Fishing in Fortaleza...

In continuing with a recent theme of simply posting random statues from around the world, tonight we pay homage to the beach town of Fortaleza, on the north-eastern coast of Brazil. A friendly web guide reveals that there are two words that define Fortaleza: sun and party…..and I can’t really argue with that. The whole northeastern coast of Brazil is rapidly developing and opening up to tourism, very much helped by having thousands upon thousands of miles of beach along the coastline…!

Anyway, along the main beach drag of Fortelaza you could stumble into this statue of what I think is some sort of female fishing goddess, although you may beg to differ?

A Tale Of Two Heads...

There are certain parts of town in which there is only enough space to install a statue of a head. It was good to see that my friends Laura (above) and Rich (below) were able to track down some of these statues of heads on a trip to Barcelona…

Making a fine imitation of such a statue of a head in a wall by some ornate taps, is in fact Laura’s head and a bottle of water. Below we witness the likeness of a statue of a head of a lizard, alongside Richards’s head.

Although I am not 100 per cent certain on this I’m thinking at least one (if not both) of these statues of heads was bought to you courtesy of the Park Güell, a park located in Barcelona, and designed by that Antoni Gaudí fellow. A fine park to spend some time in, it has to be said.

[Stand By Your statue sends its birthday greetings to Rich (who normally hails from Oxford but currently resides in Denver)!! You should just about be able to knock off from work now…..have a good one!]

A Chap in Chapalita…

The reading of the Sunday papers is a popular pastime here in the UK, and it is good to see that this activity has spread as far as Chapalita in Guadalajara, Mexico!

Muchas gracias to Carl for sending this great photo in. And a bueno imitation it is too, right down to the reading glasses.

Sunny Salvador...

Have to say that Salvador Da Bahia, around halfway up the coast of Brazil, is one of the most vibrant colonial cities that I’ve visited. It’s the cultural centre of Brazil you see. There is much banging of the drums and dancing in the tiny cobbled streets, and it’s also the home of capoeira, which combines the two energetic pursuits of dancing and kung fu.

I’m not too sure who this chap is though, he looks a bit like Bill Herbert, although I’m thinking that he’s probably some Portuguese gent, as it was the Portuguese who founded the city. Its hard to work out who’s bronzer really, the statue or statue imitator? Dang it gets hot in Brazil sometimes!

A Fine Emmet-ation

Okay, okay, so I’ve probably bored you a little in recent times with shots of folk imitating animals, so this week lets get back to the business of the imitation of statues of men...!

Many thanks to my friend Zoë, for sending in this photo of boyfriend Paul, stood by his statue of Robert Emmet in Dublin. Emmet was an Irish patriot and revolutionary, seeking a free Irish State. In July 1803, he led an uprising in Dublin that was quickly suppressed by the British Army. Shortly afterwards, a British special court condemned him to death by hanging. This statue depicts Emmet as he appeared while addressing the court, in a renowned oration:

“When my country takes her place among the nations of the earth, then, and not until then, let my epitaph be written” - Robert Emmet, September 1803.

Fast forward 118 years and it finally happened.

Emmet has become one of Ireland’s favourite sons because of his courageous behaviour. So much so in fact, it is also possible to stand by your Emmet in Washington and San Francisco too! There’s also one in the town of Emmetsburg in Iowa, of all places, but I can’t find a picture of that one – there is an essay about it though.

Bear Necessities...

Just the one more stand by your animal moment to share with you for now…

Stood somewhere along the east coast of Australia at around 2.80 metres is this huge cardboard cutout of a grizzly bear. Stood next to his bear giving it a little grizzly imitation at around 1.90 metres is Sean. At around 1.55 metres giving it an even better spot of grizzly imitation is a sun bear.

Unbeknown to our three bears, there’s a spot of porridge thievery taking place just out of shot. You’d better watch out Sean otherwise Ms Goldilocks will run off with your stash of haribo before you know it…

A Dragon Duplicate...

According to Chinese mythology, the dragon is a symbol of strength, goodness, courage and endurance. My imitation of such a monstrous beast is a symbol of weakness, cruelty, cowardice and impatience. It’s a bit of a lame effort really.

But still, check out this whopping great statue of a dragon hey?!

This particular dragon has been bred in captivity at Berlin Zoo, and what a mighty fine creature is too.

Like Mother Like Daughter Like Statue...

First of all, my apologies for not posting for a while. I have been struck down by a virus lately, which seems to have returned over the past week :( I am also a fundamentally lazy man, which doesn’t help matters. Ahem…

Anyway, to make up for it, I bring you this classic story of mother and daughter and a pair of baboons. Pictured above are Maudie Beardall, mother of my friend Katie (seen before on this very site), and a statue of a baboon. Mum and baboon are very much enjoying the sunshine in Capetown, South Africa, earlier on this year. In the photo here, Maudie is attempting some brilliant pre-preparation in order to imitate the baboon.



Hang on a minute, I hear you say, that statue of a baboon has her baby daughter baboon perched upon her back. Enter daughter Katie, to help mum Maudie with the imitation of mother and daughter baboon, no doubt to the amusement of many onlookers.



Finally, the perfect imitation of mother and daughter baboon by mother and daughter! Hooray!