Friday, July 20, 2007

Giant Rubber Duckie Sighted in France, Godzilla Overjoyed at Lost Bathtub Buddy


It's takes a lot to distract me from some of the heinous acts against humanity committed by Bush & Cheney as well as comparatively minor things like drug abuse in sports, or more pervasive problems like how to repair the environment. Sometimes I just want to curl up in a fetal position. Most times, I get angry and go off on a rant about whatever is pissing me off and hopefully do something to help.

I still get depressed, and while I wouldn't normally care or notice a story about an art exhibition in France, one aspect of the Loire Estuaire 2007 almost brought a tear to my eye and made me feel like a kid. The same kid who believed in Santa Claus. The Loire Estuaire 2007 is an outdoor art exhibition along a 40-mile stretch of the Loire River from Saint-Nazaire to Nantes. It highlights work from 30 different artists across the globe. Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman has stood out with a piece that manages to cross cultural boundaries with the same sense of wonder, whimsy, innocence, and joy - his 105-foot tall rubber ducky.

Here's another shot to give you a better idea of the size.



Now you could try to go to Florentijn Hofman's website, but I'd be willing to bet good money that you're gonna get some kind of choked bandwidth error message. In a nutshell, this means that more people are visiting his site than his website host can accommodate. I sincerely hope that he gets significantly more bandwidth, because this is too precious and too delightful a creation to fade away into obscurity. While not everyone may not be familiar with Ernie's ode to his friend "Rubber Duckie" on "Sesame Street," Mr. Hofman's creation is unadulterated joy.

Mr. Hofman put it best on his website with this description:

"A yellow spot on the horizon slowly approaches the coast. People have gatherd and watch in amazement as a giant yellow Rubber Duck approaches. The spectators are greeted by the duck, which slowly nods its head. The Rubber Duck knows no frontiers, it doesn't discriminate people and doesn't have a political connotation. The friendly, floating Rubber Duck has healing properties: it can relieve mondial tensions as well as define them. The rubber duck is soft, friendly and suitable for all ages! "

I'm sure the Rubber Duckie has growing legions of fans, and my girlfriend and I would dearly like to see him make a world tour. How cool would it be to see him putter by the Statue of Liberty? I thought that he should be named Peep after the marshmallow candy. This little bundle of joy can't go through life without a name, right?

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