Huge Tuning Fork Erected in Berkeley

[shannon_a]

Last week a thirty foot tall red tuning fork was erected in the center of downtown Berkeley.

Seriously. No punchline. It's on the south side of the intersection of Center and Shattuck, partially shrouded by trees. And, Iit's the first of a pair of new pieces of public art in Berkeley.

Frankly, it looks to me like it'd be better suited to Disneyland. ("And here, in the Acoustic Hall of the Gallery of Future Sciences we have a huge red tuning fork. This fork was built in response to the Martian invasion of 1953. After its erection, Hero and Scientist Thomas Ringer struck it with enough force to cause all the alien spacecrafts to shake themselves to bits, leaving the Martians without their weapons or armor. Afterward, the Mayor braved their scant remaining ray guns to offer the hand of peace. Moving on we now come to the gargantuan xylophone, which was built in 1962 as a result of the second incursion of the Mole Men ...")

Comments

Re: Huge Tuning Fork Erected in Berkeley

[wolfieboy.livejournal.com]

Heh. I guess two stadiums we voted down don't count. But we do have the troll. I'm really looking forward to the sixty foot lava lamp to be built out near the Gorge in eastern Washington.

Re: Huge Tuning Fork Erected in Berkeley

[maida-mac.livejournal.com]

Depends on what you're calling the Gorge as Soap Lake is actually next to...Soap Lake. *grins* I was just there yesterday. I guess the "healing waters" don't bring in enough tourists these days. . .

Re: Huge Tuning Fork Erected in Berkeley

[wolfieboy.livejournal.com]

Well, I don't actually know where Soap Lake is and I was told that it's pretty close to the Gorge. Considering that if I just said Soap Lake, -no one- would know what I'm talking about. This way, a few people will...

Re: Huge Tuning Fork Erected in Berkeley

[maida-mac.livejournal.com]

It's just a bit northeast of Ephrata, a little west of Moses Lake. It's not in the Gorge, it's in the Grand Coulee (another remnant of a huge ancient flood that created most of the so-called Columbia Gorge). The area around is known as Sun Lakes. The lake is mineral rich, as well as having a soapy quality. It used to be a resort area for the healing properties of the water. The scenery is gorgeous.