It's Just Resting

As you may know -- or not -- the Monty Python troupe has been giving a series of final concerts in England, ending this Sunday (July 20), which will be streamed live to movie theaters in England and North America.  

In tribute to that (and promotion, no doubt...), the following fiberglass sculpture appeared in Potter's Field in London yesterday.

Yes, a beautiful Norwegian Blue.

If you know Monty Python, no explanation is necessary.  If you don't know Monty Python, no explanation would likely suffice.  But here's a story about it -- an homage to the famous "dead parrot sketch" when Michael Palin brings his dead bird back to a pet shop and tries to convince owner John Cleese that it's just "pining for the fjords."  (The full article from Radio Times can be found here.)

"We are all Monty Python fans so we were delighted to receive the brief from Gold to recreate the mythical Norwegian Blue on a giant scale," explained lead sculptor Iain Prendergast, who helped build the enormous model bird, which took more than two months to make.

Steve North, general manager of Gold, explained that the massive parrot near London'sTower Bridge is "a fitting tribute" to the Python's famous sketch. Yet Prendergast said building the thing wasn't easy:

"The key challenge for us was capturing the comedy value of the dead parrot, keeping the realism of the bird whilst also adding touches like the bloodshot, stunned eyes," he explained.

The huge bird will be delivered to the O2 Arena, where the Python live stage show is taking place.