The Soundtrack

The World at Large - by Modest Mouse

The World at Large comes off of Modest Mouse's breakthrough album "Good News for People Who Love Bad News". It's included in my Big Stuff Soundtrack listing for obvious reasons; 1)the word "large" in the title and 2)I like Modest Mouse. You can hear the song on their MySpace page if you know how to use the new fancy music player with the playlists and such. You can also listen to it once for free on LaLa. Or you can watch it performed live on what appears to be Austin City Limits below.



You can see the other songs on the soundtrack by clicking the little soundtrack label at the bottom or way over on the left.

Giant Mermaid

October 11, 2008 - Mounds View, MN



After seeing the adirondack chairs in Minneapolis, we ran up to Mounds View to see the mermaid. The mermaid was built in 1967 out of fiberglass by Robert Johnson as an advertisement for the Mermaid Supper Club. The place is now known as The Mermaid Entertainment and Event Center. The event center has a sports bar, bowling alley, convention center, hosts wedding receptions, and is connected to an AmericInn Hotel. The mermaid stands 30 feet tall and is on top of the building.

As my wife says, "I don't think you'd get away with a half-naked chick on a building these days." She really puts the "mounds" in Mounds View.

Another Giant Adirondack Chair

October 11, 2008 - Minneapolis, MN



After a beautiful morning at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum (see), we went hunting for more Big Stuff. We headed to the Lake Pointe Corporate Center near Lake Calhoun in Minneapolis for the other giant green adirondack chair in the Twin Cities. Almost exactly 1 year ago we went to the giant chair in St. Paul. These two chairs are exactly the same and were built to promote the Green Chair Project, which you can read about in that post from a year ago. This one actually has a plaque next to it that reads, "We learn by doing."



I don't know if this one had to be replaced like the one in St. Paul was or if it is the original from 1995. This one, though, has a couple buddies. They aren't as big, but there should be one that meets your green adirondack chair needs.



I mentioned in that post from a year ago that there is also a giant green adirondack chair in Washington D.C (pictured below). It's a slightly different style, but it looks just as big. It's located on the lawn of the Duke Ellington School for the Arts.


Photo by lucindalunacy.

Tip: Holy lady beetles, Batman! That place was just swarming with them. We both smelled like lady beetles until we were able to get to Dairy Queen and wash our hands (which didn't totally get rid of the smell)... and eat ice cream of course.

Iggy the Iguana

October 4th, 2008 - St. Paul, MN



Iggy was created by Nicholas Swearer. He began work on the iguana, which he modeled after his pet iguana named Spot, in 1971 at the age of 15. It took him 4 years to complete. The completed sculpture is 40 feet long, weighs 3,900 pounds, and was built using 12,500 railroad spikes.



When Swearer left home for college, that's right, he built a giant iguana sculpture out of railroad spikes BEFORE he went to college, his parents sold the sculpture for $10,000. It was later donated to the Science Museum of Minnesota in 1978.

He stood in front of the Science Museum entrance until 1999 when the museum moved to a new location. Iggy, meanwhile, traveled the Twin Cities, was cleaned and restored, and settled at the new Science Museum. He now stands by the bus drop off on the back side of the museum. Strategically placed for all the field trip kids to see, I'm sure.



Iggy at StartSeeingArt.com