Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Maker Faire

Why does the weekend always end? I suppose the flip side to that is, the weekend always comes again. So, there’s something to look forward to.

I went to the NYC Maker’s Faire this weekend. I have to say, I was a little disappointed this year. Last year was the first time I went to the Maker’s Faire and it was way more odd and unusual than it was this year, hence my disappointment. Maker Faire is an outside event created to celebrate arts, crafts, engineering, science projects, and the Do-It-Yourself (DIY) mindset. So right up my alley.  Last year it seemed like there was a lot more bizarre, mad-sciencey type things going on. This year was pretty main stream technology. Call me an elitist but that’s just sort of ho-hum in my book. I want things that can take over moon bases and hold the world hostage! Or at least the awesome rocket ponies that they had last year. Have you ever though… Gee, I wonder what it would be like to strap myself onto a rocket and get propelled in insanely quick circles? Well that’s exactly what you get with the rocket ponies. Also, temporary deafness. Unfortunately all that they had this year in the area of suitably unsafe interactiveness was an odd see-saw weldment that spins on its axis and looks like it might fall apart… but that’s probably what the caution tape was for. They did have a giant rusted fire breathing dinosaur on wheels for the kids to play on though. That was pretty neat. One of my favorite things that did not disappoint was ArcAttack! They’re this crazy high tech musical collaborative that uses robotic drums and tesla coils for a really amazing musical stage show. I highly recommend checking them out.
I also did no shopping in there either. Usually there’s a few merchants that I have to beat my impulsive brain into submission from. This time though the vendor area was more like a giant hipster garage sale. That just doesn’t work for me. We left a little early and missed the Diet Coke/Mentos explosion performance which is worth seeing once. Fortunately I saw it last year so I know what I’m missing. Oh well. Next year I’ll find something new to do.

2 comments:

  1. Sounds cool. I love going to those type things. But it does kinda suck when the first year is fantastic and then the next you expect that and it's not. I have to admit I've done the mentos/coke thing more than once and each time it makes me laugh like the first hahahaha..I'm a dork I know

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  2. I have to really control how I view events, my expectations. I get so excited by things so easily sometimes that it can be hard to see things in perspective. If I go along to something, anything, with those high expectations, then I am nearly always let down. However, if I go along to something with an open mind, or expecting things to go really badly, then things tend to be different.

    So now what I do, in order to prepare for events, any events, is spend time thinking about the worst that can happen. Now that's not that hard for me, as outside of the jiggly excitable bubble I mostly live in a world where let-downs are the norm, or at least what I expect as standard. So, therefore, thinking of the worse-case scenarios usually always means that things will go better than expected.

    The trouble is, then it's being careful not to get too carried away with it, especially with regards to people, as then it's all too easy to start blaming them for things they haven't even done (literally, too - that's something I try to avoid nowadays).

    Oh well - all in the balance, eh?

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