Strange Cargo
July 30, 2010 2:06 PM Subscribe
Strange Cargo: Taryn Simon took over 1,000 photographs of items seized or detained at JFK Airport. Here is a sampling. Here is some information about the project.
"Nine times out of ten, it's an electric razor but, every once and a while, it's a dildo. Of course, it's company policy never to imply ownership in the event of a dildo. We have to use the indefinate artical A dildo, never your dildo."
posted by griphus at 2:19 PM on July 30, 2010 [3 favorites]
posted by griphus at 2:19 PM on July 30, 2010 [3 favorites]
Mmmm, cuy.
posted by mr_crash_davis mark II: Jazz Odyssey at 2:20 PM on July 30, 2010
posted by mr_crash_davis mark II: Jazz Odyssey at 2:20 PM on July 30, 2010
"Unidentified mammal" appears to be a kidnapped loris
posted by theodolite at 2:28 PM on July 30, 2010
posted by theodolite at 2:28 PM on July 30, 2010
> Unknown meat in bottle, (Prohibited)
Well, damn.
posted by ardgedee at 2:29 PM on July 30, 2010 [2 favorites]
Well, damn.
posted by ardgedee at 2:29 PM on July 30, 2010 [2 favorites]
When I was 19, standing in line at JFK, coming from in from Berlin, I had 4 bottles of beer in my bag. I was shitting bricks, so afraid.
That was probably not the weirdest/most illegal thing someone had in their suitcase within 10 feet of me, it seems.
posted by SNWidget at 2:39 PM on July 30, 2010
That was probably not the weirdest/most illegal thing someone had in their suitcase within 10 feet of me, it seems.
posted by SNWidget at 2:39 PM on July 30, 2010
Cow dung toothpaste?
posted by ooga_booga at 2:41 PM on July 30, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by ooga_booga at 2:41 PM on July 30, 2010 [1 favorite]
I'm now craving a pitcher of salami.
posted by ryoshu at 2:44 PM on July 30, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by ryoshu at 2:44 PM on July 30, 2010 [1 favorite]
What a goldmine for band names...
-Pitcher of Salami
-Falcon Corpse
-Pigeon Medicine
-Unidentified Mammal
-Cow Dung Toothpaste
-Nesting Dolls
-Unknown Meat In A Bottle
Now THAT'S a festival worth the money!
posted by Enron Hubbard at 2:53 PM on July 30, 2010 [7 favorites]
-Pitcher of Salami
-Falcon Corpse
-Pigeon Medicine
-Unidentified Mammal
-Cow Dung Toothpaste
-Nesting Dolls
-Unknown Meat In A Bottle
Now THAT'S a festival worth the money!
posted by Enron Hubbard at 2:53 PM on July 30, 2010 [7 favorites]
Deer Penis. Deer Penis. Deer Penis.
Hrm.
Now where have I heard that bef... oh, that's right.
posted by zarq at 2:55 PM on July 30, 2010
Hrm.
Now where have I heard that bef... oh, that's right.
posted by zarq at 2:55 PM on July 30, 2010
What a goldmine for band names...
"WHAT'S UP SEATTLE! WE'RE DEER PENIS AND WE'RE GONNA ROCK THE SPACE NEEDLE TONIGHT!"
posted by zarq at 2:56 PM on July 30, 2010 [1 favorite]
"WHAT'S UP SEATTLE! WE'RE DEER PENIS AND WE'RE GONNA ROCK THE SPACE NEEDLE TONIGHT!"
posted by zarq at 2:56 PM on July 30, 2010 [1 favorite]
I'm still waiting for this to arrive. It's been a month. I am sure it was seized. I am going to look through those photos!
posted by cjorgensen at 2:57 PM on July 30, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by cjorgensen at 2:57 PM on July 30, 2010 [1 favorite]
-Pitcher of Salami
-Falcon Corpse
-Pigeon Medicine
-Unidentified Mammal
-Cow Dung Toothpaste
-Nesting Dolls
-Unknown Meat In A Bottle
MERZFEST 2010
posted by griphus at 3:02 PM on July 30, 2010 [1 favorite]
-Falcon Corpse
-Pigeon Medicine
-Unidentified Mammal
-Cow Dung Toothpaste
-Nesting Dolls
-Unknown Meat In A Bottle
MERZFEST 2010
posted by griphus at 3:02 PM on July 30, 2010 [1 favorite]
I can't imagine why someone would want the big hunk of lard; unless it was to go with the GBL.
posted by Mitheral at 3:13 PM on July 30, 2010
posted by Mitheral at 3:13 PM on July 30, 2010
- Unknown Meat In A Bottle
A song Jim Croce sadly did not live long enough to write...
posted by foonly at 3:14 PM on July 30, 2010 [4 favorites]
A song Jim Croce sadly did not live long enough to write...
posted by foonly at 3:14 PM on July 30, 2010 [4 favorites]
I studied abroad in Prague when I was in college, and back then, you couldn't buy "real" absinthe in America (although I learned later you could technically legally order it over the internet, but this was 2003 and I hadn't thought of that). So, I bought some absinthe in Prague to smuggle home with me. I just put it between clothes. I spent the entire flight back nervous that they would take my absinthe at customs. My flight ended up being 2 hours late, and it took forever to get my bag, and by the time I went through customs it was 3am. And it was Miami International Airport, and all they cared about was smuggled oranges. The guy ahead of me had oranges taken out of his bag, but they sifted through my clothes and didn't find the absinthe and I was good to go. Phew.
Deer apparently have really unappealing dicks.
posted by millipede at 3:15 PM on July 30, 2010 [1 favorite]
Deer apparently have really unappealing dicks.
posted by millipede at 3:15 PM on July 30, 2010 [1 favorite]
I'm pretty sure that Pitcher of Salami was a Joseph Beuys installation in the '70s.
posted by scody at 3:21 PM on July 30, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by scody at 3:21 PM on July 30, 2010 [1 favorite]
In 1999, I took a section of a log inoculated with shiitake plugs, plus a bag full of staw spawn inoculated with oyster mycelium onto a plane with nary a comment from the x-ray geeks. Gone with the wind.
posted by telstar at 3:23 PM on July 30, 2010
posted by telstar at 3:23 PM on July 30, 2010
- Unknown Meat In A Bottle
A song Jim Croce sadly did not live long enough to write...
If I could put meat in a bottle
The first thing that I'd like to do
Is to cram it in my hand luggage and shuffle through Security hoping the sniffer dogs aren't hungry today so I can get my Unknown Meat in a Bottle onto the plane
Just to share it with you
If I could make Chicken Feet last forever
If days could make wishes come true
I'd make my severed cow-hoof even more awesome by turning it into a Cow-Hoof Bottle because hey who doesn't want one of those
Just to share it with you
But there never seems to be enough time to do the things you want to do once you find them
I've looked around enough to know that you're the one I want to go through the 'Something To Declare' line with...
posted by Catseye at 3:38 PM on July 30, 2010 [13 favorites]
A song Jim Croce sadly did not live long enough to write...
If I could put meat in a bottle
The first thing that I'd like to do
Is to cram it in my hand luggage and shuffle through Security hoping the sniffer dogs aren't hungry today so I can get my Unknown Meat in a Bottle onto the plane
Just to share it with you
If I could make Chicken Feet last forever
If days could make wishes come true
I'd make my severed cow-hoof even more awesome by turning it into a Cow-Hoof Bottle because hey who doesn't want one of those
Just to share it with you
But there never seems to be enough time to do the things you want to do once you find them
I've looked around enough to know that you're the one I want to go through the 'Something To Declare' line with...
posted by Catseye at 3:38 PM on July 30, 2010 [13 favorites]
You're that guy that brought the nutria to America aren't you? Or was it the Burmese pythons? Ok, I'll stop carping about that now.
posted by sneebler at 3:43 PM on July 30, 2010
posted by sneebler at 3:43 PM on July 30, 2010
Don't bogart that pitcher of salami my friend,
Pass it over to me.
posted by tommasz at 3:51 PM on July 30, 2010
Pass it over to me.
posted by tommasz at 3:51 PM on July 30, 2010
The words "unidentified liquid" never accompany anything good.
posted by Countess Elena at 4:50 PM on July 30, 2010
posted by Countess Elena at 4:50 PM on July 30, 2010
The counterfeit Disney nesting dolls seems an odd one to confiscate. What if the person actually bought it knowing full well it was counterfeit? Does Disney even make such a thing?
I notice that on Amazon you can buy Disney nesting dolls that are shipped from Russia. Will those be seized at the border? It seems this guy got his order just fine.
posted by Rashomon at 5:16 PM on July 30, 2010 [1 favorite]
I notice that on Amazon you can buy Disney nesting dolls that are shipped from Russia. Will those be seized at the border? It seems this guy got his order just fine.
posted by Rashomon at 5:16 PM on July 30, 2010 [1 favorite]
What was the person who brought the dried guinea pig carcasses going to do with them? I don't wanna know, do I?
posted by dabitch at 5:40 PM on July 30, 2010
posted by dabitch at 5:40 PM on July 30, 2010
What was the person who brought the dried guinea pig carcasses going to do with them? I don't wanna know, do I?
Probably eat them. It's apparently the thing to do in Peru.
posted by MexicanYenta at 7:20 PM on July 30, 2010
Probably eat them. It's apparently the thing to do in Peru.
posted by MexicanYenta at 7:20 PM on July 30, 2010
That new Pitcher of Salami place put the old Pizza in a Cup place right out of business.
posted by Oriole Adams at 11:51 PM on July 30, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by Oriole Adams at 11:51 PM on July 30, 2010 [2 favorites]
I don't get the bong seizure. They are sold in shops all over the US....but you can't say they are for anything other than tobacco, of course.
...
Poor little loris :(
posted by swimming naked when the tide goes out at 12:59 AM on July 31, 2010
...
Poor little loris :(
posted by swimming naked when the tide goes out at 12:59 AM on July 31, 2010
"I don't get the bong seizure. They are sold in shops all over the US....but you can't say they are for anything other than tobacco, of course."
It's what Tommy Chong went to prison for; the law on bongs is really screwed up.
posted by Mitheral at 10:32 AM on July 31, 2010
It's what Tommy Chong went to prison for; the law on bongs is really screwed up.
posted by Mitheral at 10:32 AM on July 31, 2010
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posted by Babblesort at 2:14 PM on July 30, 2010 [4 favorites]