Grit in the Gears

I am the grit in the gears, the missing bolt, I am the poker of sticks into spokes. I like to know how things work, but sometimes when I take them apart and rebuild them, I have a few pieces left over. I am a man, so I tend to leave reading the instructions until after it goes wrong. And like all men I have a comprehensive mental map of the world and never need to ask directions. I never get lost, only sometimes I'm late, or end up in the wrong place entirely. It's what we do.

Saturday, 18 August 2012

Some of My Past Toys

Disclaimer: They're not necessarily all 'mine', I'm also good at borrowing stuff.

My Outdoor Camping Aspirations.

Red Dirt Girl posted this Red Land Rover picture, on her latest "Frivolous Friday", with these words:

"Soub is moving house
He lives in tented splendor
Have wheels will travel."

Now, it's true I'm a bit of a Land-Rover addict and have had several in the past, only owning two right now.... But the one in the picture is not actually mine, though, like the obsessive rivet counter that I am, I could tell you altogether far more than any sane person would ever need to know about it.

She'd want it RED, but me, I'm a muted colour guy. Dull green, military matt, suits me. I like to blend into the landscape, rather than have irate people pointing at me from miles away.

And these days, I think I'd like a bit more comfort than a tent on the roof. (been there, done that). Besides, I'd be expecting her to come along on my expedition.

So. How about a Unimog camper? 6X6, by German company Unicat? The off-road reliability of a Unimog is unbelievable, and Unicat build some pretty good bodies for them, even, like this, with slide-out sides.

Or there's a raised top version. The interior pictures below are raised top, In normal travel, the top of the vehicle is lowered, covering the windows, which makes it pretty secure in world travel. When camping, you raise it, getting extra headroom, and an upper deck bedroom.

Raised top. Note the rear body angle. No grounding on steep climbs.

I'd say there's a tad too much seating there.I wouldn't plan to be hosting big dinner-parties.

Kitchen is good, blogging desk at the rear, opposite the shower and w.c.

But if we're being really crazy? How about a M.A.N. Kat 6X6?

Or the ultimate go anywhere madness, a M.A.N. Kat 8X8 from Action Works in Austria?

The original military specification for this vehicle was that it had to go anywhere a main battle-tank could go, and just as rapidly.

Consequently, desert-racing in the Paris Dakar rally is all in a day's work for it.

For a space age look, how about one based on these modern all-terrain airfield fire-tenders?
Paint this in silver and it would fit into any sci-fi movie.

As it is, I could not afford to even fill the fuel tank......

Unintentional Sculptures

One of the many interesting places I visit at work, on a regular basis, is a warehouse where casting forms are made and stored. Most of these pieces are used to make the foundry moulds for cast-iron pumps and turbines. The people who work there are just ordinary working men. They take the plans from the designers and turn them into three-dimensional forms of the spaces outside a cast-iron part.

And in doing so, they create what to me are artworks to rival any sculptures I've seen in a gallery.

I walk in here, and I imagine just one of these pieces displayed at the centre of an upmarket gallery, spotlit, with people standing around, drinking wine, and discussing the allegorical nature of the artist's message.

I like the ancient look of this, and the form appeals to my potter's heart.

These pieces always make me think of the works of Eduardo Paolozzi.

Paolozzi