1930’s farm truck

1930farmtruck1

tardis_by_homemadezombieIt’s flashback time!

This is something that appeared on my older blog, “Time to Bolt,” and was originally posted on June 16, 2012. The content has remained largely unchanged.

This model was built in December of 2011, and was the first true Erector model I had built in over a decade.

The core design came from the “Engineers 7.5” set. The “How to make ‘um” book from that set contained instructions for a set of chassis, and then several models that could be built on those chassis. This particular model was a custom design. After building the chassis, I threw in all sort of features from the other models and came up with this concoction.

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The Engineers set included illustrations for a feed and grain truck, an ice truck, trolley repair truck, fie engine and dump truck, all based on the chassis model.

This set of models was probably a throwback to the Erector “White Truck” set from the 1920’s. The more elaborate chassis parts, like the radiator grill and engine hood, were not included in the Engineers set, but they weren’t hard to simulate using other parts. Truck models have been a standard for Erector builders since the earliest sets; they are almost as pervasive as the walking beam engines. It’s not hard to see why. The basic chassis could become the foundation for dozens of different models. Essentially anything with wheels could be built from the standard chassis, or a variation of them.

The result reminds me of the heavy farm trucks that used to operate in the 1930’s. A given farm may have only one truck available, and because of the economy in those days, the truck had to do just about everything a working farm would need a truck for. It might carry produce in the morning, equipment in the afternoon, and livestock in the evening, with only a quick rinse with a hose between jobs.

The model was fun to build, and my daughter had a lot of fun playing with it once it was finished. As you can see, a My Little Pony is currently driving the truck. I have absolutely no idea where the pony is driving the truck, or what was going to be riding in the bed when it returned. But it do know that the truck itself had no trouble doing the job.

The model itself was broken down around New Year’s, when the parts became needed for another project. If I ever manage to acquire the specialized chassis parts, like the ones from the White Truck set, I’ll certainly do some more truck building.

1930farmtruck2

Gallery

Zany Scary

Sleepyogre

Treemonster

My nephew and godson, Connor, just celebrated his ninth birthday, and his party was held at an indoor miniature golf course and arcade called Monster Mini Golf. Functionally, it was like a lot of indoor playground venues. This one had an indoor mini-golf course, a suite of arcade games, and accommodations for a disc jockey. What set it apart was the theme. The place looked like a set from the Hilarious House of Frightenstein, and the staff were dressed like stereotypical mad scientists and “Igor” types. The decor was predominantly black, with splashes of day-glo paint everywhere. The private party room looked like it was pulled from the set of the old Addams Family TV series, with all manner of tacky and hilarious decorations. And finally, the bad puns that were incorporated into the murals and other artwork would send most English majors into cardiac arrest.

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It was a totally zany and fun place to have a children’s party. Near as I can tell, everyone had fun. My daughter likes one of the place’s mascots, a ghoul-girl named Stella Skellarella (pictured above), who looks like a recent graduate of Monster High.

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I hope this place lasts for a while. I’ve been to a number of places like this over the years, and sadly, they don’t last very long. They are often set up in response to a particular fad or pop culture trend, and do very well for a while. But once the fad runs down, the business goes down as well. Sometimes the owners of these places see the changes in the wind and react accordingly. The business may close for a month, then re-emerge with a whole new look and theme. Or they find a creative way to re-invent themselves anew. Or, sadly, they fall off the radar and quietly vanish. I thought this place was rather fun, so I’m hoping it does not suffer that unpleasant and all-to-common fate.

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But I must make one confession regarding those hideous puns. I wish I had thought of them first.

Theosaurus Rex (Godzilla)

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A couple of weeks ago, my family and I picked up a copy of the latest Godzilla movie (2014) from a local Red Box. We watched giant monsters terrorize the world, while we terrorized our stomachs with nachos.

Spoiler alert!

The movie was fairly pedestrian, but not at all bad. Simply put, humanity tampered with things it didn’t fully understand. Ancient, dormant creatures were released as a result, and Mother Nature (Gaea?) had to bring out her 400-foot tall enforcer to put things right again. The story has been done before. Godzilla 2000 had a similar theme, though in that film the antagonist was an alien. In some ways, this movie reminded me more of the Gamera franchise than Godzilla, in that the star monster was less of a terror villain and more of a giant action hero.

Regardless, I thought the movie was fun. Personally, I would have liked to see more of the Big G and less of those MUTO things, though they were cool in their own way. The movie was pretty much what I expected from a Godzilla movie. Parts of it were more cerebral than many earlier Godzilla movies, and it certainly wasn’t a camp fest, but so what.

However.

From what I have read, a lot of people were very disappointed by the film. Given the hype and anticipation the film received, I don’t think any movie could even begin to live up to the expectations of Big G’s fan base, but that’s something else. After trolling the various forums and fan sites (and when I say trolling I’m using it in the fishing context), the predominant theme I found was that people wanted something more apocalyptic. They wanted something with a more poetic, and decidedly frightening theme. Or they just wanted to see humanity get its ass kicked.

Actually, humanity did get its ass kicked, but it was by the MUTOs and not Godzilla. Perhaps that was the problem? Godzilla wasn’t the living embodiment of nuclear terror that he was in the 1954 original. That role was played by the MUTOs. Godzilla was actually one of the good guys! Or at least one of the less worse guys. He even got cheered when he saved San Francisco from being turned into gravel. And apparently, that left the fan base disappointed.

Me, I just shrugged and said “Meh, it was a Godzilla movie.” But I thought about the frustrated fans, and started wondering. Then I did something I haven’t done in a very, very long time: I drafted a fan fiction. Don’t worry, I didn’t write it, and I only got as far as an outline. But I tried to design a Godzilla story that would have been more in line with what his disappointed fans wanted. That is to say, an apocalyptic horror monster film that was loaded with messages and metaphors.

So for your enjoyment, here is that draft. Disclaimer: this is only a plot outline, and is intended here for purposes of humor. Nachos, soda, and a healthy respect for sarcasm is strongly recommended.

Godzilla: Theosaurus Rex

  • In the 1960’s, a freighter, carrying highly toxic chemical and nuclear waste, is lost in a typhoon somewhere in the Pacific, not far from the infamous Bikini Atoll. Attempts to locate the dangerous payload were unsuccessful, largely because of the water depth and the prevailing currents. For a few years after the accident, studies were conducted to see what effect the spill would have, but nothing definitive ever came to light. Or rather, nothing important was reported on the news. Gradually, everyone forgot, and records of the event vanished into various warehouses.
  • In late 2014, an offshore oil refinery, somewhere in Indonesia, is destroyed from below. The resulting fire was so large it was seen and photographed by the International Space Station! Rescue workers were on the scene within 20 minutes of the explosion, but only small scraps of wreckage were found, along with two or three survivors who can do nothing more than describe a long, terrifying bellow from what they can only describe as a “massive creature.”
  • The incident hit the news by storm, and was a big hit on social media. No one seriously thought there was a sea monster, of course. But the conspiracy buffs and doomsday cults had a veritable field day!
  • Questions flew for weeks, and there is even an investigation into the event. But when nothing more happens, and no new evidence came to light, the excitement starts to ebb.
  • Then in early 2015 (February or March), everything changed. Godzilla, all 400 feet of him, comes ashore near Jakarta. The unstoppable force of nature proceeds to trash an oil refinery and a huge power station. After a pause in the nearby ocean, he reduces the city of Jakarta to ruin. All conventional weapons are useless against him.
  • The world is in a panic! For almost a week there is a frantic attempt to track or contain the creature, but to no avail. About ten days after the destruction of Jakarta, Singapore suffers the same fate.
  • About a week after that, Kuala Lumpur is hit. A common news clip shows Godzilla toppling the famous Petronas Towers like they were stacked boxes. Now the world community is desperate. Godzilla’s behavior pattern seems to consist of leveling areas of high energy throughput and chemical activity. Pollution might be a factor as well, but the scientists are undecided.
  • In a secret meeting of the UN Security Council, it is decided that if the opportunity presents itself, an ICBM nuclear missile will be fired at Godzilla. Who fires the missile will depend entirely on where the creature appears.
  • A few days later, Godzilla is sighted coming ashore in southern Thailand. The closest high-yield ICBM is at a United States military base in Australia, so the Americans launch an ICBM at Godzilla. China had one of their missiles on standby should the American one fail to reach target. The nuclear warhead detonates right in front of Godzilla’s feet, and levels everything within ten miles. But to everyone’s horror, the nuke has no effect on Godzilla. The force of the blast knocked him into the ocean, but nothing more. If anything the radiation and fallout appears to have made Godzilla stronger!
  • Bangkok and Phnom Penh are leveled more or less on schedule over the following two weeks. Evidence suggests that Godzilla is feeding on the energy output of human population centers, and isn’t likely to stop until he’s completely gorged himself.
  • When Godzilla did not resurface after his usual seven to ten day rest, there was hope that perhaps he had gone dormant again and that the nightmare was over. Nope. He comes ashore in Shanghai, China, makes a direct line up the Yangtze to the Three Gorges Dam, and trashes both the dam and everything around it. The Chinese attempted to stop Godzilla by using a combination of nuclear, chemical and even biological weapons. None of them have a lasting effect.
  • As news pours in about mass destruction, there is a realization that humanity has met its proverbial match. It is only a matter of time before Godzilla levels every major city on earth. Whatever cosmic balance humanity has upset, Godzilla is here to restore that balance, and there is nothing we can do to stop him. The lingering question is the future of humanity. What are we going to do now? One secondary character, in a mad attempt at gallows humor, will joke that this may be a good time to try colonizing the moon and Mars, because Earth just gave us our eviction notice. Strangely, no one laughed.

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And that’s how it ends! Godzilla is going to destroy human civilization one city at a time, with the aim of knocking humanity back to a technology level that is naturally sustainable. That would most likely be a Pre-Industrial level, akin to the early 1800’s. That would involve some very traumatic adjustments on our part. The 80% population drop for starters. Humanity, all sections of it, have to collectively decide what to do while there is still a human civilization left to save.

And in case you didn’t guess, the Greek name means “God lizard king.” That seemed to fit nicely.

So, to all of you disappointed Godzilla fans out there, would that have been better? Is that apocalyptic enough? Did humanity get sufficiently ass whooped? (I’m honestly asking, and I’m trying to be sarcastic-funny, not nasty.) My wife says that a movie that follows this story is likely to get high critical acclaim for sheer chutzpah. But because of the inherent hopelessness of the story, it would be a commercial bomb.

Ah, what we have to endure in the name of art.

The best toys ever…

2 Comments

Time to bolt!It’s Time to bolt!

Erectorbook

tardis_by_homemadezombieIt’s flashback time!

This is something that appeared on my older blog, “Time to Bolt,” and was originally posted on June 15, 2012. The content has remained largely unchanged.

Most kids love toys, and most kids have one toy that is their all-time favorite. But sometimes there is one toy that you never seem to outgrow.  You may put it aside for a few years, or even a decade or so, but somehow it always comes back, sometimes when you least expect it. For me, that toy is the A.C. Gilbert Erector.

I became an Erector fan during my teens (late 1970’s to early 1980’s), largely because my Dad was one.  Somewhere around 1978, he passed his set on to me.  I had been using a smaller set at that point, and his circa 1948, “Engineers 7.5” set was a bit daunting.  He pretty much let me figure things out for myself.

I played with that set for ages.  During my teen years it was frequently in use.  I even recall using it to do my physics homework!

When I left for college in 1985, the composite Erector set went dormant for several years.  My brother had access to it, but never used it much; he was largely a Lego man.  When I moved to the Washington, DC area in 1996, the set came with me, though it was still dormant in it’s metal toolbox.

Fast forward to December of 2011.  I pulled the set out of mothballs to build a maquette of a home project.  I was trying to design a piece of furniture for the home, and the Erector set gave me a very clear view of how my design would work: It simply wouldn’t.  Oh well.

But after this, I continued to tinker and build with the set.  That chaotic collection of beams and plates was like seeing an old friend after almost twenty years.  Surprisingly, I had forgotten how much fun the Erector could be!  I have a stressful “white-collar” job, and bolting together pieces of metal has proven to be very therapeutic!  Apparently I regressed a bit, and didn’t care.  But something unexpected happened.

My (then) five year old daughter saw the Erector, with all it’s perforated girders, sheets of metal, and antique motor, and was totally enthralled!  My father was a strong advocate of building toys for children.  Erector, Lego, Tinkertoy, American bricks, Lincoln Logs, plain old wooden blocks… the specific toy didn’t matter.  So long as it inspired imagination and creativity, he would say.  My daughter has tried to build things with the Erector, but she gets easily frustrated.  I suspect that’s because the tiny parts of the Erector are a tad beyond her age bracket.  I tell her to be patient (“you’ll grow into it”), or, to try her idea using Lego instead.  Try she did, and she’s managed to make some pretty neat stuff with Lego!  And she has a renewed interest in her basic wooden blocks and Thomas the Tank Engine building materials.  She’s also been doing a lot of artistic stuff, like drawing and painting, with renewed gusto.  I can’t help but think the Erector inspired this burst of creativity.  If there is one thing Erector could always do, it was get the imagination running.  Apparently, that 60-year old set can still do that.

Now I understand what my dad was talking about all those years back. The family Erector set has been in semi-steady use ever since, and I’m now looking into doing some restoration and salvage on many of the parts.  This may turn out to be something I can share with my daughter for several years to come.  I’m hoping so. At the very least, I’m hoping I can share my experiences with this classic toy with other fans of Erector and it’s cousins.

The best toys ever made are the ones that you never totally outgrow, and the ones that always manage to provide something new, no matter how many times you play with them.  Erector was, and still is, one of the best.

Additional thoughts from 2014.

The Erector hasn’t seen much use in recent months. That’s because part of my house is being remodeled, and I don’t want to lose any of the pieces in the chaos! But since writing this essay I have managed to acquire a variety of new parts, and I’ve even learned how to fabricate some of the non-metal parts from the classic and renaissance eras. I’m looking into ways to re-create parts using scraps of sheet metal and my Dremel tool. We’ll see how that works out.

My daughter is now approaching nine years old, and she had gotten better with the Erector. She is still by and large a Lego “master builder,” though, and she’s made some pretty amazing stuff with those things!

The inspiration from the Erector set still burns brightly.