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| -Short Attention Span Theater- |
| Mad monk’s member features big in Russian erotica museum |
| 2004-06-14 |
| EFL.When in St. Pete, make sure to visit. And, yes, there is a picture. SAINT PETERSBURG, Russia - In a more innocent age, it was said that Gregory Efimovich Rasputin’s legendary power over women was due to his piercing eyes. But a new museum of erotica here suggests that the mad monk’s charm may instead have been, ahem, concealed beneath his cassock. Measuring 28.5 centimeters (about 11 inches) -- allowing for shrinkage caused by pickling -- Rasputin’s penis displayed in a tall glass bottle is, to put it delicately, a big attraction at the museum. Shrinkage. I hate that. Director Igor Knyazkin said he bought the object from a French antiquitarian for 8,000 dollars (6,600 euros), along with several of Rasputin’s hand-written letters. Somebody collects these? That’s... disturbing. It was not known if he had a certificate of authenticity for such a remarkable piece. Maybe it’s got a hologram on it, like baseball cards. Reputed both for his mysticism and his debauchery, Rasputin was a powerful influence at the court of the Romanov Tsars. Concerned about his unusual hold over the Empress Alexandra, a group of aristocrats decided to kill him to save Russia. They lured him to an assignation in 1916, fed him drugged cakes, shot him and finally killed him by wrapping him in a carpet and throwing him into the frozen Neva river. Or maybe they were just jealous? The aura of sexual power and mysticism lives on. Some Russians think just by staring at the object, they can cure sexual impotence. One visitor asked Knyazkin if this is true. "Without a shadow of doubt," he replied with a smile. Spoken like a man who knows... Knyazkin, 37, a urologist and sexologist, set up the museum in the clinic he runs, partly with the aim of helping his patients overcome impotence. The atmosphere of the museum makes patients "more optimistic and relaxed," he said. If I had this problem, and saw this thing, the last thing I would be is "more optimistic and relaxed". "The aim of the doctor is to free his patient from anxiety and fears. Men who come here are ill at ease because of their problems, and our light and happy atmosphere reassures them." Only part of Knyazkin’s collection of 12,000 erotic objects is displayed in the clinic, which is staffed by buxom nurses wearing short white blouses and high heels. Don’t sound like a museum to me. "I keep the valuable stuff at home," he said. I don’t even want to know. |
| Posted by:tu3031 |
| #7 Well, if it isn't Rasputin's, then whose in the hell is it???!!!!!! Get a Duma investigation going. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2004-06-14 11:14:21 PM |
| #6 I hear it's a BIG draw... nudge, nudge... |
| Posted by: mojo 2004-06-14 5:20:48 PM |
| #5 My wife, who is Russian, doesn't think it is really his. She thinks like "B", a publicity stunt for the guy running the museum. However, I have always wondered : Why Empress Alexandra was so interested in the guy might say volumes about old Nick the 2nd, who must have come up a little "short", even though he fathered five children. |
| Posted by: BigEd 2004-06-14 2:34:21 PM |
| #4 goes to show you are never know when pickle jar is come in handy. |
| Posted by: muck4doo 2004-06-14 2:27:47 PM |
| #3 This is a joke and if it isn't, it should be. Nobody saved Rasputin's penis, OK?? I'm quite certain it's still attached and buried 6 feet under. Let's just acknowledge that this a clever little publicity stunt by one very wierd individual. |
| Posted by: B 2004-06-14 2:24:59 PM |
| #2 (obscure album reference) "Hey, bet you could play jump rope with it, man..." |
| Posted by: Raj 2004-06-14 2:06:11 PM |
| #1 pickeling? |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-06-14 1:19:49 PM |