Tinselman

Highway in the Sky

Do you love mod streamline? Do you love elegant 1960s duotones? Do you love vintage Disney? If so, If so, The Republic of Tinselman highly recommends this 1966 Disney Story Guide and Operating Procedures manual. A handsomely designed, 31 page pamphlet: it's the finest kind of manual for Walt Disney's finest kind of Disney attraction. I promise, you'll get your fill of some fascinating reading. Like this paragraph from page 5, "The Story Behind the Story:"

The Disneyland-Alweg Monorail System was unveiled at Disneyland June 14, 1959 by Walt Disney and Vice President Richard M. Nixon. Mrs. Nixon and their daughters, Tricia and Julie, also participated in the ribbon-cutting ceremonies, which were viewed by a national television audience watching the special "Disneyland '59'" TV show. Since that time, the Monorail trains have carried most of the heads of state–kings and queens, presidents and prime ministers–who have visited Disneyland, as well as millions of other Disneyland visitors from every state and nearly every nation.

Of course, this is just the beginning. There are also the intriguing (and detailed) procedures. And maps. And diagrams and photographs throughout. Stuff from the park has posted this Disney treasure in its entirety. Take a look!

Note: Stuff from the park's server is now overloaded and the operating procedures are temporarily unavailable. However, Tinselman has kindly saved a few photographs from the manual for your viewing pleasure (click all images to enlarge). Enjoy.

• Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean Operating Procedures
• Disney's Haunted Mansion Operating Procedures
• Previous Tinselman Disney posts

Sky Bear

click image to enlarge

Unfinished concept for a small side project on which a good friend and I are working.

The Venus Future

Jacque Fresco's The Venus Project (click to enlarge)

Someday, in the not too distant future, we will all live in retro-modern homes (like the Thunderbirds). There will be no crime. No wars. Life will be perfect, and the weather will always be warm.

We will all wear the most inspired outfits! They will be blue. They'll have a sash for the men and a delightful little blue hat. Striking! Even our children will wear them (I'm wearing mine now).

Truthfully speaking... I have no idea what to think of The Venus Project. I don't know if I should laugh or be impressed. Or both. In any case, Jacque Fresco went to an incredible amount of work, and it's a lot of fun to browse around his personal vision of paradise.

• See more Cities Tinselistic.

(via: spy's spice)

Ride the Skies in Luxury

Believe it or not, this behemoth is not lighter than air! As this Popular Science article explains,

Its 14 million cubic feet of helium hoist only two thirds of the craft's weight. The rigid and surprisingly aerodynamic body—driven by huge rearward propellers—generates enough additional lift to keep the behemoth and its 400-ton payload aloft while cruising.

Of course, the size of the "Aeroscraft" has some obvious benefits. It's practically a flying cruise ship and is being designed to accommodate luxury staterooms, restaurants... even a casino!

But you have to admit... it sure is ugly. Looks like a giant bean.

I'll be sticking with Norman Bel Geddes Airliner No. 4.

• Aircrafts that never flew
• Bel Geddes Futurama
• Bel Geddes Futurama II
• Bel Geddes Futurama III
• Rail Propeller Train (1931)

 

Living Blimps

Can blimps learn, adapt and evolve? Yes... when they've been designed by Qarl. After senseless pillaging by certain vicious Second Life land owners, Qarl had finally had it up to here! His solution: artificial life. Now his blimps lead much happier lives (sort of). Qarl explains:

blimps who (by chance) wander into dangerous areas will die, and their genes will disappear from the gene pool. blimps who (by chance) avoid danger will reproduce more often, and their genes will dominate the gene pool.

the blimps will “learn” to avoid danger.  they evolve.  by some definitions, they are alive.

Read more on on Qarl's blog.

Reader comment: Qarl adds,

one of the most compelling examples of artificial evolution was done by Karl Sims in the early 90s. he created virtual organisms comprised of simple boxes, each box having a virtual muscle between them.

from generation to generation, he allowed both the body shape and the muscle motion to change - he rewarded creatures that could move.

from these simple rules his system created snakes and fish and creatures with legs - rediscovering the forms created by mother nature millions of years ago.

Very impressive animations! If only these creatures lived within Second Life!

Yesterday's Transport of Tomorrow

What a day you've had browsing through the 1900 Paris Expo! You've just taken a ride on the Mareorama and now you're relaxing in front of the stunning Palais Lumineux. You sigh: it's all been so staggering, so futuristic, but now it's finally time to head on home.

Which would be fine except your feet and legs are a raging fire. All this walking, walking, walking and you swear you can almost hear the sound of your shoes crushing and twisting your poor flesh and bones into grossly unnatural shapes (especially because, in 1900, it is the fashion for you to wear a full shoe size too small or, if you're a woman, to have had your smallest toes cut off). No problem... to ease the pain you hop on board the moving boardwalk.

a

The Moving Boardwalk. Of all the glitz and glamour and the expo, you can't help but be most impressed by this seemingly simple mechanism. This, you think, this could be the future: speeding through crowded thoroughfares, zooming down to the neighborhood coffee shop, or maybe even finally even making it to that next airport terminal just in time! All with the help of these new-fangled sidewalks.

Pressing forward a bit and what ever happened to all these moving sidewalks (besides the ones in airports)? Seemingly the dream was forgotten. But not by everyone; Mr. Walt Disney kept it alive for awhile. And then some!

b

Disneyland was chock full of clever transportational devices. Monorails, trains, People Movers, tram cars, boats, buggies, and yes, even a few moving sidewalks. Walt was big into this transportation thing: from an entertainment point of view, convenient transportation was the key to getting tired guests off their feet and keeping them happy. But perhaps more importantly, these vehicles were all part of Walt's vast laboratory – Disneyland was his place to tinker, evolve and perfect some of the hardware required for his much larger vision: a city. This is why Walt was probably flattered when James W. Rouse, Urban Developer of the New Town of Columbia, said in his keynote address before the 1963 Urban Design Conference at Harvard University:

I may hold a view that may be somewhat shocking to an audience as sophisticated as this; that the greatest piece of urban design in the United States today is Disneyland... I find more to learn in the standards that have been set and in the goals that have been achieved in the development of Disneyland than in any other piece of physical development in the country.

c

Walt revealed EPCOT in October, 1966. EPCOT, the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow. EPCOT was to be "showcase city", a continually evolving community that "doesn't presume to know all the answers," but would take it's cue, Walt said, "from the new ideas and new technologies that are now emerging from the creative centers of American industry. It will," he said, "be a community of tomorrow that will never be completed, but will always be introducing, testing and demonstrating new materials and new systems."

Following in the footsteps of Disneyland, EPCOT would be based on central urban hub encircled by an outer wheel of radial housing, schools, parks and recreation. Transportation "spokes" would run inhabitants to and from the heart of the city. (Which so far reminds me of a much older and smaller city, Palmanova.)

d

e

But EPCOT parts ways from its Italian predecessor with a much more serious implementation of the monorails and People Movers that were pioneered at Disneyland. The city is described as relying on a vastly complex public transportation system, to the extent that inhabitants are "completely safe and seperated from the automobile." There would be an underground level for car travel but public transportation would be preferred simply because there would be zero wait time for the next People Mover.

I can't help but have negative feeling about Walt's EPCOT. Not because I think he couldn't have pulled it off – I've no doubt he could have – but because I don't agree philosphically with the reasoning behind it. Nonetheless, I encourage you to take a look at this short film, in which he describes his first rough plans for the city. It's fascinating. Keep in mind it's the last film he ever made... Walt died later that year and his great dream never came to fruition.

And while you're at it, take a step back to 1900 and watch this short film of the Paris Expo moving boardwalk.

Note: The current EPCOT at Disney World in Florida holds no resemblance to Walt's EPCOT. Anyone who's ever been to it is only too aware that they are required to walk for (what seems like) hundreds of miles... in the blistering sun. It is pure hell. There is no transportation of any kind. There are only your blistered feet and your screaming kids who want to leave because they hate the place and you're trying tell them that it's great but you hate it too. This is not the EPCOT of Walt's dream. This is what Walt would roll over in his grave at (except he's frozen)... Miseryland and Tragic Kingdom.

f

Note 2: The People Mover, the Skyway Tram. These have been removed from Disneyland. God knows why. (But why God? Why?) And then that big gold (flashy) monstrosity in Tomorrowland! Yes it certainly does catch everyones eyes! We all gasp! And run to Huck Finn's island. Ahh... relaxation.

a. Moving Boardwalk, Paris Expo
b. Disneyland transporation
c. Walt Disney and EPCOT
d. EPCOT radial design
e. Palmanova aerial photo
f. People Mover

• Great photos from Paris Expo
• Skyway and People Mover video
• Palmanova – Previous post
• The Sad Side of EPCOT from EPOT Central

Streamlined Propeller Train

This is not another ho-hum japanese bullet train. This is the blow-your-socks-off Rail Zepplin (and, holy mother of tinsel... just look at it fly). It broke all known records in 1931 when it zipped along at 230 kph for approximately 20 kilometers, propelled only by its very large rear propeller. No other train came close until the 1950s.

The best part is, you can own one! Or just enjoy the above and below collection of rare and tinselicious photos.

Real Life Nemo

Okay. This is art. This is science. This is grace. This is blow your mind amazingness to the nth degree.

It's 1862 and a Spanaird named Narcis Monturiol has just built the world's first steam powered submarine. Out of olive trees. And a little copper. He has called this submarine... Ictineo II. Ictineo the great. Ictineo the elegant. In Barcelona, they claim that it is the world's first navigable submarine, and therefore the first true sub in the world. I'll buy that. Because it looks so cool. Inside and out.

Unfortunately, Monuriol's sub made precious little profit as a rescue vessel and was sold as scrap in 1868. (The photos here are of the life-size reconstruction which now rests in the harbor of Barcelona.)

Above photo by Daly and Daly (cc)

a

b

c

a. Ictineo I – Man-powered
b. Ictineo II – Reconstruction,  Photo by Daly and Daly (cc)
c. Ictineo II – Recontruction closeup,  photo by Daly and Daly (cc)

 

Subterranean Pneumatic Apparatus

"Certainly the most novel, if not the most successful, enterprise that New York has seen for many a day is the Pneumatic Tunnel under Broadway. A myth or humbug it has been called by everybody who has been excluded from its interior;  but hereafter the incredulous public can have the opportunity of examining and judging its merits.  Yesterday the tunnel was thrown open to the inspection of visitors for the first time, and it must be said that every one of them came away surprised and gratified. Such as expected a dismal and cavernous retreat under Broadway, opened their eyes at the elegant reception-room, the light, airy tunnel, and the general appearance of taste and comfort in all the apartments;  and those who entered to pick out some scientific flaw in the project, were silenced by the completeness of the machinery, the solidity of the work, and the safety of the running apparatus..."

– The New York Times, at the opening of New York's Pneumatic Subway
February 26, 1870
 
It's almost hard to believe – and yet, it's so whimsically delightful – a subway car, sealed off in a big tube, propelled by nothing else but tons and tons (and tons) of air. One is simply blown to one's destination!

For more info, stop by Joseph Brennan's extraordinarily well-researched (and fun) website on the subject.

Animaris Rhinoceros

Imagine (if you can) flocks of these great artificial creatures roaming the beaches, leading their own lives. Now imagine that each of these beings is equipped with a small, but adequate, internal living space, for handy human transport. And their only source of power? The wind. This is the Anamaris Rhinoceros Transport and it is the vision of artist Theo Jansen, who's been at this for around ten years.

Will he accomplsh all his goals? I'm not sure it matters; his creation is already impressive enough... don't miss the video that shows the transport in motion.

Learn more about Jansen and the evolution of his wind-transport-beasts at Strandbeest. There are plenty of photos and videos on the site, including this one of Jansen pushing the Animaris Rhinoceros skeleton (which looks something like a giant spider).

       

(via: Cynical-C Blog)

The Intelligent Whale

Beware the vicious Intelligent Whale, a sleek marine-killer-machine of wood and metal. Construction on the Whale was completed in 1866, for use in the civil war, which unfortunately had just ended. The sub didn't work anyway; it failed all of its trials. To top it all off, the sub's jinxed owner was murdered just a few short years later by the jealous ex-lover of his mistress.

Interested in these things? Stop by the Nova's Submarine History website for a timeline of the great machines from 1580-present.

Enter the Monowheels

Step into the future... the amazing motorized-monowheel is finally here! Forget that all that complex steering wheel business; simply lean and turn. My favorite is the the R.I.O.T. Wheel, an odd looking vehicle that looks like it shouldn't be able to balance, but is actually in the running for fastest monowheel on the planet.

Airliner No. 4 and More

This spectacular flying-machine never flew. It's one of many fantastic aircrafts that never made it off the drawing board, much less the runway. The most grand of the bunch is probably Norman Bel Geddes' (designer of Futurama) steamship-sized Airliner Number Four. Geddes' multi-storied gargantuan of the skies could have comfortably held over 600 passengers in hotel-like suites. It was designed with a full dining-room, bar, games-deck, gymnasium, cafe, two large foyers, a nursery, dressing rooms, a shop, a doctor's office and much more. But alas, all that was just a dream. A figment. Lost... to the cramped, sardine-styled airplane-hell of today.

Stop by the Adventure Lounge to browse through many more planes that never flew (and some that probably did). Fun stuff. But my own favorite fantasy aircrafts are those that are born out of Hayao Miyazaki's fantastic world's.

UPDATE: Puny plane, the Airbus A380, completes test flight. It does manage to cram 840 passengers into a claustrophobic cylinder, but offers no private suites, no dining orchestra and no promenade deck. Bummer. (thanks RSJM).

UPDATE 2: What's this? First class suites in the A380 after all? We're impressed. (thanks again RSJM)