ended up where it did.
As a year-end treat, here is a compilation of all the great stuff that I found on the ground in the Nazareth area. Throughout the year I put these up on our Facebook page as I find them. But I wanted to share them with everyone. I don't intend this to be some deep anti-littering campaign. In fact, most of this stuff I don't even pick up. I usually just snap a photo and keep walking.
Some of our loyal WeirdNazareth.com readers have even taken part in the fun and e-mailed us some of the stuff they found. So keep us in mind as you survey the ground from now on. For 2010 I hope to have a lot of reader submissions included in the Stuff I Found on the Ground 2010 edition. Anything you find on the ground that is weird, odd, interesting, or unusual can be e-mailed to weirdnazareth@hotmail.com
"What I Eat:" July 7, 2009. I found this newspaper clipping on the ground W.Center near S.Green St. (Nazareth). It is taped to an index card. It says "What I Eat: Everyday I eat an apple, yogurt, cottage cheese, wheat germ, egg whites, walnuts, almonds, sunflower seeds, Go Lean, mixed veggies and romaine."
"Crow:" found on W. Center St. (Nazareth) on July 9, 2009
"Baby bottle:" found 7/13/09 on Broad St. (Nazareth) kinda near Rio's but on the other side of the street. It's been there for a few weeks now...
"Set List:" found at the circle (Nazareth) on August 2, 2009. It was written on the back of some sort of housing lease agreement.
"Squirrel:" found on West Center St. (Nazareth) on July 11, 2009
"Squirrel, a different one:" found near the corner of New and East Center Streets (Nazareth) on August 23, 2009
"Penny and Lens Cloth:" found on Whitefield Street (Nazareth) on August 24, 2009. I moved the penny a little closer to the cloth but I wish I had left it alone.
"Yellow shoes:" found on West Center Street (Nazareth) near Memorial Square park on Sept. 2, 2009.
"Hand:" found on E. Chestnut Street (Nazareth) on Labor Day, Sept. 7, 2009.
"Magnum:" A Reader Submission...This was found by weird Nicole on Sept. 9, 2009 on a ledge at Nazareth Furniture (Main & Belvidere Sts.) Thanks, Nicole!
"Ball:" Found on Sept.18, 2009 on W. Center St. (Nazareth) near corner of S. Green Street. It says "PB Celebrating 100 Years on it. It is a Titleist.
"Tweezers:" Found Sept. 17, 2009 on Mauch Chunck St. near 5-points intersection (Nazareth). "Flip Book:" A great find. Found near Nazareth Area High School on Sept. 20, 2009. It appears to be some sort of "rocket ship" flying into a "black hole." This lends itself to the first ever 'Stuff I Found on the Ground" Video. (see below)
"Wrapped Pickle:" Found on South Liberty Street (Nazareth) on Sept. 20, 2009. It is wrapped in a napkin and is almost completely dried out.
"Friendship Bracelet:" Found on Victory Lane (Nazareth) on Sept. 20, 2009 near NAHS.
"Tied Sock:" Although technically not ON the ground, this was found Oct. 3, 2009 at Memorial Square Park on W. Center Street.
"Sign:" It was extremely windy and this foam sign blew onto our sidewalk. Apparently, there is an insane asylum somewhere in the area. Found Oct 7, 2009 on S. Church St. (Nazareth)
View over Kraemer's Textiles on the morning of October 22
They came without warning. In a sky blanketed with small puffy clouds, holes appeared, huge holes with feathery clouds inside them. It looked as if enormous flying saucers had descended to the ground somewhere nearby, piercing the cloud cover and leaving straggling remnants where the clouds had been.
Over Washington Park--note the way the cloud streaks downward and toward the left
There were several of these holes. The largest seemed to be almost right over Nazareth and there were others to the north and west.
Recently similar clouds have been seen over Moscow and in Romania, and as you can see here, some people thought they were seeing an alien invasion. Certain UFO enthusiasts still say that the scientific explanation is a cover-up!
This photo by Scott Werkheiser shows that I wasn't the only one to notice the odd formations.
But for those of you who are blinded by science, here is what they are. They're called fallstreak holes or hole punch clouds, and they happen in water vapor clouds that are supercooled. When one bit of vapor crystallizes, the ones around it do, too, and the effect continues outward from that center in every direction, leaving a visible hole in the water vapor clouds, a hole that has a mass of ice crystals that are heavier and therefore sinking slowly, creating that feathery effect.
While it isn't really rare, this is an unusual atmospheric phenomenon, and we were lucky to observe it. You can see a variety of Fallstreak holes on the website of the Cloud Appreciation Society, here.
So it appears that no space ships landed in the greater Nazareth area on October 22, and we should be safe for now. But be sure to let us know if one of your family members starts acting strangely. If there really was an invasion, they may have been abducted and replaced by an exact double who secretly records your lives for alien reality TV. We're told that humanity provides much of the rest of the universe's comic relief.
With 86% of the precincts reported we can now declare a winner of the 2009 WeirdNazareth.com Pumpkin Carving Contest. Congratulations to Tracey Bellocchio of Nazareth, Pa.
Tracey's spider pumpkin was carried by a strong local turnout of young white chiroptophobes and minority arachnologists. The economy didn't hurt either. Exit polling showed that the predominant topic on voters' minds was the volatile global price of curcurbita futures.
Voter turnout was excellent with over 300 votes! The breakdown of the four finalists was as follows:
Tracey Bellocchio's Spider Pumpkin: 44%; Ben Does/Chris Polles' Pumpkins Partied Too Hard: 37%; Barry Huston's Three Pumpkin Set 15%; The Duffy Family's Bloody Bat 3%.
Congratulations to all the finalists and excellent job to all the enties. You can see a pic of all the entries in the slideshow below.
The deadline for submissions to the pumpkin carving contest has passed. Thanks to everyone that submitted an entry. The voting is now open. Remember, you are choosing the pumpkin that will represent you for an entire year. Please take this seriously. Put the partisan nonsense behind you and do the right thing. CLICK HERE TO VOTE
Welcome, welcome. Step into the booth. You can close the curtain behind you by pulling that big lever. No, that one...the big one. Put your weight into it. Good. Now, just choose your favorite pumpkin by clicking the little button and clicking submit. Good. No, you have to pull the lever back the other way in order to register your vote and open the curtain. Have you ever voted before? No, you don't have to worry about chads this year. It's all electronic. OK, good. You're all done. Have a nice day. Please, you're holding up the line. Please keep moving.
Should the reigning winner become unable to serve for any reason (e.g. assassination, rotting, etc.) the second place pumpkin will step in. Polls close Nov. 9.
The Halloween parade was today and was great. It started to rain just before we got to see the 3rd division. We had to get the baby home so we missed the end. Here are photos I took from my perch on the YMCA steps:
Here is a fairly well-known Jacobsburg oddity that we haven't been able to find a lot of back story on. Not too far from the creek, in the Eastern most part of the park, there is a very old decaying automobile in the middle of the woods. I first discovered this in the early '90's when I first started coming to the park and haven't seen it since. So I decided to take a trip over there to snap some photos.
I surprised myself by finding the car so quickly after all these years. It's not difficult to find. In fact, on a sunny day you can see it from the main trail (Blue blazed; Henry's Woods Trail; just past the bridge) because the sun reflects off of the chrome bumper. It has decomposed quite a bit since I remember and has become covered in etchings from various visitors over the years. I didn't notice any that were older than the late '90's but it may be that the older ones have rusted over.
I wanted to try and get some clues as to the kind of vehicle it is, how long its been there, and how it got there. There was a marking on the engine block that said "Firing Order 18736542." From the little I know about cars I knew that this only told me it is an 8 cylinder (it had eight digits) and told me noting about the model or age. On the front bumper, there was a hand painted code that read "N4046.614W07517.189." At first I thought this may be something like the magic numbers in the TV show LOST. But after I stared at it long enough I realized that these might be coordinates. After a quick Google search I confirmed that Jacobsburg park is located at N4046 and that these are the waypoints for the vehicle and that geocachers may be using this as a stash point. Based on what I had gathered I found nothing to suggest the model or year of the car. Best guess is 1950's or early 1960's model.
As far as how it got there, it clearly made its way down the embankment from the main trail area and smashed into a tree. The front bumper is bent around the tree. I saw no clear path from the main trail to the resting spot; it was littered with old growth trees. Also, the forest floor was pretty deep around the wheels. This suggests that the car has been there quite a long time. I might guess 30 or 40 years...maybe 50.
It's a pretty interesting juxtaposition of nature and machine to see a car in the middle of the woods. So if you have the means go check it out. Surely, there is someone reading this that has more information about this automobile and what its story is. So drop us a line at weirdnazareth@hotmail.com
This site needs you. Please feel free to leave comments on any of the posts (no registration is needed). If you have any weird information, stories, legends, photos, or tales about Nazareth, PA. please E-mail us.
If you are feeling saucy, you can become a contributor and post stuff here yourself. To become a contributor please E-mail us.
Got a tip? Notice something weird in the borough lately? Seen a ghost or something spooky around town? Unexplained phenomenon? Piece of porkroll shaped like Jesus? Anything. We want to hear about it. E-mail us and we'll check it out. We're practically begging...
This site is intended for entertainment purposes. We do not encourage or condone trespassing. Trespassing is a crime. Respect your community, your neighbors, and the environment.
If you're interested in something weird to do this March you can take a drive down to Bucks County to celebrate Obscura Day with a rock concert at Ringing Rocks park. What's Obscura Day, you ask? Why, Obscura Day is only the 17th best day of the year. March 20th is designated as an international celebration of wondrous, curious, and esoteric places or "Obscura Day."
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