Category: Gift Ideas

YAY! Bumpercars! YAY!


[via email from 1389AD]
We’ve featured Rat Rods before, but now it’s time for some street legal mobiles that would make Ralph Nader crawl into a freshly dug grave just to roll over.

Yes, you read that right; these little beasties are street legal.

They run on either Kawasaki or Honda motorcycle engines and co-opt vintage bumper car bodies into the most awesome form of mini-car we’ve seen in too long. There are seven of these little monsters floating around California and they’re all the creation of one man, Tom Wright, a builder in the outskirts of San Diego who figured the leftovers of the Long Beach Pike amusement park needed a more dignified end than the trash heap.

They were originally powered by two cylinder Harley Davidson Motorcycle engines but they rattled like heck because of the two cylinder vibration and Tom replaces them with four cylinder Honda or Kawasaki 750’s and a couple have been measured as capable of 160 MPH, which is terrifyingly fast in machines with such a short wheelbase.

Are these true Babe Magnets? For sure, and they’re Unsafe At Any Speed, which is just how we like it on Tacky Raccoons.

What A Fun Costume

Be a paper cowboy with a broken ankle.

[Found here.]

One Degree of Separation: Barbie & The Germs

Reminds me of The Waitresses. [Found in here. NSFK]

Batboy’s Tricycle

[Found here.]

Crossingpaths Animal Rescue Alabama

Crossingpaths Animal Rescue Alabama. Help ’em out. –Bunk

Ross Eugene Long’s Contribution to The World

On 26 March 2002 awesome happened. Ross Eugene Long III of Oakland California was awarded U.S. Patent 6360393. He invented the stick.

Abstract: An apparatus for use as a toy by an animal, for example a dog, to either fetch carry or chew includes a main section with at least one protrusion extending therefrom that resembles a branch in appearance. The toy is formed of any of a number of materials including rubber, plastic, or wood including wood composites and is solid. It is either rigid or flexible. A flavoring (scent) is added, if desired. The toy is adapted to float by including a material therein that is lighter than water or it is adapted to glow in the dark, as desired, by the addition of a fluorescent material that is either included in the material from which the toy is made or the flourescent material is applied thereto as a coating. The toy may be segmented (i.e., notched) so as to break off into smaller segments, as is useful for smaller animals or, alternatively, to extend the life of the toy. Various textured surfaces including camouflage colorings are anticipated as are straight or curved main sections. The toy may be formed of any desired material, as described, so as to be edible by the animal.

Not only did Eugene Long III invent the stick, he attached 20 claims to it based upon different materials and options that might be used to manufacture it. Pure brilliance, that.
[Full text of Patent here. Story discovered here. Additional info on the history of the Patent here. More awesome Contributions to The World here.]

Arrrgh.


How can you improve upon improvised pirate swords?

“Bobby! Let’s play pirates!”
“Great idea! I’ll go get the Plastic Guards! I’ll be back in an hour!”

Clever idea, but it won’t fly. Any kid who grew up near fallen branches could tell you that swords of the windfall variety don’t last long, and once your weapon has broken you need to find a replacement fast, otherwise you’re declared dead by default. Stopping to change your guard guarantees it.

Oh, well, it’s the thought that counts, and I wish I’d thought of it first.

[Found here.]

The .Gif Friday Post No.181 – Jar Barf, 5:56PM Rope Scratch & Live Photoshop

[Found here, here and here.]

Inflatable Cow Head. Why the F not.

[via]
Hungarian artist Géza Szöllősi is someone I’d like to meet, if only to ask, “What the hell’s wrong with you?”

Here’s a guy sitting around surfing the internet on taxidermy and a lightbulb goes off in his head. “Hey guys! Check it out! I’m gonna put a basketball bladder into a cow’s head!” and all his buddies snort Dreher’s beer out of their noses and spill their tallboys onto their laps to give him an enthusiastic thumbs up.

The .Gif Friday Post No.164 – Rollerballboy, Intumescence & Beer

[Found here, here and here.]