electric mist

time travel photos

I've tried to size all of the following photos for the web so the download wouldn't be horrific... but if something's slow, y'all let me know and I'll put up thumbnails instead, or link to another page with the photos.

I think this is my favorite photo of the night:

The whole thing sits on skis, just in case you land somewhere snowy:

But before you time travel, you must first check the oil:

That's a dip stick that you can pull out (which I didn't photograph). And here's how you know when to change the oil:

Because, of course, you're reading the heads up display:

And you know you need to check your fuel before you go:

If you run low on the fuel (twinkies), the light on the fuel indicator would light up:

because the fuel pump:

would send a message to that indicator above. Once you are seated (here's Eliza):

you have to turn on the various things in sequence.... from the lights and thrusters:

and to the time travel button show above (the one with the twinkie indicator light)...

And when you switch on those thrusters, the thruster lights come on:

Some people were really surprised when they hit that thruster button:

because the whole thing suddenly vibrated. That was due to the unseen (a curtain hung over this) massager Carl had strapped to the back of the hair dryer seat:

which, when the thrusters were on, vibrated fairly heavily and the echo against the seat back made a real "engine" sound.

When the thruster lights come on, so do all of the lights around the wings and the rudder:

Which you steer while holding onto the handles on the side of the machine:

If you run into to anyone else time traveling, you can let them know you're there, too, by dinging this bell (which was surprisingly loud):

And just in case you travel really really far and have an, um, emergency, we have that covered:

Carl got everyone to turn everything on in the right sequence and then back off again in reverse sequence. Occasionally, a couple of people would start to stand up before turning everything off and he'd say, "Wait! You don't want to vaporize yourself!" and man, they'd plop back down in that seat and draw their hands into their chest like they really might have vaporized. Cracked me up.

It was fun to see how different personalities interacted with it. Some laughed and were itching to have their turn. Some stood shyly a few feet away, leaning in toward it but not-quite-brave-enough to be silly in front of a crowd until Carl would call them over. Others practically ran out the previous time traveler so they could have a turn.

The comments they would make as they time traveled were funny and interesting. I got a kick out of the ones who really turned that globe around to their very specific destination (and I don't think there was a single repeated destination for the night)... with places like Fiji (current day) and the Renaissance period (in order to get some of those antiques before they became so valuable) and the North Pole (to visit Santa) being some of the choices. Other people actually got into the time aspect, with a large number of women asking the question about if they went back, would they come back looking younger. (I told them I had started off that morning as an 84-year-old. They practically jumped in the seat.) A few people went even further to interact with the crowd, pretending to be going forward in time and telling the crowd they were getting older and older (with a couple of people in the crowd contorting their bodies as if they were now hobbled over canes). Some of them really got into the act, pretending that there were G-forces pushing them backward into the seat and leaning from side to side as they swooped through time.

Mostly, everyone chuckled and many laughed (some just couldn't stop laughing and smiling), and pretty much everyone was sure Carl was nuts, but a genius nut. Lots and lots of people asked me if he had always been like that and I could easily assure them that yes, indeed, he had. (One of our first dates was right after the semester had let out and a few of our wealthier friends were going to Colorado for a ski trip. The rest of us broke students were stuck at home, so Carl decided to have a Colorado ski party. Now, understand, this was like our third or fourth date. He went around to stores and got the equivalent of several refrigerator-sized boxes of those white packing peanuts and poured them out on the floor of his apartment, filling it up to calf level. He then rented a helium tank and we blew up about 400 balloons to cover the ceiling. We made snow angels and partied with about 30 people in that apartment until the next morning. I still find peanuts in some of our stored things.) I can't say I didn't know what I was getting into, can I? (But it's been fun.)

He's already planning on additions to the time machine. He wants to put it on a platform, and eventually, make it to where there are foot pedals on the skis and hydraulics underneath so that when you push a foot pedal, the whole thing leans to a side or forward or back. There will be a seat belt, of course. And god only knows what else. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if, not too long from now, he turns the damn thing on and it really does disappear and travel in time.

Posted by toni at May 22, 2004 01:22 PM