11 May 2010

An appropriate light fixture for an Octopus's Garden


The great Daniel Ogassian posted a link to these on Twitter the other day and I think they're entirely too cool. They're by artist Adam Wallacavage and they make me want to break into song.


I'd like to be under the sea
In an octopus's garden in the shade
He'd let us in, knows where we've been
In his octopus's garden in the shade


I'd ask my friends to come and see
An octopus's garden with me
I'd like to be under the sea
In an octopus's garden in the shade


We would be warm below the storm
In our little hideaway beneath the waves
Resting our head on the sea bed
In an octopus's garden near a cave


We would sing and dance around
Because we know we can't be found
I'd like to be under the sea
In an octopus's garden in the shade


We would shout and swim about
The coral that lies beneath the waves
(Lies beneath the ocean waves)
Oh what joy for every girl and boy
Knowing they're happy and they're safe
(Happy and they're safe)


We would be so happy you and me
No one there to tell us what to do
I'd like to be under the sea
In an octopus's garden with you
In an octopus's garden with you
In an octopus's garden with you


An Octopus's Garden was written by Ringo Starr in 1968 and here we are, 42 years later, and somebody finally found a way to light that Octopus's Garden.

From the Beatles Bible:
Ringo Starr's second composition for The Beatles was written in Sardinia. On 22 August 1968 he temporarily walked out of sessions for the White Album after becoming disenchanted with the increasing tensions within the group. He took his family abroad for a boating holiday, returning to Abbey Road on 5 September.

"I wrote Octopus's Garden in Sardinia. Peter Sellers had lent us his yacht and we went out for the day... I stayed out on deck with [the captain] and we talked about octopuses. He told me that they hang out in their caves and they go around the seabed finding shiny stones and tin cans and bottles to put in front of their cave like a garden. I thought this was fabulous, because at the time I just wanted to be under the sea too. A couple of tokes later with the guitar - and we had Octopus's Garden!"





20 comments:

  1. Oh The Muppet Show - my favorite!!! I love the song, but those chandeliers look like they might come to life and start growing Little Shop of Horrors style.

    Sharon

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  2. Honestly, what gets in people's heads?

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  3. Well I think they're a riot and within an hour of Signor Ogassian posting them on Twitter I had dusted off my copy of Abbey Road and have been singing Beatles songs ever since. Maybe they are a clever plan by Sir Paul to sell more Beatles albums.

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  4. I love these! They look like something that should be on Captain Nemo's boat in the movie The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.

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  5. They are functional art and not something a manufacturer would offer up to the masses. That's why I like them. True to form though, if they showed up in a mass merchandiser I'd recoil in horror. I think that says a lot about me...

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  6. I like the second and third ones best. They have just the right amount of whatever for me without being too much or too loud. The purple one is pretty gross, just can't have, and I'm not liking the white one either. It doesn't blend in and look interesting at the same time, kind of an eyesore. I like the idea in general, but agree, it's not something I want to see mass-marketed and shoved down our throats like owls or deer.

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  7. Love the Beatles (and The Muppet Show), not sure about the octopus chandeliers - somewhat scary :o
    You're right Paul, they're not for the masses...

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  8. Functional art hhhmmm... ; ) I love octopussies!! I'll take the first one in that gunmetal(?) finish and the white of course. But I draw the line at purple. Or actually putting any of them in my house. Unless I have a Little Mermaid room.

    Perhaps there should be a whole line of Beatles fixtures! A walrus, strawberries... Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds has Swarovski written all over it!

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  9. You know, out of all of them, the one with the pearls has to be my favorite.

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  10. Hey, it's better to have them dripping from a chandelier instead of dripping down one's chin. Did I just write that?

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  11. AHAHAHAHAHAHA! Daaamn. You win tonight.

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  12. Were you just waiting for someone else to write that all day?

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  13. That one just came to me as I wrote it. I'm quick like that. I like typing dirty, this is fun!

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  14. Well I ain't real classy so I stay away from pearl necklaces and the like. I'm more of a bead kind of girl.

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  15. Thank you so very much for this. I have seen these before and have recoiled.
    To let you know: I have been following your blog since you visited my hometown- louisville. You either have me in some kind of awed geological state with your enchanting tutorials on metamorphic rock, or snorting fluid (no pearls!) while trying to contain my laughter. A big thanks for brightening my world in lou!

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  16. Wow, thanks! Do you work at GE? I will do my best to keep you in an awed geological state if you keep hanging around. Deal?

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  17. Oh, these are so funny! They wouldn't work at all in my house, but I love them, particularly the first and second. The shells are a bit Too Much -- I can imagine someone screaming over those ones in a second-hand shop.

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  18. The second one's a real winner for sure.

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  19. Deal Sir Paul! And no, I don't work at GE, although some acquaintances do & have. It's a big corporate fish in the pond of LOU.
    My house is 88 years old, so any advice on thoughtful upkeep (really trying hard at this point not to go down the vinyl-siding road) is grabbing my attention. Thanks again.

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