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Roadside News: Feb. 21, 2009

February 21, 2009

• Hard Rock Park, a rock ‘n’ roll theme park in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, had its grand opening and ignominious closing both last year.  It went bankrupt, and things looked grim.  But now it has new owners who pledge to reopen it, or at least some form of it, by the summer.  No word yet on specifics, but we hope that they at least bring back the Banana Splits and save Phonehenge.

• Wind Power in the Wild West: The citizens of Virginia City, Nevada, are reportedly in a tizzy over a plan to build a nearly 70 wind turbines — some as tall as 33-story building — on the surrounding hills.  The public argument is that the windmills will destroy Virginia City’s “Wild West” charm, but we suspect that the real reason is that the spinning blades might discombobulate the city’s many ghosts, and that their subsonic rhythm might send the town’s famous suicide table into a murderous rampage.

•Carver Plans to Age Indian Heads: The giant Indian head in Desert Hot Springs, California, is getting a “reverse facelift” from its creator, Peter Toth.  He is now carving age and wrinkles into the big face that he first carved over 30 years ago. Toth sees this as perfectly natural, and he may plan to do it for all 72 of his other giant Indian heads; he’s a man who always seems to have lots of spare time.  Does this set a precedent for non-Peter Toth giant Indian heads as well?

• Commando Frogmen Memorial: The Navy SEAL Museum in Fort Pierce, Florida, wants to erect a bronze statue honoring all of the SEALs — commando frogmen — killed in the line of duty.  There are several finalists.  We like this one (if only for its concept art), and this one seems appropriately menacing.  Among its exhibits, the SEAL Museum has a chair captured from Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega (during America’s 1989 invasion), but no one remembers him any more, so a statue seems like a good move.  Also, it will help to distinguish the SEALs from the other frog men.

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