Tuesday, August 23, 2022

Demise of the Plush Animals


Today we have some more random pictures from my neighborhood wandering. First, remember the person who put the anti-Boris posters in their windows? Well, now that Boris is on his way out, they've made them more generally anti-Tory.


The frightening carcass of a pink panda, found on my way to work.


The apple tree down the street has dropped tons of fruit. I don't know why no one picks these apples or does anything with them. It's too late now; the whole driveway smells like a cider house.


I took this picture for our chronicler of street fashion on the Costa del Sol, Mitchell. This person was walking toward me and she seemed to be wearing a very Mitchellian mixture of patterns.


How do you make sure no one steals your parking place? Why, put a bidet in it, of course! When I took this photo, the guy in the background asked me what I was doing. (A pet peeve of mine, but never mind.) I told him I just found the scene amusing. "You have a strange sense of humor," he said.


I found this little cluster of dried flowers lying on the sidewalk. I have a phobia about dried flowers in the house -- I consider them dust magnets -- so I didn't bring them home, but I tucked them into a bracket on this light pole for a little neighborhood decoration.


Some toys outside a charity shop on the high street. Not one but two gigantic stuffed dogs! I can't believe we're still burning up the planet's energy and resources, and further warming the atmosphere, in order to churn out this kind of useless junk.


Finally, I noticed that the bathing beauty has a stylish new summertime bathing cap. Too bad about that fly on her face, but she's too busy trying to claw her way out of all that ivy to mind.

28 comments:

jenny_o said...

I must have the same sense of humour you do because I find the bidet in the parking space hilarious. I mean, come on - A BIDET IN A PARKING SPACE - what's not funny about that??

That pink panda really is disturbing, though. Maybe it was a dog toy. I'm going to go with that, to try to avoid nightmares.

If I tried to do a post like this, it would be amazing only because nothing, absolutely nothing, would change from one week to the next. You might be able to see the trees grow from year to year, but that's it. Your collections are always entertaining!

River said...

I also think the bidet in the parking spot is funny. I'm horrified at the waste of apples, but perhaps they are too tart for use. Or the tree dropped them early because of a lack of water, a survival technique for the tree.

Moving with Mitchell said...

I so enjoyed these. The person in the “Mitchellian” outfit arrived in Fuengirola this morning. No they didn’t, but can you imagine?!? The stuffed animal with its face chewed off is creepy. I can tell I wouldn’t much like the guy in the bidet [photo]. A woman in Brooklyn once asked me WHY I was taking pictures. It was a neighborhood of funky old row houses. But before I could answer she said, “Oh what do I care? People are strange.”

Anonymous said...

What are those bears about to do?

Taking legal photos in a public place is what my answer would have been, and be ready to run.

David said...

I too thought the bidet (and other bathroom furniture apparently) in the parking space was hilarious too. And I would have definitely photographed it too, although I have no blog to which I could append such a photo. I too have been yelled at (not so politely as you apparently received) for taking odd or bizarre photos, so I know what this is like.

David said...

Awful lot of "toos" in that post. I got carried away.

Linda Sue said...

Pink panda looks like it may have been a dog's project- unfinished work- nose off, well, that's done, but so much left to do! My dog used to "nurse" his toys - he never managed to suck the nose all the way off but his piglet toy did have a very pointy tit nose in the end.Dog art, like Olga with anything ball shaped! I appreciate her skills!

There are so many apples on the ground here every year- and plums- an over abundance and folks just can not be bothered. Deer and wasps and raccoons eat their fill.

Yorkshire Pudding said...

This is what you should have said to the guy who challenged you - "Excuse me, who gave you permission to talk to me?" and if he had continued with his challenge you should have wrestled him to the pavement (NOT sidewalk!), boxed his ears and laughed, "Yup! You're right. I do have a strange sense of humour now go **** yourself!"

Boud said...

I wonder if the questioner thought you were going to issue a summons for illegal use of plumbing fixtures. The UK seems a bit preoccupied with sewage and related issues at the moment.

crafty cat corner said...

Rather I would say that the chap had no sense of humour himsel. Love the lady in the bath.
Briony
x

roentare said...

The defaced doll is certainly a visual impact for sure. What an artistic piece!

gz said...

Love the lady in the bath!

Not all those apples are too far gone....I would help myself to a bag of the best ones...apple pie here we go!!

Bob said...

That pink panda carcass gives me the creeps.

Ms. Moon said...

In the city you can take pictures of random people and things and if someone gets upset you can just deal with it the way you did. But here in a tiny village, if I took a picture of someone's property and they didn't like me doing that, they might harbor ill feelings about me which would not stand me in good stead as I go about my walks. Every day when I pass a yard that is incredibly filled with garbage and junk I yearn to take a picture but don't. Obviously, they are a bit insane and I guess I don't want to incur their anger. Also obviously, they know they need to clean up their yard and are probably defensive of the way it looks.
But hey- a bidet in a parking space is hysterical. WTF?

The Bug said...

I love the bidet - I mean, you can't just plow over it like you might with parking cones. Ha!

Mary said...

I think the "bathing beauty" should be more concerned about the likely compound fracture of her "right arm" instead of the fly on her face. :)

Ellen D. said...

Another interesting group of pics for your random photos post! I think the bears are prizes won at a carnival. I am glad that someone is donating them to the charity shop. The pink panda was definitely a dog toy at some point. I never like when people out walking are just playing with their phones instead of looking where they are going but I don't mind the person's walking outfit!
Another fun post, Steve! Thanks!

Ed said...

In my opinion, stringing out or picking up three pieces of a bidet every time I wanted to exit or enter a parking spot is a lot more of a hassle than simply walking an extra block.

Edna B said...

I find the bidet in the parking space quite amusing. I also think the bathing beauty is rather amusing too. I love the photo of Olga and the deer. Enjoy your day, hugs, Edna B.

Sharon said...

The bidet in the parking space is hilarious. That is a creative way to reserve the parking spot. I see that bathing beauty has a summer look going on. The panda corpse is a bit sad. I like what you did with those fake flowers.

NewRobin13 said...

You do see some interesting things there... bidets in a parking space. I love that picked up that bouquet and put it on the pole for a little decoration. Lovely.

Michael said...

I always enjoy looking at your photos. When I saw the street fashion, I immediately thought of Mitchel too!

ellen abbott said...

It strikes me as weird that people get weird about someone taking a picture when we all carry a camera around with us all the time. I can just see the guy, cause of course it was a guy, getting out of his car to move the three pieces and before he can get back in his car and park, someone zips in and takes it. nd I love that you put the bouquet on the pole. I don't keep fake flowers either for that very reason...dust magnet and I have enough dust laying around as it is. And last, if it weren't for all that useless junk we waste the planets resources on lots of people would be out of a job. two edged sword and all that.

Margaret said...

I have some in the house (dried flowers) and they're a pain. As well as being dust magnets, you can't really dust them without them falling apart. I share your sense of humor--or is it more a sense of the ridiculous?

Kelly said...

If you had't mentioned the fly, I would have just thought the bathing beauty had a beauty mark!

I guess the questioning guy wasn't asking in a friendly manner? I might have just replied, "taking a photo". (and thought to myself "and what's it to you?")

Debby said...

On the way to my son and daughter-in-law's house, there is a man who keeps on of those womannikans in a cage, hanging from a tree in the front yard. She's always dressed in sexy clothes. It creeps me out. Every time. This time she was wearing a bikini and an inflatable shark was partially stuffed in the bars of the cage.

Steve Reed said...

Jenny-O: It helps to be in a busy urban area, where lots of things are changing from day to day!

River: I've never tried to eat one, but I once brought a few back to our garden and left them out for the squirrels. They didn't get as much attention as I thought they would.

Mitchell: People are so odd about photography. Why do I have to justify my photo-taking to a perfect stranger? (Well, I don't, but why do they THINK I do?)

Andrew: Yeah, I've said that too. I think those bears (dogs?) are too exhausted to get up to much mischief.

David: Well I'm glad that you share my sense of amusement! (Or I should say, "I'm glad you're amused TOO.")

Linda Sue: I wish we had some deer and raccoons to clean these up. Unfortunately they'll just lie there and rot until someone puts them out with the yard waste.

YP: Ha! Me wrestling THAT guy? I'd have been killed.

Boud: Ha! I think he thought I was going to report him for some kind of parking violation.

Briony: He knew he shouldn't be blocking that space and thought I was going to get him in trouble.

Roentare: Perhaps I should have brought it home and put it on a pedestal with some good lighting. :)

GZ: I know you'd make good use of them!

Bob: It's because it has no eyes. That makes it super-creepy.

Ms Moon: I agree street photography is different in a big city. There's a sort of shield of anonymity that you don't have in a small town.

Bug: That's for sure!

Mary: Ha! Yeah, her arm is definitely a problem. And her legs are sticking out the end of the tub, making her torso WAAAAAY too long. It's like she's been tortured on a rack!

Ellen D: I just hope the charity shop can use the bears. My impression is that used stuffed animals don't have great resale value. But maybe I'm wrong, or maybe they do something else with them.

Ed: That is SO TRUE!

Edna: I'm glad you share my humor at some of these sights!

Sharon: Yes, the bathing beauty is definitely looking summery. All that greenery around her adds to the vibe.

Robin: It was still there as of yesterday morning!

Michael: That mish-mash of patterns is a Fuengirola special!

Ellen: Yeah, that IS true -- there are a lot of jobs tied up in those factories that make useless stuff. We have to figure out how to reset the planet's economy.

Margaret: Sense of the ridiculous is a great way to put it!

Kelly: Yeah, he wasn't being friendly. He was defensive because he knew he was breaking parking regulations, I suspect.

Debby: OK, that IS creepy. People are so weird.

Jeanie said...

I don't know why but the bathing beauty and the bidet crack me up. I love that you put the dried flowers up where they could be "saved.