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The American Visionary Art Museum, as sponsor of the race, also produces a set
of animal entries as Kinetic Inspiration. This year, three of AVAM’s four sculptures shared a
novel theme: joining the circus.
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Fifi Joins the Circus had a clown hat, clown nose, and bow tie, and radiated pink glee.
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After a dramatic splash into the water, her pilots’ spatted high-heel boots plunged into the harbor with every revolution of the pedals. |
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Her pit crew also had thematic costumes, including a strong man who was
helpful at getting her through the viscous mud. Nonetheless, Fifi lagged behind other entries enough that
she won the Next to Last award. (Anybody can be last, but it takes
a bit more effort to be next-to-last.)
We also direct your attention to the gentleman who appears to be hanging off Fifi’s nose.
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Bumpo the Circus Elephant had Anemone Antics
in hot pursuit through the wild pastures of Patterson Park.
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Bumpo was supported by a crew of muscular circus acrobats who performed
crowd-pleasing gymnastics on the pier. Bumpo wore a
tasseled fez, fringed umbrella, and stripped banners.
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Circus Rat also wore a festive hat
and its crew wore matching tasseled fezzes.
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The Rat’s banner bears the insignia of the “Ratline Brothers Bubonic & Scaley Flea
Circus”.
In the background as the Rat team rushes to get through the mud,
you can see Chessie, the Moderately Famished Caterpillar,
Twitter Jay, and Fifi all catching up.
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The Frog looked
exactly the same as it has every year since 2002.
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Perhaps in despair, the Frog took a
nose-dive into the harbor immediately after entering the water.
A few minutes later, as it was coming in for landing, it took another nose dive. |
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Finally, somewhere between the water entry and Patterson Park, the Frog lost its right eye in some
sort of gruesome accident.
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