This photo is such a favourite of mine. Taken in Toronto, 2008, here you see my lovely boy, Rory, accompanied by his dad, and my hubby, Dougie. But who’s the old bloke beside them?
This sculpture of an old chap taking a rest sits on the end of a normal bench in the city centre. It made me chuckle, the thought of an assortment of people taking a seat next to him each day, sharing their sandwiches, having a chinwag, collecting their thoughts. You’d never feel alone if you took your seat here, though perhaps you’d be inclined to ask him to budge up a bit!
This is my entry for Tara Cain’s Gallery, the theme of which this week is MEN!
We have a similar statue in our town – she's a bit ghostly tho – and despite her having been perched on a bench in the High Street for absolutely years I still often mistake her for a real person when she's got someone beside her – despite being similarly monochrome!
Love it, wow doesnt Rory have long legs, howw tall is he?
What is he doing with his that hand in his lap? Or is that just my imagination? 😉
Mrs W – I've never seen this sort of statue before; maybe it's more common than I thought!
The Mad House – well this was two years ago when he was 12. He is now probably about 5'9 or 10 and yes it seems to be all in his legs.
Steve – trust you to lower the tone! I think you'll find his whole body is a bit stiff… actually 😉
I bet it is Trish… stiff, that is. I always wondered what they'd done with Lenin once they decided to remove him from his mausoleum…
@The Dotterel – who would have thought he'd have materialised in Canada?
loving the old geezer 😉 lovely photo of your men!
How fab! Can imagine him sitting there listening to everyone! Your men look very lovely!
Great! You must have known it would come in handy! What tales the old man could tell!
Lovely photograph of your men, old geezer included!
There's loads of those statues in Chicago. My new (stupid) dog goes beserk when she sees them!
Yes, he's taking up a lot of room on that bench. And sitting with your legs crossed for long periods of time is so not good for you. I remember my Dad sitting next to a waxwork of Marie Antoinette at Madam Tussauds and getting a fright. And being told off the security guard.
My husband didn't want his photo on my blog. And I could only just persuade my son!
Nice photo of your boys.
I love Toronto and think I remember seeing that statue myself.
Hehe, great photo. :0)
Looking at the body language I would say that the old geezer is quite taken with your husband.
OMG Steve you are just too funny!
That's three very handsome men there!
That old geezer is certainly working his catalogue model pose!
Love it. I always enjoy those quirky sort of statues.
It's like a weird 3 generational photo…It made me smile!
I imagine you wouldn't feel alone sitting next to that chappy. Lovely photo.
CJ xx
Glad to have made you chuckle!
@expat mum – they're new to me. Is is a North American thing? And Scottish too according to @Mrs W.
@Troy – oh god he does, doesn't he!
Love this!
The "old bloke" beside your husband is Glenn Gould, a Canadian pianist famous for his interpretation of Bach. The statue is place on the street in front of the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) building where one of the performing spaces is the Glenn Gould Theatre. Although an excellent pianist, Gould had a reputation for being a bit eccentric – You probably noticed that the statue portrays him sitting on a bench wearing a hat, coat and gloves — items Gould was almost never seen without, even on a hot summer's day. He wasn't that old – he died at aged 50 in 1982.
@B Shuh – Thank you so much. That's fantastic to discover my old geezer was a real person (and not that old either). I feel rather embarrassed that I took no heed to the building behind the bench. I'm delighted you took the time to pass on the information. The photo has taken on an extra special meaning now.