Ripley has published its annual collection of oddities in a book titled “Wired Into Weird.” Much of its writing, editing and design was performed in Ripley’s world entertainment headquarters in Orlando.
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“Our president has been moving the company in a very like future-forward direction,” said Jordie Orlando, editor of the book. That is reflected in the circuit-driven design of the book’s cover and contents.
And the publication has gone beyond the on-paper presentation, including QR codes for some of the featured items.
“So you scan it, it pulls up a video, and one of our exhibit team members is going around it and talking about it to you, so you can get an extra vantage point of the exhibit,” Orlando said.
As usual, the book has about 700 stories, many of them in a micro-burst format that Ripley refers to as snippets.
“The content isn’t necessarily all technology. It covers the whole gamut,” Orlando said. “It’s crazy animals. It’s weird art, strange plants, cultural practices from around the world. It’s pop culture. It’s fashion. It’s anything and everything.”
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A handful of Central Floridians are featured in the book, including a picturesque “droopy dog” named Caramel from Inverness. “His stretchy skin makes him look like he’s melting,” the book notes. The vet told owners Vladimir Lenk and Stephanie Cox that it could be Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, which affects connective tissues.
Windermere is represented twice. Two pages are dedicated to the work of Rob Cametti, who turns his house into “MuckleBones Monster Museum” each October. It’s populated by 60 full-size figures of aliens, clowns, skeletons and spooky stuff plus dozens of busts.
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Meanwhile, Windermere’s Macias family crafted real guitars into working water skis.
In Sarasota, Ivan Arestov is featured in the book for jumping from one moving (seatless) unicycle to another “He hit his shins a lot while mastering the stunt,” the book says.
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The annual publication, now in its 23rd edition, always features content, Orlando said.
“All the feature stories, to the best of our ability and knowledge, have never been featured previously,” she said.
And while the company slogan has long been “believe it or not,” the book’s contents are documented before being included.
“The world’s an amazing place,” Orlando said. “It keeps being amazing, and we don’t need to create stuff with AI to show that the world is incredible.”
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