EepyBird’s Sticky Note experiment from Eepybird on Vimeo.

I have some experience with Post-It Notes in the office, and though that achieved international recognition, it doesn’t quite compare to what we see in this video. Our 5,300 Post-It Notes just don’t compare the 280,951 we see slinking across the screen now.

Like all well bred women, my mother always told me not to play with my food. However, as we get older we realize that sometimes ignoring the rules is just as important as, generally, following them. Food is fun. It has wonderful tastes, smells, colors, and textures. Something with so many wonderful attributes is just begging to be played with.

For me, breakfast is not just the most important meal of the day, its also the most wonderfully yummy for one specific reason — maple syrup. I live in New Hampshire and we take our maple syrup very seriously. While those of you in the rest of the world (except our dear neighbors in Vermont) like the nearly clear, grade A maple syrup (or, god forbid, Mrs. Butterworth) we know that the best syrup is the rich, dark, delicious, grade B syrup. Since every weekend breakfast at MaisonBisson must contain food that is syrup friendly, we eat more than our share of pancakes, french toast, and waffles. Last weekend I decided to have a little fun with breakfast. Mr Smiley here is the result. My husband liked him a lot, and I think others who are young at heart, or just plain young, would enjoy him too. Its easy and it reminds you not to take things too seriously.

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Bill Gurstelle thought the exploding balloons were as funny as I did, and now I understand why: the contributing editor of Make magazine knows his way around improvised munitions.

He also knows YouTube videos of oppressed geeks getting back at The Man with potato guns is a good marketing ploy for his audience. Whoosh Boom Splat appears to be his latest book. Amazon doesn’t let me look inside, but how can you go wrong with projects like these?

• The Jam Jar Jet — the simple pulse jet engine that roars
• The Elastic Zip Cannon — a membrane-powered shooter that packs a wallop
• The Mechanical Toe — a bungee-powered kicking machine
• The Vortex Launcher — a projectile shooter that uses air bullets for ammunition
• The Clothespin Snap Shooter — the PG-17 version of a clothespin gun that fires fiery projectiles
• The Architronito — the steam-powered cannon conceived by Leonardo da Vinci

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Who of us didn’t want to try it when we saw Jackie Chan bounce down a mountainside in one in Operation Condor (well, who of us who saw Operation Condor didn’t want to try it)? But until Cool Hunter gave me a pointer, I had no idea what the these strange inflatable balls (yeah, go Google that) might be called or where to look for more information.

As it turns out, they’re called “Zorbs,” and the company even has a promo video to show them off. But as much as I want one, Allen, a spokesman for the manufacturer, tells me that while they might lease one to me for an event or promotion, I can’t buy one. Why not? Aside from legal and insurance issues, Allen tells me that the Zorbs are entirely hand-made and would be prohibitively costly.

For now, if you want to try it, you’ll have to go to New Zealand, where they’re made, or to another permanent site in Europe, Asia, or Australia. A run will set you back NZ$45 (about US$30), and prospective “Zorbonauts” get to choose between being harnessed in or trying to run it like a hamster wheel (you get a free t-shirt if you make it all the way down the hill on your feet).

Nobody really needs to ask “why?” (well, not if you’re reading this site, I hope), but I did want to know the story:

Andrew Akers and Dwane van der Sluis wanted to walk on water. Years earlier there had been an advertisement on TV with a few people inside a large clear ball floating on water. It looked like lots of fun BUT … a single skin ball had problems in that every time you entered or exited the ball it would deflate and need to be reinflated and sealed. The idea for a double skin ball was born. A prototype was built in the garage of Andrew’s house and lo and behold – IT WORKED! ASTONISHING! So down to the water to test it. It was kind of fun on water, but exhausting and after being blown out to sea a few times they realised it was more work than it was worth. BUT … the same device could be used to roll down hills. This was fantastic fun, extremely bizarre, and bizarrely extreme. Some seed capital, patents, trademarks and a business plan equaled the latest adventure sport from New Zealand: Zorbing.

The good news is that the company is working furiously to open Zorb sites in the US, Canada, and Mexico:

Our plan is to open sites in the Smoky Mountains, Tennessee region (Pigeon Forge, TN), Las Vegas area (Boulder City, NV), and in Los Cabos, Mexico. We should be open in Pigeon Forge, TN by May or June 2006.

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