happy shark day

Last week I had things to do up the hill in Headington and decided to visit the Headington shark, an iconic work of art which I've blogged about before but which I had only seen from a safe distance (i.e. from the main road) so far. So here's at last, one of my own photos of it:



It looked different from the Wikipedia picture I posted three years ago - the shark lost the white paint on its belly, and someone cut back the plants that covered the facades of the houses in the older picture. Plus, someone put a stupid traffic sign too close to the shark (New road layout ahead, or something similarly important). People can be so inconsiderate around art ...

But other than that, it looked really good for a shark that's been stuck in a roof for 24 years. Pleased to report that it has found acceptance to an extent that the PR work for Headington shops now uses the shark in various icons (e.g. here) and it has its own official page on the Headington website (where you'll also find the whole back story, including various attempts of authorities to have it removed). Oh, and it's the shark's birthday tomorrow, 9.8.(Nagasaki day). So happy shark day to all.