Phallic Monument May Get the Big Chop...

[OneFinger]

A Dutch war memorial that goes up and down and spurts flames may be scrapped after complaints that it looks like a giant penis.

 

The Liberation Monument is a giant copper obelisk that rises and falls depending on the level of sunlight, and spurts flames out of the top during important festivals.

 

It is due to go on show in the village of Wageningen, where the German capitulation was signed at the end of World War 2, almost 60 years ago.

 

In full sunlight, the erection reaches a height of 10 metres, shrinking back to just six metres when the light dims.

 

It was due to be exposed to the public at an official ceremony in May but now village councillors say it should either be scrapped or radically redesigned.

 

A spokesperson said: "Any association with a phallus is undesirable, whether justified or unjustified, and is to be avoided at all costs." - Ananova.com

 

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=29&art_id=iol1112529687420A551

 

Wish there was a picture I could post of this one. ;-)

[taylorky]

>

>A spokesperson said: "Any association with a phallus is

>undesirable, whether justified or unjustified, and is to be

>avoided at all costs."

 

 

well i would say it depends on the phallus :+

[trilingual]

Oh, well. If it does go, you can take comfort in the permanence of the MUCH bigger Liberty Memorial in Kansas City (fondly known as the Penis of the Prairies), which has loomed over the city since the 1920s as a memorial to World War I. For decades a popular car-cruising area (Tri lost his virginity there), the Liberty Memorial has been designated the national World War I museum. The new museum will be open in the next year or so in the space under the memorial, and will exhibit one of the world's largest collections of World War I artifacts. Meanwhile, you can admire it in all its art-deco phallic glory! (The building behind the memorial is the recently restored Union Station, second – or is it third? – largest in the U.S. It now houses a science museum and other attractions, and will soon also have a railroad museum.)

 

http://www.midco-contractors.com/images/Liberty%20Memorial%20full%20little.jpg

[Guest RandyRon]

What this monument needs is a sponsor. I'll bet Viagra would donate a bundle to the city to have their name on it.:+

[trilingual]

Hmmm! The Viagra Memorial! Has a strange ring to it, but it just might work! Feel free to send your suggestion in to the Viagra folks! }(

 

And returning to the subject of history, I forgot to mention that Union Station, besides being the site of the infamous gangland St. Valentine's Day Massacre back in the 20s, also had one of the all-time cruisiest T-rooms in America back in the long-departed and deeply missed days when Kansas City was one of the nation's great rail hubs and Union Station one of the busiest in the world!

[ErikMcAlister]

Time/Space Warp

 

The St. Valentine's Day Massacre took place in North Chicago, not Kansas City.

 

http://www.mysterynet.com/vdaymassacre/

http://www.prairieghosts.com/valentine.html

http://www.infoplease.com/spot/valmassacre1.html

[trilingual]

RE: Time/Space Warp

 

Oops! You're right! Wrong massacre! So sorry! From the Union Station website:

 

June 17, 1933

 

One of the most infamous dates in Kansas City history is the Union Station Massacre. Convicted mobster Frank Nash, under escort by a team of FBI agents and police officers was shot and killed outside the Station during a shootout. Four law enforcement officers were also killed. There are marks on the front of the building that for years were claimed as bullet holes from the shooting, but tests by Kansas City, Mo. police recently showed the marks could not have come from bullets. However, the myth and the mystery of the incident live on. There were various theories that other mobsters had committed the crime, but the only man ever charged was Adam Richetti who died in Missouri's gas chamber. As result of the massacre, Congress strengthened the power of the FBI.

[+ deej]

RE: Time/Space Warp

 

It's so easy to confuse those gangland massacres. ;-)

[ErikMcAlister]

RE: Time/Space Warp

 

Wonder what saint's day it would have been? We can coin a new phrase.

[RM]

and now the railroad station is a small building behind Union Station.

[trilingual]

But there's talk about bringing the few remaining trains back into the main station, especially if suburban rail service ever becomes a reality in Kansas City. (Endless talk, so far, but no action.)