标签: air swimmers

Have you seen the "Air Swimmers" , those helium-filled, radio-controlled flying sharks and clown fish? If you watch this video , you can see where they get their name as they literally "swim" through the air. These little scamps look really serene and are quite beautiful to watch. When I first saw these I really wanted one but they were sold out. "Oh Dear!" I said to myself (or words to that effect). On the bright side, the website I was visiting did have a button that said something like "Click Here to be notified when we get more supplies..." So I clicked the button and gave them my email address and forgot all about it. This was months and months ago when I was young and foolish. Since then I've grown old and bitter, without a happy word to say about anyone or anything... until... ...a couple of days ago when I received an email that was short and to the point saying: Air Swimmers are back in stock at the MM Toy Store. Quantities are limited and are on a first-come, first-serve basis. https://www.mandmtoys.com/air-swimmers If you miss out on this batch, please re-sign up for notification. So why did I wait to tell you about these little beauties? It was the "If you miss out on this batch..." qualification at the end. I certainly didn't intend to miss out on anything, so I didn't want to say anything until my order was "in the bag" as it were... It probably won't surprise you to hear that I immediately bounced over to their website and placed an order for my very own flying shark. This little rascal, which is 145 cm (57 inches) from nose-to-tail, can be controlled from up to 15.24 Meters (50 feet). Mostly I expect to play with it in the house – I anticipate having a lot of fun scaring the dogs and annoying the cats (when my wife, Gina The Gorgeous , isn't looking, of course, because she dotes on the little monsters). As soon as there's a wind-less day, however, I'm going to conceal myself on our front porch and fly my shark around the front garden to baffle and bewilder the neighbors (grin). Actually, I did email my inventor friend Brian LaGrave as soon as I'd placed my order, because I think he was the one who first told me about them way back in the mists of time. Within a few seconds, Brian replied with an email pointing to the Groupon.com website ( Click here ) where they were selling these little beauties for only $24 (the one I'd just ordered cost me $37, so there was much gnashing of teeth and rending of garb in my office at that time, let me tell you). But all-in-all I really don't care. The bottom line is that I'm soon going to be the proud possessor of my own flying shark (and that's not something you hear every day). Just a few moments ago as I pen these words, I received a confirmation email saying that my shark is winging its way to me as we speak (pun intended). I cannot wait!!!  

Where do I begin? I have just watched the most amazing bunch of videos... First of all check out this amazing piece about "Air Swimmers" ( Click here to see this item). The video shows a radio-controlled shark and a radio-controlled Clown Fish flying through the air. These look GREAT. They are about 57-inches long and 36-inches tall and I so want one!!! Unfortunately, funds are a bit short at the moment ... still (I tell myself) it doesn't hurt to find out how much they cost. I just went to the www.airswimmers.com website, but it says the store is currently down due to overwhelming interest (I wish I had that problem). But I will be checking back in the future... Speaking of which, did you ever see the video of the amazing flying jellyfish robot? What? You haven't seen it? Well you are in for a real treat ( Click here to see this video). I don't know what it is about this "creature" – all I can say is that it's strangely surreal and watching it move is curiously relaxing. Of course we can't have a conversation about strange and unusual artificial creatures without mentioning the amazing creations by Theo Jansen. Watching the more complex wind-powered beasts walking into the wind is a sight not to be forgotten. I would love to see these "in the flesh" as it were ( Click here to see this video). Moving on... on the one hand you have to be careful about Internet-based rumours, so when I recently received an email warning that plastic hotel room keys were coded with one's credit card number I took that with a grain of salt. On the other hand, when you see a video showing how the safe in your hotel room may have a default code of all zeros ... well, it makes me want to visit a hotel to try it out for myself ( Click here to see this video). "And now for something completely different," as they used to say on Monty Python. Actually I find this a bit scary. I can't remember exactly what it was that I was looking for, but it certainly wasn't this website showing the most bizarre tattoos and piercings I've ever seen ( Click here ... but only if you are (a) brave and (b) not currently in the middle of a nice meal). I'm sorry, that really wasn't very nice of me. Let me make it up to you with two videos, which really are rather awe-inspiring. The first is from the guys and gals at Para Hawk USA ( www.parahawkusa.com ), whose video shows the training of a female Harris' Hawk called Shanti Maria to fly alongside a paraglider. The second video is from 2006, in which we see Swiss pilot Yves "Jetman" Rossy became the first man in history to fly like a bird, albeit with fibreglass and carbon fibre wings powered by kerosene-fuelled engines (the music is rather inspiring). Apparently Rossy, who has since flown across the English Channel, can fly at speeds of up to 190 miles per hour and to a height of 3,000m (9,842 feet). Of course you know what this makes me think of ... YES! The ultra-modern jetpack from the Martin Aircraft Company. Even today, when I'm driving back and forth to work and I see things like water towers or large trees I think to myself "I wonder what those would look like if I were flying around them with my Jet Pack?" Similarly, when I see overhead cables I think "I would have to be careful to avoid those if I were using my Jet Pack" (I know it's silly, but if I ever win the lottery then one of these little beauties will be mine :-)