2007 - Year In Review

Our Christmas season is nearing an end. We have one more family Christmas party and one office party left. I've had some time to unwind from all of the travel and Christmas fun and now it's time to get back to blogging. We have pretty much exhausted all the big stuff stops along the routes to either of our parents' homes. However, I can say that the pelican was once again dressed for the winter and the crow was decorated with a large "Seasons Greetings" wreath on it's pedestal.

To wrap up the year, here is a brief end of year review of the Big Stuff we have visited in 2007.



May 12th - World's Largest Crow, Belgrade, MN
May 13th - World's Largest Twine Ball by 1 Man, Darwin, MN
May 13th - A Big Chicken, Delano, MN
June 3rd - Corn Gazebo, Olivia, MN
June 3rd - Big Cow, Bongards, MN
July 4th - World's Largest Coot, Ashby, MN
July 4th - Chief Wenonga, Battle Lake, MN
July 5th - World's Largest Prairie Chicken, Rothsay, MN
July 5th - Giant Canadian Goose, Fergus Falls, MN
August 28th - State Fair Gopher and Large Beef on Parade St. Paul, MN
October 13th - Chief Kandiyohi, Willmar, MN
October 20th - Giant Green Adirondack Chair, St. Paul, MN
November 24th - Giant Replica Runestone, Alexandria, MN

Happy Holidays

Here's hoping that everyone has an udderly fantastic holiday season. And that's no bull.


We begin our 6 day Christmas extravaganza tomorrow that includes 4 Christmases and covers about 520 miles. See you all on the blog again in a week or so.

Soundtrack: Two for the Price of One

I haven't been posting as frequently lately, so I am going to add two songs to the soundtrack list today.

Such Great Heights - by The Postal Service

Because big stuff are tall. And because it's a great song. Yes, it is the song from the UPS commercials, but try to get past that. It was a great song years before UPS got a hold of it.

You can hear it on their MySpace page.
The music video:


Some great covers:
Iron & Wine (set to a video someone put together)
Ben Folds


An Ear For Baby - The Thermals

After listening to The Thermals for a while, you may decide you would rather worship Rocky Taconite than God, that is if you are Christian. The Thermals write some politically and religiously (can't really seem to have one without the other) charged music. I chose The Thermals mostly because I like them and also because I can justify it based on my very loose guidelines. The song "An Ear For Baby" had the best title for the soundtrack. Exhibit A. World's Largest Ear of Corn For Baby?

You can hear other songs by The Thermals on their MySpace.

A live performance at NYU of "I Might Need For You To Kill" and "An Ear For Baby". "An Ear For Baby" starts at about 2:19.


The list so far:
Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota - Weird Al Yankovic
Stevie Nix - The Hold Steady
Mr. Big Stuff - Jean Knight (or Heavy D & the Boyz)
Such Great Heights - The Postal Service
An Ear For Baby - The Thermals

Iowa Map

Yay, more maps! The Iowa map is complete. Iowa is home to a wide variety of roadside attractions, so if you are planning a trip to Iowa and love more than just big stuff (like clock museums), do some research ahead of time. Iowa lays claim to some delicious big stuff; The World's Largest Strawberry, The World's Largest Popcorn Ball, The World's Largest Ice Cream Sundae, and The World's Largest Bull (Albert the Bull). Mmmmmmm......cow.


Thanks to Vast Wasteland for the pic of Albert.

One of the best, if not the best, small town claims to fame is Riverside's "Future Birthplace of James T. Kirk". They even had a model built of the USS...uhhh...Riverside, yeah that's the ticket, which has an uncanny resemblance to the USS Enterprise.


Image from Roadside America

As always, if I missed something, let me know.

Wisconsin Map

My Big Stuff - Wisconsin map is done. Wisconsin has quite a collection going, but it doesn't quite compare to that of Minnesota. Wisconsin is home to a plethora of giant cows and oversized mice holding cheese. Wisconsin is also home to the World's Largest Penny, the World's Largest 6-Pack, the World's Third Largest Loon (Nice try, Wisconsin), the World's Tallest Grandfather Clock, a legitimate challenger to the World's Biggest Ball of Twine title, and a mythical beast known as the Hodag.


Hodag photo from RoadsideAmerica

Wisonsin's biggest contributions to the Big Stuff community are the Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame in Hayward, which has the World's Largest Fiberglass Fish (world's largest fiberglass anything), and F.A.S.T. Corp., the company that makes many of these large fiberglass icons.


View Larger Map

If you know of any that I may be missing, please let me know. I probably missed a dozen mouse with cheese statues.

The Soundtrack: Appropriate Band Names

I have found a few bands with names that are perfect for a mix like this. Unfortunately, I haven't found any songs by them that I care for enough to include on my list. But, if you are playing along at home, you may want to check these bands out. They are three bands from three different genres.

Big In Iowa - It is a perfect name for this mix. They have a honky-tonk sound and I'm not really a honky-tonk guy. They have some audio clips on their website. Oh, and they are from Ohio, not Iowa.

Giant's Chair - Ideal for visiting a giant chair. They classify themselves as an emo band. You can hear some of their songs on their MySpace page.

I, Colossus - These guys are a Minneapolis band with an electronica/indie/folk rock type of sound. I may change my mind about these guys with more listens. Their MySpace page.