I tip my hat to you sir. Billy Mays would be proud. – Ms. Fix-It
Favorite Comment: Fixer Dogmeat says, “A sobering fact: over 75,000 injuries (10,000 of them being children) are sustained from lawnmowers every year in the US alone! Mowers have no conscience and will indiscriminately lop off the extremities of anyone foolish enough to venture too close. If left unchecked, they will often run off only to join up in packs of strays that terrorize the entire area. So PLEASE…respect and obey the lawnmower leash laws! Keep your mower tied up in your yard so that senseless attacks can be prevented.”
Think of the children, they said. Well nobody thought about poor Joe and now look where he is. – Ms. Fix-It
Favorite Comment: Fixer Sihaya says, “His wife is gonna be so mad that he didn’t buy the station wagon in the background. The fuel economy is so much better. But noooo, he had to have a truck. I’m telling ya, no matter where you go, some things never change.”
As much as I love what digital games have achieved, there’s just something about watching dark gray pixels move at right angles against a brackish green background. – Ms. Fix-It
Favorite Comment: Fixer Jompe71 says, “Stabilizing the roof… Destroying the spectacular view… Stabilizing the roof… Destroying the spectacular view.. “Eeny, meeny, miny, moe”
Afternoon Fixers! Today I thought we’d all share a group sigh that summer isn’t here yet. The best way to do this? Looking at a snippet of history from one of staples of family vacation: Disneyland. While researching for just the right kludge to talk about, I realized I could go on and on and on about the things rigged together over the years to keep the illusion of the happiest place on Earth going. So maybe we’ll revisit again sometime.
But today I’m talking about Star Tours. And America Sings. And how when you don’t have the time want to preserve the history of Disney you can kludge together the Space Age from the past.
If you’ve never been to Disneyland and ridden Star Tours, here’s quick video about the little robots that entertain you in line and have become mascots for the ride.
They look pretty complex; what with all the wires and gizmos sticking out all over the place. But they have a secret. They’re not robots…they’re geese! These geese in fact.
Photo Courtesy of: Wikipedia
These guys are from America Sings, which ran at Disneyland from 1974 to 1988. When it was finally shut down to help recoup the cost of Splash Mountain (as a way of apology many of the America Sings animals were transplanted to this attraction), two of the geese were plucked and repositioned in their new places of honor. Why buy new animatronics when you can reuse the old AND give homage to a gone but still loved attraction? There, the Imagineers fixed it!
Favorite Comment: Fixer Dogmeat says, “(two imagineers disassembling the first act from the America Sings attraction)
“What do they have you doing besides this, Don?”
“I’m on the Star Tours effort. The deadlines are so unrealistic, though. If I don’t finish building the last animatronics display for the waiting line by the end of next week, my goose is cooked! I haven’t even gotten started!”
“I’d be happy come by and see what I can do to help. Mind if I take a gander?”
*lightbulb turns on* ”Mick, you’re a genius!”
Hold on you guys. The officer is making the best face. Lemme upload it to twitpic real fast! – Ms. Fix-It
Favorite Comment: Fixer bob_super says, “It’s an improvement on OnStar. In case of accident, your facebook status gets automatically updated to jkuh alreiuthtgaheruls.,m”
Or the Dr. and his Sun, Kist, will be soda-pressed. – Ms. Fix-It
Favorite Comment: Fixer Peter says, “Sing with me:
Got my spine I’ve got my Orange Crush!!!”
Well not everyone can afford multiple portable DVD players for road trips, ya know. – Ms. Fix-It
Favorite Comment: Fixer dono1 says, “Sure your parents can come along on vacation with us. But there’s a hitch…”
Now you’re stuck aren’t you? Serves you right. You sit there and think about what you’ve done. What would Sara think? – Ms. Fix-It
Favorite Comment: Fixer kc/cc says, “I love how it seems like the artwork on the wall means this room is meant to have children in it, yet it is structurally unsound, there are cleaning chemicals sitting around, and the bookcase is ready to topple with the first attempted climb…”
BONUS: Fixer anodean wrote a song for Chair! First verse is here and the rest after the jump!
Then came the day they were scrubbin’ and shinin’
When the ceiling cracked and men started crying.
Bubbles were risin’, and hearts beat fast
And everybody thought they had breathed their last
‘Cept Chair.
Most people play to H-O-R-S-E. They’re playing to the pain. – Ms. Fix-It
Favorite Comment: Fixer Dogmeat knocks it out of the park (yes I know, wrong sport) “First things first, we play to H-O-R-S-E .”
“No! To the pain.”
“I don’t think I’m quite familiar with that game.”
“I’ll explain, and I’ll use small words so that you’ll be sure to understand, you warthog-faced buffoon!”
“That may be the first time in my life a man has dared trash talk me.”
“It won’t be the last. ‘To the pain’ means the first thing you lose will be your pole, from the ground, then your rim, at the bolts. Next, your net.”
“And then my backboard, I suppose. I beat you too quickly the last game…a mistake I don’t mean to duplicate today!”
“I wasn’t finished! The next thing you lose will be your left shoe followed by your right.”
“And then my replacement basketball hoop. I understand. Let’s get on with it!”
“WRONG!! Your kludged hoop you keep, and I’ll tell you why. So that every shriek of every child at seeing its hideousness will be yours to cherish. Every babe that weeps upon approach, every basketballer who cries out, ‘Dear God, what is that thing?’ will echo in your mind when you play. That is what ‘to the pain’ means. It means I leave you in anguish, wallowing in freakish misery forever.”
They better be careful. Looks like they’re in The Danger Zone. – Ms. Fix-It
Favorite Comment: Fixer SpaceFairie says, “We all know it’s not a night out unless you wake up with a traffic cone.
Clearly this guitar had itself a wild night out.”
