Carry On, Pachyderm

Home now.

And as much as I miss London, and miss bumping into Belle and Sebastian on Parisian elevators, it’s wonderful being back, waking up early on a lovely Wisconsin spring morning.

There’s an enormous amount of work to get caught up on this week, and a bit of time needed to peruse the Russian edition of Munchkin, along with German and English versions of Need for Steed. To say nout of the brand-new version of Gold Digger, now with tons more bits and pieces in a spiffy Cloud 9-size box (these are two of my all-time favorite Out of the Box games, by the way. Fab to see Gold Digger get such a great new treatment).

The last couple of days in London were spent chasing an enormous elephant.

(Images courtesy of my pal James – when I perchance stumbled upon the Pachyderm along Picadilly, I had no camera with me, alas, alack).

It was really a marvelous piece of street theater. I fear photos don’t do it justice. As the forty-foot behemoth wheezes and clanks past you, you can’t help but think of either Neil Gaiman’s dream worlds, or Phil and Kaja Foglio’s Girl Genius. At the very least, it gets you contemplating scenarios for the likes of G.A.S.L.I.G.H.T, or Space: 1889.

I was skeptical at first. But the Sultan’s Elephant (“Clank,” anyone?) was truly remarkable. Once it stands and starts moving, towering above you, any hope of conveying the moment accurately is lost: all you can do is gape in awe.

Official web site HERE

BBC site, plus footage HERE

On the drive to Heathrow Monday morning, I caught a final glimpse of the elephant, behind a wall at Battersea power station, where, apparently, it was built.

It was that kind of week.

John

 

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