Wesley Treat's Roadside Resort

If you've ever dreamt of flying through the air with a jetpack strapped to your back like Commando Cody in Radar Men From the Moon, this may be your chance.

Jet Pack International, the company with whom world-record jetpack pilot Eric Scott works, is currently looking to add another pilot to their crew. They're performing a worldwide, open-invitation search for the perfect candidate to fly their state-of-the-art jetpack and perform at high-profile events.

According to their press release, "Potential pilots cannot have a fear of heights, going fast, performing in front of tens of thousands of fans, being on camera or becoming an international celebrity."

Everyone interested is required to send in an application, a headshot and a video explaining in 5 minutes or less why they deserve to be a jetpack pilot. Once the most likely prospects are chosen, they'll be put through "rigorous training and testing," though only one will emerge victorious.

What's more, the whole process is going to be taped for a reality TV show. ... Continued

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Jetpack International

Speaking of jetpacks, stuntman Eric Scott has brought futuristic daydreaming to the forefront once again by flying over Colorado's Royal Gorge earlier this week using just such a device.

In what has been called a world record, Scott covered 1,500 feet across the gorge, which drops more than 1,000 feet to the Arkansas River. Flying at about 75 miles per hour, he completed the flight in 21 seconds. (Video below.)

His jetpack, based on a design invented by Bell Aerosystems in the 1960s known as the Rocket Belt, uses superheated hydrogen peroxide to provide thrust. Bell's original design could fly no more than 20 seconds, but more recent developments have extended the flight time to a little over 30 seconds. ... Continued

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In 1949, engineer and former Navy pilot Moulton B. Taylor set about creating a practical and mass-produced flying car. Amazingly, he succeeded in designing a working model that could be converted from car to airplane in only five minutes by one person and received certification from the Civil Aeronautics Authority (now the FAA) for flight.

Unfortunately, the Aerocar, as Taylor named it, never received enough orders to justify production and it subsequently went the way of so many other cool things we'll never have. That is, unless you have $3.5 million and an eBay account.

Only six Aerocars were constructed, in three designs, all of which still exist. Three are in museums and three lie in private collections, only one of which still flies. Aerocar N103D, the third model built, hasn't flown since 1977, but remains in original condition and is currently being offered for sale as part of a divorce settlement.

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Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. And tiki is my favorite celebration style. Yet, I've never thought of putting the two together.

Admiration goes to author, L.A. celebrity and "King of Retro" Charles Phoenix for melding the two in a way that only he could.

Of course, I'm not so sure about the turkey loaf, but I think the Aku Aku sculpted face makes up for it.

Enjoy the video below. And happy Thanksgiving! ... Continued

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Finnair, the flag airline of Finland, has announced its vision of flying for 85 years in the future. Titled Departure 2093, the project comprises designs for five futuristic flying machines that are posh, emission-free and 100% recyclable.

Thing is, the designs are eerily reminiscent of the types of craft the futurists of the '50s promised us for 1993, especially the A1700-2400 Cruiser, a jet-powered VTOL that looks more like a flying saucer, and the yet-unnamed dual-nosecone service ship for an orbiting "space hotel."

Features and amenities for Finnair's fleet of the future include nanoceramic bodies; electricity-generating skins; luminescent crash-landing bags and emergency parachutes; virtual windows with changeable exterior views; intelligent seats that adjust to passengers' bodies, measure their vital signs and offer massages; restaurants with live shows; gymnasiums; and hologram theaters. ... Continued

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Your room may be equipped with Edison electric light, but those new-fangled bulbs wouldn't be good for much more than pepper shakers if it weren't for a man named Nikola Tesla.

Before the turn of the century, Thomas Edison and Tesla were engaged in a battle known as the War of Currents. Edison was a staunch proponent of direct-current electricity, while Tesla was an advocate of alternating current. Tesla was confident that AC was the way of the future, but Edison had already sunk a great deal of time, energy and money into DC.

The problem was that DC required expensive, high-maintenance converters to transform between voltages. AC, on the other hand, could do the same thing with less expensive and more efficient equipment, making it more effective in overcoming current loss over great distances. Tesla knew this and continued to promote AC for wide distribution. ... Continued

This week, Google officially announced its new Life magazine photo archive, a freely accessible database offering imagery owned by Life and dating back to the 1750s.

So far, they've digitized about 20% of the imagery, some of which has never been published online. When complete, the collection will hold about 10 million images.

You can access the collection directly on a special landing page, or you can include the phrase source:life in a regular Google image search. ... Continued

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Life Photo Archive Hosted by Google

OK, I openly admit that I stole the title from Gizmodo, because frankly I don't think there's a better one.

In offering this fan-effing-tastic yellow caution sign, ThinkGeek has made me rap myself in the head repeatedly, chanting "I totally should've thought of that!" As a fan of roads, signs and road signs, I think this little guy is just brilliant.

The little stickman is infinitely posable, allowing you to warn those around you of imminent relaxing, breakdancing or standing akimbo. I just need to think of a little "gift-giving" pose, because someone's definitely getting one of these for Christmas.

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ThinkGeek: Stickman Action Figure

2008 marks the centennial of one of the most mysterious and startling events to occur on planet Earth. OK, to be more accurate, it was June 30, but give me a break. I've had a cold.

It occurred in a remote region of Russia near the Podkamennaya Tunguska River in Siberia. Just after 7 a.m., an unidentified object screamed through the atmosphere and created an explosion that leveled 800 square miles of forest and broke windows several hundred miles away.

The first successful scientific expedition to the impact site didn't occur for 19 years, but what researchers found was startling. Some 80 million trees were stripped bare, scorched and flattened in a radial pattern, emanating from what was determined to be ground zero. Yet, no impact crater was found, and oddly, the trees at the epicenter remained standing. ... Continued

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As the Roadside Resort reported a few days ago, a gigantic piñata was constructed in downtown Philadelphia as part of an ad campaign organized by Carnival Cruise Lines. The 62-foot-tall burro, the centerpiece of a TV commercial being filmed for Carnival, was reportedly to be busted open with a wrecking ball, but the event was postponed due to a "technical difficulty."

According to new reports coming in, said difficulty was an objection by Philadelphia police who had fears, not of the danger of a wrecking ball swinging over a giant crowd of people, but of how that crowd of people would behave when the 4 tons of candy came flying out.

Philadelphia's National Public Radio affiliate WHYY reports that those who had gathered to witness the event became irate and started yelling obscenities at the extras hired to be in the commercial. Because the extras were dressed in business suits, the hysterical crowd mistakenly assumed they had something to do with organizing the event. ... Continued

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Who's Going to Be the Next Top Jetpack Pilot?

Jetpack Pilot Leaps Royal Gorge

Genuine Midcentury Flying Car Up for Sale

Charles Phoenix's Tiki-Turkey Dinner

Finnair Establishes Retrofuturism of the Future

This Room Is Equipped With Tesla Alternating Current

Life in Photos

Caution: This Sign May Be Awesome

The End of the World Began 100 Years Ago

World's Largest Piñata Finally Busted Open