Just For Fun

06
Jun

2013

Cable Car Vending Machine

What do you do with an old gondola cabin? Turn it into art and everyday home items of course!

Vending machine cabin. Image from My Modern Met.

As part of the Verbiers Mountain Climber project, these gondolas will be on display at a charity event called Design Miami in Basel from June 10-17. In total, there will be 40 cabins that are transformed from boring passenger old cabins into decorative, fancy home furnishings.

The brainchild of this project are three entrepreneurs Inès Flammarion, Nicolas Bernheim and Albert Schrurs.

Ultimately, these cabins will be auctioned off at Christies and the money received will be donated to Switzerland’s Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Rocking chair cabin. Image from Mountain Climbers.

To stay up to date with this event and see more photos, please visit the Mountain Climbers website.



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23
Apr

2013

Early Chairlift (Cable Car) 1957

We have no clue where this is or when exactly the picture was taken but seeing something like this is definitely a reminder of how much cable technology has advanced and evolved since then.

More fun than a barrel of monkeys!



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03
Apr

2013

Guide to Surviving Poor Passenger Behaviour on Transit

Riding public transit is often a comfortable and enjoyable experience. Most people are quiet, are respectful of the personal space of others and typically, will mind their own business.

However, if you ride transit regularly, you’ll know that this isn’t always the case. Every so often you’ll come face to face with one (or few) inconsiderate and rude passenger(s). From my experiences, this scenario is almost unavoidable — almost as if there’s some basic law of public transit riding where 10% trips will result in you encountering some sort of insensitive buffoon.  We all know who they are: seat-hoarders, pole-leaners, music blasters, and so on and so forth, the list can go on forever.

Mind moving your bag? Image by Flickr user zsazsasmore

So how do you deal with these riders? Well, Burger King Singapore released their own personal, and I might add, rather amusing guide on ways to surviving poor passenger behaviour. In total, there are five different instructional videos, most of which a regular commuter can personally and immediately relate to. The two most hilarious ones are posted below, but if you’d like to see more, click here.
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13
Mar

2013

Best Bus Stop Ever

If you’re a regular transit rider, you know waiting for the bus is never fun. And I’m not sure if it’s just me, but buses always seem to be running late — especially when you’re in a rush.

To rectify these problems, Qualcomm decided to add a little fun and excitement to the commute of a couple lucky passengers. Check it out.
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11
Feb

2013

Snack On Top Of Qingtianhe Cable Car

Because of course someone thought this was a good idea.

Because human stupidity knows no bounds, two men decided to take a snack on the wild side at Qingtianhe national park in central China.

While riding the park’s cable car, the pair somehow managed to open the cabin’s doors, crawl on top of the cabin and indulge themselves in an afternoon snack.

Park officials - apparently and completely redundantly - warned other visitors of the risks involved in such a stunt after which they also reminded visitors of the dangers of pole vaulting in lightening storms and opening airplane doors mid flight.

Entirely absent from any reports on this incident are the following:

  • How did these two men manage to open the cabin doors?
  • Are these cabins designed such that they can be opened from the inside?
  • If so, don’t park officials think that’s, like, a really bad idea?

Requests for the answers to those breathtakingly simple questions were not immediately returned.



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28
Jan

2013

20 Years After ‘Marge vs. The Monorail’

From “Marge vs. the Monorail”.Fun fact: you can get mono from riding the Monorail.

This is still more than many people understand about most transportation technologies.

Yesterday marked the 20th anniversary of the classic Conan O’Brien penned episode of The Simpsons entitled ‘Marge vs. The Monorail.’

The episode tells how the naive residents of Springfield choose to spend an unexpected windfall of revenue on a monorail instead of repairing dilapidated Main Street. The salesman is a smooth-talking (and singing) gent in a bowler hat who is an obvious reference to ‘Professor’ Harold Hill from The Music Man. It’s a stunningly well-written episode and about as good as one can expect from television satire.

It’s also probably one of the most quoted episodes in the shows entire run.

It’s also a perpetual thorn in our side (see here, here and here). Those that disagree with the idea of using gondolas as public transit love to cite this particular episode as some kind of proof against the concept. We tend to just smile bemusedly and turn the other cheek.

Lost in all the jabs about monorail technology, there’s also a subtle commentary on the usage of public funds to build transit when the overwhelming majority of people use cars. It’s easy to miss that because of the monorail hook, but replace the ill-fated train with a streetcar, subway or BRT and the episode carries with it an entirely different message.

The monorail adds an absurd element to the proceedings, but at its core, ‘Marge vs. The Monorail’ isn’t questioning the validity of a specific technology, it’s questioning what role government should have in shaping our transportation preferences – and whether or not it’s effective.

Which – even 20 years later – is a question we’re still wrestling with in cities across the developed world.



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19
Dec

2012

Season’s Greetings from the Gondola Project

In what may be the start of a trend before we at the Gondola Project all head off to see friends and family for the holiday break, we leave you with Brazil’s version of Santa riding chairlifts!

Happy holidays! See y'all in the New Year! Image by imguol.com.

...or as they say in Brazil, Feliz Natal! Image by Campos do Jordão.

 



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