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South Korea Gnomes Headed to England for the Summer!

We often hear of gnomes getting up to their usual shenanigans in the UK, Australia, Canada, and the U.S. So when we caught wind of some gnomish activity brewing in South Korean, our pointy ears immediately perked up!

Year-six students at Seoul’s Dulwich College crafted some gnomes as part of an art project and vowed to send them off to England to join their distant cousins at the Gnome Reserve.

Photo credit: Paul Kerry/The Korea Herald

Photo credit: Paul Kerry/The Korea Herald

You remember the Gnome Reserve, right? It’s that woodland place with thousands of gnomes run by our all-time hero, Ann Atkins! Check out the pic the Gnome Reserve posted of Ann checking in today on the new South Korean arrivals…

annAccording to the Korea Herald, the students explained that they created the gnomes by “pinching out two pots and putting them together to make a hollow body. Then they added the head, beard and the rest before firing their gnomes twice ― but they all agreed that the legs were the hardest part.”

Over time, the South Korean gnomes developed unique personalities – no surprise there. “We are glad that the gnomes have ended their gnomadic existence and that they will have a gnome to go to and not live in gnome-man’s land,” said school headmaster Daryl Orchard, to a mixed response from the students.

Considering that the gnomes will only enjoy a summer vacation in England and return to South Korea in the fall, the students weren’t too sad to see them go. They’re proud of their work – rightfully so – and they want to show it off to the best goshdern gnome museum in the world.

Right on, kiddos!

So what will the 12 brave South Korean gnomes get up to in England? Only time (and perhaps Ann) will tell.

Wishing the lil’ buggas lots of luck and jet lag relief,
ChumbawambaIGetKnockedDown the Gnome

86% of the time, gnomes “go missing” because you bore them

From Your Local Guardian Newspaper:

A missing gnome appeal has gone out from a group of traders after their lucky mascot was snatched from his home beneath a Christmas tree.

The 10in gnome was last seen standing beneath the tree outside Budgens, in Stoneleigh Broadway on December 2, a few days after the street’s festive lights switch-on.

Your Local Guardian: Have you seen the missing gnome?

The theft of the smiling yellow, red and green statue was noticed by Stoneleigh councillor Mike Teasdale the following afternoon.

Coun Teasdale said the gnome had become the area’s unofficial mascot after being placed underneath the Broadway’s Christmas tree for the first time last year.

He said: “He has always been a quiet fellow and is unlikely to have wandered away on his own. 

“To date we have not received any ransom demand, so hopefully he will return, or be returned, in the next few days, and then the manhunt can be called off.

“The Christmas tree that he lived under also appears to have been attacked as some branches have been cut off. ”

Coun Teasdale said the miniature marvel only cost £1, but the community saw him as “our gnome”.

He added: “We would love the gnome back because everybody on the Broadway knew him.”

The councillor said the police have not been informed.

Memorial Day Cheers from the Drunk Gnomes!

 

photo (14)Three-day weekends mean even more booze-induced incoherence than usual for us drunk gnomes. So we’ll make this short and sweet to avoid any embarrassing misspellings or heart-felt revelations.

Memorial Day may be a human holiday, but we jump on board those when there’s a miscellaneous day off of work involved. King Jerry made mention that Memorial Day is supposed to be about soldiers fighting in wars and stuff. But try as I might, I haven’t found a soldier or a war all day! All I can seem to find are barbecues, cold beers, and outdoor shenanigans.

photo (4)Such a pity.

We’ve been riding the coattails of human tradition by…

  1. Cooking out on an ancient wood-burning stove (reminiscent of the human olden days)
  2. Going bicycling (in hopes of fitting into my bathing suit by noon today), and
  3. Planting some flowers (to ensure we have something to pee behind later).

photo (6)While we don’t expect to remember too many memories of the day, we hope all you gnome and human celebrators make the most of yours.

Wave a freaking flag or something!
ChumbaWambaIGetKnockedDown the Gnome

Vancouver Rivals Iowa for ‘World’s Largest Gnome’ Title!

 

cagnomeWe recently wrote a post about visiting the world’s largest concrete gnome in Ames, Iowa. Well today, we received a news alert about the world’s largest gnome on Vancouver Island.

Wow…”world’s largest” is such a sought-after title, eh?

Take a gander at this Vancouver Sun video about the Canadian giant and see what you think.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uj-qPbhAiCU

cagnome2I guess the bloke’s name is Nanoose Esso and Guinness Book of World’s Records supports him. What a weird ass name.

According to a Metro News article, Nanoose stands 25 feet 11 inches tall. The gnome was built in 1998 by Ron Hale as a mascot for the go cart track he ran on the property. Now it’s a gas station. Nanoose must be really high from all those fumes by now…

Hale built the frame out of scrap metal in his garage, empty bottles, styrofoam, ice cream containers and paper making products from the nearby mill. A junk gnome…what a novel idea!

Looks like we’re heading up north for a visit!

xoxo,
ChumbawambaIGetKnockedDown the Gnome/Turtle

Photo credit: Metro/Handout/Gerry Ilott