Areas of Unrest

23 April 2000 - A Hare-y Encounter

QOTD: "One should always be a little improbable." - Oscar Wilde

Reading: Rebecca Rothenberg, The Dandelion Murders

Listening to: Hamza El Din, A Wish

I seem to keep acquiring further evidence that I am weird. Just to mention three things that have happened recently:

1. I woke up the other morning seized with a desire to bicycle around the Gaspe Peninsula. As soon as I thought harder about it, I realized I should really bicycle all the way across Canada.

2. I saw a review for the movie "East is East." The review said something about the movie having been a surprise hit in England because it has no major stars. My first reaction was "but Om Puri is in it!" I did go to see it, by the way, and was somewhat disappointed. Om Puri is brilliant, of course, but the film is advertised as a comedy and it isn't. There are some very very funny scenes (most of which are in the trailer), but the story is really a tragic one. Had I not been expecting a riotous comedy, I'd probably have liked it more.

3. I can't seem to learn not to start working on cryptic crosswords late at night. And then I complain about being sleep deprived.

And then, there's the matter of how I spent my afternoon today. Some time ago, I had done a web search for Los Angeles museums, looking for something fairly normal like the hours for LACMA or the phone number of the Norton Simon or the like. The search turned up a small museum I had never heard of. Namely The Bunny Museum in Pasadena. They're only open on holidays (or by appointment) and I figured that Easter was obviously the day to check this out. So did everyone else who has ever heard of this place, but that is to be expected.

The Bunny Museum turns out to be a private house with a collection that has taken over. The couple who own it started with a gift of a stuffed bunny holding a heart and began to call each other "honey bunny" and give each other bunny-themed gifts. That was just over 6 years ago and they now have thousands of bunny items. The TV room, for example, is filled with plush rabbits, while much of the rest of the house has display cabinets of bunny figurines. The yard has plastic bunnies (and large plastic carrots). And they have 5 pet rabbits, too.

This isn't a museum in the educational sense, but it's a fine example of the eccentric personal collection. I always enjoy the kitsch of these places and I find them a bit of a cautionary tale, as well, since I have my collecting tendencies. The owners claim to find it comfortable living with all this stuff, but I find that hard to believe. What do they get out of it? Admission is free, so is it the publicity they enjoy? How much time do they put in on all of this?

I should probably stop contemplating things like this and do some housework. Otherwise, I fear I will be ready to add to their collection. Surely they could use a dust bunny or two?