"The Scream" says: "Hellllp meeeee, I'm guarded by bozooooos..."
James Kibo Parry
It's no wonder they're only allowed to have one priceless art treasure
in the whole country if they're going to be such idiots that they don't
even put a padlock on it after it's been stolen the first time.
[from msnbc.msn.com]
->
-> Munch's famous 'Scream,' 'Madonna' stolen
->
-> Armed thieves burst into museum as stunned visitors looked on
->
-> The Associated Press
->
-> Updated: 8:58 a.m. ET Aug. 22, 2004
->
-> OSLO, Norway -- Edvard Munch's famous paintings "The Scream,"
-> "Madonna" and others were stolen from an art museum Sunday while
-> stunned museum-goers watched armed men threatening the staff at
-> gunpoint as they took the art work to a waiting car.
That could never happen in the U.S., because we don't have empty
parking spaces anywhere near our museums.
-> "We don't have all the details on the situation, but we are
-> searching for the suspects in the air and on land," Police Spokesman
-> Kjell Moerk told the public radio network NRK.
Have you considered that they might be indoors by now?
-> Speaking to the British Broadcasting Corp., Jorunn Christoffersen,
-> press officer for the Munch Museum in Oslo, confirmed that "The
-> Scream" was among the paintings stolen.
This had to be the world's easiest investigation for the BBC reporter:
"What priceless item was stolen from your Museum Of The Only
Priceless Painting In Norway?"
"The only one we had."
"Well then, I'm done! Off to the pub to watch Manchester United
on the telly! Cheerio!"
"Rice Krispie!"
Okay, I stole that last joke from an episode of "Sledge Hammer!"
But it's okay because nobody in Norway would recognize something
from a TV show about a tough guy.
-> A French radio producer, Francois Castang, said he was visiting the
-> Munch Museum in Oslo when thieves burst in and made off with the
-> paintings, including the painter's depiction of an anguished figure
-> with its head in its hands.
->
-> "What's strange is that in this museum, there weren't any means of
-> protection for the paintings, no alarm bell," Castang told France
-> Inter radio.
The museum considered putting in an alarm system, but then they realized
thieves would just steal it.
-> "The paintings were simply attached by wire to the walls," he said.
-> "All you had to do is pull on the painting hard for the cord to
-> break loose -- which is what I saw one of the thieves doing."
So did they use regular baling twine, or was this special
Priceless Art Twine?
-> Castang said police arrived on the scene 15 minutes later. Visitors
-> were ushered into the museum's cafeteria.
...where they rejoiced because thieves had stolen all the lutefisk.
-> In February 1994, "The Scream" was stolen from the museum and
-> remained missing for nearly three months. Police ultimately
-> recovered the work, which is on fragile paper, undamaged in a hotel
-> in Asgardstrand, about 40 miles south of the capital, Oslo. Three
-> Norwegians were arrested.
->
-> At the time, investigators said the trio tried to ransom the painting,
-> demanding $1 million from the government. It was never paid.
->
-> Munch, a Norwegian painter and graphic artist who worked in Germany
-> as well as his home country, developed an emotionally charged style
-> that was of great importance in the birth of the 20th century
-> Expressionist movement.
->
-> He painted "The Scream" in 1893, as part of his "Frieze of Life"
-> series, in which sickness, death, anxiety, and love are central
-> themes. He died in 1944 at the age of 81.
->
-> The National Art Museum owns 58 paintings by Munch.
Was that before or after the famous one was stolen?
In related news, thieves stole The World's Largest Ball Of Rubber Bands
from The Museum Of The World's Largest Ball Of Rubber Bands. Just bounced
it right out the door. But it's okay, they still have 57 Not Very Big
Balls Of Rubber Bands on display.
-> (c) 2004 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may
-> not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Why, did the Norwegians put a twist-tie around it?
I bet if you tried to steal a Tom Of Finland drawing in Helsinki
you'd get dragged into the back room and beaten senseless and be
forced to clean the entire museum's floor with your tongue.
But over in Oslo, you can just walk in and break the string that holds
the painting down. Finland should invade Norway, they'd just have
to cut the string that keeps the country's border closed.
-- K.
I mean, Tom even killed a guy.
Munch just dripped wax on paper,
not even on people.
Adam
> -> OSLO, Norway -- Edvard Munch's famous paintings "The Scream,"
> -> "Madonna" and others were stolen from an art museum Sunday while
> -> stunned museum-goers watched armed men threatening the staff at
> -> gunpoint as they took the art work to a waiting car.
>
> That could never happen in the U.S., because we don't have empty
> parking spaces anywhere near our museums.
And the ID checks and luggage searches will keep art thieves from
getting away on the T!
TMG
Having been to Boston's Isabella Gardner Museum, I got to see the empty
frames that previously held ~300M of Rembrandt, Degas and Manet pieces.
The empty frames now hold little tags marked "Stolen in 1990".
http://www.cnn.com/2002/LAW/11/26/ctv.traces.museum.heist/
The way around the parking problem is to use a vehicle painted like a
police car - they can park anywhere. I assume handicap tags work as well.
Yngvar Fųlling
> Oddly, Norway is in the news.
>
> It's no wonder they're only allowed to have one priceless art treasure
> in the whole country if they're going to be such idiots that they don't
> even put a padlock on it after it's been stolen the first time.
Maybe they didn't want to cut a hole in a priceless art treasure? :-)
Not to defend them too much. A previous manager quit in protest over
budget cuts, saying that it seriously harmed security.
However, you do know that there's more than one "Scream," don't you?
Munch painted it four times in all. The one stolen ten years ago was
the one in the National Gallery. This time, it was the one in the Munch
Museum.
I can't help wondering if it was a coincidence that both times were
during the Olympics, though.
Yngvar
Lots42 The Library Avenger
>
>Not to defend them too much. A previous manager quit in protest over
>budget cuts, saying that it seriously harmed security.
That was silly. He should have asked for a raise, seeing as how they had all
that money free from cutting security.
--
"Argh, the laws of science be a harsh mistress." - Pirate Bender
"If you want to say something relevant to this particular discussion, or
something vaguely logical, you might try to come up with it now."
-- Kettir, to me
Yngvar Fųlling
lot...@aol.comaol.com says...
> >From: Yngvar Følling yngvar....@c2i.net
> >
> >Not to defend them too much. A previous manager quit in protest over
> >budget cuts, saying that it seriously harmed security.
>
> That was silly. He should have asked for a raise, seeing as how they had all
> that money free from cutting security.
What free money? The budget was cut, remember?
Argh. I apologize so much. I was trying to make sense, but "sense" is
obviously seriously off-topic in this group.
Yngvar
Mark South
news:MPG.1b9ae913d...@news1.c2i.net...> > >From: Yngvar Fųlling yngvar....@c2i.net
> >
> > >
> > >Not to defend them too much. A previous manager quit in protest over
> > >budget cuts, saying that it seriously harmed security.
> >
> > That was silly. He should have asked for a raise, seeing as how they had all
> > that money free from cutting security.
>
> What free money? The budget was cut, remember?
>
> Argh. I apologize so much. I was trying to make sense, but "sense" is
> obviously seriously off-topic in this group.
YOU ... ARE ... BECOMING ... ONE ... OF ... US ... :-)
--
"If I ever lose an eye, I'm going to get a glass eye with a big spring
behind it. That way, when I die and Nicko comes to steal my eyes,
when he touches the special one it'll go "SPROINGGGG!!!" and hit him
in the face, or if I'm really lucky, he'll inhale it." - Kibo in ARK
Yngvar Fųlling
says...
> YOU ... ARE ... BECOMING ... ONE ... OF ... US ... :-)
AAAH! No, no, no...
Is this when I turn into a chicken?
Yngvar
Mark South
I already had chicken today. I'd rather you turn into a shoulder of lamb or a
richly creamy moussaka.
Preferably with a bottle of Mouton Cadet on the side.
--
Mark South, Super Genius: World Citizen, Net Denizen
John D Salt
news:4130f86b$1...@news.bluewin.ch:
[Snips]
> I already had chicken today. I'd rather you turn into a
> shoulder of lamb
LAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMB!
Heh.
John.