A shiny red Ford Ranger that I bought on Saturday. I love it. I got a very good deal on it from Paul Harvey Ford, especially since my younger brother Todd bought one from there Saturday, too. I was originally just looking, but they had what I wanted, and I needed to trade in my Geo Metro before winter anyway, because it wasn’t reliable enough to get through the season. So I can drive to my grandma’s for Thanksgiving, and take some Big Things road trips, too. You can also look into the website of Affordable heavy truck parts if you are looking for parts for your heavy vehicle. Along, with the heavy vehicle parts, excellent exhaust and intake systems available here as well. In case you get involved in a raid accident while driving your truck, be sure to protect your rights by hiring a Riverside truck accident lawyer. An Injury attorney will help those who were injured in an accident caused by a negligent driver.
The other thing I bought over the weekend was a new cell phone. My old one was dying and getting the batteries replaced would have cost almost as much as just buying a new phone. So I sprung for it. It has a lot more programming to learn than the truck, actually.
I just heard on the news that Barney the Beagle, the longtime partner of TV personality Dick Wolfsie, from channel 8 News, died on Friday at the grand old age of 14. I’ll miss you Barney.
I got to meet Barney back in January of 2002 when I was on the news with Dick Wolfsie for my Pictures of Big Things. But sadly, I never got to introduce Barney to my best pal, my doggie Spike who came to live with me later that year.
It wasn’t the best weekend I’ve ever had. My sister’s going back to England to live, and I had to say goodbye to her Saturday. I’m happy for her that’s she’s going back, because she really likes it there, but I’ll miss her. On Sunday, I went to Kokomo and Peru Indiana to photograph big things, which was cool, but on the way back, my brakes started grinding. So I had to take the car in and spend the afternoon getting new brakes put on, which really sucks, because I was just starting to really get ahead financially after buying the house. Very annoying. But at least I have new brakes. And photos of big things.
My wackiness is finally paying off… I talked with Dick Wolfsie of Channel 8 news this morning about doing a news story on my “Big Things” photo galleries. Woo Hoo! It seems he’s also writing a book on wierd and interesting stuff around Indiana… which is exactly the kind of stuff I like; that’s a book I’ll be buying.
Giant horses, enormous cows, men that tower over the skyline… some of them are permanent fiberglass structures, some temporary inflatables, almost all of them are advertisements for a business. They’re cool, and I take pictures of them.
Where Are They?
So far, I’ve covered Indianapolis with the help of family, friends and helpful strangers who’ve sent me information through e-mail. I’ve also taken several trips around Indiana and the midwest. There are still several Indiana day trips I need to make to photograph:
Giant Egg in Mentone, Indiana
Giant Peach near Vincennes, Indiana
Big Chicken in Spencer, Indiana
Giant Red Rooster in Hobart, Indiana, Hwy 6
Giant Rocking Chair in Amity, Indiana
Giant Indian in Toto, Indiana
E-mail me if you know of any big things in Indiana that I’ve missed.
Pictures of… stuff that’s big. Like Mr. Bendo of Ralph’s Muffler, giant chickens, cows, horses, etc. There are lots of these roadside art/advertising objects in and around Indianapolis.
Sadly, since I started photographing in 1999, Some of Indy’s "Big Things" have been lost to time, due to businesses closing or natural disasters. Here are my photographs in tribute to Indianapolis icons that are lost time.
These big things are often seasonal, related to holidays (Santa, pumpkins, ghosts) or are used as advertising to highlight a sale or grand opening. They’re usually temporary, so catching them is more challenging, and often more fun.
Indiana has quite a few big things in various towns; I’ve traveled around to photograph many of them, and will be making more trips this year to find more.
Pictures of… stuff that’s big in Muncie, Indiana, home of my alma mater, Ball State University. Muncie has three big "Muffler Men" type guys, as well as a giant frog, hippo, lion and other stuff.
Pictures of "Big Things" outside Indiana, including a Uniroyal Tire Gal and a Giant Cornucopia. Also, one of the first "Big Things" I ever photographed; a giant Indiana in Oklahoma.
On a trip with my girlfriend to a VW Beetle car show in Virginia, we visited Dinosaurland in Winchester, Virginia. Dinosaurland is a tacky 60’s tourist attraction featuring 40 huge dinosaurs and other "big things" like a giant King Kong.
Stephanie and I went on a road trip to take pictures of Big Things in Louisville. Including the giant bat, a coffee pot, and the giant Colgate Clock.
Giant Bat
Me and "Big Things" in the papers
On January 5, 2005 an article on on my "Big Things" photography hobby was the cover story of Nuvo Newsweekly. I did an interview, and had my picture taken with Mr. Bendo for the article.
Why do I Take Pictures of Big Things?
When I was a kid, my family used to stop at the Happy Chef in Ottumna, Iowa, which featured a Giant Chef, complete with chef’s hat and wooden spoon. If you pressed a button at the base of the statue, the chef would talk to you. It scared the crap out of me, but I still wanted to stop every time.
I resumed my fascination with "Big Things" on a road trip in 1996 to Tucson, Arizona. My friends were moving, and I helped them drive the moving van out west. We took Route 66 for part of the trip, so we saw lots of big things. Unfortunately, my crappy camera didn’t capture many of them, but when I got home, I started snapping pictures around Indianapolis.
As a designer, I’m fascinated by "Big Things" because I’m interested in their effectiveness as advertising. To catch people’s eye, the advertiser took something ordinary and distorted its size in relation to the objects that surround it. You’re driving along, and you see "building building, giant cow, building" and you think, "Wait a minute, giant cow? That’s not right. What is that?"
Another interesting aspect of the "Big Things" phenomenon is that big people like Mr. Bendo are the decendents of American folklore. Part of our American archetype are folk stories of giant men like Paul Bunyan, who strode across the landscape, stepping over trees and buildings as he helped tame the wilderness.
Mimetic Architecture
Closely related to "Big Things," mimetic architecture are buildings in the shapes of objects, like the long-gone Polk Dairy building, which featured smoke-stacks shaped like large milk bottles. This building was one of the few examples of Mimetic Architecture in Indianapolis.
Related Stuff:
Me and "Big Things" On TV: Dick Wolfsie and Barney the Dog, from WISH-TV Daybreak News interviewed me about my "Big Things" at 5:50 a.m. Tuesday January 15th, 2002, from Ralph’s Muffler on 16th street, home of Mr. Bendo.
I’ve been mentioned several times on the website roadsideamerica.com: "Akin to the mad building frenzy of the Winchester Mystery House widow, Steph must keep photographing giant things in Indianapolis or die."
