Tag: St George

  • Giant Spider, St George, Utah

    Giant Spider, St George, Utah, United States of America

    She may have luscious legs and a voluptuous thorax, but you wouldn’t want to find this creepy-crawly in your bed! But enough about my companion, Bigella – we’re here to talk about Giant Spider, who lives in St George, Utah.

    Seventeen-feet tall and weighing a little over a ton, Giant Spider lives, quite appropriately, out the front of Morgan Pest Control on leafy South Hilton Drive.

    You can find their web-site right here – teehee!

    Deveren Farley built the amazing arachnid for the town’s Art Around the Corner festival in 2018. She took up residence in the main street of town, where her galvanised steel limbs and number plate-encrusted torso tantalised and terrified in equal measure.

    “I thought, honestly, how funny would it be to do a giant spider and see if people were scared by it or not,” Dev cackled when his masterpiece was unveiled to a skittish public.

    The good people of St George obviously don’t suffer from arachnophobia, because two local businesses put in bids for Giant Spider when the festival finished.

    Morgan Pest Control won out, and the grand old dame trotted off to her new home.

    “It’s an iconic thing for St. George and we’re tickled to keep it here,” Dave Kipp, owner of the exterminator service, cheered. “Utah license plates all over the head, the stop sign under the belly for the black widow, it’s just perfect.”

    But what happened to the poor folks who missed out? Kind-hearted Dev built a second giant spider, which was erected an itsy-bitsy drive down the road at The Fiesta Fun Center.

    The owner was very happy to receive the enormous arthropod. In fact, you might say she was be-spider self!

    Spider-Bigs, Spider-Bigs,
    Do whatever Spider-Bigs do
    Can they swing from a web?
    No, they can’t, they’re just big,
    Look out, they’re Spider-Bigs!

    Giant spiders scurry all over the Land of the Bigs, and you arach-need to visit them every single one of them!

    Swagger up to Seattle to see The Big Spider. A bizarre Wolkswagen/Spider hybrid is driving the residents of Palm Springs wild. Kansas City, Missouri might need to be renamed Kansas City, Miss-ew-there’s-a-huge-spider because, well, there is one.

    Is a praying mantis a spider? Probably not, but there’s a colossal one of those in Las Vegas.

    The Gonzo is a wee bit spider-y, so pay him a visit in nearby Moab.

    “My spidey senses are tingling!” I giggled, gyrating in front of Bigella. “You want to visit them all, don’t you?”

    My comrade shifted her gaze from moi, to Giant Spider, and back to moi. Tears pricked at her eyes and, for a moment, I worried she didn’t share my fondness for oversized arachnids.

    If she didn’t, could I ever face her again?

    “Oh Bigs, I’m totally web-sessed with big spiders,” she finally gasped, weeble-wobbling around like a tarantula, before scooting up a nearby wall to expunge an egg sack. “Let’s head to Urana, Australia, where there’s a funnel web of enormous proportions.”

    “It’s only 15,000 kilometres away,” I shrugged, cocooning a fly in silk.

    And with that, we released plumes of gossamer threads into the warm Utah air, and allowed the prevailing winds to carry us across the world, where novelty spiders innumerable awaited our arrival.

  • Ready to Play, St George, Utah

    Ready to Play, St George, Utah, United States of America

    I wanna rock ‘n’ roll all night, and visit St George every day! That’s because this leafy Utah town is home to a big, bad and bombastic scrap metal guitar known as Ready to Play. Melding small-town sensibilities with snarling city swagger, the incredible instrument has really struck a chord with the locals.

    At 21 feet from titanic tuners to behemoth bridge, this Big Guitar dominates St George’s well-maintained Town Square Park. You can find it right next to the library, but don’t fret, the librarians won’t come out and shush you, which should come as music to your ears.

    Ready to Play was composed by the rock god of Big Things himself, Deveren Farley. A local legend responsible for many heavy metal artworks such as the nearby Giant Spider, Dev really turned it up to eleven with this one.

    “As an artist, I strive to take what others imagine and bring it to life for them by creating a piece that is as unique and beautiful as the idea itself,” Deveren harmonised.

    People strumming and going from the park can’t help but stare in wonder at the six-string’s kooky details. Just look at that repurposed hacksaw. Oh, oh, oh, and there’s even a regular-sized guitar in there! Sorry if I’m amped up, but it’s riff-possible not to get excited about a work of guit-art this large.

    Much like Ready to Play, I’m quite highly strung – awwww yeah!

    God gave St George Utah to you
    Gave St George Utah to you
    Put it in the soul of everyone!

    St George is the spiritual home of American rock ‘n’ roll, and thousands of audiophiles have made the pilgrimage to worship at the base of Ready to Play. It’s a fully-functional guitar with working strings, so I plucked up the courage to shred some chords.

    Channelling my heavy metal heroes like Boy George and Gary Glitter, I strummed away like my life depended on it – and, in a way, it did. Sweat poured down my brow and then, amidst the chaos, I saw a lithe, blonde figure moving towards me. A legendary guitarist with the voice of an angel had heard my siren call.

    “OMG, it’s you,” I gasped. “Utah’s very own Jewel!”
    “Yes, it’s me,” the vixen cooed, flipping her strawberry blonde hair our of her eyes. “Utah’s very own Jewel!”

    “Golly gosh, I listened to Pieces Of You on repeat whilst struggling with my identity as a youth. And even though your latter albums are widely regarded as derivative and bland, I tolerate them, too.” I paused, tears welling in my eyes. “Jewel Kilcher, I love you!”

    The waif looked at me as if I’d stepped in something unpleasant.

    “Uh, I’m Jewel Sanchez from the library,” she shrugged. “Your car’s getting towed.”

    “Oh well,” I thought as I swaggered out of town towards the impound lot. “I always considered myself more of an urban hip-hop visionary, anyway.”

    Let’s Get the Band Back Together!

    Has Ready to Play awakened a carnal yearning for music that can only be satiated by visiting other big musical instruments? You’re in luck, because the Land of the Bigs is home to rhythmic roadside attractions to suit all tastes.

    Moody, depressed admirers of grunge music can stare impassively at the mercurial Sonic Bloom in Seattle. For something with a little Latin flava, boogie across the border to Mexico City, where I’m sure you’ll find Monkey with Banjo to be Chimp-ly Irresistible!

    More of a hillbilly cowpunk fan? Then the melodic village of Kin Kin in Queensland, Australia is home to a bulky set of banjos with expertly-tuned metal strings just begging to be plucked.

    If your woman done left you and your dog done died, the country music mecca of Tamworth, Australia is home to the immense Big Golden Guitar. Continue south, into the heart of bumpkin country, to play a few licks on The Big Playable Guitar in Narrandera. Yeeee-haw!

    And if your significant other keeps complaining about all the noise – I’m looking at you, Gordon! – waltz over to Newcastle to find some huge headphones to plonk atop your handsome head. You can even attach a Bluetooth speaker, so you can blast your music just as loud as you want.

    Oh, and would you like a VIP experience with a massive rock star? Then you’ll dig Utah’s very own Big John the Big Miner.

    Hopefully that list hit all the right notes – teehee!

  • Murray the Cod, St George, QLD

    Murray the Cod, St George, Queensland, Australia

    Proving that one man’s trash is another man’s Big Thing, Murray the Cod was built completely out of rubbish – and the end result is a gill-a-minute experience! He truly is some-fin special and, whilst I’m not sure what weight he tips the scales at, he’s surely one of the biggest aquatic critters in the tuna-verse!

    Acclaimed sculptor Dion Cross spent more than 18 months designing and building Muzza out of discarded tools, old farming equipment and scrap metal, and the big fella was completed in 2019. If he looks swam-iliar, that’s because he might remind you of another scrap metal Big, Kurri Kurri’s Kookaburra.

    Murray’s one of the most chilled-out Bigs, and can be found relaxing by the banks of the peaceful Balonne River. St George is the inland fishing capital of Queensland, so this 2.5 metre-long bait-biter is certainly popular with the locals.

    Sure, there are bigger Murray cods around – like The Big Murray Cod in Tocumwal and The Giant Murray Cod in Swan Hill – but this catch of the day knows that bigger isn’t always batter!

    Don’t Murray, Be Happy!

    Whilst it’s worth making a trip out to St George just for Murray, this tranquil outback town offers plenty more to see and do. Queensland’s westernmost vineyard, the Riversands Winery, is a short walk up the road, and there’s also the famous Unique Egg museum. Yes, it’s all it’s cracked up to be! Located (or should that be yolk-ated?) in the main street, it’s home to dozens of intricately-carved emu eggs.

    Gosh, what would Stanley the Emu think?

    Although, to be perfectly honest, anything would be a letdown after spending a whimsical afternoon with a large fish made out of old bibs and bobs.

    Sorry to keep carping on about it, but Murray the Cod really is a delicious treat. My only question is, where are the Big Hot Chips?