Tag Archives: inventions

Rude giraffe sticks tongue out at my aunt.

Rude giraffe sticks tongue out at my horrified Aunt Bessie.
Rude giraffe sticks tongue out at my horrified Aunt Bessie.

Thank goodness for the invention of cell phones. Now everybody can capture life’s precious moments with a quick flick of the finger.

My Aunt Bessie was scandalized when an otherwise polite giraffe stuck its long tongue out with sincere derision. The beast craned its neck for a really good look at my horrified relative. Then out came its mocking blue tongue.

I’ve been tempted to do something similar. But, alas, I’m a more civilized creature. All I can do is frame the wonderful photo and place it on the desk in my cubicle.

A house made of six million beer bottles.

Basic home building materials.
Basic home building materials.

Perhaps you remember the Six Million Dollar Man. He was fairly awesome. But have you heard of the even more awesome Six Million Beer Bottle House in Argentina? That’s quite a stack of beer bottles!

To drink six million beers, it would take you approximately three years. (Assuming you chug four beers per minute and continue without stopping, even to pee.)

Another interesting factoid: Six million beers would fill approximately one Olympic-size swimming pool.

And here we have some super cool Brazilian guy who can cleverly store all that cold refreshing beer in his house with no problem whatsoever!

Perhaps he’ll install a backyard pool to double his beer storage capacity. That’s a yellowish liquid I wouldn’t mind taking a dip in!

Let’s celebrate human ingenuity by singing a chorus of Six Million Bottles of Beer in the Wall!

How to make a water balloon catapult.

Lay siege to your neighbor's house.
Lay siege to your neighbor’s house.

Summers were loads of fun. As kids we all enjoyed soaking our friends in wild backyard water balloon battles.

We’d fling those jiggly soggy half-filled balloons at each other and hope they’d hit and burst. But you really couldn’t throw them that far without breaking the fragile balloons in your hand and drenching yourself.

Looking back now, I really, really wish I’d known how to make a massively cool water balloon catapult!

In medieval times, besieged castles were attacked with rock-throwing catapults called trebuchets. These nifty contraptions were designed to hurl heavy missiles great distances with remarkable accuracy. In modern times, clever kids who want to toss water balloons (or watermelons or cow paddies) hundreds of feet can build their very own trebuchet following these handy dandy directions.

My advise: if you’re a truly ambitious kid, build a high-powered catapult now before your nemesis next door builds their own castle.

Take flight in your own personal jetpack!

Can't find one at Costco yet.
Can’t find one at Costco yet.

Cool! I could use one of these! No need for a car, no need for a garage, no need for roads! And what’s more, no need for a pilot’s license! Sweet!

Drive this baby with just two joysticks. Heck, if you can master semi-complicated video game controls, this oughta be a piece of cake. The one problem I see is refueling. That might prove difficult. Oh, well…

Invent weird stuff for big money.

This guy almost made it big.
This guy almost made it big.

Here are ten weird inventions that made millions. It gives me hope. Perhaps one day I’ll get my flying bicycle to actually fly. I wish I’d invented the talking fish. Talk about legendary! The good news is, if a talking fish can make millions, any one of my lamebrain crackpot inventions might make hundreds!

How to get your own personal robot!

Some nice used robots for sale.
Some nice used robots for sale.

Don’t deny it. You love robots. They’re cool. So why not get yourself a cool robot? They seem to be everywhere these days! Some are practical, some are just plain goofy, but all are fascinating to play around with. Here’s a great web page that catalogs most of the robots that are available on Amazon.com. It’s fun just to check it out. You can even build your own robot if you’re inclined!