TODAY'S ART UPDATE

Key quote: "Oh, my God," said gallery owner Bill Schramm, his glasses falling off in the scuffle. "This is the city's response to a penis. That's fabulous."

Bonus Key quote: Police said they found a man in his underwear inside the bathroom but nothing illegal.

(Thanks to queensbee, who adds, unnecessarily, "Florida IS a weird magnet.")

Comments

[Margaritaville]

"Instead, investigators said they saw a nude man in the gallery, a violation of a city ordinance that prohibits places that serve alcohol from allowing the public display of genitals."----

So if you don't serve alcohol, go right ahead and feel free to publicly display those genitals!

[oldmanatee]

Police said they found a man in his underwear inside the bathroom but nothing illegal.

This man was later charged with assault with a dead weapon. Upon further investigation, he was released due to lack of evidence.

[fivver]

Inside, police found a nude man, Joshua M. Culotta, suspended from the ceiling in an aerial harness that Schramm earlier called a "chandelier."

Maybe he should have called him the "sprinkler system".

[MartiniShark]

I feel bad about this, I am connected to the story. See, I posed for the artist.

[Danny]

"[P]olice began an investigation Friday night after hearing that the gallery was displaying genitals while serving alcohol. He would not specify how they knew, saying he wouldn't reveal an investigative tactic."

I think the top-secret investigative tactic is called Bumping Into What's Hanging from the Chandelier.

[oldmanatee]

What would happen if they were serving seal peni and beer?

[Danny]

I'd avoid the Pina Culotta.

[oldmanatee]

Key quote: "Oh, my God," said gallery owner Bill Schramm, his glasses falling off in the scuffle. "This is the city's response to a penis. That's fabulous."

Yes, the city's response is to arrest said penis.

[Sen. Craig]

Not me! I wasn't even there. And I'm taking a wide stance on this issue...

[pogo]

It's St. Petersburg. What do they expect?

[queensbee]

what i meant was that - florida being a weird magnet, i thought it was maybe an exaggeration, etc...i didnt want to actually really, redundantly believe that. this article convinced me.

[Annie Where-but-here]

...a cypress penis statue...
Pine trees have them too?
Oh, Christmas tree, oooooh, Christmas tree, how lovely are your branches!

[insomniac]

the wood should have been maple-thorp...

[MartiniShark]

It makes for a good carving medium because it withstands a stiff breeze.

[Annie Where-but-here]

*snork* @ insom!
Careful, MartiniShark - pines are sappy.

[WriterDude]

♪Isn't it good, artistic wood...♫

[KJP]

So this means you can't bring Walter into a bar in St. Pete?

[Annie Where-but-here]

Walter walks into a bar in St. Pete. The bartender says, "Why the long....uh....security!!!"

[WriterDude]

Good one, Annie!

[Meanie the Blue]

Art? Is that Walter's brother?

[Mr Death]

The question I have is, what was the guy in the bathroom doing in the policeman's underwear?

Or was it a policewoman? Inquiring minds...

[queensbee]

he thought he was attending [sic]the policeman's ball????? there's a joke in there someplace.

[biggin]

Queensbee is right. FLA is a weird magnet. I was born there and lived there 41 years. But after all the rampant nudity Tampa has walking and driving about on its streets - day or night - I say, "Well, at least he had his underwear on".

[Clown Puppy]

"As officers handcuffed him (Culotta), he started to cry."

[Elon@Rice]

This was ST. PETERSBURG? Brezhnev would be disgusted.

[queensbee]

well, remember what we were all taught about always wearing clean underwear....