Saturday, April 28, 2012

I read the news today, oh boy: Some eccentric roadside attraction dispatches from the real media

We interrupt this blog to bring you this bulletin concerning two eccentric roadside attraction news events. The first one comes from CBS News and the great Steve Hartman. He interviewed the creator of Amarillo, Texas's Cadillac Ranch, and, as if that wasn't already enough, he also talked to the owners of Alliance, Nebraska's Carhenge in his weekly "On The Road" feature. Take a look:




Photo by Chip Litherland/Sarasota Herald-Tribune

The other noteworthy item comes from The Sarasota (Florida) Herald-Tribune. They report the city's 26-foot "Unconditional Surrender" statue of a sailor kissing a nurse has been removed for repairs due to damage it suffered after a 62-year old woman crashed her Mercedes E350 sedan into it. The impact knocked a hole about the size of a microwave oven into the sailor's foot and the car was left by the statue for some time after until a way to extract the two could be figured out. The driver said she was suffering from a reaction to some medicine when the crash occurred. The plan is to have the statue trucked to New Jersey so that the artist, Seward Johnson, can make the repairs. Here's a link to the story:
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20120428/ARTICLE/304289999

We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a load of croc about the Cadillac Ranch. It doesn't take much digging to find out it was the creation of a art collective call the Ant Farm. The Ant Farm was a group of architect/designers who did all kinds of crazy stuff in the 70s. The Cadillac Ranch was their most famous and enduring installation. They moved to San Francisco but then disbanded near the end of the 70s.

I saw a fascinating documentary about them a couple years ago - What If, Why Not? Underground Adventures With Ant Farm
http://www.chron.com/life/article/Film-explores-Ant-Farm-collective-s-antics-legacy-1601218.php

I can't believe this reporter who put this together didn't at least dig up some of the history. Of course, Stanley Marsh has no shame, but then again, he is a crazy millionaire.

Gunnar and Sherry said...

Good to know, elf. Thanks for giving credit where credit is due!

Bill said...

I'm gonna pack my pa and I'm gonna pack my aunt
I'm gonna take them down to the Cadillac Ranch....
I'm surprised that the goofy Rhode Island who thinks he's the smoochin' serviceman from the famous picture (and, I guess, the big statue....) doesn't take credit for The Ranch as well...

Gunnar and Sherry said...

Bill, Maybe that was him crashing the car into it while giving somebody else the finger...Now THAT'S Rhode Island.