Since I'm willing to bet that everyone reading this has had or will have a prof with a bust of some Roman emperor (or Hercules) upon which he/she has put sunglasses, I figured folks might be interested in this tale of Venus from the Montgomery Advertiser:

Perry County's Venus de Milo lives between two gas pumps and has had her armless, near-naked body draped in everything from a colorful boa to a maternity outfit.

Unlike the original Venus, which is on display at the Louvre in Paris and attracts thousands of tourists each year, the one here is outside a convenience store where folks drop by to get some hoop cheese, saltines and RC colas.

Regular customers noticed in recent weeks that Venus was pregnant. It wasn't long before they could see an "heir" in a baby carrier around her neck.

So far, Venus hasn't been dressed in blue jeans to illustrate Johnny Tillotson's popular song of 40 years ago.

The $800 statue was bought in May and positioned between the pumps outside Jim's Little Store about 70 miles west of Montgomery.

Not long after Venus arrived, somebody began dressing her late at night, drawing customers to the store and into conversations with manager Jim Blanchette, who insists it's not a publicity stunt.

"People who stop here for gas can't understand what's been happening to her," Blanchette said on Tuesday morning. "But I must say she's gotten a lot of attention."

To make sure Venus isn't toppled by vandals, Blanchette and store owner Mike Bortnick placed her on a heavy concrete base, adding to her 1,000-pound weight.

The mystery clothier began adding some color to the gray statute about two weeks after her arrival, initially draping a pink-and-yellow boa around her neck.

After that, Venus wound up in a one-piece orange bathing suit. A few weeks later, she was decked out in a maternity outfit, complete with pillow. Soon, a larger pillow was added, apparently by someone who wanted to show her "progress."

Then, the "blessed event" arrived -- a "baby" with bright yellow hair, chubby cheeks and a green dress. She was carefully placed in a metal carrier and draped around Venus' neck.

While Venus may not be a shining example of haute couture, she has had a lot of people talking around this little county of late.

The big question, of course, is who's doing the dressing. Blanchette, who has a security camera focused on the gas pumps where Venus is viewable, said "one day I'm going to put some film in that thing."

Solonia Bell, who lives behind the store, believes she may have seen Venus' fashion designer at work.

"I was coming home late one night and saw this woman in long blonde hair getting out of a pickup truck," said Bell. "Then she started dressing Venus. I didn't get close enough to identify her, though."

The original Venus, originally known as the Aphrodite of Milos, is one of the most famous works of ancient Greek sculpture. It is supposed to depict Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love and beauty.

The statue, which dates to 90 B.C., vanished for centuries before being discovered by a peasant in 1820 in the ancient city ruins of Milos on the Aegean island of the same name.

It was found in two big pieces -- the upper torso and the lower draped legs. After its discovery, no effort was made to restore Venus' arms -- thus enhancing the mystery surrounding it and its fate.

There is no mystery about the origin of Perry County's Venus. She was bought at Don Coley's Rose Lane Antiques and Gardens in Marion.

It took two men to deliver the heavy statue to the store, and Coley was happy to see her go. He wasn't keeping her at arm's length, but she had been hanging around his business for the past three years.

Coley said he believes that the person dressing Venus "is just doing it for a lark."

"There have been lots of rumors about who's responsible," said Coley, who added he's out of heavy statues, but does have one of David.

Coley indicated he'll let David go for $125.