Weird News

Chocolate Jesus hard to swallow

The exhibition of a nude, anatomically correct 6-foot chocolate sculpture of Jesus Christ was cancelled after Cardinal Edward Egan complained.

Other Catholics also voiced their outrage at the planned Holy Week exhibition at the Lab Gallery in New York City.

The midtown Manhattan hotel that houses the Lab Gallery shut down the “My Sweet Lord” exhibit because of a high volume of angry phone calls and e-mails from the public.

The Lab Gallery’s creative director, Matt Semler, resigned in protest of the exhibit’s closing.

“They jumped to conclusions completely contrary to our intentions,” Semler said.

Upon hearing about the sculpture, Egan said it was “a sickening display.”

Bill Donohue, head of the watchdog Catholic League, said it was “one of the worst assaults on Christian sensibilities ever.”

The sculpture was created from more than 200 pounds of milk chocolate. It depicts Christ with outstretched arms as if he were on an invisible cross. The depiction does not include a loincloth.

The sculptor hopes his work will be shown elsewhere.

Just clowning, no biking

Bello the Clown’s bike has gone missing. The Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus star daredevil clown’s foot-high, 6-inch-wide bike was taken from a Manhattan street Friday.

The orange-haired Bello Nock has put up a $1,000 reward and created a toll-free tip line for information about the abduction of his bitty bike.

Bello and a few of his fellow clowns put on an impromptu show on a Manhattan street Friday night for a passing camera crew. The circus is appearing at Madison Square Garden.

The bike was built in Mexico City and has been in Bello’s circus-performer family for a dozen years. He considers it irreplaceable.

Anyone with information about the bike is urged to call 1-877-606-3052.

Record set despite ‘quake

In the face of exhaustion and through an earthquake, Japanese musicians played on. The musicians set the record for the world’s longest concert Saturday, playing for 184 hours straight.

Their songs ranged from Beatles classics to Japanese traditional harp music. More than 900 musicians ages 6 to 89 took turns performing in the 9-day event. Each break lasted no longer than five minutes. The concert took place at a small railway station in a western Japanese city.

A Guinness Book of World Records official was in attendance to certify the record.

The previous record for longest concert was set five years ago in Canada. The Canadian musicians lasted only 182 hours, according to the Guinness Book of World Records Web site.

Sunday’s 6.9-magnitude earthquake in northwestern Japan jolted the stage, but didn’t faze a determined pianist.