January « 2011 « Michelle J. Enemark

The Explorers Club

A few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to tag along with the Atlas Obscura team on a backstage tour of the Explorer’s Club in Manhattan. I’ve been dreaming about seeing the inside of this place for years, and I can assure you that it far exceeded my expectations.

The globe on which the Kon-Tiki route was (rumored to have been) planned! A sperm whale penis bone charmingly mounted on a cutout of a sperm whale! Pith Helmets galore! Numerous piles of rocks from exotic locales haphazardly balanced on every shelf! A mounted walrus head (which I took about 765 pictures of because I want to marry it)!

It’s a truly inspiring and remarkable place, and knowing that there are death-defying expedition stories of exploration and adventure behind every object in the place makes it a priceless collection. Sadly, our tour guide knew nothing of these stories (“What expedition is this arctic sledge from?” “An important one.” “Do you know anything about this tusk?” “It’s very old.”)

I was able to figure out, with no help from the tour guide, that this flag was taken to the Gobi Desert in 1925 by famous paleontologist, Roy Chapman Andrews.

The trophy room. Mark my words, one day my living room will be an exact replica of this room. Does anyone have a spare woolly mammoth tusk they want to give me to start things off?

My boyfriend.

Who doesn’t love a pith helmet and a puka shell mask?

Polar bear on the second floor landing! Our guide managed to impart some information here – “It’s not a very big one.”

This is obviously an extreme close up, but this globe is huge. Like if you took 4 exercise balls and stuck them together to made one big ball out of them (I’ve never been very good at similes).

It’s a library full of books solely on the subject of exploration. YES. (Books are on the other wall, not pictured. I promise, they were there)

I love this little guy with his harpoon.

I think the big antlered one is a caribou.

Who knew there were stones on Mt. Everest?

Explorers Club Research Library: even more books on exploration!

The aforementioned sperm whale penis bone. It kind of looks like a carrot. A huge, giant carrot.

Lots more pictures of our tour can be seen in this here Flickr Set.

New Reel for 2011!

I’m so excited to have a new motion graphics reel, starting 2011 off right.

Take a look-see!

Michelle Enemark Reel 2011 from Michelle Enemark on Vimeo.
Music: In the Room Where You Sleep, by Dead Man’s Bones

Christmas Snowstorm

Perhaps you heard about the snowstorms that swept the East Coast this Christmas. I heard New York got it pretty bad, and I wish I had been there to see it – I love when the city shuts down. Take that, New York. You’re not always on top of everything. The snow will always getcha. Maine is a different story. They’re well prepared for this kind of thing. At the first mention of an impending snowstorm, you can just hear hundreds of plows rev their engines.

We decided it was necessary that we enjoy the storm before the plows got ahold of it, so as the snow started to fall, Dylan, my sister Erin and I bundled up, filled thermoses with hot chocolate, and braved the storm. We sang as many Christmas carols as we could think of (because we’re dorks like that) as we headed towards the old Victorian center of Bath, about a 20 minute walk away. We were amazed to find a bar open, as everything else had closed up for the night, and we congratulated ourselves for our get-up-and-go over a few pints. It was the highlight of Christmas (with teaching my 2 year old niece that snow is soft enough to toss oneself into as a close second).

(Can’t take credit for the charming photos – Dylan’s getting pretty good with his new camera, huh?)