Team Back In Time

2007 Parade Skit

web site guy — Sat, 12 May 2007 21:12:58 +0000

Our skit this year was a rap song. Katherine sang the first part and Omar sang the second part.

It started all out with my old man
An old school playa doing all he can
Not much for progress, hard work was key
But he never heard of Manifest Destiny

But things got ugly real quick one day
When Pa came home early from bailing hay
He walked around the barn on the way to the can
Just to see up playing a little “Jack and Diane”

So he loaded up our wagon with a months supplies
Not even time for some quick goodbyes
It came to me as we walked across this land
Kids, take it from me– PARENTS JUST DON’T UNDERSTAND!

So I was cruizin’ down the prairie just me and my doll
When along comes an English man six feet tall
With a long knit scarf and some curly hair
He jumped into a box that wasn’t quite there

He said, “I don’t have time to explain it all,
But come with me and you will have a ball.
I’ll take you to a place that’s fun and new
Cause I’m the original Doctor Who!”

So he brought us down to the here and now
But before we knew it he was saying chow.
“I’d love to stay and watch you complete your trek,
But I’ve got to fight some nasty Daelek.”

So now we plan to run the race in it’s entirety
In our 1806 SUV.

Chain Gang

web site guy — Sat, 03 Mar 2007 17:43:11 +0000

After a few months of hibernation, progress on our craft is once again moving forward. One of the key changes from last year involves building independent chain mechanisms for the water and land sections of the course. With the help of my crazy bicycle neighbor Larry, we reassembled the pedals which now have gears on both sides of the frame. A new chain goes from the front gear, through a small PVC pipe (to keep the chain from slipping off the front gear), around the back paddle gear, and finally through a rear dérailleur (to keep tension on the chain).

With both chains in place, we are almost ready to test it in the water and see what happens. This step, which was skipped over last year, should help us get more than 10 feet into the water this time around.

Legal Concerns

web site guy — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 03:33:24 +0000

Anyone building a Kinetics craft should make sure they aren’t infringing on United States Patent 5547406: Floatation device with propeller and rudder driven by a bicycle.

2006 Parade Skit

web site guy — Tue, 16 May 2006 01:29:58 +0000

I never thought I would say this, but it turns out our Kinetics theme was too liberal for Boulder. After considering a handful of options, we decided to be “Official Government Surveillance Mascots” since the whole unauthorized wiretapping is such a hot topic these days. So we decorated the craft and constructed some appropriate costumes. We also had to come up with a three minute skit to perform during the parade. I thought it was really funny and would have played well in Boulder, but we got booed off the stage after getting about one quarter of the way through.

Omar: Hello, I’m TAPPY!

Katherine: And I’m TIPPY!

Omar: And we may or may not have been created as marketing tool from an unnamed government surveillance organization.

Katherine: It seems that a lot of people are upset because the government is trying to find all the terrorists. We are here to set the record straight about stuff like this. Are there any concerned citizens here that have any questions for us? How about you? (points to Cindy)

Cindy: My friends tell me that government surveillance is bad.

Omar: Your friends are just plain wrong. We just want to make sure everyone stays away from danger.

Katherine: Is it wrong for a mother to limit the amount of lead based paint her children drink every day?

Cindy: Umm, I guess not, but didn’t President Bush violate the 1978 FISA bill when he authorized the NSA to eavesdrop on US citizens without a warrant?

Katherine: Of course he didn’t do anything wrong. If the president did something wrong he would tell us—that’s how great of a guy he is.

Omar: He just decided that when Congress passed the Patriot Act it gave him the right to do whatever he wants—including not telling congress what he has been up to.

Cindy: So is the government watching me? I’m not doing anything illegal.

Omar: Of course we are watching you. Since we can’t separate the good guys and the bad guys, we have to listen to everything so we can sort things out. It is just like dredging an entire lake to find all the dead hookers at the bottom. What’s wrong with that?

Cindy: Nothing, I suppose, but doesn’t that mean we are losing our civil liberties?

Katherine: Only the people who are breaking the law should be worried. We just want to find the bad guys—like Osama Bin Laden’s social planner or that old lady with cancer who grows her own marijuana plants instead.

Cindy: She is a terrorist? I thought she was doing that to ease the constant pain that prescription drugs couldn’t help.

Omar: Just because someone had a perfectly good reason to break the law doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be locked up in jail.

Cindy: So can you give me an example of some terrorist that have been caught through this program?

Katherine: Of course not. That would just assist the terrorists.

Cindy: What about these secret government operations recently disclosed at AT&T switching rooms across the country? What are those for?

Omar: We have a trouble maker in section 5. Roger that.

Then Scott, wearing a trench coat and sunglasses comes over and carries Cindy off the stage.