A silly diversion. Remember that really ugly statue in Boston?

TayTay

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Fri Dec-30-05 10:36 PM
Original message

A silly diversion. Remember that really ugly statue in Boston?

Edited on Fri Dec-30-05 10:39 PM by TayTay

Yeah, the one that is the living embodiment of lefty freepers charging up to do battle? It was mentioned in the Globe this week in an article about the former Mayor of Boston, Kevin White.

Then there was the controversy over the depressing sculpture called ''The Partisans."

This is the depiction of five lean and beaten Polish freedom fighters, heads bowed in defeat, mounted on starving horses, presented to the city by artist Andrew Pitynski in 1983. The statue represents partisans who fought the Nazis in World War II, and it was designed to illustrate the tragedy of all war. The artist said it also reflects the universal struggle for freedom and human rights. Unfortunately, it also makes you want to kill yourself.

''The Partisans" was originally placed on City Hall Plaza. It remained there for several months until one day when an irreverent newspaperman (me) suggested that a more appropriate title for the work would be, ''Kevin White Leaves City Hall." White ordered the statue moved to Boston Common, where it stands on Charles Street near the intersection with Beacon Street. Although on loan to the city for 6 months, it has been there for almost 23 years. If you are bored with being happy, go see it.

So, we were right. It was a gift that we couldn't turn down cuz we were being polite and now the original owner won't come and take it back. Sigh! Again, it looks to me like Lefty Freepers campaigning for their candidate, but what do I know.

And this picture makes it look better than it is. You should see in winter when it's depressing sense of all around hopelessness and utter defeat can really sink in. Friggin ugliest statue I've ever seen. (And it really does remind me of, ahm, nevermind.)

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ProSense

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Fri Dec-30-05 10:42 PM
Response to Original message

1. I don't know,

Edited on Fri Dec-30-05 10:55 PM by ProSense

It looks pretty ugly in the picture too. What's that a two-headed horse?

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Island Blue

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Fri Dec-30-05 10:46 PM
Response to Original message

2. Don't forget Poland

Edited on Fri Dec-30-05 10:47 PM by Island Blue

I gotta say, it looks just as bad without the snow.

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karynnj

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Fri Dec-30-05 10:50 PM
Response to Reply #2

3. Actually, maybe someone should suggest

that as Bush doesn't forget Poland, that Boston could re-gift the sculpture to W's Presidential library. After all he's spreading freedom.

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TayTay

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Fri Dec-30-05 11:23 PM
Response to Reply #3

4. That thing was so friggin ugly that you actually had to stop

and look it over. If I were of Polish heritage, I'd sue. This is not the sort of thing I would want as my country's contribution to history in Boston. Then again, there is the statue that commemorates the 'Irish Famine' and that is not well-loved around here either.

They spent a million bucks on that one. When it was unveiled people kind of looked at it with their mouths hung open trying to guess what the hell it meant. (And what is that woman doing anyway? I just don't get that one. I think they should have chucked it out and started over.) Maybe you can get these two statues together at the next LF convention. They could be mascots.

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Island Blue

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Fri Dec-30-05 11:41 PM
Response to Reply #4

5. That's an odd one too.

You'd think they'd have a few more clothes on what with being from Ireland and all. It gets chilly there. Where is that one located? Did we see it?

Here's the statue that's right in front of JK/THK's house - much more traditional.

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TayTay

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Fri Dec-30-05 11:50 PM
Response to Reply #5

6. I spared you that one.

Edited on Fri Dec-30-05 11:53 PM by TayTay

It's over near that other place we didn't get to cuz we wanted to go have lunch at the Ye Olde Union Oyster House. (Which is not a fancy place at all. I love the beams upstairs. Great place.)

That staute is of Christopher Columbus, but it's not really famous or anything. They put it in the Square, cuz they needed something there. (Hey, it was used as ballast in a ship for a while, so the Italians who made it didn't think much of it either.) Looks good there though. Love the little smidgeon of snow on his nose. Looks like he had a frosty.

Sen Kerry's house is just opposite this. I think people found it a little odd that it's just his house at the end of a row of really nice townhouses. No signs, no people outside, nothing too special, just there. And we could just go up on Monday and ring the doorbell. (Well, why not? As long as we weren't creating a nuisance or trying to sell something, why not?)

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Island Blue

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Sat Dec-31-05 12:02 AM
Response to Reply #6

8. There stands Christopher Columbus ...

Overlooking the slippery slopes of Beacon Hill.

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sandnsea

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Fri Dec-30-05 11:53 PM
Response to Original message

7. rofl

:rofl: tears are running down my face. Oh shit. Okay. So being the birthplace of freedom isn't quite all it's cracked up to be, not when you have to take every statue thrust your way. And it really couldn't have a better name than "The Partisans". Some folks might want to take a peek lest the entire country end up like that.

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TayTay

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Sat Dec-31-05 12:18 AM
Response to Reply #7

9. Honestly, we all saw that eyesore.

It was not my favorite thing in Boston, but we had to pass by it to get to treacherous and slippery Beacon Hill. We natives tried pretending it didn't exist and got there by accident but our esteemed visitors made us own up to the fact that there it was, big as life and twice as ugly right at the edge of Boston Common. Sigh! We have no idea why the city still has it there and hasn't sent it out for scrap or something. It really is gawdawful!

I do think of it as a political statement. Just not the one intended. It kind of matches the doom and gloom aspect of a lot of people I know. In that respect, I guess it is honest at least.

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MH1

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Sat Dec-31-05 10:28 AM
Response to Reply #9

10. Hee hee..."made you own up" - more like

"TayTay! What the *fuck* *is* that thing?!?"

But I loved your description in the op.

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