Or is it a mine?
I was looking through a few google images for a few torpedo designs and I came across this. Mondavi appears to be a Winery, which confuses matters even further for me.
What exactly is this? I bet I’m in for a real mundane explanation.
Most of the plumbing & tankage used in winemaking is stainless steel. Which that thing appears to be. Beyond that I got nothin’.
Well, that set me on an exercise in Googling. Here’s what I found: Robert Mondavi, who died at the age of 95, was a Napa Valley vintner who was also “a marketing genius” (described as such by several reliable sources). He endowed two major insitutions affiliated with U. Cal at DavusL the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts and the Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science. Quite a few members of his extended family seem to have careers of varying success in the arts.
Whoever the pohotographer Audie Hanpachern is, it appears that ye olde torpedoe was located on the grounds of the Mondavi vineyards in the area toured by the public, and was shot by Audie on a tour of the grounds. There are transparent cup shaped caps over the ends of all the projections. Both signs appear to say “Please do not disturb” – the enlargement makes the right one clear, the left one seems to have the same inscription but is not legible in the picture.
I believe mines were at one time called torpedoes.
Aside from the numerous projections, it resembles a B-58 pod.
Yup, that thing looks like art.
My guess is that it’s an abstract sculpture. Mondavi is one of the biggest, richest wineries in California and has a lot of artwork on the grounds.
There are a couple of small signs on the platform in front of the whatever-it-is. I tried enlarging the picture, but there isn’t enough detail to read the sign. There may be enough detail in the original picture (people generally shrink their photos when they post them on-line). You could try posting a comment to flickr asking what the signs say.
The signs say “Please do not touch”
(You can see if you view the original size)
Yes. That’s what David Farragut meant when he said “Damn the torpedoes” during the battle of Mobile Bay.
Anyway, I’d agree that it’s an artwork.
I’ve seen torpedoes and mines close up. This ain’t either.
Sounds like a weapons pod to me.