Am I a Goofball...
...because I like to anthropomorphize construction machinery? To wit, while walking to the University today, I saw these two machines and thought, "Good bulldozer, good bulldozer... [pat] [pat] [pat]." It seems like there's something oddly maternally protective about the position of the excavator.
Okay, yeah, I'm a goofball.
There was an even better one on I-75 between Tampa and Fort Myers. A division of Case has its headquarters abutting the highway, so on display, they have their tinyest skid loader with a front bucket, facing their story-and-a-half tall wheeled loader, both with their buckets raised. A good caption might be, "Are you my mommy?" Or maybe, "I help daddy!"
I'm reminded of a video I saw on the web: Anne Troake's "Pretty Big Dig", which is described as a ballet of three long-necked yellow excavators performing synchronized manoeuvres to a waltz... It's the ultimate small film about large objects, a wry feminization of heavy earth-moving equipment. If you haven't seen it, it's pretty amusing--pirouetting backhoes.
[Edit: link to the short film itself in comments, provided by Daniel.]
I think guys are programmed to like yellow construction machinery from Tonka Toys onwards... I have pictures of my first few birthdays, and a steam roller and a fire truck were birthdays one and two, respectively. I guess I never outgrew it, to some degree.
posted by Bats @ 9:41 PM
5 comments
5 Comments:
That documentary is totally awesome.
Troake was so expressive when she talked about how great it was to work with the machines and the operators.
*goes off to find the original video*
Thx. ;)
http://bravofact.com/shorts/details.asp?projectID=2050
What's to outgrow? :-)
One of the coolest playground toys I ever saw was a manual earthmover (sandmover, actually) firmly planted in a big sandbox. You sat on a metal seat (like the ones on that wierd two-person swing) that could pivot [I think it could swing a 180-degree arc]. You had a lever on either side of the seat that worked a proportionally small bucket scoop. (one lever controlled the arm, another controlled the bucket angle). It was incredibly simple and spare, and I suppose limited in scope [now I'll move the sand back over to the left!] but I loved it.
I haven't had any personal experience, but my mom thinks (real) backhoes are a lot of fun. She got to play with one while our house was being constructed in VT.
p.s. I forgot the obvious response to the header question: "Sure, you're a goofball, but not for that reason."
There's a construction site on Galen St. that's currently a large hole in the ground with a big excavator in the middle. The brand badged across the arm is "NEED."
Man, that's just asking to be performance art.
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