A first for me, a non-techie blog post! But boy-oh-boy, if anything warranted a mention on my blog post over the last couple months this has got to be it.
After a few months stuck in work, problems with home renovations, health problems in the family, and a fair bit of all round stress, I've just had the most awe inspiring and thought provoking weekend I can remember, spending a weekend in Liverpool in the company of Royal De Luxe's Giant Sea Odyssey.
For those of you unfamiliar with Royal De Luxe (I'm pretty sure that's actually a burger from Pulp Fiction?), they're a street theatre group based in Nantes, France, who count amongst their cast a 9ft tall dog, a 30ft tall girl and a 50ft tall deep sea diver. These three characters are basically giant marionette-style puppets, controlled by cranes, a pretty coplicated looking system of weights and pulleys, and the remaining 100-or-so members of the group.
There are a ton of videos around the web, feel free to Google "Liverpool Sea Odyssey", but here's a good one from Youtube that gives a good feel for the whole thing. There're also some great videos over on the Liverpool Daily Post's website, though I'm not sure if these will work abroad.
I'm not sure why, but this whole thing really struck a chord with me. Maybe because it appeals to my paternal side as a dad to a young daughter, to my geek side and also to the slight Francophile in me. I was mesmerised at the mechanics of the whole thing, particular kudos to whoever decided the best way to move the giant diver's legs was to have a dozen blokes per leg, two at a time, time leaping onto a rope!
Little Girl Giant
If anyone reading this has an opportunity to visit any future performances by this company, don't hesitate. For me, I felt blessed that I could share something so magical with my family, sadly I suspect it'll be many years before we get anything like this around here again!