This morning I was taking a look at what the fine folks who post pics on Flickr had recently uploaded, and I came across these little gems from Brussels. This brings a whole new meaning to the expression: Oh, piss on it…
Piss on it #1
Photography by: Antonio Ponte Source: Flickr
Is anyone else asking themselves at this point WTF? 
Well Antonio Ponte was kind enough to provide a link to the manneken-pis site, but unfortunately I can’t read French. Even without running the Google Translate program on the site, it’s pretty clear that yes indeed, this little pissing sculpture must be a commemoration of Adolphe Sax.
Piss on it #2
Photography by: Antonio Ponte Source: Flickr
I have seen virtually nothing written about Adolphe Sax’s personal life, and I’ve seen nothing written about whether he had a sense of humour or liked to laugh. I’m hoping he did, because otherwise he’s likely spinning in his grave right now. 😉
Oh, did you happen to notice that even toy saxophones put out for display tend to get their mouthpieces put on upside down? The people who put up this tribute to Adolphe Sax are no better than the clowns who sell horns on eBay and don’t know which way is up and which way is down. Jeez… Oh, piss on it… 
Piss on it #3
Photography by: Antonio Ponte Source: Flickr
So we know of at least two things that were done in Brussels to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Adolphe Sax’s birth: Sax200 was held, and the most famous fountain in the city was dressed in a suit and saxophone. Was other stuff going on as well? Most likely, but for pure comedic value, Manneken Pis would have stolen the show. And that could just piss a lot of people off. 
I’m a little surprised you didn’t recognize the reference. There have been a number of similar fountains across Europe, all with a similar legendary story. They allegedly commemorate the rescue of a young prince from having been lost in the woods, as commissioned by his father who gave the order to make a statue representing the prince as he was found.
Anecdotally, a man saw me taking a picture of the one in Vienna and opined, „Das soll man ,Trink Nie Wasser‘ heissen!“ (They should put a sign on it: Don’t Drink The Water!)
:devil2:
Oh I’ve seen sculptures like this before, but none of them have been wearing suits and playing saxophone. 😈
Come to think of it, I’ve never seen any of them adorned in any type of clothing at all. They were all naked. But truth be told, I’ve never known the story behind them. Or if I did, I’ve forgotten it. It would have been the kind of story my dad would have told me when we we out and about in town.
They didn’t drink water, they drank beer for safety.
:cheers: :cheers: :cheers: