Fun_People Archive
7 Oct
News of the Weird - excerpts 10/7/92

Date: Wed,  7 Oct 92 04:34:59 PDT
To: Fun_People
Subject: News of the Weird - excerpts 10/7/92

From: <pep@research.att.com>
From: schaefer@hri.com (Rich Schaefer)
From: limey (Craig Hughes)

Police tried to prevent the ceremonial opening in January of the religious
festival of St. Vincent near Manganeses de la Polvorosa, Spain, which calls
for dropping a live goat from a church belfry.  Even though the goat falls
to a tarpaulin and walks away safely, animal rights activists had obtained
an injunction calling for a $5,000 fine per goat dropped.  In retaliation
for the injunction, the 1,300 townspeople attacked police and the
journalists who had descended upon the festival.

The Josh Baer Gallery in New York City announced recently it would soon
display part of Andrew Krasnow's "Flag Poll" sculpture -- featuring a U.S.
flag made of human skin.  Krasnow said he obtained the skin through legal
means, including the eight-inch patch he got from his own buttocks.

A jury in Buffalo, N.Y., ruled in June that sculptor Billie Lawless was not
entitled to money damages from the city just because the mayor had ordered
his exhibit dismantled after only five days' display in 1984.  Lawless'
"Green Lightning" featured dancing penises, wearing top hats.

San Antonio police, trying to piece together the circumstances of the death
of a 40-year-old man in July, released to the newspapers the following
clues: In a closet in his apartment were numerous bars of six different
brands of soap; bizarre messages were taped to various objects in the home;
eight TV sets were placed in a semicircle; 40 half-dollars were found in
the man's stomach.

Sculptor Janine Antoni's show at the Sandra Gering Gallery in New York City
this spring featured a 600-pound cube of chocolate (price:  $7,500) that
she had gnawed on for three days to represent people's inability to control
their weight.  Said she, "(My gnawing and spitting out chocolate) is a
metaphor for a society that's always after the binge, the fast fix."

Bruce Janu does it his way. The Riverside, Il., social science teacher
punishes troublemaking students by making them stay after school and listen
to Frank Sinatra for a half-hour. Janu created the Frank Sinatra Detention
Club last year at Riverside-Brookfield High School. "You've got a Frank,"
he tells unruly students. The 24-year-old teached said he loves Sinatra's
music but realizes teenagers these days would rather listen to U2, NWA or
Madonna. "The kids hate it," he says. "This is the worst thing that has ever
happened to them."

© 1992 Peter Langston