Ventura sighting: The Beat Museum

Photo: The Beat Museum

Jesse Ventura resurfaced this week with news that he’ll be hosting a new television series exploring conspiracy theories on TruTV. The show, dubbed “Conspiracy Theory With Jesse Ventura,” has been booked for seven episodes. After the show’s first taping in San Francisco, the former Minnesota governor found time to stop in at The Beat Museum.

Museum curator Jerry Cimino wrote up an entertaining account of his encounter with Ventura. The former pro wrestler didn’t seem to have much of a clue about The Beats, other than a vague, nagging familiarity with that dude Ferlinghetti. Here’s a bit of the conversation:

“When I left office as Governor I had dreadlocks put into my hair and I drove all over Minnesota on my motorcycle for months and nobody ever recognized me and nobody heard my voice because nobody wanted to speak to me because I was a big guy with dreadlocks on a motorcycle. It was great!”

“That sounds like an interesting experience.”

“It was. You wanna know the worst part about dreadlocks? They’re heavy. They really weigh you down, especially when they get wet like when you get out of the shower.”