Ballard-filter: Stubborn Scandinavian explorer defies title, stays put
I really didn’t want to post this but it’s been gnawing at me most of the evening. The unbelievable amount of puns, dumb ethnic jokes, and Almost Live-inspired satire made available by this story makes my head spin. For the sake of respecting myself in the morning, I’ll try my best to avoid all of the above.
For those who don’t read the newspaper or watch television (do you people exist?), yesterday a 17-foot bronze statue of Leif Erikson [wiki] was scheduled to be removed from its perch above Shilshole Marina to be refurbished and installed in a new memorial to Scandinavian immigration sponsored by the Ballard-based Leif Erikson International Foundation [#]. For the past two days, crews have worked in vain to lift Leif from his pedestal. It turns out the obstinate Norwegian’s legs are full of concrete which is secured to the base with rebar. Crews are hopeful that at noon tomorrow the statue will let loose from its moors. The Erikson Foundation has invited the public to attend to witness what they are calling the “wow moment”.
The statue was first erected in conjuction with the 1962 World’s Fair (with $42,000 in private funds) to the protests of the Seattle Parks Department “on the grounds it might set a precedent for other ethnic groups” [col].
Update: Day 3 and still no “wow moment”. A much more circumspect Kristine Leander, president of the Leif Erickson International Foundation, refused to predict when said moment will occur. It could be Friday or it could be the weekend. “He just keeps surprising us,” said Leander [times]. That he does, Kristine.