Tag Archives for Matt Penny

HAPPY 5TH BIRTHDAY TO THE CLONEHENGE BLOG!!!

Cupcakehenges by Simon Burrow and Debora Oswald

Cupcakehenges by Simon Burrow and Debora Oswald

The day is here! A happy 5th birthday to us!

It’s astounding that this blog is still here and active after all these years. We’re not sure if the proliferation of Stonehenge replicas around the world is a sign of the creativity and spirit of humankind, or a sign of the decadent state of human society, but whichever it is, we celebrate that today!! From the academic and historical Stonehenge models to the spontaneous alcohol-inspired cheesehenges to the work-and-expense-intensive large permanent replicas, we are proud to be the chroniclers of this peculiar aspect of our species’ activities and efforts.

Carrothenge by Rian Edwards

Carrothenge by Rian Edwards

One thing for certain—Clonehenge would have been abandoned years ago were it not for its many friends and supporters, in particular people like Simon Burrow, Pete Glastonbury, Matt Penny, Bob Bradlee, and many more, who have alerted us to new henges, and given us encouragement when we were ready to quit or even delete the blog forever!

The pictures you see above are edible Stonehenge replicas made to celebrate this most glorious of days and the persistence of the Clonehenge blog through five revolutions of our planet around the sun. How wonderful that these people would use their own time to celebrate us in this way. Thanks to Simon Burrow, Debora Oswald, and Rian Edwards for these gifts! Our gratitude also to those friends, like Lynn Myra McElroy, who wished us a happy 5th birthday!

There are many many Stonehenge replicas yet to be blogged, and we solemnly promise that we will continue to not keep up.

Finally, all glory to the ancient original builders of Stonehenge, without whom this blog would probably be about pyramids or Easter Island heads! It just wouldn’t be as fun, and we would miss all of our favourite Wiltshire people! Which reminds us, are there any replicas of the new Stonehenge Visitor Centre out there? We would consider posting one.

We may add to this post as the day goes on, so we’ll end it for now. Please keep your eyes open for more Stonehenge replicas. We know they’re out there. And until next time, of course, happy henging!

(And here is our very first post, from five years ago today. With thanks to Mr. Jonas M. Wisser!)

Solstice Again, Innit? Part the Second!

Recreation of Stonehenge made from car parts; PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo

Well, solstice is actually about over and we still haven’t produced the promised second post. We will hesitate no longer in the dubbing of our other Hengefinder General Extraordinaire: HGE Matt Penny, perpetrator, as always, of the supercalifragilistic website, Salisbury and Stonehenge dot Net. We have lost track of all of the henges and replicas he has alerted us to over the millennia during which we have been posting on the Clonehenge blog, but they have been numerous and as in the case of HGE Glastonbury, fascinating.

The one pictured above, entitled Citihenge, has, as far as we know, the honour of being the first corporately-named henge (but not as you may see at the end of this post, the only automobile henge). Not the first one built for advertising–Autohenge in Canada may hold that title. But the first, perhaps of many to come, that are named directly for a company, as advertisement. Think of it, in a few years not only replicas but even Stonehenge itself may have a corporate label: Barclay’s Bank Stonehenge, for example, or perhaps preferably, the Crawford Bourbon Biscuit Stonehenge. Oh brave new world!!

But back to Citihenge. Here is a video afforded to us by Hengefinder Apprentice Karl Dodd. Citihenge, ŠKODA advertisement video (Who is that man in the video and why is he dressed like Doctor Who?) Hmm, it refuses to embed. But we bravely forge on!

HGE Matt Penny has alerted us to everything from Stonehenge cakes, to replicas in process like the one being created in Canberra by Tracey and Robbie Wallace (on which we desperately need an update because if it doesn’t get a few lintels, it will not be hengy enough to post!), to the foamhenge we recently posted and many more. We thank and salute him for his numerous contributions!

Wait! One of the best things he steered us to has gone unmentioned. Recently he sent us a link to this article about the bouncy Stonehenge we posted about not long ago, quoting this bit:

“Jeremy Deller said: ‘A lot of my work deals with history, and Sacrilege is no exception, this is a way to get reacquainted with ancient Britain with your shoes off.’

 The first venue on this nomadic tour of the UK is the National Botanic Garden in west Wales, where the inflatable monument will be inaugurated for a second time by children from local schools and a team of local gymnasts. On this special occasion to mark the first London 2012 Festival event in Wales, entry to the Botanic Garden will be free of charge for the whole day, allowing visitors a truly once-in-a-lifetime experience. ‘Bouncers’ are being encouraged to download free ‘Druid Beards’ from the Sacrilege website – www.sacrilege2012.co.uk , colour them in and arrive in druid fancy dress.”

Emergency Druid beard

He knew that beard thing was deep in the Clonehenge spirit! As is being invited to arrive at the bouncy Stonehenge in Druid fancy dress, whatever the bleep that is! Not that it is the type of thing we do, mind you, but because it is the kind of thing that makes us smile in disbelief and reflect that while people are downloading and colouring Druid beards, and putting together their Druid fancy dress, they are not shooting each other or plotting ways to make shopping centers or other things that lay waste the land that Stonehenge was lovingly built to adorn. They are being silly, and that’s when we love mankind–in the midst of its sillinesses! We think Matt Penny knows that. For that he deserves not only the title of Hengefinder General Extraordinaire but a permanent supply of Emergency Druid beards!!

We hope you had a wonderful summer solstice, and have a lovely summer. This, we predict is the year of henging mania, so as you go about your business, keep your eyes open for Stonehenge replicas wherever you go. Submit them when you find them and you, too, may someday achieve the high order of the HGE! Until then, amigos, happy henging!

P.S.: We know of these auto henges of various sorts: the Ontario Autohenge, Carhenge in Nebraska, Dubhenge, the 1987 Glastonbury Festival car trilithon (which we have not yet posted) made by the Mutoid Waste Company of Tankhenge fame, and the Stonehenge replica made of cars for The Secret Life of Machines. That’s five and there are probably one or two more. And we don’t count the ones without lintels, so don’t be sending us links to Cadillac Ranch!

Note: At the Sacrilege inflatable Stonehenge trinkets link you will find not only theDruid beard, but a “certificate of bounce” to be filled in once you’ve bounced and…. a printable cutout henge, suitable for making your own paper Stonehenge replica! An easy way to start henging!

Simple and Easy Do-It-Yourself Stone Henge Instructable!

photos by McNopants13 on Instructables.com

Pardon us, but we must begin with a lengthy quotation:

“I had a stage show to put on with some of my students and thought it might look cool to see them carry on and build stonehenge during a certain scene so away i set off to build the elusive stone henge …. but GASP! I don’t have the money nor the resources for giant stone slabs … “fear not handsome craftsman” a voice said to me in my head… I will make a giant paper mache version of the sotnes and so I set off once again with a plan. and alot of boxes here are some photos from the build and some of the final stones on stage. ENJOY!”

Above you see some of the papier mache versions of the aforementioned sotnes,as they are so delightfully misspelled. The accompanying pictures show a process of taking smaller boxes, attaching them to make long rectangles, covering them with papier mache and painting them grey. And then, of course, forming trilithons with them.

Curiously, despite the replacement of the continuous circle with simple trilithons and the completely un-Stonehenge-like shapes of the stones, the creator/instructor remembered to add bluestones of a sort, a nice touch which might gain them a much-needed druid for their score. Or we should say–his score, the clever hengineer being Monsieur McNopants13. Or Madame McNopants13, as the case may be. If it is a female McNopants, of course, we would want to know, as it’s the sort of thing we would prefer to lead off the post with so as to acquire the trashier reputation we feel we need in order to draw more readers.

As you can see above, even as far as this creation is from resembling Stonehenge itself, it still has an atmospheric quality when used as a stage prop and lit well. And let it never be said that most henge-o-philes are not generally well-lit. Har. And speaking of heavy drinking, for no reason at all we are reminded to thank Matt Penny aka @salisbury_matt, the High Lord and Grand Poobah of Salisbury and Stonehenge.net, for sending us the link to this “instructable”.

As for score, it’s like this–the do-it-yourself aspect and the bluestones are on the plus side. The strange proportions and the fact of the trilithons without a circle are on the other side. We award this one 6 druids! Quite high, really, as, let’s face it, those who created it probably were, too! We want to encourage this kind of thing, after all. More henges, less guns; more papier mache, less greed. That’s what the world needs! More or less. And until next time, friends, happy henging!

Henge-Podge: Odds and Ends That Have Come Across Our Desk, Part Two

from designboom

First on this second edition of Henge Podge is not a Stonehenge replica but a clever henge-related item: Ikea-like instructions for the construction of Stonehenge. We couldn’t possibly say anything as clever as this is, so we’ll just post a second picture, advise you to click on the link because there is more to it, and move on. Yes, that is a druid you see there.

Next bit is something we’re keeping an eye on: a tentative plan for a Stonehenge replica, this time in Harwich. Reading the article here we are uncertain how much like Stonehenge this so-called “version of Stonehenge” will be. They have the stones, granite from a dismantled railroad bridge, and not much else so far. It remains to be seen if it happens at all and if it does, whether they bother to put on the all-important lintels. Maybe we should send them the Ikea instructions!

photo from a nut in a nutshell

And finally we present the only snowhenge we saw this winter, despite all of the snow that fell. We believe this was sent to us by the absolutely marvelous Matt Penny aka @salisbury_matt , sole proprietor and strong proponent of  Salisbury and Stonehenge.net. Thank you, sir. He and Señor Glastonbury are duking it out for top Friend of the Blog status, which entitles one to every cent of the money we have made up until now by doing the Clonehenge blog. The suspense is killing!

Meanwhile we can’t remember who sent us the other two items. Thank you, whoever you are. Comment on this post with the information and we’ll add it.

In the old days we might have done a whole post on the snowhenge, but that url blasted across it is too much, so this is what you get. We do, however, have a couple more  items recently submitted. A henge documenter’s work is never done! We’ll be back when we can see our way clear to doing something this constructive again.

Who knows when that will be, but until then, everybody, happy henging!