WOW, WHAT A GOOD FIND I MADE 2 DAYS AGO FROM THE ABC - THIS IS GUARANTEED TO BRING MOST OF YOU SOME JOY AND LAUGHTER! I WAS WRITING AN ARTICLE TO POST AND KEPT GOING BACK TO THIS ARTICLE FOR MORE LOOKS AT THIS BIG 'REAL TO LIFE' FANTASY KOOKABURRA WHICH HAS WARMED HEARTS AND MADE SO MANY BIG SMILES ACROSS THE WORLD.
THAT'S NOT TO MENTION LOTS OF EXCITEMENT FOR NEIGHBOURS AND WILDLIFE IN THE STREET WHICH IT WAS BUILT IN SUNNY QUEENSLAND. WAIT TILL YOU SEE THE PICTURE IN THIS POST - KEEPING IN MIND A 65 Years Young MAN BUILT IT. LET'S GO!
Giant Kookaburra Built During Lockdown Set To Have The ‘Last Laugh’ From ABC NEWS
A hand-made laughing kookaburra built in a Queensland front yard is stopping people in their tracks with his enormous size and booming laugh.
Townsville local Farvardin Daliri has been stuck in Brisbane during the lockdown, spending his spare time perfecting a giant kookaburra in the south-west suburb of Bellbowrie.
He has been inviting residents to have a “sticky beak”, while adhering to physical distancing, as the kookaburra neared completion.
The giant bird is 8.5 metres from tail to beak, and 4.5 metres tall.
“It’s made with steel round bars that are rounded and put together and locked,” Dr Daliri told ABC Radio Brisbane’s Rebecca Levingston.
Have you seen this massive, laughing kookaburra in Bellbowrie?
Farvardin Daliri built it as a mascot for Townsville’s cultural festival later this year. He usually splits his time between Brisbane and Townsville but has been stuck here due to the coronavirus lockdown.
Dr Daliri says he plans to take the giant bird north in July. In the meantime, it's parked in his front yard for his neighbours and passers by to enjoy.
“It forms a nice shape of the kookaburra with feathers and a moving jaw.”
The kookaburra has been a spectacle for locals in the area who have been hearing his laughter and seeing his head popping above rooftops.
“The lower beak hangs with a motor that pulls a shaft up and down, with a sound effect that is also inbuilt, so the kookaburra can laugh for everyone to hear,” Dr Daliri said.
As soon as he starts laughing, the other kookaburras start coming around.
“I constructed it on the trailer so it’s all one piece with a platform around it so people can have their photo taken with it.”
A passion project
The kookaburra was being created for the Townsville Cultural Festival, which Dr Daliri founded and now is the executive director.
The kookaburra has intrigued the locals, including the real-life kookaburras, who have been visiting for a look.
Born in Persia [now Iran], Dr Daliri studied fine art and sculpture in the 1970s and came to Australia in the mid-’80s as a refugee.
“I started in Tasmania and then worked my way up to Townsville for the past 30 years, where I founded the Townsville Cultural Festival,” he said.
He has created other sculptures over the years, including a giant koala.
“We’ve also made the Jolly Swagman, Slim Dusty and other icons, but we decided as we need tourism after COVID-19 that I might as well build it in Brisbane and drive it up the coast,” Dr Daliri said.
It is unknown if the Townsville Cultural Festival will go ahead in August, yet Dr Daliri said there will be “laughter” theme to the festival after the dark start to 2020.
The kookaburra has been built upon a log attached to a trailer so it can be moved.
“We want to have the last laugh over COVID-19 with the kookaburra. We’ll also have laughing workshops along the road, so we can get everyone laughing around it and make them feel better,” he said.
Dr Daliri is planning to drive the kookaburra north to Townsville in the last week of July as restrictions ease.
Isabella Kwai From New York Times Writes:
Proud of Your Lockdown Baking? This Man Built a Giant Kookaburra
He simply wanted to give people a laugh.
SYDNEY, Australia — Some have taken to baking to while away the hours during coronavirus lockdown; others embraced gardening. For Farvardin Daliri, it was the perfect opportunity to complete his magnum opus: a 15-foot-tall replica of a bird known as a laughing kookaburra.
He said he just wanted to cheer people up in these gloomy times.
“If a bird can laugh, why not me?” said Mr. Daliri, 65, who unveiled his work this week by towing the kookaburra, a beloved Australian icon, around his block in suburban Brisbane, where it cackled its distinctive laugh through a sound system installed inside.
He posted video of his project online without much thought. To his shock, it went viral, hailed by some as a perfect antidote for this moment. Others were simply confused.
“Surely there are medals we can give out for something as grand as this,” one Twitter user said. Another asked: “This amazing. Also, why?”
Australians are no strangers to gigantic objects. Across the country, oversize landmarks — known as the “Big Things” — draw road trippers to country towns: the Big Banana, the Big Pineapple, the Big Lobster, to name a few.
“When something is big, it imposes itself on you,” he said. “It becomes undeniable.”
Mr. Daliri began the kookaburra project during Christmas break, but its complexity stymied him. “I couldn’t finish it,” he said.
When the lockdown began in March and he started working from home, he picked it back up.
His secret to getting projects done? “Don’t push yourself to be productive,” he said. “Just do what you can. Think about it in this moment — for the next few hours, what is possible?”
He said he had noticed that people were growing depressed and anxious as the pandemic took hold.
“I think this is a time we need to reach out to each other,” he said. “We may not meet all the requirements of people’s material happiness, but spiritually we can make them happy.” The kookaburra’s laugh, he added, is so infectious that it encourages real birds to join in.
The sudden attention has stunned and delighted Mr. Daliri. Now, truck drivers yell out from their windows to tell him it’s exactly what they needed. Reporters from Europe call him wanting to find out more.
“I had no dream that this is going to strike such a chord with everyone,” he said. “This is hilarious.”
OH BY THE WAY, IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO HEAR A KOOKABURRA LAUGHING (RIGHT WHERE YOU'RE SITTING) I HAVE PLACED A REALLY GOOD RECORDING IN THE RIGHT HAND COLUMN ON THIS WEBSITE LAST YEAR FOR VISITORS TO MY WEBSITE TO ENJOY!
(Look for MP3 Audio) Have Fun.
No Baking or Gardening for This Guy - Dad Spends Lockdown Building Giant Kookaburra Float YouTube Video HERE