Frogs and Ravens: Slide Show

Here, at last, are some pictures from my vacation last week.

The main reason I chose the week in question was that Oregon State University was going to be holding DaVinci Days. Since my parents live in the area, we often go to watch the festivities. In particular, we are very fond of the Kinetic Sculpture Race.

The "race" has several parts. First the sculptures (which have to be human powered) collect to be examined by the judges for their aesthetic qualities (which includes reciting a poem or singing a song about their sculpture). Showmanship is a big part of it -- teams dress up in some way to match their sculpture, and bribing the judges (usually with food) is an official part of the event. (Note: all but one of the pictures are clickable pop-ups; the race pictures are pretty big (~200k).)

Here we have Buns of Steel, Cheesy Rider, Pastry Peddler, and Sparkle.

Then there is a parade, followed by a timed road race. Here we have Time Flies, Rogue Towing, and Blaster and Commander.

Time Flies, in previous years, was a tomato. (A lot of these machines, especially the big expensive ones like Sparkle, compete every year in a variety of races. Usually they change the decor. Sparkle was a big pink dog with fleas one year.)

Music was provided by a live band seated on top of the Maltese Fulcrum. And, yes, they did all parts of the race, except for the water segment. All the songs were appropriate to the occasion. The ant (see below) was serenaded with "The Ants Go Marching" and during the mud bog, they came up with "All You Need Is Mud (Love)" and "Show Me the Way to the Next Mud Bog (Whiskey Bar)."

(Note the young woman next to them. She is riding one of the coolest unofficial kinetic machines of the day -- it has an eccentric axle and the rider powers it by bouncing up and down. So here she was gently floating up and down in her summer dress, accompanied by the band. Very very cool.)

The next day, after everyone's rested, there is the infamous Mud Bog. This is the best part of the whole thing, in my opinion.

Sticky and deep is the desired state of the mud bog.

Here we see Mute Ant, That's A Mower, Eh? (the mechanism was derived from a mower), and Sparkle again. (Other sculptures made it through with no problem, but these pictures are more fun. Note to any future competitors: avoid holes, and don't choose big smooth tires -- no traction. Also watch out for low-slung bike chains -- that's just asking for trouble!)

After the bog, competitors must then paddle five miles down a river.

This is Gourd of the Rings.

They had gourd-shaped hats and lots of attitude. At one point, while peddling past someone who sneezed, I heard them say "Gourd bless you." They also did really well in the mud bog.

Mute Ant also took time out to set a couple of records: The 50 Meter Human Powered Walking Machine Speed Record (28.6 seconds -- and it would have been even faster if it hadn't popped a chain) and the Greatest Distance in One Hour for a Human Powered Walking Machine (2.14 miles).

If a giant mechanical walking ant isn't cool, I don't know what is.

When we weren't enjoying DaVinci Days, we enjoyed the big trees, visiting local gardens, picking blueberries, and similar outdoorsy activities. Yes, that blueberry is that big. And it wasn't unsually so, relative to the others!