10' French Fries from Turco, Buffalo NY

They scoff at your measly 3' French Fry...  Here's the whole story:

 

http://www.buffalonews.com/city/article78666.ece

Carhenge in Pictures

There are some spectacular images here, including this fisheye comparison of Carhenge and Stonehenge.  Enjoy!

 

http://www.michaeljohngrist.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/2010-6june-carhenge/carhenge-car-henge-10.jpg

First Ebay Listing of WLCoWSVoWLT card!

This just in! Our Topps Allen and Ginter Card, first listing on Ebay. Found in the wild, and currently up for bid. They're going for anywhere from 10 - 30 dollars at the moment, depending on scarcity.

http://cgi.ebay.com/2010-Allen-Ginter-Worlds-Biggest-WORLDS-LARGEST-/170513292488?cmd=ViewItem&pt=US_Baseball&hash=item27b3625cc8

And, here's another auction for a WLCoWSVoWLT card: http://cgi.ebay.com/WORLDS-BIGGEST-Worlds-Largest-2010-Allen-Ginter-WB20-/250668318910?cmd=ViewItem&pt=US_Baseball&hash=item3a5cff00be

First spotting of WLCoWSVoWLT Allen & Ginter card!

That's right, now that the 2010 Allen and Ginter series from TOPPS is available in retail stores (Target, Mart that Shall Remain Nameless, and K-Mart), the World's Biggest set is starting to emerge. The first of our own cards (see top row, right) just sold on EBay for twenty bucks... Yes, for just one little tiny card. Our card.

Did I mention that I'd be making a World's Largest Version of this World's Smallest Card of World's Biggest Topps A&G Set featuring the World's Largest Collection of the World's Smallest Versions of the World's Largest Things? Yes, the meta keeps on going, and I feel some sort of universal inversion now that I'm making a WL Version instead of a WS Version... AAAAH! WHERE will it END!!!

Review of the WLCoWSVoWLT Sideshow Extravaganza from last week's Catsup Fest in Collinsville!!

Read about it here at the Craves, Caves, and Graves blog

Join Us at the Catsup Festival!

SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY in Collinsville Illinois!  Look for the people having fun, mid-sized replicas of the World's Largest Catsup Bottle, and the WLCoWSVoWLT SIDESHOW EXTRAVAGANZA with the World's Smallest Version of same said Catsup Bottle.  This year's fest is at the Collinsville American Legion, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.

 

World's Largest Skateboard Folly

AND, got a shoutout on the related post from Bean at KROQ-LA - did a radio interview w/ Kevin and Bean in the Morning back in Aught 5 or so...

Our 2010 Allen & Ginter Card! WLCoWSVoWLT front

 

Our 2010 Allen and Ginter Card! WLCoWSVoWLT back view

 

Escabana Michigan - W.L. Yoyo Designers

Class tries to break record - CAD students attempt world's largest yo-yo

By Ashley Hoholik, POSTED: June 30, 2010, Daily Press

 

http://www.dailypress.net/page/content.detail/id/519875.html?nav=5003

 

ESCANABA - Popularized in the 1930s, the yo-yo is making a comeback - but not as the familiar child's toy. A 1,625 pound version of the simple, amusing toy will debut in July, courtesy of the Bay College Computer Aided Design (CAD) class.

The 11 foot, six-inch diameter yo-yo is part of the class' latest run to commandeer yet another world record title. Previous CAD class world record attempts include the world's largest golf tee and the world's largest skateboard.

The official drop will occur at 7 p.m., July 6 in the Bay College parking lot off of Danforth Road. Judges for the drop include: Bay College President Laura Coleman, State Representative Judy Nerat and Vice President of Delta Manufacturing Jean Ross - among others.

The current record for the world's largest functioning yo-yo was set by a group of college students from Manchester, England. It was 10 feet tall, five inches in diameter, weighed 896 pounds, and was dropped from a height of 189 feet.

Looking to defeat this record is the seven member Bay CAD team, which includes: Ryan Fairbanks (team leader), Jacob Nietling, Mark Cocco, Matt Yadro, Jessica Potvin, Viki Branstrom and Adam Hoffman. Though the team has already constructed a larger yo-yo, they must now ensure its functionality - dropping it from a crane and propelling the device back up at least once, with witnesses present. Usage of the crane has been donated by Ness Contracting, so now all the students have to anticipate is whether the structural integrity of the yo-yo can withstand the drop.

"On the test drops, I'm pretty sure it won't break. The test drops are only 20 or 30 feet, so its not able to generate that much force, because at those heights it is only around 7,000 pounds of force," explained Fairbanks. "The 90-foot drop is around 18,000 pounds of force, though, so it is quite a bit of difference."

While Fairbanks expresses confidence in the metal components, axle of the yo-yo, and rope, which is rated at 81,000 pounds, he and the group have some apprehension about whether the wood will make it through the process. For this reason, CAD Instructor Jerry Havill has worked with the class and college to outline possible risks and how to prevent them.

"The higher we go, the more danger there is, and if it breaks, then we have to consider people, property and everything else - at 90 feet the risk is higher," said Havill. "The process itself has been thoroughly presented to the college itself, as well as the risk manager for the college system, and so we've looked at things very carefully...we've taken all the steps, but when you drop it, you can't guarantee that it won't break."

Other considerations that have been made are wind and crane movement - both of which will be monitored by the crane operator. If conditions prove too unfavorable, the drop will be called off. A perimeter will be set up around the drop site to ensure the safety of audience members.

Over the past several months, the CAD class has used manpower, welding and glue to construct the steel and wood yo-yo. The current version of the yo-yo was adapted from a smaller yo-yo designed by the class. The larger yo-yo is an replica of the smaller version and exactly 40 times larger. The total cost for the construction of the yo-yo has been just over $12,000, which has been primarily raised by the CAD students through various fundraisers and work.

"We received a $5,000 sponsorship and 300 yo-yos to sell from Yo-Yo Factory.com - they will actually be coming up for the drop," said Fairbanks. "We've been working on it for the past four or five months, probably a minimum of four hours a day, so it's quite a bit of time we've put into it."

The requirements put forth by the Guinness World Record officials include creating: a yo-yo that consists of two equally sized, but not especially equally weighted pieces of plastic, wood or metal; a yo-yo that is demonstrated to work in front of judges; and published specifications of the yo-yo, including the weight, the length of the rope, and the diameter.

According to Havill, the entire project has been a valuable experience for the students, who have had unprecedented local support.

"This project has had more local companies involved than any of the other projects," he explained. "We've had three companies with major involvement, and then a lot of other companies that have been involved and helping by either just charging us cost or volunteering their time or equipment."

The most important aspect of the yo-yo construction process, notes Havill, was the student dedication.

 

 

2010 Allen and Ginter Box Busters - an inside look at sports card collectors...

Big News from World's Largest Things, Lucas Kansas

BIG NEWS from Word's Largest Things, Inc., in Lucas Kansas - we have a collector card in the new Topps Allen and Ginter set, due to be released June 30, 2010!  While we haven't seen our own card yet, it will be exciting to hear of collectors finding them 'in the wild' in the coming weeks...

 

Thank you for your attention!

 

-Erika Nelson, World's Largest Things Inc., home of the World's Largest Collection of the World's Smallest Versions of the World's Largest Things

CONTACT: Erika Nelson, World's Largest Things Inc., info@worldslaregestthings.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - June 30, 2010

Queen of Kansas Quirky gets own Topps Collector Card

Lucas artist Erika Nelson's "World's Largest Collection of the World's Smallest Versions of the World's Largest Things" featured in the Topps 2010 Allen and Ginter Collector Card set, due to be released June 30, 2010.

Due to be released on June 30, and in card stores Thursday July 1st, the new 2010 Allen and Ginter set of retro-themed baseball cards will include a regional favorite - the World's Largest Collection of the World's Smallest Versions of the World's Largest Things. Lucas KS based artist Erika Nelson was contacted in February by the head of image licensing about including the WLCoWSVoWLT in the 2010 series after the head of marketing found the World's Largest Things website. The initial call came as the Topps executives were still chuckling over the theme song, and a deal was swiftly struck, pairing Kansas' supurlative-sporting attraction and an industry leader in sports trading cards.

Allen and Ginter, a Richmond, Virginia, tobacco manufacturing firm, created the first cigarette cards for collecting and trading in 1875. In 2006, Topps resurrected the name, producing a specialty line of cards in a vintage style. In addition to modern and historical baseball figures, the sets included special quirky insert subjects - relic cards with real objects from famous people (a piece of JFK's sweater), or a special Sailors of the Seven Seas series. A set of signature cards encourage folks to collect autographs from a wide range of people including Erika and her collection, illusionist David Blaine, skateboarding icon Tony Hawk, and fire eater Hubertus Wawra.

Allen and Ginter sets also include special wooden or silk cards in some of their packages, cards that fold out like books, and special 'rip' cards that hide a small card inside a larger card, only revealed if you physically rip open the larger card. Since it is one of the specialty collector sets, you'll have to seek out a hobby shop that still deals in sports cards. There are only a half-dozen official Topps retailers in Kansas, and the owner of The Arena in Salina feels that this years A&G set will sell out quickly, due to a last-minute inclusion of Stephen Strasburg in all Topps releases, starting with the Allen & Ginter series.

Kansas "Topps of the Class" stores include: The Sports Dome, 1000 Massachusettes, Lawrence; Lobos Sports Cards, 1016 S Oliver, Wichita; Rock's Dugout, 3232 N. Rock Rd., Wichita; The Arena, 127 N. Santa Fe, Salina; Star Sportscards, 806 A East 4^TH, Hutchinson; and Baseball Card Shop, 2332 Main, Great Bend.

Since the World's Largest Collection of the World's Smallest Versions of the World's Largest Things is one of the autograph cards, when you send one in to the World's Largest Things Home Base (PO Box 101, Lucas KS, 67648) for a signature, you'll receive an additional postcard of the New Sideshow Extravaganza banner featuring the collection. It's a meta-collectors dream, and a great honor for one of Kansas' Quirkiest to be a part of this historic set.

####

Media Contact:

Erika Nelson, World's Largest Things, Inc.

PO Box 101, Lucas KS

785-760-0826

info@worldslargestthings.com

Hyundai builds World's Largest Vuvuzela

From the Autoevolution blog:

Oh, no, they really had to do this... After our ears got trashed by the now two-week long, relentless Vuvuzela sound, after our brains have become a gelatinous paste as a result of the billions of bees invading our homes from the screens every day, three times a day, after all of that, Hyundai had to come up with this...

Meet the world's largest, biggest, longest, loudest Vuvuzela. Created by the South Korean manufacturer, who, by the way, is the official car supplier of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, the 114-foot-long... tube sits on top of an unfinished bridge in Cape Town.

From there, as a game, any game, is about to start, the Vuvuzela releases its millions of bees on the poor Cape Town residents' heads. Yes, you read it right, the damn thing works. You can find the proof in the video below.

The Vuvuzela has been placed there by Hyundai's advertising agency The Jupiter Drawing Room, to be the epitome of Hyundai's "Bring the Gees" campaign.

If, by accident, you have been living in a secluded cave somewhere on the Moon, the chances are you don't know what a Vuvuzela is. Described by South Africans as football's beautiful noise, the Vuvuzela is a brightly colored, meter long trumpet. A trumpet which, South African says, sounds like an elephant.

Really?

Listen to the one below (which, by the way, sounds more like a ship coming into port). Does it sound like an elephant? Open your TV and listen to tens of thousands of Vuvuzela being constantly blown throughout any given game. Do they sound like elephants?

Another roadside attraction smote (smited? smitten?) by God.

6-story Jesus statue in Ohio struck by lightning Monday, June 14, 2010

Sculpture nicknamed 'Touchdown Jesus' because of way arms were raised

All that remains of the six-story-tall "King of King's" statue of Jesus Christ on Tuesday, outside the Solid Rock Church in Monroe, Ohio, after it was struck by lightning in a thunderstorm Monday night and burned to the ground.

MONROE, Ohio - A six-story statue of Jesus Christ was struck by lightning and burned to the ground, leaving only a blackened steel skeleton and pieces of foam that were scooped up by curious onlookers Tuesday.

The "King of Kings" statue, one of southwest Ohio's most familiar landmarks, had stood since 2004 at the evangelical Solid Rock Church along the Interstate 75 freeway in Monroe, just north of Cincinnati.

The lightning strike set the statue ablaze around 11:15 p.m. Monday, Monroe police dispatchers said.

This has also let to a Religious Icon Deathpool (by lightning) - nominations for said pool are the Groom, Effingham, and Ohio giant crosses, and the Praying Hands in Tulsa OK.

Front page, today's Salina Journal - the new Smoky Hill River Festival collaboration

Bill Godfrey assembles his fabric panels on the Fourth Street bridge on Wednesday, June 9, 2010 in Oakdale Park in preparation for the Smoky Hill River Festival. (photo by Jeff Cooper/Salina Journal)



Joe Clark (left) and Erika Nelson work on an art installation at the tennis courts in Oakdale Park on Wednesday, June 9, 2010 in preparation for the Smoky Hill River Festival. (photo by Jeff Cooper/ Salina Journal)

Artist Blind Date - original story

When two people are set up by a mutual acquaintance for a blind date, the results are difficult to predict, but at this year's Smoky Hill River Festival it will be hard to miss the bright results at the Oakdale Park tennis courts.

"I See You, You See Me," a mural of Put-in-Cups and cloth, shows the results of the artist blind date of Erika Nelson, of Lucas, and Bill Godfrey, from near Pittsburgh, Pa.

The two found themselves paired together to design a mural ahead of the four-day Smoky Hill River Festival, set to kick off tonight with the Festival Jam in Oakdale Park.

"We connected well," Godfrey said. "Our works meshed together really well."

Godfrey and Nelson met for the first time Tuesday to start their project after being "set up" by Karla Prickett, a festival organizer, and talking online about the project for two months.

"It was like creating an Internet relationship with someone you don't know," Godfrey said. "You find out a lot about the person, but you never physically meet them until the end. You don't know if you are going to be able to work together or not."

Inspired by Friedensreich Hundertwasser, the artists set out to design a project meshing two very different art materials.

Hundertwasser?

"She (Erika) wanted to base our piece on his (Hundertwasser's) work," Godfrey said. "I went on the Internet and researched this artist's work and found he was one of the most important artists in Germany in the 20th century."

Nelson said Hundertwasser's designs are childlike and have many curves, something she felt would be a hit at the festival.

"We are focusing on the eyes and bright colors of his designs," Nelson said. "The top tier will be major vignettes tied together with little designs."

Godfrey said his part of the project was finished ahead of time, but Nelson started putting the Put-in-Cups into the fence Tuesday. The project is expected to be finished today. Nelson said she planned only a portion of her project in advance.

It really blends well

"I'm responding to Bill's pieces and going little by little until it feels right," Nelson said.

With the banners made of cloth and the Put-in-Cups, Godfrey said he was surprised how well the materials blended together.

"If you put the fabric and the plastic on the chain-link fence and step back, you can't tell where one ends and the other begins," Godfrey said. "By accident, the cups and cloth are the same color sources."

Nelson said the mural almost looks as if it were designed by one artist instead of two.

Godfrey has been helping Nelson put the cups into the fence following her designs.

"It is like a creative arena," Godfrey said. "You bring a lot of things and media together, and it happens."

Nelson said the mural will be taken down Sunday.

"She envisioned us working together in a nice fashion, and we have," Godfrey said. "This art blind date has worked."

Reporter Chris Hunter can be reached at 822-1422 or by e-mail at chunter@salina.com.

River Festival starts Thursday in Salina Kansas

Which means I'll be standing on a laddar, inserting PICs into the upper teir of the tennis court fence again at Oakdale Park in Salina. 

 

The Salina Journal just came out with their Festival Guide, with a little blurb on the collaborative project this year with Bill Godfrey:  http://www.salina.com/www/specialsections/riverfest2010.pdf

 

And, here's the whole River Festival site - great list of performers again this year, and lots of amazing art... Ya' gotta come!

 

www.riverfestival.com

 

Potential World's Largest Pool Table, Fredericktown MO

How awesome is this?!?  Play-able, although in a slightly altered delivery system for the bowling-turn-pool balls...

Mountainfilm Program - see me 'n' Scout on pps. 36 & 37

Open publication - Free publishing - More telluride

Telluride Tidbit: Sideshow Extravaganza during Gallery Walk

Here's the Sideshow, set up on the main street of Telluride for the Gallery Walk.  Description from the program:

 

the Gallery Walk following our Symposium affords a chance to meet and greet while strolling from one Telluride art gallery to the next to view original paintings, sculpture, photography and multi-media works of wonder.

 

Erika Nelson's license plate says "Art Car," which describes this four-wheeled commentary on fossil fuel dependency and which is also carrying her curated museum exhibit: "The World's Largest Collection of the Smallest Versions of the World's Largest Things."

 

Since my part was over on the first day, I got to explore and be inspired by the rest of the festival.  Handed out a lot of postcards, too, while tootling around town in the Art Car on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, which evidently is an odd sight in Colorado.

Telluride Tidbit: Public Transportation

(image blatantly stolen from the Mountainfilm blog)

 

Part of getting around the mountain can include biking, hiking, skiing, and the like. OR, you can take the FIRST and ONLY Public Transportation Gondola from Telluride (8750') up to the peak (10535'), then on to Mountain Village (9540'). Free to ride, so you can spend many an hour floating above the aspens spotting Marmots.

Telluride Tidbits: Filmmakers Dinner

Got there last Thursday, in time for the filmmakers dinner. It was even further up the mountain, on a private ranch, overlooking the ranges. A nice evening enjoying a bluegrass band, free flowing wine and beer and mojitos, contemplating the aspens. Sat for a bit for a portrait, by one of the other invited artists, Jeff Zenick.

 

Here's a bit about Jeff from the NYT:

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/06/05/opinion/20090605_opart.html

NEW Sideshow Extravaganza premeired at Telluride this past weekend

All went well, and the new traveling iteration of the World's Largest Collection of the World's Smallest Versions of the World's Largest Things was well received by the Telluride Mountainfilm folks...

 

I'll post more Telluride Tidbits from the whole event - or, you can read them as they occur to me on FaceBook - just search for Erika Nelson and friend me!

 

Also, there's a tiny little Flickr set of the setup on the Telluride main street - sorry there aren't more pics, but I was working... Tellin' all about World's Largest.

 

-E

Largest Art Car Parade Yet!

Just got the totals from the Houston Chronicle: 300,000 spectators for the Art Car parade held Saturday, May 8th, 2010.

300 cars were in the lineup this year, the biggest response ever, and beautiful weather made this the BEST Houston Art Car Parade Yet! We were there with 'Scout', and a new addition in the back featured the World's Smallest Version of the World's Largest Art Car Parade, replicating cars of friends and celebrity Art Car artists, as well as some completely fabricated pieces.

It was always billed as the largest, and this year Houston really took it to a new level. Oldest, Largest, Longest, Houston Orange Show Art Car Parade is the Est-est!

-Erika and Scout - OH, and we won a 3rd place trophy in the Art Car category - super extra-added bonus!

Here are links to the actual parade, from the Orange Show, cut up into five segments:

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

Part Four

Part Five

And, Paul McRae's Flickr Photo set from Art Car weekend 2010 - you can also do a photo search, and find thousands more from hundreds of other people shutterbuggin': Paul's Art Car Pics

From the Email Inbox: World's Largest Dragon Skull, Dinosaur Valley Mini Golf , Greater Sudbury, Ontario Canada

steel Dragon Skull, 22 feet long by 11 feet high, Josee Rainville owner of Dinosaur Valley Mini Golf

 

Us:  that is GREAT!  You are listed as an owner - did you create it?

 

-Erika of World's Largest Things

 

Them:  Thank for the compliment.

my husband has built all the dinosaurs and dragon skull etc on our courses.

Dragon skull is made of new steel, he made all the parts and then put them together.   He worked from a flat picture and created this masterpiece for my birthday.  Took many years to make this Dragon skull.

The design and cement and painting of courses I helped, me being his wife.

The whole attraction is dedicated to our youngest that died of leukemia on May 22 2000 and all cancer families all over the world.

United states pro mini golf  came in 2001 to raise money for the Canadian Cancer society that day, and I have been one of their members since then.

 

kindest Regards:

Josee Rainville

Thank you for listing us.............  I appreciate it.

Have a great Week end.

WLCoWSVoWLT to Telluride for Mountainfilm, May 28 - 31.

Mountainfilm in Telluride is next week!  I'm a Special Guest, premeiring the new Sideshow Extravaganza during the Gallery Walk on Friday, May 28th.  Check out the site for some amazing work.  And, check out the guest list and featured filmographers - it's quite a lineup:

 

http://www.mountainfilm.org/festival/2010/gallery_walk.asp

 

I'm honored to be a part of this amazing festival.  Wish me luck!

 

-Erika and the

World's Largest Collection of the

World's Smallest Versions of the

World's Largest Things

NEW Sideshow Extravaganza

 

www.WorldsLargestThings.com

Sketchbook Project ON VIEW in CHICAGO IL

This Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (May 7 - 9, 2010), the fifth showing of the Sketchbook Project goes on view at Home Gallery, 1407 E. 54th Place, Chicago IL. Our hand-drawn book "And Suddenly - There it WAS! A WLCoWSVoWLT Road Trip" can be checked out and perused during this fifth of many showings around the country.

If you're not in the area, you can also check out the posted scans on our page of the Art House Co-Op site:

http://www.arthousecoop.com/projects/sketchbookproject/submissions/12572-and-suddenly-there-it-was-wlcowsvowlt-road-trip

See ya' on the road, and in the galleries!

-Erika

World's Largest Hand Dug Well, Greensburg KS

Got to re-visit the World's Largest Hand-Dug Well today.  After the giant Tornado that went through and destroyed the town, the Well became a touchstone of community support.  And, the historic well cover survived, as did the Well itself.  The new water tower continues the tradition of proclaiming the presence of the well, and the oddly shaped stick thing is a flagpole twisted by the twister.

Sketchbook Project ON VIEW in ST. LOUIS MO

This Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (April 16 - 18, 2010), the fourth showing of the Sketchbook Project goes on view at the Soulard Art Market, 2028 S. 12th Street, St. Louis MO. Our hand-drawn book "And Suddenly - There it WAS! A WLCoWSVoWLT Road Trip" can be checked out and perused during this fourth of many showings around the country.

If you're not in the area, you can also check out the posted scans on our page of the Art House Co-Op site:

http://www.arthousecoop.com/projects/sketchbookproject/submissions/12572-and-suddenly-there-it-was-wlcowsvowlt-road-trip

See ya' on the road, and in the galleries!

-Erika

Quite a tale for the Pup

They've long been holding the mustard and everything else at Tail o' the Pup, the landmark L.A. hot dog stand that continues to sit at a warehouse since being evicted from its home five years ago.  Original story here:  http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/04/tail-o-the-pup-the-landmark-la-hot-dog-stand-still-homeless-.html

April 11, 2010  By Bob Pool

Los Angeles' most famous hot dog bun needs a roll.

Trouble is, Tail o' the Pup owner Dennis Blake doesn't have a place to roll it to.

The landmark hot dog stand that resembles a mustard-slathered wienie-in-a-bun -- featured in movies and music videos and considered an important piece of L.A. architecture -- has sat on wheels and been covered with a tarp in a Torrance warehouse since being evicted five years ago from its longtime home.

Blake badly wants to return the Pup to its chowhound followers. But he can't find a spot to put the tiny hot-dog house.

Crafted from chicken wire and stucco, the stand measures 17 feet from wienie tip to tip. It sits between a shiny aluminum travel trailer and a fiberglass-hulled boat at the Wesco Self-Storage Center on Normandie Avenue.

The Pup had a few bites taken out of it when it was booted from San Vicente Boulevard in West Hollywood. But a couple of stucco patches and some new paint will handle those, Blake said.

"The dog itself doesn't need a lot of work. We'd just have to build a kitchen and attach it to the back of it," he said.

Viewed by architecture experts as an important example of "programmatic" design, in which merchants tried to catch motorists' eyes with buildings shaped like chili bowls, oranges, doughnuts and coffee cups, the Pup had a proud place on L.A.'s streetscape for nearly six decades.

If it comes out of storage and reopens, it won't be the first time that's happened.

Originally designed by architect Milton Black, the stand opened at La Cienega and Beverly boulevards in June 1946 to luminary-studded, searchlight-lit fanfare.

Eddie Blake purchased the Pup in the early 1970s from its celebrity owners, the dance team of Veloz and Yolanda.

But in 1985 the Pup was closed to make way for a luxury hotel. The stand sat in storage for a few months until its replacement location on nearby San Vicente Boulevard was found. Its reopening in 1986 was another celebrity-filled affair.

But then a development company purchased the Pup's site at 329 N. San Vicente Blvd. from Blake's landlord, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, and announced plans to build 152 condominium and apartment units.

By that time, Dennis Blake had taken over the stand from his father. He toyed with the idea of moving the Pup to Westwood after its closure. That's where the development company was willing to let him install it at a Broxton Avenue parking lot it owned.

"But they wanted me to sign a long contract, and I got scared" and turned down the offer, said Blake, 57, of West Hollywood.

Blake received what he calls a "severance package" from the company. More recently, he has lived on the proceeds of the sale of the Westchester home owned by him and his late wife, Mariaelena.

"I've been looking for a new place for it for a year -- in West Hollywood, West L.A., Santa Monica, even Beverly Hills. Someplace our built-in clientele can find us," he said. "I'm ready to rock and roll."

Eddie Blake, 85, said his son needs a space "about 25 feet by 20 feet, plus some customer parking space," before the Pup can be unleashed.

Ironically, the residential project responsible for the stand's shutdown remains unbuilt. Dennis Blake said he would be happy to return to the San Vicente Boulevard site if a long-term lease could be arranged.

Regent Properties, which sold its majority interest in the housing project in 2008, did not return phone calls. But West Hollywood planning officials suggested that financing has held up the proposed three-acre development, which would be their city's largest residential project.

John Keho, the city's planning manager, said he still thinks there's space for the Pup in West Hollywood.

"It might be able to go right across the street from City Hall," Keho said. "Maybe it could go next to Irv's Burgers."

That celebrated 63-year-old hamburger stand at the northeast corner of Santa Monica Boulevard and Sweetzer Avenue was saved from being bulldozed by a coffee chain outlet five years ago after its fans persuaded West Hollywood officials to designate it a cultural resource.

Hot dogs alongside hamburgers. Fast-food fans might relish that.

From MSNBC this morning - Giant Heads are spinning.

Heads up

The head portion of a giant bust of George Washington is carried by crane April 6 to a flatbed truck, where it will be secured for delivery. Six busts of presidents were removed because the land they were placed on in Pearland, Texas, is under foreclosure. The development company still owns the statues and will them return to their maker, local artist David Adickes.