Cardiff Kook

Sixteen-foot-tall bronze and granite sculpture erected in 2007 in Cardiff-by-the-sea, California, adjacent to Pacific Coast Highway, depicting a young male surfer awkwardly perched mid-manuever on a shortboard; the sculpture's official name is "Magic Carpet Ride," but it is affectionately known as the Cardiff Kook to locals and the press.

Commissioned by the Cardiff Botanical Society for a hefty $120,000, the sculpture was designed and built by Encinitas artist and Mount San Jacinto College ...