Ear to the ground:
“I wonder if anyone has pried the gun out of his cold, dead hands yet.”
– Post-Sandy Hook rumination on former NRA President Charlton Heston’s infamous line
The self-proclaimed “industrial artist,” 62, has recently released his Airkipp, a kinder, gentler gate made out of, well, blown-up windsocks, for lack of a better description.
Or “soft but durable ballistic materials,” as Dag likes to call it. The result of years of tinkering, the Airkipps (kipp loosely translates to “tip” in German) are made out of inflatable urethane-coated nylon, meant to withstand wear while doing away with the dreaded shin bashing, or worse.
The poles come in hot pink and fluorescent yellow for better visibility – “Blue and red are ancient, and those colors fade in the shadows,” Dag said. They will retail on www.airkipp.com.
“I wonder if anyone has pried the gun out of his cold, dead hands yet.”
– Post-Sandy Hook rumination on former NRA President Charlton Heston’s infamous line
Back the Stack
With the Powerhouse completed, things at the Durango Discovery Museum are looking up. Quite literally.
The museum has now set its sites on renovating the outside smokestack, a relic from a bygone era and incidentally, a historic landmark, with its “Back the Stack!” campaign. The idea is to reincarnate the smokestack as a cutting-edge clean energy generator, retrofitted with thermal convection, nonturbine micro-wind and hydro, flexible PV, and mini “solar ivy” panels that look like leaves. The energy generated via the stack will be used to juice the Powerhouse.
The hope is, once the kinks have been ironed out, the blueprint can be used as a model for similarly woefully dilapidated smokestacks everywhere.
But such lofty ideas come with a price tag: roughly $133,000 for the retrofits and accompanying outdoor “science park.” The museum has set up a crowd-funding site at www.indiegogo.com/backthestack, where for as little as $3 you can contribute and learn the “secret mad scientist fist bump.” For $10, you’ll get your very own “mad scientist facial hair kit” and $50 will land you a “Back the Stack” redesigner tee (along with aforementioned facial hair kit as a bonus.)
As amazing as the bonus gifts are, don’t mull it over too long. The Back the Stack campaign ends at midnight, March 31.
Look ma, no bruises!
The days of bashing gates may be numbered. Austrian ski racer and part-time Carbondale resident Stefan Dag, who revolutionized the sport more than 30 years ago with his Rapidgate hinged slalom poles, is about to do it again.
The days of bashing gates may be numbered. Austrian ski racer and part-time Carbondale resident Stefan Dag, who revolutionized the sport more than 30 years ago with his Rapidgate hinged slalom poles, is about to do it again.
The self-proclaimed “industrial artist,” 62, has recently released his Airkipp, a kinder, gentler gate made out of, well, blown-up windsocks, for lack of a better description.
Or “soft but durable ballistic materials,” as Dag likes to call it. The result of years of tinkering, the Airkipps (kipp loosely translates to “tip” in German) are made out of inflatable urethane-coated nylon, meant to withstand wear while doing away with the dreaded shin bashing, or worse.
The poles come in hot pink and fluorescent yellow for better visibility – “Blue and red are ancient, and those colors fade in the shadows,” Dag said. They will retail on www.airkipp.com.
In this week's issue...
- January 25, 2024
- Bagging it
State plastic bag ban is in full effect, but enforcement varies
- January 26, 2024
- Paper chase
The Sneer is back – and no we’re not talking about Billy Idol’s comeback tour.
- January 11, 2024
- High and dry
New state climate report projects continued warming, declining streamflows