Ripley's Believe It or Not! Reverse Santa
If you're looking to add a touch of the unusual to your holidays, why not start with the family photos? "Reverse Santa" flips around the old standard of sitting on Santa's lap, and puts St. Nick on yours.Individual prints, magnets and key chains can be purchased on-site.
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David George Gordon, aka The Bug Chef, grills up tasty grasshoppers for a lucky Daily News reporter
If the upcoming holiday season isn’t enough to bug me out, then a cooking session with “The Bug Chef,” David George Gordon, will certainly do the trick. Author of the seminal “Eat-a-Bug Cookbook,” Gordon is in town to serve up his favorite insect-inspired Thanksgiving recipes this weekend at Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Times Square.
Read more of the story: NY Daily News _____________________________________________________________________________
Eating grasshopper kebobs on Good Day New York
New York News | NYC Breaking News
David George Gordon, 'The Bug Chef,' prepared grasshopper kebobs in the Good Day Cafe.
Fox 5 Sports Director Duke Castiglione and FOX Business host Melissa Francis bravely chowed down.
The Bug Chef is also the author of the the cookbook, Eat-A-Bug. He'll be serving samples of his favorite insect-inspired Thanksgiving recipes at Ripley's Believe It or Not! Times Square.
Read more of the story: My Fox NY _____________________________________________________________________________
It's a Great Pumpkin New York!
1,400 pound pumpkin is carved live at Ripley's Believe It of Not Times Square by Sean Fitzpatrick.
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With Bravura Displays, Pumpkins Get Their 15 Minutes
Forget jack-o’-lanterns and even the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. With Halloween on the horizon, pumpkins have become objects of spectacle, showmanship and competition, as displays across the New York region strive to be bigger, better and more bravura in their use of the no-longer-humble member of the gourd family.
The New York Botanical Garden has an 1,872-pound pumpkin that provided the raw materials for a tableau depicting a zombie apocalypse. Ripley’s Believe It or Not in Times Square trucked in a similarly humongous specimen (1,417 pounds) for its master carver. And competing pumpkin displays in Westchester County and on Long Island both claim about 5,000 blazing orbs.
Read more of the story: New York Times
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Free Pickle, Mustard, and Herring Ice Cream at Ripley's
Another free ice cream deal. But don't expect the standard vanilla, chocolate, or strawberry. . . . The vendor is Ripley's Believe It or Not!, and, of course, that by default implies really weird flavors.
Read more of the story: Village Voice
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Gotham Gigs: Michael Hirsch is a believer
A typical day at work for Michael Hirsch can include packing up Madagascar hissing cockroaches to send on a road show and booking Jellyboy, the sword-swallowing clown.
But the general manager and president of Ripley's Believe It or Not! Times Square isn't squeamish.
“We don't use the word 'gross' around here,” said Mr. Hirsch, 42, who started at Ripley's in 2008. “We use words like 'shocking,' 'weird' and 'unique.'
Read more of the story: Crain's New York
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Owen's Teentraveltalk.com Visit to Ripley's Times Square
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Cake Boss - Ripley's Believe It or Not! Cake
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Ripley's Believe It or Not! on Teen Kids News
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The Secret Tip to Getting Pregnant?
When all else fails, some turn to superstitions. So this Mother's Day, the folks at Ripley's Believe It or Not! are touting one of the strangest customs some women have tried to become pregnant -- and it has nothing to do with the birds and the bees.
On the eve of Mother's Day weekend -- with a big helping of skepticism on the side -- we bring you the fertility statues.
These five-foot tall wooden figures, housed in the Ripley's "odditorium" in New York's Times Square, are said to help bring about pregnancy to anybody who rubs their stomachs.
To read more of the story: ABC News
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Snakes on a Plane? Well, No, but Almost Anything Else Goes
I’m a pretty mild-mannered guy, and I love talking to people. So business travel is a good fit for me. I’m not hassled by much of anything since I often create my own havoc as I try to board a plane.
I’ve been traveling for Ripley’s for about two years now, mostly for trade shows. Obviously, you’re competing for people’s attention at these events, so part of my job is to make sure that Ripley’s brand is presented well, especially with the “believe it or not” factor.
That’s why I travel with scorpion lollipops, shrunken heads and other oddities. My experiences with security are almost funny to me at this point. I’ve gotten to know some agents at La Guardia, including a supervisor. So getting through the line is usually easier for me if the ones I know are working.
Read more of the story: New York Times
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Would You Eat Bugs For Love?
Fear Factor” X “The Bachelor” = Ripley’s Race to the Altar, Valentine’s Weekend.
How iron-clad is your love? Would you, say, eat a bug so your sweetie wouldn’t have to?
Ripley's Believe It or Not! Times Square Odditorium stages the ultimate – and totally creepy – test of devotion in the form of the Remarkable Race to the Altar. The Odditorium will convert its 20-plus themed galleries (each representing something vile, weird or horrifying encountered by Robert Ripley in his travels) into an obstacle course of interactive challenges described by the Ripley’s folks as “peculiar photo ops,” “acts of courage” and “challenges of digestive fortitude like consuming a stomach-churning, yet edible, curiosity.”
The couple to complete all of their tasks and make it to the finish line first will be married on the spot, because naturally, Ripley’s has an ordained minister on staff. Plus: Prizes! Bragging rights!
You’re thinking, okay, but how nasty is this thing really going to get? That’s what we wondered, so we called up Ripley’s director of marketing Steve Ekstrom. He can’t divulge too much about what couples will be asked to do to move through the race, but says eating a live cockroach “may or may not be” one of the challenges.
To read the full story, go to NBC New York - Around Town
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