MiniMan

[Mister Jellyfish Mister]

MiniMan is a walky-talky playa puppet mounted on a backpack frame attached to an "operator". This is his home away from Black Rock City and a place to spill some brain for him after checking the project blog at www.MutantVehicle.com/MiniMan.htm

An Apokiliptika Joint.

[unjonharley]

MiniMan is a walky-talky playa puppet mounted on a backpack frame attached to an "operator". This is his home away from Black Rock City and a place to spill some brain for him after checking the project blog at www.MutantVehicle.com/MiniMan.htm

~
You will be seeing other minimen about the playa this year. Two that I know of. One as a land mark and another operating a mutant viehicle. hehehe now back to the basement of strange sounds.

[Mister Jellyfish Mister]

We simply must get them acquainted, Harley. Maybe they will spawn.

If I only had a brain...

[robotland]

What's the word i'm looking for?.....Oh, yeah- WOW.
I'm lovin' the little brain! You hit this one outta the park, man.

[Mister Jellyfish Mister]

What's the word i'm looking for?.....Oh, yeah- WOW.
I'm lovin' the little brain! You hit this one outta the park, man.

Thank you, my Michigan brother. Kernul Killbuck fashioned it out of styrofoam (can't be top heavy)... it even has veins! My five year old daughter likes to hold it.

Killbuck was suggested that in 2006 he would replace it with a styrofoam pile of dog poop... we could call it "Shit For Brains".

[unjonharley]

The miniman from Or. will have a dream pod. He will be dreaming of his 06 run for the playa.

[Mister Jellyfish Mister]

The miniman from Or. will have a dream pod. He will be dreaming of his 06 run for the playa.

Kewl, Harley. Got any progress photos to share?

[unjonharley]

The miniman from Or. will have a dream pod. He will be dreaming of his 06 run for the playa.

Kewl, Harley. Got any progress photos to share?

~
i've been busting the hump on the MV running gear. All the the miniman parts are here in a pile. Photos in two weeks.

[Mister Jellyfish Mister]

Right-o, Harley. Keep us posted.

[Mister Jellyfish Mister]

Holy fuck on a fuck stick!!! The Kernul and I almost hyperventilated with joy as we launched MiniMan on the 300 people at the Skoosh Recompression Party in Reno last night. Revelers were shrieking with glee and also loved the close interaction with Killbuck's MR-1 robot. I wish you could have seen the look on the Kernul's face when he was operating, and I must have looked the same way.

I hope somebody sends us the pictures they took! If so we'll post them here. All resounded that MiniMan will be a big hit on the playa and we will have to make it a point to keep him lit up when reclying at our camp as it will make Apokiliptika even more of a "must see" of Burning Man 2005.

People loved it when we bent him forward to touch "hands" with them, and were surprised becuase it looks so heavy. One lovely woman told me I must be very strong "Why yes... yes I am" I lied. It was fun to hand one of the control rods to a person to let them waive an arm around. It was raining lightly but it was no problem outside until even small gusts of wind tried to knock me down. The party was inside a warehouse so Killbuck braved the wiring and light fixtures and we got him inside to dance with the band.

Yes I love this man of mine.

[The Count]

Jelly,

does MM have a rigging point that we could use to run him up the flagpole? (hint hint)

It would sure give him a nice view of town. (and, ahem, visa versa)

Serving suggestion, food for thought, topic for future discussion.... Wrap your scheming little (spinning) brain around that for awhile and see what comes up.

--TC

[unjonharley]

Jelly,

does MM have a rigging point that we could use to run him up the flagpole? (hint hint)

It would sure give him a nice view of town. (and, ahem, visa versa)

Serving suggestion, food for thought, topic for future discussion.... Wrap your scheming little (spinning) brain around that for awhile and see what comes up.

--TC

~
The tower is conpleted and a Mini Man in coming to life as you post.

[unjonharley]

Holy fuck on a fuck stick!!! The Kernul and I almost hyperventilated with joy as we launched MiniMan on the 300 people at the Skoosh Recompression Party in Reno last night. Revelers were shrieking with glee and also loved the close interaction with Killbuck's MR-1 robot. I wish you could have seen the look on the Kernul's face when he was operating, and I must have looked the same way.

I hope somebody sends us the pictures they took! If so we'll post them here. All resounded that MiniMan will be a big hit on the playa and we will have to make it a point to keep him lit up when reclying at our camp as it will make Apokiliptika even more of a "must see" of Burning Man 2005.

People loved it when we bent him forward to touch "hands" with them, and were surprised becuase it looks so heavy. One lovely woman told me I must be very strong "Why yes... yes I am" I lied. It was fun to hand one of the control rods to a person to let them waive an arm around. It was raining lightly but it was no problem outside until even small gusts of wind tried to knock me down. The party was inside a warehouse so Killbuck braved the wiring and light fixtures and we got him inside to dance with the band.

Yes I love this man of mine.

~
You guys did good. Wish I could have been there.

[CagedKitty]

I was there MiniMan! You were great!

I would have been the tallest person there, with the help of my 5" heels, if it weren't for you!

It's amazing the control you have of your arms, I was worried for the little girl you were petting, but she seemed to like it.

You will probably run into some wind on the playa...

I'll see you there!

[Mister Jellyfish Mister]

Jelly,

does MM have a rigging point that we could use to run him up the flagpole? (hint hint)

It would sure give him a nice view of town. (and, ahem, visa versa)

Serving suggestion, food for thought, topic for future discussion.... Wrap your scheming little (spinning) brain around that for awhile and see what comes up.

--TC

Wowie Kazowie. That would be possible indeed. The el wire and inverters, however, emit quite a bit of RF in the 1.7 to 2 Khz range. So much so that we can't even use a megaphone circuit (the "Dick-a-Phone" was a little over the top anyway). Then there is the challenge of not getting his many protruding parts stuck in the rigging.

Still, it sure would be dissorienting to those that think they are using THE MAN to navigate. A false god indeed. I love it! What if we just roll him up one of the guy wires until the RF is too close to the antennas?

[Mister Jellyfish Mister]

I was there MiniMan! You were great!

I would have been the tallest person there, with the help of my 5" heels, if it weren't for you!

It's amazing the control you have of your arms, I was worried for the little girl you were petting, but she seemed to like it.

You will probably run into some wind on the playa...

I'll see you there!

Thanks, Kitty. Do you or any of your copatriots have any digital photos of the event? Posterity, you see.

[CagedKitty]

Sorry, I didn't bring my camera. Next time I will.

[The Count]

The dick-o-phone could probably be salvaged with a little shielding--you'd have to experiment with what to ground it to (either + or - of the el-wire supply might be a good place to start if the - of the phone supply doesn't do it. ) That can be a lot of low-return trial and error, tho.

Still, it sure would be dissorienting to those that think they are using THE MAN to navigate. A false god indeed. I love it! What if we just roll him up one of the guy wires until the RF is too close to the antennas?

might you mean 1.7 MHZ? It's a little anal, but 1.7 khz isn't technically RF (even though it's still electromagnetic radiation). and at the risk of being proven royally wrong by reality, even 1.7 mhz shouldn't be a problem since that is far out of our broadcast spectrum -- at least as far as the tower/antenna is concerned. Now, if you set him up next to the transmitter shack, that could be another thing -- but even then, all the sensitive stuff is pretty well shielded, so I think you'd have to be right on top of it.

Having never met MM, I defer to your knowledge of potential snags -- wind would be the other possible problem -- perhaps loose limbs etc could be bungy-ed -- but small attention to those details should minimize problems. Might a pilot wire/rope (that could pull him slightly away from tower as he's being raised/lowered) be sufficient to thwart snags? I don't know what kind of stuff he's got sticking out. A sheet of plastic, sort of a sled for him to ride on, might help. Depending on how badly you want to do it, of course.

I'd need spacing and type for the top/bottom hooks -- or that's a detail that might be as easy to work out "as fits" on the ground before we put the tower up.

I'm going to mount an aircraft cable loop, which will have a couple of hooks on it for the flag which I hope will magically appear. still trying to decide if it should go only to top of the tower, or to tippy top of the mast. (another 10' higher) No reason we couldn't put another set on for MM and hang him a bit lower.

The guy-wires will mount to the tower at ~30' or so -- so won't get quite as much altitude that way.

[Mister Jellyfish Mister]

Thanks, Count. I kind of like the image of MiniMan's limbs flailing in the wind, but even pvc pipe has it's limits. The fiberglass "spine" pole would be the main thing we rig to, so maybe a rig that protrudes from your pulley system that will allow him to hang from his neck without knocking his delicate two foot diameter head off? Like steel pipe fitted into a letter "C" that curves from the neck to above the head so the center of gravity maintained.

It has to be easy easy easy to hoist, clip, and go so we will always want to grab him as our favorite suit of clothes. Certainly something to take down in high winds.

[The Count]

Hmm. May end up with kind of a sled/spacer system (rather than a "sheet"). Anc pVC may be the way to go with it. Man clips to sled, sled to flag cable.

Cheap-ass way to go would be a back-board kind of thing - but I was thinking it might be nice not to block him any more than necessary from the back side. (although the tower will obscure quite a piece down the middle regardless)

You da doctor. give me a harness and I'll give you a couple of "beeners" to fasten to.

How much does MM weigh?

[ThePikey]

Make the backboard out of clear plexi... Shape it like a dolly so the feet will have something to rest on and help support the weight, and secure the man to the board with bungies for quick release.

[Mister Jellyfish Mister]

MiniMan comes in from the rain at Skoosh 2005:

[Mister Jellyfish Mister]

This one is priceless, with Kernul Killbuck at the controls. Thanks to NVision and Miss Nevada for the lovely photos.

[Mister Jellyfish Mister]

Just tell me if I'm over-posting

[spectabillis]

No weapons?


stain me disappointed...

[The Count]

Don't underestimate the power of the superior brain!

[Mister Jellyfish Mister]

No weapons?


stain me disappointed...

Hi Spec. Well we actually did rig a flash cannon inside one of the arms. You know, harmless flash paper/cotton ordinance, 4 foot tongue of flame, glow plug ignition. But with even that, it just kind of gets swallowed by the size of MiniMan like a small pecker on a large dog.

I also learned at the party that people were hesitant to interact with the arms at first. One hottie asked me "What's it gonna do to me?". So now we're experimenting with a mister in one arm and a blow dry in the other. Attach a pink styling brush and maybe people will cue up for a bad hair day from MiniMan? Maybe we could reverse the air flow and he can suck out your brain?

[spectabillis]

I love it.

I was just thinking about some 50's sci-fi flick of a crazed miniman going around flaming people... or attacking the man.

[unjonharley]

It's time to tame this wild Man. Put him into the main stream of low income service work. Like filping burgers. Now to get a big enough net.

[Mister Jellyfish Mister]

I forsee another propoganda poster coming.