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Kinetic Sculpture Race 2004
YetAnotherName writes "Tom Jones again has coverage and eye-candy of the 2004 Baltimore Kinetic Sculpture Race where engineers and artists come together, with tongues firmly in cheeks, to create land-riding, mud-crawling, sea-slogging, human-powered works of art. Amongst the winners were the Cirque de Sore Legs and La Kafkaracha."
"Fifi" won the Best Bribes Award when two of her crew serenaded the judges on bended knee.
"The Valking Viscar Boot" was awarded the Worst Honorable Mention, for "half-baked theoretical 'engineering' which did not deter its Pilot from the challenge of the race"
"The Rat" won the Next-To-Last Award for coming in right near the end of the race.
I wish I'd known in advance, I only live about 45 minutes away and it would have been fun to watch.
Happy Trails!
Erick
http://www.busyweather.com/
Damn. The guy went from Vegas heartthrob to nerdy kinetic sculpture race guy.
They do the same thing here in Sweden a couple times per year. Here, the people have to build large cars, with even wings at the top, and then roll them at full speed down a large slope, which ends with a bridge, where they, looping and turning, fly (at least try to fly) down into the water from a 8 meter height. Real fun to watch :)
There are more kinds of nerds than computer nerds and robot-wars nerds. There are engineer nerds, art nerds, etc. This was a fun event which combined engineering, art, and good old-fashioned wackiness. Expand your horizons, man!
"It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it."
Forget Kinetic Races. This look more fun and more dangerous. This combines art and flying... or crashing... or something.
"Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
I have been going to the grand daddy of all Kinetic Sculpture Races for a few years. It is in the fine north-west; Arcata to be exact.
Go check it out (May 29-31) if you want to see some home grown hilarious technology. The sculptors are bizarre and have to do some amazing feats!
The Baltimore Lab School Art Department submitted The Berserker, this Viking-themed sculpture. Tragically, just outside Hooter's on the Inner Harbor about 4 miles into the race, one of their axles broke on a rut, and they could not continue the race aboard their sculpture. Was this an accident, or an "accident"? You decide!
Should be a lot more fun than watching my grass grow! ;-)
Hulk SMASH Celiac Disease