It seems to be Truck Tuesday here on the Toasters, so I’m sharing with you one of the coolest truck-based pieces of awesome I’ve seen all week. This last weekend in Prescott, AZ was the annual Overland Expo. Overland enthusiasts from around the world gather to gaze upon the latest and greatest in [...]]]>

It seems to be Truck Tuesday here on the Toasters, so I’m sharing with you one of the coolest truck-based pieces of awesome I’ve seen all week. This last weekend in Prescott, AZ was the annual Overland Expo. Overland enthusiasts from around the world gather to gaze upon the latest and greatest in outdoor sport equipment and overland gear. Some of the biggest hits are the expedition rigs from companies like EarthRoamer and Global Expedition Vehicles. The latter has started using the Mitsubishi Fuso as a basis for one of its models of professionally built and uber expensive vehicles for adventure travel. The Fuso has support all over the world so whether you’re in South America or Southeast Asia you will be able to get repair parts.

With that in mind is the lede photo of a homebuilt Fuso overland rig. The Fuso has proven to be a very capable chassis with 4WD and fairly simple construction. Heck, they have leaf springs front and rear and a simple Diesel engine with locking differentials. Just add a pickup bed camper and some storage lockers and go explore the world. I’d be willing to bet that this machine cost less than half of what Global Expedition Vehicles would charge for one of their machines. That means more money for things like gas in Azerbaijan or bribes to border guards in Kenya.

[Image Credit: Exploring Elements Instagram]

In our day-to-day world, we see a wide variety of vehicles and machines, going about their business and doing their daily function. And in seeing them, each and every day, they gradually fade into irrelevance in our consciousness. We scarcely notice a tractor-trailer, or a backhoe, or a road-maintenance dump truck.

But here [...]]]>

In our day-to-day world, we see a wide variety of vehicles and machines, going about their business and doing their daily function. And in seeing them, each and every day, they gradually fade into irrelevance in our consciousness. We scarcely notice a tractor-trailer, or a backhoe, or a road-maintenance dump truck.

But here in Edmonton, with military bases nearby, we do occasionally see some interesting military vehicles travelling about, either on the road themselves, or being hauled on green-painted flat-deck trucks. When we do see those, it’s hard not to take note. Whether it’s an Iltis — there are still a few buzzing about — or a Milverado, a Geländewagen or an APC, each of them is significant enough to attract our attention. And in a strange way, because each of these has its own job to do, they have a functional beauty to them, almost despite their best efforts. A Leopard tank, which we see here with reasonable regularity, is a beefy, sinister, tough-looking vehicle; and, in a strange way, it’s also somehow beautiful. We suppose, in a way, we’re getting a bit of Hooniverse in our AtomicToasters, but these aren’t cars, per se; these are machines that happen to move.

What is the best-looking military land vehicle?

Apologies for putting a Harry Potter reference in this hallowed space.

But I feel safe.

[Image Credit: xkcd]

Let’s say you have an award-winning punkin’ chunkin’ air cannon and a mobile home. What do you do? If you’re Chunkin’ Under da Influence, you throw some dogs on the BBQ and test fire your punkin’ chunkin’ air cannon at the mobile home. Seems perfectly logical to me. Hit the jump for the [...]]]>

Let’s say you have an award-winning punkin’ chunkin’ air cannon and a mobile home. What do you do? If you’re Chunkin’ Under da Influence, you throw some dogs on the BBQ and test fire your punkin’ chunkin’ air cannon at the mobile home. Seems perfectly logical to me. Hit the jump for the video!

Click here to view the embedded video.

The HVAC blower in my Cherokee died about a month ago. It was cool enough and I got enough air through the vents when at speed that it wasn’t a big deal, but it needed to be replaced. This weekend I made time to replace it because we are having a bit of [...]]]>

The HVAC blower in my Cherokee died about a month ago. It was cool enough and I got enough air through the vents when at speed that it wasn’t a big deal, but it needed to be replaced. This weekend I made time to replace it because we are having a bit of a heat wave. Now, an HVAC blower has no bearing on the performance of a vehicle. The Jeep runs just as well with or without it. However, it makes a big impact on driver and passenger comfort. It’s a simple thing that doesn’t improve or detract from the performance of the vehicle, but greatly improves the user experience.

Thinking not just of cars, what sorts of user experience items could you not do without that have nothing to do with actual performance.

[Image Credit: engineerd™]

When I say Human Fly, you probably conjure an image in your head of Brundlefly, from that hit film named, appropriately enough, The Fly.  Instead, what we have here is a throwback to the early days of barnstorming, a fellow who thought it would be a good idea to ride around on the [...]]]>

When I say Human Fly, you probably conjure an image in your head of Brundlefly, from that hit film named, appropriately enough, The Fly.  Instead, what we have here is a throwback to the early days of barnstorming, a fellow who thought it would be a good idea to ride around on the back of a DC-8.  Even better, what was the real drama of those barnstormers?  Not so much that they were flying, I would say, or hanging on to a wing while someone else flew, but that they did those things close to the ground, where the crowds could see.

So where do you find a pilot willing to aviate your modern airliner down low to the ground for your Human Fly stunt?  Well, if is the year 1975, you find a fellow by the name of Clay Lacy, an air racer and all around airplane aficionado to be your huckleberry.  Thanks to Clay Lacy Aviation and airpigz.com, we can take a look at video footage of the adventures of these gentlemen. Hit the jump and enjoy!

Click here to view the embedded video.

A galaxy of stars is mostly empty. And in the emptiness of space, even the scale of a galaxy is nothing by comparison. And I thought about how unlikely it is for two objects in the universe to ever meet, how all the infinitesimal points that make [...]]]> Click here to view the embedded video.

A galaxy of stars is mostly empty. And in the emptiness of space, even the scale of a galaxy is nothing by comparison. And I thought about how unlikely it is for two objects in the universe to ever meet, how all the infinitesimal points that make up a galaxy will mostly pass through each other, but still be affected by gravity. And how gravity acts at a distance, and how little we understand it.

And then I had to go lie down.

Hat tip to toxicavenger1 for introducing me to NASA’s Astronomy Picture Of The Day.

Good morning!  It is time once again to dig into the seedy world of online classified ads.  No, not the Missed Connections, I am talking about the free stuff!  People are out there every day giving away great objects gratis, free for the picking!  So see what is available in your area, see [...]]]>

Good morning!  It is time once again to dig into the seedy world of online classified ads.  No, not the Missed Connections, I am talking about the free stuff!  People are out there every day giving away great objects gratis, free for the picking!  So see what is available in your area, see what sort of technological (ish) relics you can find, and, even better, go out there and retrieve them to show the world!  If you dig up the choicest nugget, you too can have fleeting fame, much like our own Devin!  Hit the jump to see what he found for us last week!

Devin found this psycho robot kitten, which as it turns out, is NOT hypoallergenic.  See, the guy’s daughter suddenly developed a severe allergy.  Likely she is allergic to the pure evil emanating from its molten steel eyes.  Either way, it can be yours for the low price of completely free!

It has been a pretty long time since I have been to a movie theatre to watch a new film that caught my eye.  No, we’ll take the kids to see new stuff on occasion, but for the grown-up movies, it is easier just to wait and see if they make it to [...]]]>

It has been a pretty long time since I have been to a movie theatre to watch a new film that caught my eye.  No, we’ll take the kids to see new stuff on occasion, but for the grown-up movies, it is easier just to wait and see if they make it to Netflix (although I will admit to wanting to see Wreck it Ralph about as much as my kids did.  Maybe more).  Sure, you have to wait a little longer, and since I am not crazy into a home theatre system, my TV is a little smaller that the giant screen, but you don’t have to worry about other people.

I’d imagine that most of you probably know the people I am talking about.  The seat kicker.  The what-did-he-say-er.  My favorite was a fellow back in my teen years, who fell asleep and was snoring during the movie, and then was awakened by his phone.  (This is the early-ish days of cell phones taking off, back when some people still had pagers, and nobody really used texts.)  He answers “I’m in a movie.”  Then, “No, it’s okay, I can talk.”

That’s what you think, buddy.  The people around you are going to give you about 2 minutes to shut your pie hole.  Luckily, whoever he was talking to seemed to have a little common sense and quickly ended the call.  Now, I certainly hope that today’s Quandary doesn’t get you frustrated so!  There is even a bonus picture after the jump!  Plus, I will offer up this little hint, if you have been a faithful follower of this Saturday series, an item like this has graced these pages before, although this particular one harkens back to an earlier time.

Congratulations to jalh56 for nailing last week’s close ups of some replacement saxophone pads!  I award you bonus points for making the Clinton connection, and affirming that it was indeed the Arsenio Hall Show, I had a brief internal debate as to what night show the future president played on.  As an aside, what ever happened to Mr. Hall?  The Q3 picture came courtesy of my favorite band instrument repair shop, where they kick it old school and actually repair things, instead of just telling you to buy another throw away.