Fun_People Archive
12 Apr
Weirdness [424] - 22Mar96

Date: Fri, 12 Apr 96 16:10:27 -0700
From: Peter Langston <psl>
To: Fun_People
Subject: Weirdness [424] - 22Mar96

Excerpted-from: WEIRDNUZ.424 (News of the Weird, March 22, 1996)
		by Chuck Shepherd

* Society of Smoking Artists in San Francisco announced in January a "Butts
for Jesse" campaign to encourage artists with cigarette butts lying around
to send them weekly to anti-arts, pro- tobacco U. S. Sen. Jesse Helms, to
let him know that artists are his friends because they consume higher than
average levels of cigarettes. [San Francisco Chronicle, Feb96]

*  British artist Tony Kaye, 43, brought his "Roger" show to San Francisco's
Museum of Modern Art in November.  "Roger" consists of a live, homeless man
sitting in a transparent cube so patrons can question him about being
homeless.  Kaye plans to sell Roger later as a work of art--which Roger
agreed to in writing before the exhibit opened.  Said Roger, "I know that
Tony wouldn't sell me unless he knew I had a good home." [San Francisco
Examiner, 11-19-95]

* England's bad-boy artists, Gilbert and George, introduced a show of 16
oversized glossy photos in September, featuring the two of them in their
traditional business suits, ensconced in various defecation motifs (rows of
it, circles, sculptures) for the "Naked Shit Pictures" exhibit at the South
London Art Gallery.  One friendly critic called the work "deeply humanistic"
and almost biblical; another wrote, "I find it difficult to drag myself away
from this chapel [and] feel compelled to remain in the presence of a
disturbingly weighty vision of the world." [Evening Standard, 9-28-95]

* A 12-year-old girl was arrested in Barrington, Ill., in October and
charged with scribbling on a town gazebo.  Her scribbling consisted only of
crossing out profane comments about her that others had written on the
gazebo. [Barrington Courier-Journal, 10-12-95]

* In December, officials at the Wellington (New Zealand) City Art Gallery
denied entry to a 9-day-old baby when his mother sought to buy a ticket.
Director Paula Savage said the gallery's policy of not permitting minors
during the exhibit of controversial photographer Robert Mapplethorpe would
be strictly enforced. [Barrie Examiner-AP, 12-20-95]

* In December, a federal jury in New York City awarded Dr.  Joyce Stratton,
51, $1 million in her age-discrimination lawsuit against the New York City
Dept. for the Aging.  She had worked at the agency, which helps the elderly
secure benefits and legal rights, for 21 years and lost her $51,000 salary
plus pension benefits when she was fired in favor of a younger person. [New
York Times, 12-2-95]

* Kraft Food Company announced in December that Rob Watkins, 35, of Odessa,
Ontario, is the king of Kraft (macaroni and cheese) Dinners.  Watkins claims
to have eaten 10,000 of them over his lifetime, including many days in which
each of his three meals was Kraft Dinner.  "I don't consider it an
addiction," he said.  "I honestly don't get sick of it." [Sault Star-CP,
12-27- 95]

Copyright 1996, Universal Press Syndicate.  All rights reserved.
Released for the entertainment of readers.  No commercial use
may be made of the material or of the name News of the Weird.

© 1996 Peter Langston