Garden gnome

Gnoming Italia

Venezia

Firenze

Siena

Happy Diwali

Natasha's brother Krish (owner of Gee-Nome) is teaching English in Delhi, and celebrated Diwali in the mother land this year, giving Gee-Nome a very special role in the festvities. See far right.

The Porter Gnome

Gnomisha in West Virginia

New River Gorge Bridge, WV

Gnomisha in Greece!

Oia, Santorini

Garden Gnomes!

Mom gifted me this fabulous garden gnome lights for my birthday this year, and I finally got around to setting them up outside. Don't they look great? They're solar-powered and light up at night. Super cute!

Disgrunted ATL Gnomes

Atlanta Gnomes


Guinness Book of World Records Snubs Atlanta Gnomes

Gnomes from all over the city of Atlanta are protesting the award of a “new” world record granted by Guinness to a group in Toronto Canada. “The integrity of Guinness World Records must be questioned in light of these developments.” stated The Great UnGnome, Atlanta Gnome activist since 2006.

Recently, the Guinness World Record organization granted a world record for the “Largest Gathering of People Dressed As Garden Gnomes’ to a group of film-goers in Toronto Canada.

In 2009,the Atlanta Gnomes, represented by the Krewe of the Grateful Gluttons, applied for a World Record for their annual Disgruntled Gnome March in the Inman Park Parade in an earnest effort to stir publicity for important Gnome concerns such as DandelionGenocide and Gnomophobia. “These are important issues affecting Garden Gnomes everywhere!!” claimsDaisy, a gnome marcher who hails from California. “We thought a world record would help improve the stature of gnomes, you know, make us feel a little more gnomble.”

The record attempt was denied. The stated reason: World record categories “ are not ‘made up’ to suit an individual proposal, but rather ‘evolve’ as a result of international competition in a field, which naturally accommodates superlatives of the sort that we are interested in..” You can read Guinness’ full rejection letter here: http://www.facebook.com/#!/note.php?note_id=377859128879 .

Atlanta Gnomes contend the “new” record granted to eOne films group illustrates a bias on the part of Guinness towards mainstream commercial groups. Commented a Gnome who wishes to remain anonymous: “Not an international competition? They don’t make up categories to “suit an individual”? On what new basis do they establish this world record? Perhaps it is influenced by the Glitz and Glamour of Hollywood? Perhaps Guinness chooses categories that suit an individual proposal if the individual proposing has enough money! I always figured Guinness was just another Leprechaun lover. But I guess even prejudice can be overcome with enough pull.” he continued.

Chantelle Rytter, Captain of the Krewe of the Grateful Gluttons, who are staunch gnome supporters and partners in the annual Gnome March, released the following statement on behalf of the Gnomes: “The loyal Gnome Marchers are incensed! We have marched for 4 years in regular attempts to create a record and beat it. Our marchers make their OWN hats, our marchers come in all types of gnomish costumes and do not bow down a commercial definition of Gnominess. We cannot believe that Guinness would reject the honest efforts of Atlanta Gnomes to draw attention to real gnome issues, and would instead be swayed by the commercialism of Hollywood (blue hats indeed!)”

The Krewe of the Grateful Gluttons are holding emergency Gnome meetings to discuss this assault by Guinness. Gnomes will march again in the Inman Park Parade held on April 30, 2011. We hope all of our Gnomies will come to the meeting and support this march. We must and can take back our record. It’s time to get your gnome on people!

Gnomisha Guthrapali in India

City Palace in Jaipur

Gnomeo in Israel!

On the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem

Merry Christmas!

Diwali in the motherland

Natasha and her mom celebrated Diwali in the motherland this year, where Natasha's doing a research year for dental school. Xine-Cinco (j/k Natasha;) got to take part in the ceremony!

Gonzalo in Madrid!

Thanks Mariana!

Gnomeo & Juliet!

Saw the trailer for Gnomeo and JUliet last night - it looks adorable! Check out the imdb page here.

A new gnome is born!

Marianna & Nicky came over for dinner last night, and during the course of many photo albums, discovered our fascination with gnomes. As luck would have it, we had a spare for just such an occasion and gifted the adorable couple their very own gnome!

They're still coming up with the perfect name, so stay tuned for more of his adventures!

Gnome books

My dear friend Kelly gifted me these wonderful books from the late 70s/early 80s a few years back, and I just uncovered these little treasures while sorting through some old books preparing to pack.

Apparently, gnomes were quite the fad back in the day and Kelly caught onto the craze, much like myself a good 20 years later ;)

From http://www.foundus.com/gnomes/books.htm:

Gnomes is the product of Rien Poortvliet and Wil Huygen’s observation of the local gnome population in Holland. Until Gnomes was first published in Dutch in 1976, these friendly nocturnal creatures were only represented in folk lore; descriptions were often incomplete or simply inaccurate. Poortvliet and Huygen, having studied and interviewed gnomes for two decades, set out to fill this gap with their own encyclopedic tome.

Gnomes covers all areas of gnome culture, including architecture, education, courtship, medicine, industry, and relationships with other mythical creatures. Huygen’s sober descriptions are balanced by Poortvliet’s light-hearted portrayals of gnomes at work and at play. Thirty years later, this beautifully illustrated volume continues to engage and enchant readers of all ages.

Look what was in my Easter basket!

Julie made me an adorable easter basket for my weekend visit and this cute little guy was in there! One more for the collection :)

g'nome BEER!

So thanks to my awesome LA friends I have now discovered yet another g'nome treasure... g'nome beer! Yes, you heard me. la'chouffe beer, a belgium import, features an adorable gnomey mascot on the bottle - check it out: http://www.achouffe.be/en

gnome sighting at inman park

gasp! Imagine my surprise when I spotted not one, but SEVERAL gnomes at the Inman Park Festival this weekend! Here I am hanging out with one of my new friends. You can see my pictures of the other gnomes who marched in the parade here. Apparently they were attempting to set a world record for marching gnomes. You can view more pictures by Chantelle on flickr.

gaylord

Tanu and Leena came over Monday night, and I was showing off the 'army of eight' (see post below), I got to thinking... did Tanu have a g'nome of her very own? Turns out she did not! But she does NOOOWWWWWW!!! She selected this super cute guy from the new batch and approriately dubbed him 'gaylord.' Welcome to the family, Gaylord!

p.s. It is with great restraint I typed the above... how badly I wanted to say (focker) after each mention of his name... ;)

an army of eight

Was in dollar tree yesterday in search of hula hoops, when what did my wandering eyes fall upon? G'NOMES! I have searched every dt in a 200-mile radius for more g'nomes over the past 3-4 years (seriously), and was convinced they were gone forever. These little guys were the last ones, all alone, old and dirty sitting on the bottom shelf, 4/$1.00!!!

Hurrah!!!! I now have my own army of g'nomes!!! ;)

The first emperor ain't got NOTHIN on me!

no more gnomes?

So after many broken g'nomes (ahem, natasha), misplaced gnomes, demand for new gnomes, I have scoured every dollar tree int eh metro atlanta and metro birmingham area, but to no avail. I cannot find my beloved gnomes anywhere! Say it ain't so!!! Any luck elsewhere in the country? Keep your eyes peeled please!

gunther goes to Ireland!

Gunther took in the beautiful sights of Ireland last week and especially enjoyed the Cliffs of Moher!

But what he enjoyed even MORE than the lovely countryside of the Emerald Isle was finding some kinfolk had taken up residence in Co. Clare! Behold the Irish be-gnomed house!

gnomes gone wild

Chuck the Duck hit up ATL this weekend and was negatively influenced by some wild and crazy gnomes whilest innocently sitting on our front porch! You can see what else he got into here: http://picasaweb.google.com/maryvig/ChuckSWeekendOfAdventure

G'nome Family Album

So I'm thoroughly enjoying my time off and finally managed to organize and update a brand spankin' new 'gnome family album' on kodakgallery.com, complete with captions detailing the gnome timline, and in perfect chronological order ;) This is by all means an exhaustive compilation of every g'nome pic in my possession! You can check it out here: http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=6ro274n.707qevxz&x=1&y=-z1cw46

And, now, because pleople are always asking, "Hey what's the deal with the gnomes?" I thought it's high time I post a not-so-brief history of our little g'nome operation.

It was the spring of 2005. Natasha's birthday. Xine and I had no idea what to get her, so we hit the dollar store armed with a gift basket and a 20 and went crazy. That's when I saw him standing there on the shelf with his little green hat, holding his beard with one hand and saluting me with the other. I had to have him. I bought multiples, and we added him to the bday basket. Natasha loved him, and so did everyone else. The craze began. This also happened to be right around the time that a huge group of our friends graduated from UAB. Everyone was getting ready to go their separate ways for jobs and grad school, so we came up with the great idea to send identical gnomes out with everyone and take pictures of them in their respective parts of the country. The gnomes also accompanied us on many road trips and even Europe trips, though some people (cough *KP* cough cough) forgot them... Many pictures of course resulted.

Not long after, travelocity took their 'roaming gnome' campaign national, resulting in their red-capped guy gaining huge popularity. And then these guys made the headlines for kidnapping a neighbor's lawn gnome and taking him on a whirlwind cross-country spring break road trip, where he met Paris Hilton of all people (eww). After that, we got a lot more cooperation on the road, and our gnome has now met a few celebrities himself, and while the fanfare has died down considerably, we do still enjoy a good gnoming when given the opportunity. Thanks to some lovely friends, I now have quite a little gnome collection. But I still love Gunther, the original, the very best and have even immortalized him as a Christmas ornament for my tree. Tee hee!

And there you have it folks, the complete gnome story, once and for all!

p.s. Yes, I have now finally seen 'Amelie' and I get why everyone asks me this everywhere I gnome... ;)

a 'sprinkling' of g'nome love

Breaking gnome news. Christmas came early this year! Friday was my last day at good old UAB and my lovely co-workers graced me with a brand new gnome! And he's not just a gnome, he's been embellished with Heineken caps to fit in with the drinking theme of my party ;) AAAANDD... wait for it... wait for it... he's a SPRINKLER! Yep, hook a hose up to this guy and you've got yourself a party. Come spring I'm mos def hooking this bad boy up in the front yard for the neighborhood to enjoy... assuming we're allowed to water by then ;) Posting a pic here for your enjoyment. And I shall call him GIL.

Also, since my dear friend Nina outed my gnoming ways right there in front of all my distinguished colleagues, I of course made them all pose with the new gnome ;) Pics are posted here: http://picasaweb.google.com/maryvig/UABGnoming Ahhh... how I do love a good gnome! Enjoy the pics, and happy gnoming...

Gnome News

We were in Centennial Olympic Park tonight, enjoying the balmy weather and taking pictures for our Christmas cards, when suddenly we were approached by an attractive bald man followed by cameras and a tv crew. Next thing we knew he was in our Christmas card pic, and we were being filmed for the CNN Headline News program 'News to Me.' After chatting for a bit, we learned the bald man was the show's host, Eric Lanford. Now I know what you're all wondering... and oh yes, he held the g'nome. Though we were chided for not recognizing him, we claimed ignorance because of our lack of cable and he was very nice and funny. As we were parting ways, we couldn't help but notice someone in a bunny costume. Now THERE'S a story. Eric headed over to check it out and turns out it was a group of German tourists who also filmed a bit for the show with him. Quite a night in the park! The show will air next weekend on CNN so if YOU have cable, you should definitely check it out. It airs every Saturday and Sunday 12:30 pm & 5:30 pm ET. You can also check it out on the show's website: http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/news.to.me/

Lithuania? Really?

So we're watching the Amazing Race tonight and Phil announces that Lithuania is the "land og nomes," and that tonight's Road Block challenge in the Lithuanian town of Rusiskes involves searching the village for the Travelocity roaming gnome among “100 of his closest Lithuanian gnome friends.” Well, I got all excited and Shannon said "I guess we're going to Lithuania..." until much to my dismay, I google "lithuania, gnome" today and all that comes up are freakin references to the show. So I'm thinking Lithuania is a little less the land of gnomes than Travelocity is Amazing Race's biggest corporate sponsor... sigh...

New Yorker Gnome

Our pocket-size travelling gnome, Gerald, whom I must admit creeps me out too much to be frequented on the blog, took an impromptu trip to NYC with Julie & I this week and had his pic taken while visiting the Statue of Liberty. Pic posted here. Creep away tiny gnome, creep away...

gnome in san francisco

Gunther did San Francisco this weekend... dirty dirty gnome that he is. You can read all about our trip on our travel blog, flyingwheats.blogspot.com!

Gerald's christening

The newest addition to the g'nome family was officially christened on his first-ever trip to visit Christine in Boston. Here is a picture of Gerald in Plymouth, where the pilgrims first settled and home to the infamous rock of course. Gerald is pocket sized and solid, making him quite the travel companion. He fits easily into a pocket or small designer purse, for example, with no problem whatsoever. Welcome Gerald, you creepy creepy faced gnome you!

Nica-gnome

Christine spent Spring Break in Nicaragua, con Natasha and G'xine (Dos). They took some fabulous pix - I'm posting my facvorite here and the rest can be seen in the KodakGallery album (http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=6ro274n.7nnnbe6b&x=1&y=dxau5p) - among them, the beautiful Nicaraguan countryside, fun times with stray dog, refreshing water in a bag, the fun goes on and on!

honeygnome

Well Shan & I are old and married now and I forgot all about updating the blog until today. But Gunther of course accompanied us on our honeymoon last month and you can see pictures of his travels here: http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=6ro274n.5vvqegs7&x=1&y=-7kacp6

He was also featured in several pictures in our photo guestbook thanks to some mischievous wedding guests who had a little fun placing him in different locations around the Church.

And Natasha has informed me that G'xine Dos is currently travelling around Nicaragua visiting different P-Score volunteers and being very well documented, both by photo and log book. Yay!

g'nome going away party

G'xine suffered a tragic accident en route to Nicaragua and thus had to be replaced with a new, improved g'nome who will appear in pics from the Nic hilariously eating some kind of corn-looking food from a sack. We sent him off in style with a going away party (and by "we" I mean me, alone in my apartment taking pictures of a porcelain gnome figurine and chuckling to myself). You can see pics here: http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=6ro274n.7gc1a6x3&x=1&y=-wu1u94

gunther does a wedding

Gunther made the trip down to P'cola with Shan & I this weekend for Clint & Jessica's wedding. I believe it was the first official g'nome wedding sighting ;) I was tempted to tuck him into my bouquet so he could walk down the aisle with me, but thought better of it. G'nomes are not appreciated by everyone I guess... But how hilarious would it have been to have set him in some discrete location on the altar so that he was in every wedding picture? Mwa ha! ;)

MO ROCCA

Mo Rocca came to the Alys Stephens Center this past Saturday, so of course Gunther had to get his picture made with him!! That's 3 celebrities so far, 1 signer of the Constitution and several frighted pedestrians! Yessssssssssss!!!

g'nome update for the new year!

We finally have photographic proof that g'xine DOES in fact exist, in all her crippled glory. She is pictured here with Natasha & Mary. She was the very first g'nome... awwww... :)

I've added new Boston g'nome pix to the online album: http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=6ro274n.7nnnbe6b&x=1&y=dxau5p
When you're in the Slideshow you can skip ahead to the new pics by mousing over the little squares at the bottom to find ones you haven't seen. Benjamin Franklin, foot-kissing, Freedom Trail + more! Enjoy.

And don't forget - please send any g'nome pix you've taken to maryvig@gmail.com and I will add them to the ever-growing album :) I've posted the most current version of the registry below. Let me know if you notice any errors... the other way wasn't tracking correctly, entries kept disappearing on me. So I'll just do it this way for awhile... yes, I made a spreadsheet ;) Ha. Surprised? Didn't think so. Anyway, we have g'nomes in 11 unique locations - 3 countries, 7 states baby!!!

Happy g'noming!

*the registry*

b.c. g'nomes

So g'nome fever has officially spread to boston! Some of xine's law school friends saw our g'nome pix, etc. and requested a special g'nome delivery from AL. However, I seem to have bought out every g'nome in the b'ham metro area, so there was a bit of a panic. But then I found another funny pose/version of our beloved g'nomes to send to boston college so all is well. I am posting a pic here of the b.c. army of g'nomes :) Please note that these g'nomes have their legs crossed (v. gayly) with hands resting on knee. So v. gay and lovely. I heart them v. much.

gilmore w/ the bartender @ cheers

new g'nome pics + new g'nome!!

Rashi brought me a *fabulous* cubicle-warming gift today. Here he is.... Bartholomew!!! I'm calling him Bart for short. He's much bigger than our other g'nomes (and manish). I heart him... :)

Steve Hofstetter recently sent in some pics of G-Unit's travels. I've added them to the album with the others here: http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=6ro274n.7nnnbe6b&x=1&y=dxau5p

1st celebrity sighting!

So Aaron Ruell & Jon Heder (aka Kip & Napoleon of Napoleon Dynamite) came to UAB and we got a chance to meet them and take pics, etc. So I had to pull out Gunther. I think they were a little afraid of me as they look less than thrilled to be holding the g'nome, but hey - I wasn't leaving without this picture! Enjoy :)

g'nome publicity

Some of you may recognize the name Steve Hofstetter from facebook. He's the comic who's trying to get 100,000 friends on fb. Anyway, check out this page from his website and see if you recognize anyone ;)
http://www.stevehofstetter.com/shirts.cfm

*** G'nome Registry ***

This is where you can record your g'nomes g'name and their whereabouts. Pictures are encouraged! Happy g'noming! Please include your name as well as your g'nome's g'name, birthdate & location. You can copy and paste the template below, and then just click on comments to leave your g'nome info. And then I'll add it to the list! If you have yet to name your g'nome and need some inspiration, check out www.babynames.com/Names/G

Please use the comments feature on THIS POST only :) That way all the little g'names will be together in one place.

Thanks, and Happy G'noming!


G'name:
Birthdate:
Location:

And here are all our g'noming pics so far - thanks much for all your submissions!
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=6ro274n.7nnnbe6b&x=1&y=dxau5p