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OFFISHUL 2021 KSiP PROGRAM

May 29, 2021

WELCOME TO KSiP 2021

We at Kinetic Universe welcome all of you to Kinetic Shelter in Place 2021! Of course, we would rather be welcoming you back to the Arcata Plaza, but that will have to wait one more year. The past year has been challenging for everyone and the Kinetic community has been no exception. We hope we have weathered the storm and can look forward to meeting in person next year!

Once again, we have launched a Kinetic Shelter in Place to keep tradition alive and to help keep us connected. We’ve altered the format a bit since last year. Teams will be competing in the four PACE categories -- Pageantry, Art, Community and Engineering. Each category has its own subcategories, all combined together into one matrix:

Further details on the challenges can be found here: https://kineticgrandchampionship.com/racers

Instead of a traditional three-day event, we’ve condensed everything into one glorious afternoon this year. We’ll kick things off at the noon whistle on Saturday, May 29, 2021. You can catch all the action on Access Humboldt or on YouTube at this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4BgRzIzs8M

What follows are some details, tidbits, trivia and even photos of this year’s teams. We hope you will enjoy reading about them as much as we’ve enjoyed collecting and judging their videos.

We thank you for your support during these challenging years and look forward to seeing all of you next Memorial Day weekend in person and to spreading glory from Arcata to Ferndale all weekend long. For the Glory!

ENTRY 1001: TEAM PINEAPPLE

Dammit, Eleanor! The 2020 E.G.G. champions are back in full-force to defend their championship, with or with a crew of unwitting interns. What they’ve got planned for this year is sure to be worthy of Wes Anderson, but let’s all hope that no jaguar sharks devour any of their crew. (Or, in a reference the younger set can understand, let’s hope they don’t get turned into Sponge Bob’s home.)

ENTRY 1002: THE HAMMANATOR

We are happy to have the Hammanator joining us from the East Coast -- rural Washington County, Maryland, with a remote office located in a dorm room in Philadelphia to be exact. We are not sure that everyone will want to use their filming timeline -- and was ham on both the lunch and dinner menu they day they busted out the camera? -- but the Hammantor team swears that ALL of their videos were made in the four hours between those two meals on the due date! How’s that for procrastination? Anyone who pulled an all-nighter before a final can relate. Their work this year is an homage to the great Marcel Duchamp (very appropriate given his kinetic artwork) with shout outs to Frank Zappa and Batman! All this makes us want to see the Caped Crusader covering “Joe’s Garage” in its entirety on a Duchamp-inspired stage. Their photos include a pre-filming power lunch that includes Facetime with the remote Hamminator and their beloved jujubear preparing for a challenge!

ENTRY 1003: ASGARD RACING

Hailing from Astoria and Tigard in the great state of Oregon, all in all Asgard Racing is more than just another brick in the wall. As they told us: “We’ve got 20 pounds of cement, an old rubber boot and too much time on our hands. It’s time to kick it!” But just what is the red liquid in that pitcher? The roster for Asgard Racing includes: Nick Harris (captain); Erin Harris (artistic director); Oliver Harris (future pilot); Elliot Harris (future pilot); Kris Taylor (exiled to Canada, eh); Tammy Martinez (team mom) and Jim Sherrick (wheelman).

ENTRY 1004: REED SPACER

The word on the street is that Reed may have been spending too much time in the fifth dimension, which leads to the use of some cheap handlebars. We’re hoping there will be no mission failures on display in his videos this year, but if there are any, they are sure to be glorious and perhaps replicated in Corvallis, Klamath Falls and Port Townsend in Reed’s Great Northwest!

ENTRY 1006: BFG: BLACK FISH GALLOPING

Just how many times can one man bounce in a single KSiP video? We’re hoping that Peter will provide us with the answer on May 29. If he does, we’ll call the Guinness Book of World Records. His now legendary one-person act is a sight to behold so he’s bound to have something up his sleeve this Memorial Day weekend. Most of all, we are just waiting to find out exactly how a fish gallops. We think the answer is it gallops gloriously!

ENTRY 1007: NEEDS MORE COWBELL

Because no one anywhere has ever said “That’s too much cowbell!” We’ve got the fever and the only prescription is more cowbell! We know this team with be Walken with glory come Memorial Day weekend. They don’t fear the reaper, but they will be burning for you as they power gloriously through their videos, cleaning the land and pushing recycling! The only thing missing will be The Royal Kinetic Madness Band’s great rendition of Blue Oyster Cult’s “Godzilla.”

ENTRY 1008: OAKLANDER

And now let’s give a little love to the East Bay city that’s the home of the Athletics, the Paramount Theater and Lake Merritt. It’s a shame there’s no actual water crossing this year because we have all the confidence in the world in a team named Oaklander’s ability to cross a bay and avoid the man-eating claims. We’ll be keeping an eye on them from here to Jack London Square.

ENTRY 1009: NEW MEXICO ROADRUNNER

From the ABQ in the Land of Enchantment, it’s New Mexico Roadrunner, a team sure to beep, beep its way into your heart. We know they can outrun even the wiliest of coyotes but how will they do against this year’s rugged competition? The desert is nothing like Humboldt County, but we doubt that will be a drawback for them. And they do have one consumer tip to pass along: avoid purchasing Acme products, all of which are defective.

ENTRY 1010: TEAM GODDESS RACING

Hailing from the home base of Otis Day and the Knights, we are thrilled to have Kinetic Mainstay Team Goddess sheltered in place this year! And they provided us with the following sneak peek of what’s ahead for this decorated team. Hint: the future includes plenty of hops and a couple of big ears and even though it may look like a plug for Nesquik, we assure you it is much more glorious:

We are Team Goddess Racing from Dexter, Oregon. For the 2021 KSiP, TGR team members are Tina Kerrigan, Mike Bate, Yumi Ozaki, and Meiwan Gottschalk. We represent a multistate team from Oregon, Washington, and California. We are building our Goddess Bunny for future in-person races and our videos showcase work in progress and the first team work weekend with a few members who are fully vaccinated. Making videos for the KSiP has been more fun than I anticipated and I'm really glad we signed up!

ENTRY 1011: HUMBOLDT KINETIC WORKS -- TEAM FUNGUY

Last year, Funguuuuuy killed Eggsy McKracken more times and in more different ways than South Park’s Kenny. Will Eggsy be resurrected again this year? Or has he gone to the frying pan in the sky as part of a wondrous omelette, only to be replaced by Greggsy McKracken? No less than the Goddess Jen-O has some serious suspicions about whether Eggsy’s death was accidental or the result of fowl play. We may have to call in the Kinetic Kops. We can’t promise that this year’s entry will be free of shocking twists, but we can promise that this will be one of the most entertaining entries.

ENTRY 1012: ROYAL PAIN AND FRIENDS: GLORIOUS GADGETS OF OCCASIONAL GOOD (BUT MOSTLY COMPLICATED CHAOS)

He may be young but the Royal Pain is quickly becoming a legend in Kinetic circles. During shelter in place, he has been busy working with his cat minions to show his prowess and bring glory to his already royal family. He was far too busy creating chaotic glory to give us a preview of what he has in store, so the job of unforming us was delegated to Queen Robot, who now serves as the Royal Pain’s official secretary. We’re just not sure if that is the equivalent of a cabinet post:

Born under a Glorious spotlight, and covered in rutabaga glitter, “The Royal Pain”, is discovering what it means to “grow up” Kinetic, while actively trying to rebel against the two Queens raising him. This Kinetic Kid isn’t a RutaBaby anymore. The Royal Pain notably has a 1st place Art Trophy from the 2019 Kinetic Classic and a special one-time-only Kinetic award “new born bull in a golden china shop” for breaking absolutely everything he touched during the 2020 KSIP. The Royal Pain is the 8-year-old son of 2004 Rutabaga Queen Monica, and nemesis/student of 2020 Rutabaga Queen Robotica .The only thing he loves more than Chaos is CATS.

Thank you,

Queen Robot, Official Royal Pain secretary

ENTRY 1013: GREEN GODDESS

While we don’t have any photos to share at the moment, we are so happy to have Green Goddess in the competition this year! Colorado’s greatest export, Green Goddess Sandy Sherman served as the photographer for the Boulder Kinetic Sculpture Race from 1987 to 2009. Since then, she’s been the photographer for the Longmont (Colorado) Kinetic Sculpture Race as well as the glue for that race’s planning committee. In 2014, she also was the pilot and team captain for Loose LiLies in the Longmont race. Pro-tip for this year’s KSiP: Be on the lookout for this entry’s attempt to win the Golden Flipper! While we assemble some ingredients for a delicious salad, we’ll let the Green Goddess fill you in on the rest:

Stevo aka “Froggy”:

Boulder & Longmont KSR: 1982-Present, Pilot & Team Captain

FREDDY FLYER:

Green polka dot stuffed toy reptile

P.A.C.E. Challenges:

Pageantry: OH YEAH…Slow Motion “Froggy” busting thru the Cardboard Brick Wall

Art: A Model Citizen: Stevo came up with the idea of building a model of a future Kinetics Sculpture and placing it in a Field of Dreams. “Freddy Flyer” rides the red rocking chair-wheely- kinetic conveyance. Christmas theme: reindeer hood ornament, red scarf, gold ornaments.

Community: Social Climber: Five year old “Lady Bug” learns how to paddle (on land) a kinetic conveyance that normally has styrofoam pontoons for the water. Mom learns how to steer the craft & Stevo follows along with the paddle.

Engineering: WILD CARD: Stevo maneuvers the “Freddy Flyer” Kinetic Conveyance at high speed through an obstacle course of home depot buckets topped with Costco nut containers, topped with empty agave containers.

ENTRY 1014: WIGGLE WAGLERS OF FIELDBROOK FUNNY FARM

This bicontinental team, spanning the globe from Fieldbrook to Australia and all the planet in between, the Wiggle Wagglers of Fieldbrook Funny Farm are bringing farm animals and fall colors to this year’s KSiP. And why not? They’ve got more information on barnyard critters than most folks. Here’s what they had to share with us about the KSiP challenges they’ve rounded up:

Engineering Social Distancer Challenge: The word trebuchet (pronounced "tree bucket") comes from the ancient proto-Esperanto word meaning "rubber band". Tune in to see what the Wiggle Wagler's FUNky Farm will do with one on May 29th!

Art Wild Card Challenge: Beauty is in the sty of the beholder. Tune in on May 29th to gain a new pigspective on the humble hog, brought to you by the Wiggle Wagler's FUNky Farm!

Art Social Climber Challenge: He has his head in the clouds, while she's a down-to-earth homebody. Fate brought them together... but will it also tear them apart?? Tune in to Team Wiggle Wagle on May 29th to find out!

Pageantry Good Show Challenge: While disco is well-known to be the most popular music genre amongst bovids in general, a recent poll shows that the modern goat population now seems to prefer bluegrass, stating that disco is "so 2015." Put on your dancin' boots and get ready for a hootin' hollerin' good time with the Wiggle Waglers FUNky Farm on May 29th!

ENTRY 1015: RASPBERRY FEMBOT

When we reached out to all of the glorious teams entered in this year’s KSiP and we were tickled pink -- no, make that tickled raspberry -- when we got this lovely note from our friend Raspberry Fembot. Take it away, Raspberry Fembot:

Hello, this is Raspberry Fembot of Team Fembot. If you make it to Klamath Falls you'll see me on the same old bike with a brand new persona! At the moment the team is pretty much me, my human partner Lenny, and a large teddy bear. We live in Cloverdale, California, which is about 180 miles south of Eureka and 90 miles north of San Francisco on the 101. We do not have a sponsor. Throughout these videos, keep an eye on my earrings, and keep an eye on what the bear is wearing.

P: We're singing a song by special request of Goddess Jen-O. Not playing homemade instruments here but in the background you may see some instruments we've built or restored.

A: Also singing a song, but this time I rewrote the words and am playing on my very own homemade washtub bass. Yes, Lenny's guitar is made from a bedpan (we didn't make it but we love it just as much).

C: Whenever I ride my bike I pick up roadside trash. Sometimes I pick up a little and sometimes I pick up a lot. The outfit I'm wearing in this video is made from pull tabs and used inner tubes, a portion of which were roadside trash I picked up on bike rides; the pendant (CO2 cartridge) and earrings (NO2 cartridges) were likewise roadside trash.

E: It's a wildcard surprise, but next time we're all together you should come by the Lance Camper and I'll pour you a drinkypoo.

ENTRY 1016: #BUSTAMOVECREW

If ‘70s classic rock references have a place in this year’s KSiP, then so does catchy late ‘80s rap. You’ll see some familiar faces, with more than a small hint of Rutabaga, in this crew. We just hope that their videos don’t run too long because our best friend Larry, has a brother Harry and in five days he’s about to marry. Break out your brightest pastels to fit in with this one!

ENTRY 1017: CREATURE QUADS

No doubt you are familiar with creature comforts, but what about Creature Quads? You’re not? Then join us on May 29 to get your fill. We’re excited to welcome Creature Quads to this year’s race and congratulate them on their first entry! We hope they’ll have a glorious experience that will inspire them to return and join us on the Plaza next May.

ENTRY 1018: A MARYS RIVER METALWORK + ORGELKIDS USA COLLABORATION

Located in Corvallis -- home of the da Vinci Days GRAAN Kinetic Challenge, this glorious crew includes Trevor Heald (from Marys River Metalwork, serving as designer and fabricator; Simon Scheessele (age 10); Peter Scheessele (age 12); and behind-the scenes work from Erin and Evan Scheessele. Simon, Peter, Erin and Evan all are Orglekids USA -- their family’s all-volunteer pipe organ education non-profit organization. We may have to hit up these guys to provide the live music at next year’s Rutabaga Ball. Anyway, they were kind enough to send us plenty of fascinating background info, so take it away Marys River Metalwork and Orglekids USA:

Pronunciation

The orgel in Orgelkids is “organ" in German/Dutch (as in pipe organ, not guts) and is pronounced or-gull

Scheessele (also German) rhymes with Nestlé or Presley

Factoids

Our footage is from the FIRST EVER organ bike ride... the first test drive... the maiden voyage!

The bike trailer incorporates a 133 piece hand-built pipe organ kit designed to be repeatedly assembled and disassembled by kids aged 3 to 93.

We were inspired by a similarly bike-powered Orgelkids kit in the Netherlands, built by the organ building firm Verschueren - however, theirs was stationary. One thing we learned from living in Corvallis is that we expect our bike powered gadgets to also be bike-mobile.

The Orgelkids USA kit, developed in the Netherlands and built in Eugene, Oregon brings the pipe organ, also known as The King of Instruments, into schools, Maker Faires, out to the public. And now it can keep up with the public outside during the beautiful summer months.

Trevor Heald of Marys River Metalworks had prior experience designing and building whimsical human powered rides, so he was perfect for the challenge of designing an organ trailer with pedal-powered bellows. He designed it to fit many sizes and shapes of organists, making the organ height adjustable and the seat adjustable in two axes.

ENTRY 1019: TEAM CHIMERA

Mythology says the fierce chimera is a fire-breathing female monster that combines a lion’s head with a goat’s body and a serpent’s tale. Whatever form this monster takes, we’re gonna love them ‘till the wheels fall off. We’re expecting to see some fiery action from this team after the noon whistle blows. We’re still not entirely sure how a goat’s body is fearsome, though.