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Roadside News: The Ides Of March

March 16, 2010

• Ricky Ranger, Crucified! M.T. Liggett, crusty Mullinville, Kansas, folk artist, has stirred up trouble with a new sculpture. It’s of Ricky Ranger — the mascot of the neighboring town of Greensburg — nailed to a crucifixion cross (And Liggett placed it on a road entering Greensburg). The town claims that it’s a “sign” and that it can be removed; Liggett says it’s “art” and cannot.

• Tanks, But No Tanks: The AAF Tank Museum in Danville, Virginia, got a scare when a senior citizen announced that he wanted to “make a donation,” set a mysterious package on the floor, and then walked out (It doesn’t sound scary to us, but a tank museum has to be careful). A local bomb squad was called, the museum was evacuated, and the package turned out to contain a 1922 French Hotchkiss 8mm light machine gun. Now the museum is wondering who the man was.

• Pedal Car Carhenge: The Durham Museum in Omaha, Nebraska, has opened an exhibit on American vacations — and its eye-catching centerpiece is a small-scale replica of Carhenge made from beat up old pedal cars. The cars were collected by octogenarian Bill “Speedy” Smith, and they’re also staged in dioramas visiting a kiddy-car-sized Grand Canyon, Mt Rushmore, and Kennedy Space Center. The exhibit runs through May 2.

• Public Protected by Pasties: It sounds impossible, but Las Vegas, Nevada, has been scandalized by its own Erotic Heritage Museum. The controversy involves a mural recently painted on the museum’s outside wall that shows women’s nipples. The artists who painted the mural — there were seven of them — have protested that it represents “Las Vegas culture,” but the city has nevertheless made the museum cover the offending body parts with adhesive tape pasties.

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