Kites, abandoned mine workings, fun!

[hirez]

1) Gaffer-tape camera to kite line.

2) Some wind things.

3) Profit!

That was jolly good fun. The mystery kite turns out to have been designed by a colourblind Mexican on acid and have rather too many spars. This means it's disturbingly quiet but tends to fall out of the sky at inopportune moments.

On the other hand, I remembered how to land a delta properly.

Broke a skyclaw, though.

I'm now in a satisfactorily cheerful state of not giving a bugger about anything. I wonder how long it's going to last?

Comments

[nalsa.livejournal.com]

*applause*

That's sterling work, there. Motion sickness-inducing, but brilliant.

[steer.livejournal.com]

That's great -- how did you get the camera to stay pointed at you or was that just a fortunate coincidence?

[hirez.livejournal.com]

jarkman was technical lead. I was just the PFY.

Gaffer tape, though. I'll see if I can persuade the relevant bit of Picasaweb to play. Or just copy a jpeg or two onto my own swerver.

[jarkman.livejournal.com]

Like this?

[bluekieran.livejournal.com]

next up: http://xkcd.com/kite/kite_trick.jpg ?

[hirez.livejournal.com]

What I really want to achieve is footage from a Flexi steaming across the landscape at next-to-zero feet. So basically the kite-pilot stays relatively static in the centre of the frame while the ground goes past at many MPH.

[d-floorlandmine.livejournal.com]

I'll be having a look as soon as I'm somewhere where streaming media feeds aren't blocked (such as my sofa), rather than in the office. Because that looks rather interesting, especially with the added jarkman illustrative image.

[bogwitch64.livejournal.com]

That made me dizzy! But it's nice seeing you again, JHR. :)

[easterbunny.livejournal.com]

I hereby award you the June 2009 Benjamin Franklin Certificate of Recognition For the Use of Kites with Electrics.

Splendid.

[jarkman.livejournal.com]

Does that come with a prize in the form of thick rubbery boots ?

[easterbunny.livejournal.com]

No, but you do win this beautiful stove (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b3/Franklin_stove.jpg) and a trip to the post office of your choice.

[jarkman.livejournal.com]

Stove ? I think you're looking at the world's first armoured cube there.

See how the pelmet will guard the occupant's head ? The desk will deal with the knee-to-torso range, and a sturdy monitor will protect the chest.

Perfect safety in the workplace. I'm amazed these fabric cubes ever caught on.

[easterbunny.livejournal.com]

For an office, maybe. For the home, I'm not convinced. A few elves equipped with carry-on sized diamond-tipped circular saws dropped down the chimney, and suddenly Santa has breached the pelmet, bypassed the front door alarm system, and gained access to household goods without obvious break-and-entry damage even to the stove's baffles.

Lengthening days and the sweet chirping of summer birds does not mean that one can for a second shirk seasonal security vigilance.

[jarkman.livejournal.com]

I think it's the fault of the Industrial Revolution.

In the old days, it took the elves pretty much the whole year to make all the toys. But now, with modern mechanisation, the whole run takes them a couple of afternoons in November, and that leaves them the rest of the year to pursue their natural Viking recreations.

What we need is a wholesale return to hand-carved wooden toys, preferably with Nordic pinecone themes. Then we can enjoy our home offices in safety.

[easterbunny.livejournal.com]

Yes. A return to simpler times, when toys reflected life, death, and a stern warning to idle hands. Something like this (http://www.ningyoushi.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=GAMA057-B9).

[jarkman.livejournal.com]

I'm with you in principle, but I fear you may be making a map/territory error with your example.

This (http://www.kingofswords.com/Swords/Movie-Replicas/New-Movie-Swords/Star-Trek-Klingon-Batleth-48.html)is the kind of thing that can really cause trouble for idle hands.

Though I'm not sure it would be sensible to ask the elves to make those. Or anything else with 'handy for marauding' on the serving suggestion.

[easterbunny.livejournal.com]

That's just the sort of all-purpose kitchen aid for which I have vainly searched the Lakeland catalogue! Not only do the two end points allow the snazzy buffet visitor to simultaneously snag mouth-watering hors d'oeuvres from platters with a 4 foot spatial separation, but the middle blade is a precision-balanced mezzaluna.

Of course, just because it's a stocking stuffer does not mean that it's a toy.

[jarkman.livejournal.com]

No. It could as easily be a foot. Or custard. You find all kinds of things in stockings.

I wonder if the Klingons knew they were working to ease the problems of finger food ?