The park in which this statue sits is just across the street from where I work, yet even though I pass it any number of times a day, and have for the past eight years, I’ve never had my photo taken with it. Until now. The man depicted is former Albany Mayor Thomas Whalen III. I’m assuming that’s his pooch. (It would be strange for it to be some stray dog that just haphazardly wandered into the pose – not that it isn’t strange on its own to have a dog immortalized in such a manner. This isn’t Disneyworld, or Michael Jackson’s Neverland compound.) At any rate, someone pointed out that he could pass for a bronzed Bill O’Reilly. I don’t think I’d so willingly sidle up to Mr. O’Reilly though. And speaking of bronzed, I wonder if Jerry Jennings will ever get a statue like this…?
PS – This was my ensemble for Saturday’s performance of the Albany Symphony Orchestra. I won’t even touch on what the other patrons were wearing, as I’ve slagged off Albany enough this week. Sometimes, though, criticism is amply justified. We’ll leave it at that.
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