Travelling Eldritch Terror : Cthulhu's Tour
In preparation for the sale of our lovely townhouse-- just a block away from the ocean near downtown Victoria, I had to dispense with my sculpture project: the fibreglass water fountain of Cthulhu (2). Dion, a friend of mine, was good enough to volunteer up his backyard as short term storage. The trick: getting it there. Like its creator, Cthulhu has undergone a slow but steady weight gain. It started out as a BBQ stand on a plank of wood; add in the forming and armature elements; then the plastering; MANY layers of fibreglass and resin; then some mortared stonework. He moved from an easy to shuffle 40 lbs. up to approximately 250 pounds plus.
First challenge: getting it off of our property. I tried the patio door. Hah! Despite some strident ressistance (resistence is futile), I removed one of the fencing sections and trucked out on rollers. I was going to wheel around to the parking lot but the walkway was too narrow. So, Cheryl and I walked it down the street. This being Cthulhu's first appearance, it raised a stir. I had to go and fetch the truck and move it down the street to a no-stopping intersection (as I had rented a pick-up, I thought I had carte blanche to be a-hole). Cheryl and I tried to heft this thing into the pick-up-- hah! Just then, four guys from Manitoba showed up, they offered to help us lift the "dragon" sculpture into the pick-up. Awesome. I think they made a good point about being from Manitoba: the only time BC residents would lift something that heavy would be if it were jammed full of BC Bud.
Cthulhu was secured and I took off. The plan was to do a victory lap through downtown with Cthulhu to raise awareness of Cthulhu (by the way, I'm selling green-yellow ribbons at the next "Walk to End the World" 10k scheduled next month in support).
Bus loads of people were transfixed as this thing ambled around town. The woman at the dump, guessed in one try that it was Cthulhu. She suggested that I could make a lot of money selling sculptures (swell: by the way, CTHULHU IS FOR SALE-- contact me to work out pricing and details).
My favourite stop came late in the trip: One guy caught sight of Cthulhu and froze on the sidewalk. As I pulled away, he tracked my distancing with a wary and fearful gaze. Good idea: we're not supposed to see Elder Gods in Victoria, just the Elderly.
At Dion's place, I was alone. One guy did drive by in amazement and comment "just when you think you've seen it all", but otherwise it was just me and Dion's cat (she's okay-- she steered clear). I let gravity help and did a controlled drop of the sculpture to the driveway. That actually worked-- though it left me with a modest head injury. I tried moving it over the grass on rollers: no dice. Then I sledded it on a tarp to great success. Now, Cthulhu is nestled into Dion's backyard to serve as a conversation piece for friends, neighbours and CoC investigators* alike.
*note: this article and associated media will cost 1d4 SAN.
First challenge: getting it off of our property. I tried the patio door. Hah! Despite some strident ressistance (resistence is futile), I removed one of the fencing sections and trucked out on rollers. I was going to wheel around to the parking lot but the walkway was too narrow. So, Cheryl and I walked it down the street. This being Cthulhu's first appearance, it raised a stir. I had to go and fetch the truck and move it down the street to a no-stopping intersection (as I had rented a pick-up, I thought I had carte blanche to be a-hole). Cheryl and I tried to heft this thing into the pick-up-- hah! Just then, four guys from Manitoba showed up, they offered to help us lift the "dragon" sculpture into the pick-up. Awesome. I think they made a good point about being from Manitoba: the only time BC residents would lift something that heavy would be if it were jammed full of BC Bud.
Cthulhu was secured and I took off. The plan was to do a victory lap through downtown with Cthulhu to raise awareness of Cthulhu (by the way, I'm selling green-yellow ribbons at the next "Walk to End the World" 10k scheduled next month in support).
Bus loads of people were transfixed as this thing ambled around town. The woman at the dump, guessed in one try that it was Cthulhu. She suggested that I could make a lot of money selling sculptures (swell: by the way, CTHULHU IS FOR SALE-- contact me to work out pricing and details).
My favourite stop came late in the trip: One guy caught sight of Cthulhu and froze on the sidewalk. As I pulled away, he tracked my distancing with a wary and fearful gaze. Good idea: we're not supposed to see Elder Gods in Victoria, just the Elderly.
At Dion's place, I was alone. One guy did drive by in amazement and comment "just when you think you've seen it all", but otherwise it was just me and Dion's cat (she's okay-- she steered clear). I let gravity help and did a controlled drop of the sculpture to the driveway. That actually worked-- though it left me with a modest head injury. I tried moving it over the grass on rollers: no dice. Then I sledded it on a tarp to great success. Now, Cthulhu is nestled into Dion's backyard to serve as a conversation piece for friends, neighbours and CoC investigators* alike.
*note: this article and associated media will cost 1d4 SAN.
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