Ronald Mac Manoeuvres…

Having produced a moment of sublime Stand By Your statue genius at the end of last week, tonight we bring Mr F down to earth by posting this shot of him! Oh yes, it’s Ronald McDonald. Surprisingly, this is the first instance we have witnessed of someone Stood By Ronald Mac on the site. Please feel free to send some more in if you want to…

Consulting what appears to be ultimate Ronald MacDonald statue resource, Topher's Ronald McDonald Statue Page, I am amused by this story:

"The kidnapping of a lifesize Ronald McDonald statue ended when the clown was found burning in the desert. The 300-pound statue, stolen on June 16th from a McDonald's in Mesa was found by a sheriff's helicopter crew that night. In a phone call claiming responsibility, a man said the robbery was an attempt to get the corporation to offer better food for vegetarians".

A Monkey Match...

Every once in a while I get a little lost for inspiration here at Stand By Your Statue, and so simply resort to posting a monkey (see here, here, here & here!). This is one of those evenings.

A finer example of man imitating ape you would be hard pushed to find…

Many thanks to Sean (and friend).

Scaramouche, Scaramouche will you do the Fandango…

A slightly overdue appearance for friend Mr Tim F this evening, but what a great debut it is, as “Tonight everyone Tim F is going to be none other than Freddie Mercury!”

Yes the flamboyant singer of the rock group Queen, who sadly passed away in 1991. This is the second rock star immortalised in statue form that we have featured on the site. Looking at what Wikipedia has to say on Freddie, he was born in Zanzibar, educated in India, and then lived in England, so, naturally, it seems only sensible to erect a fine statue of the man in Montreux, Switzerland (just outside the train station I do believe)!

Now I could provide you all with a few choice words on the entertainment legend that was Freddie Mercury right now, but Tim undertook the task for me by writing down the words that appeared on Freddie’s plaque by the statue, which I have copied below. Now that is statue research of the highest order. We will, we will rock you.


Freddie Mercury

Lover of life – Singer of songs. 1946-1991

Born Farrokh Bulsara on the East African island of Zanzibar, Freddie Mecury became one of the world’s greatest rock music performers. His career as lead singer of the band Queen spanned twenty years and together they sold 150 million alnums worldwide. Innovator, showman & musician extraordinaire, he left a compelling legacy and had an enormous influence on the next generation of rock performers.

Queen acquired the lakeside Mountain Recording studios in 1978 and Freddie’s strong links with the town continued until his death. He appreciated the kindness and admiration of the townspeople and Montreux became a haven for him, his second home and the setting for his final work.


Aaah so there was a link to Freddie in Switzerland. A great statue and a fine rock god imitation by Mr F...

On Guard...

Not got huge amounts of time this evening to construct a big post, so just thought I’d pop this photo up taken from the beautiful city of Prague in the Czech Republic a few years ago. Okay, so it doesn’t technically involve me stood by a statue, but it’s your classic cheesy holiday snap.

The man is guarding Prague Castle, which overlooks the city.

Copying the Crest...

Many thanks to Bubba Hughes from Columbus, Ohio, for sending this gorgeous photo, which features his four-year-old daughter showing a just about the perfect pose. What’s more, she managed this on her first attempt. Oh yes, I think we have found a natural. One of the finest imitations of a statue that have graced these pages so far…

The statue is found at the Como Park Zoo in Minnesota, is located in a conservatory and is entitled ‘Crest of a Wave’.

A Deacon Duplicate...

Apologies for slight lack of statue photos posted this week as have been a bit busy, but enough of that, tonight we continue with some shots from the esteemed visitors to this site…

Huge thanks to Adem for sending in this shot outside Deacon’s House Cafe while on a daytrip to Edinburgh, Scotland. He proves his ultimate dedication to the statue imitation cause by borrowing a walking stick to nail that perfect pose. Bravo!

Taking daytrips and visiting cafes are two of my most favourite things in life, so it must have been great to combine the two here in Edinburgh, a beautiful city.

For the finest research known to humanity on visiting cafes you have to take your hat off to this man. Similarly if you just fancy a cup of tea.

Emulating El Cid...

Keeping it in the family, tonight we introduce Mathew Jones, dad to Hannah, featured brilliantly a few weeks ago. One can only stand back and admire his interpretation of the El Cid statue in Burgos, Spain. On the one hand we have a legendary heroic warrior, and on the other we have a statue of some bloke on a horse.

El Cid was a Castillian military and political leader in medieval Spain around the time of the mid-11th century. Indeed, he was nicknamed a 'campeador', which was a man who had fought and beaten the select fighting-man of the opposite side in the presence of the two armies. So, in summary, he was hard and was renown for his fighting abilities, as can be seen by his statue, where he is charging on his war horse while brandishing a massive sword, quite superbly re-enacted by Matthew using a bike and a bicycle pump it has to be said!

Stand By Your Hand...

Unfortunately I haven’t got huge amounts of time to make a lengthy post this evening, so I thought I’d quickly share with you this big pair of hands, found by work colleague Will during a random search of the interweb.

This is not the first random Stand By Your Statue moment found while trawling through the web, and I am delighted to say that this is the second and third big thumb published on the site!

[If anyone out there can identify the person (and indeed the place) in the picture, then please let me know, and I will make a point of introducing and passing on much credit to her on the site. My detective skills tell me that the photo was taken in July 2001 if that helps!]

Lady Madonna...

Tonight it gives me much pleasure to introduce Joan, author of Walk This Way, and resident of what looks like a beautiful town of Charlestown in South Carolina, and from what I can see a much travelled person. Here Joan stands in a commendable saintly pose alongside a statue of Madonna, found in the Organic Garden in the mountainous Highland Lakes area of North Carolina.

No, not that Madonna.

A Likeness in Louisville...

Many thanks to Mike Riley for sending in this statue from Louisville, Kentucky. Unfortunately, I am unsure whether it is Mike on the left or the right, but hey, it’s good to see a bit of double-take stand by your statue action.

It would appear that Louisville is most well known for the Kentucky Derby horse race, but my interests veer more towards the annual bourbon festival held every September. Another festival of note held in the city is the Lebowski fest, a weekend festival held for fans of the movie The Big Lebowski, the highlights of which include a night of unlimited bowling and celebrity appearances. Well, I’m sold.