So I'm getting obsessed with thinking about this fullsize sportscar snowmobile and keep doodling different designs for the way the treads, suspension, steering, throttle, breaks, driveline…
For the tread and suspension system, the treads have internal suspension (and their own mini-chassis) allowing them to change their shape, and a primary long travel suspension system that joins this mini-chassis to the main chassis. The steering and throttle are dual lever rather than steering wheel. How far forward a lever is pushed determines the throttle and speed of that set of treads, and the differential between the two levers controls the steering, with the brakes being controlled by left and right pedals. The driveline is a pair of air cooled VW engines turned ninety degrees (so they're standing on it's edge and are quite narrow) on automatic transmissions.
I think it would be pretty fun, sort of like a sand rail built for snow, with crazy amounts of power and pretty good manuverability (kind of a split between a snowmobile and a tank system, plus in the snow the hulled skis could be swapped for tires. There's nothing in it that's particularly exotic (more just “weird”) so it's probably not that hard to put together. I wonder if there would be a market for them…
OK, since it's Friday night and my inbox is flooding with more news of my wacky life, yes, Rachel and I are both in the new Clerks II movie. I am officially “ear guy” in the credits and she's I think “girl at counter with ear guy” or something. “Ear guy”… story of my life, summed up in two words, ha.
But seriously, the movie is really good and worth going to see — the whole theatre was laughing their heads off and all pointlessly clapped at the end — if you like outrageously vulgar humor (including, among other things, a relatively friendly depiction of man on donkey love) overlaid with a touching and sometimes serious romance tale. I have to admit it made me miss working at Stainless Studios, probably the only “real” (emphasis on the air quotes) job I've ever had, a lot. It's interesting how much more value a timeperiod can have to you in the present than it seemed to in the past.
Criminal use of cellphone by Phil.
We did an hour long interview with Kevin Smith that may or may not end up on the bonus DVD as well. The shoot was really fun and was everyone was very nice… and Ben Affleck is a
GIANT in real life — it's seriously freaky. You know how a Bentley is like a normal luxury car, but scaled up 25% or something? Well, that's pretty much Ben Affleck — when he shakes your hand it's like that scene in
Shallow Hal with Anthony Robbins. It's freaky, but kind of awe-inspiring at the same time.
Anyway, big thanks to Rachel for setting the whole thing up.
Actually, it's also too tall to fit in the garage now.
So we got back the Cherokee today. I've been building it up a little to make it more fun to drive and a more suitable vehicle for Jon's filming. It still has to be painted and have its cagework applied, but the first step of lifting it is done. It looks a little less aggressive right now because I just have a basically free set of used 33″ tires on it which will be swapped to something more mean in the fall. Anyway, it's currently stock other than about a 6″ lift and the swap to the larger tires…
I think the only other ongoing project is the
V8 trike… Yeah, I still have it. Yeah, it's still in pieces. The current debate is whether to finish it off as a street/race trike as planned, or whether to convert it into a
really insane snowmobile. I have a different snowmobile design though that I prefer…
Other than that, Phil and Saira and I are going to go see Clerks II tonight, and I think we're going to the Matadors show at the Kathedral tomorrow. They put on an amazing show; if you're in the Toronto area, come!
Bad picture, but as you can see and probably know, I normally wear glasses.
My prescription is very mild, so I can pretty much do everything without having to hear them, although I am legally required to wear them to drive. I think while Rachel and Nefarious are in Mexico I'm finally going to get around to having the laser surgery done. They're advertising it now as giving you “better than 20/20 vision” in most cases. As you know from the magnets, I definitely like even low-grade superpowers. Plus my glasses are always dirty and bent.
Oh, and while that picture makes it look like I have grey hair, I'm pretty sure it's just an artifact of the photo's flash! As much as I wish my hair would turn grey so I could fine tune my look into something a bit more Otis B. Driftwood…
Oh, almost forgot… I wanted to try “cold branding” so I got some of that DIY wart remover stuff at the drugstore. A few days ago I blasted a bit at my finger as well as a tattooed black patch on my leg (if it's going deep enough to kill a wart it should be going deep enough to remove ink I figure — emphasis on the “if”). There are small blisters (including the one on my finger which tore off as you can see), but honestly, I don't think it's going to do much.
Yeah, the pictures are kind of gross.
PS. To be clear this is for a branding experiment. I'm not covered in warts.
