Location: London, England Address: Regent's Park Date: September 2015 Website: www.zsl.org
In 1934, London Zoo opened its
famous spiral-ramped Penguin Pool. The pool was designed by Berthold Lubetkin who worked for an architectural firm called Tecton. It is one of
the first uses of reinforced concrete and is a grade I listed structure in England. A grade I listing is reserved for buildings of exceptional interest.
The movie About a Boy was released in 2002. In the movie there
is a small scene where Will (Hugh Grant) and Marcus (Nicholas Hoult)
visit the zoo. As they have their discussion they walk past the Penguin
Pool. There are still penguins in the enclosure as they did not leave
until 2004.
We saw a few reasons for the penguins moving out of the pool. One said that they were contracting bumblefoot due to walking on concrete. Bumblefoot is a bacterial infection on the feet of birds. Some people say there was originally rubber over the concrete and it should be put back. We also read they were moved to a duck pond during some repairs and seemed to really enjoy their new location. Another lesser believed theory was based on the popularity of the About A Boy movie and the inclusion of the pool in the film. It was said that the pool attracted too many Hugh Grant fans and the penguins requested to move to a new location where people came just to see them. Who knows? At any rate you can now visit the London Zoo and see the old exhibit which sits empty. You can also see the colony of penguins who are happily living in a new area of the zoo called Penguin Beach.
Uber 5000 is a graffiti artist who calls Toronto home. One building which is covered in his characters is a Pizza Pizza on Kingston Road. We took a walk one day and visited this pizza place and some other art in the area.
One character that seems to appear on almost everything Uber 5000 has done is the little yellow chick. The Pizza Pizza is no exception as we counted at least a couple of dozen.
Cats are also a favourite. This cat above looks to be riding a red magic carpet along the wall.
Another cat is holding a ghetto blaster and wearing a chain that is part of the building's gas piping.
The back of the building is filled with a giant green octopus.
In a doorway on the side of the building are more yellow chicks and a city of Toronto logo. This makes us think the artwork was commissioned by the city.
We enjoyed the playful and colourful display but we needed to get on our way. We headed further west on Kingston Road.
We hadn't gone too far when we noticed a swan painted up on a rooftop. From the tag we determined this was from an artist called Half Decent. Not half bad we thought.
We walked another block or so and came to Scarborough Road. Here there was a nice mural of a brown bear beside a waterfall. It was on the wall of Dashwood & Dashwood law firm.
The wall faces the patio area of a small restaurant called The Loop.
Around the side of The Loop was more artwork. This time it was a toucan balancing a beer on his beak and suggesting it would be a lovely day for a Guinness. We looked behind us and were surprised by what we saw.
Uber 5000 had struck again. The utility box on the corner was covered with the same cats and chicks from the Pizza Pizza building. Thanks again Uber 5000.
People born in the Year of the Pig are said to be thoughtful, polite, reliable, courageous and ready to help others. They can also be naive, and self-indulgent. 2019 is the Year of the Pig according to the Chinese zodiac. To celebrate here are 10 of our favourite swine encounters. Oink Oink.
1 )Hawaiian Pigs
Dan's Green House is located in the town of Lahaina, on the island of Maui, in Hawaii. They have exotic plants and rare birds as well as mini pigs. We got a chance to spend some time with these two little guys. Aren't they just the cutest?
2) Babirusa
Speaking of cute, we are sorry but babirusa are just the opposite. They have long legs, weird curvy tusks and look like all of their hair just fell out. They are only found on a few islands in Indonesia and are unforgettable. We saw this pair at the Toronto Zoo.
3) CNE Pigs
When the Canadian National Exhibition comes to Toronto at the end of each summer so does "The Farm". You can experience the sights and smells of livestock. There are always lots of pigs and usually one big sow who spends her day constantly feeding her litter of piglets.
4) Miss Piggy
In Queens, New York the Museum of the Moving Image has a Jim Henson Exhibition. Miss Piggy is one of our favourite Muppets and favourite pigs. Here she is in her wedding gown ready for her big day.
5) Miss Piggy
This Miss Piggy is a crashed freight plane. It can be found in Churchill, Manitoba still sitting where it crashed in 1979. Miss Piggy the Muppet made her debut in 1974. We have read that the plane is named after Miss Piggy because it was overloaded or it once carried a cargo of pigs.
We think it should be called Miss Piggy because of its flat snout.
By the way Miss Piggy, your engine is way over here. Also watch out for polar bears hiding amongst the rocks and wreckage.
6) Red River Hog
The red river hog is a colourful African pig. We like its whiskers and red coat. It turns out that we have a fondness for animals with red coloured fur.
7) Tamworth Pigs
Based on our previously professed love of red furred anuimals you can see why we like Tamworth pigs. They are one of the oldest breeds of pigs. You can also see the curly little tail in the photo above that makes pigs even more appealing. These pigs are from Toronto's Riverdale Farm.
8) Pig Pot at the ROM
This pig shaped vessel was at the Royal Ontario Museum. We imagine it could be filled with some sort of liquid which could then be poured out of the spout in the snout. We didn't make note of what was listed as its intended purpose and often the museum uncovers artifacts whose purpose is only assumed.
9 )Pigman at the Campbell House
We took this photo of the Campbell House Museum in Toronto. The Campbell House was built in 1822 and was actually moved to where it sits today. Looking at our photo later we noticed something odd.
There was a well dressed pig man on the grounds. We hope he was there for an event or promotion at the museum.
10 )Warthogs
We took a trip to Africa and encountered many wild warthogs. We watched them come and go at a waterhole in Greater Kruger in South Africa. We also watched them mow the lawn in Zimbabwe beside the mighty Zambezi River.
Because warthogs have such short necks they usually have to kneel down on their front legs to eat grass. In the video below, various African animals eat beside a waterhole until the warthogs come and take over.
That is our list of favourite pigs. We took part in some celebrations at the Scarborough Town Centre for the Chinese New Year. You can celebrate and enjoy pigs all year long.
ZSL London Zoo (Lubetkin Penguin Pool)
