Read Online Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader Weird Inventions by Bathroom Readers’ Institute - Free Book Online
Book: Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader Weird Inventions by Bathroom Readers’ Institute
Read Free Book Online
Authors: Bathroom Readers’ Institute
Ads: Link
necessitates extremely brief human contact. But what do you do if you’re all alone? You get a mechanical High Five Simulator, bro.
Actually patented in 1994, the High Five Simulator is essentially a spring-loaded arm that’s mounted on a wall, so it’s always ready for a good slap. A fake hand attached to a forearm piece is connected to a lower arm section with an elbow joint for pivoting. When the hand is struck, the raised arm bends backward briefly before returning to the ready position.
This invention is perfect for a lonely and excessive high-fiver, or just somebody who can’t get their friends to satiate their need with real high-fives. One would think that this would be a perfect gift catalog item for dads, bros, and sports fans, but it never took off commercially. It did, however, show up on a 2013 episode of 3 0 Rock , used by an editor of a men’s magazine to high-five himself.
SHIRTS THAT ROCK
E lectric-guitar shirt: The human desire to rock out is so profound that it often cannot be denied, but what if a yearning to kick out the jams kicks in when you’re in no position to sling your six-string? Those who prefer to play it safe and maintain the option to riff at any given moment may wish to add the Electronic Guitar Shirt to their wardrobe. The black T-shirt features an artistic rendering of a white guitar—surrounded by orange, yellow, and red flames for added rock credibility—that can be played just like a real guitar, with each button on the neck triggering a different major chord. The shirt also comes with a mini amp with an adjustable tone knob that can be attached to your belt (which literally “goes to 11”). And the music-making circuitry is easily removable, making it easy to wash off all the rock ’n’ roll sweat and groupie pheromones.
Graphic-equalizer shirt: Sure, having a playable electric-guitar shirt is cool, but you know what would make it cooler? Playing it while you’ve got a buddy standing beside you wearing an equalizer shirt (not a shirt advertising ’80s TV series The Equalizer ). The so-called T-Qualizer Raver, described on its website as “a sound-sensitive flashing equalizer T-shirt designed to heat things up while you move,” features a thin, pliable electroluminescent panel that lights up and flashes to the beat of whatever music is playing in your vicinity.
SQUARE WATERMELONS
M ost of Japan’s population lives in crowded metropolises like Tokyo and Kyoto, where apartments, while expensive, are often less than 800 square feet, scarcely larger than a dorm room. Japanese make do with small refrigerators, which certainly can’t hold an unwieldy, oblong object like a watermelon.
In the early ’80s, a farmer in Shikoku came up with an ingenious solution: He started growing watermelons in tempered-glass boxes. As the melons grew, their sides were impeded by the edges of the boxes. Instead of taking on a traditional, blimp-like shape, they became cubic. The square fruits, which are sometimes referred to as bonsai watermelons, are easy to transport, stack on market shelves, and store in tiny fridges.
They’re also a luxury item. Only around 1,000 of them are grown each year, and they cost 10,000 Yen—around $114. They can’t be found in an average Japanese grocery store, and are typically sold in high-end supermarkets and even department stores in posh areas like Tokyo’s Ginza district.
While the square types are still popular in Japan, in recent years they’ve been upstaged by watermelons shaped like triangles, pyramids, and hearts, which are a trendy Christmas gift. Strangest of them all is a melon that’s shaped like a human face. Cost of these more elaborate melons: the equivalent of $500 and up.
SMOKER’S HAT
C oncerns about the dangers of secondhand smoke have led local governments to ban cigarettes in so many places that smokers can be forgiven for feeling they’ve been banished to Siberia. But back in 1989, one inventor created a contraption that
Actually patented in 1994, the High Five Simulator is essentially a spring-loaded arm that’s mounted on a wall, so it’s always ready for a good slap. A fake hand attached to a forearm piece is connected to a lower arm section with an elbow joint for pivoting. When the hand is struck, the raised arm bends backward briefly before returning to the ready position.
This invention is perfect for a lonely and excessive high-fiver, or just somebody who can’t get their friends to satiate their need with real high-fives. One would think that this would be a perfect gift catalog item for dads, bros, and sports fans, but it never took off commercially. It did, however, show up on a 2013 episode of 3 0 Rock , used by an editor of a men’s magazine to high-five himself.
SHIRTS THAT ROCK
E lectric-guitar shirt: The human desire to rock out is so profound that it often cannot be denied, but what if a yearning to kick out the jams kicks in when you’re in no position to sling your six-string? Those who prefer to play it safe and maintain the option to riff at any given moment may wish to add the Electronic Guitar Shirt to their wardrobe. The black T-shirt features an artistic rendering of a white guitar—surrounded by orange, yellow, and red flames for added rock credibility—that can be played just like a real guitar, with each button on the neck triggering a different major chord. The shirt also comes with a mini amp with an adjustable tone knob that can be attached to your belt (which literally “goes to 11”). And the music-making circuitry is easily removable, making it easy to wash off all the rock ’n’ roll sweat and groupie pheromones.
Graphic-equalizer shirt: Sure, having a playable electric-guitar shirt is cool, but you know what would make it cooler? Playing it while you’ve got a buddy standing beside you wearing an equalizer shirt (not a shirt advertising ’80s TV series The Equalizer ). The so-called T-Qualizer Raver, described on its website as “a sound-sensitive flashing equalizer T-shirt designed to heat things up while you move,” features a thin, pliable electroluminescent panel that lights up and flashes to the beat of whatever music is playing in your vicinity.
SQUARE WATERMELONS
M ost of Japan’s population lives in crowded metropolises like Tokyo and Kyoto, where apartments, while expensive, are often less than 800 square feet, scarcely larger than a dorm room. Japanese make do with small refrigerators, which certainly can’t hold an unwieldy, oblong object like a watermelon.
In the early ’80s, a farmer in Shikoku came up with an ingenious solution: He started growing watermelons in tempered-glass boxes. As the melons grew, their sides were impeded by the edges of the boxes. Instead of taking on a traditional, blimp-like shape, they became cubic. The square fruits, which are sometimes referred to as bonsai watermelons, are easy to transport, stack on market shelves, and store in tiny fridges.
They’re also a luxury item. Only around 1,000 of them are grown each year, and they cost 10,000 Yen—around $114. They can’t be found in an average Japanese grocery store, and are typically sold in high-end supermarkets and even department stores in posh areas like Tokyo’s Ginza district.
While the square types are still popular in Japan, in recent years they’ve been upstaged by watermelons shaped like triangles, pyramids, and hearts, which are a trendy Christmas gift. Strangest of them all is a melon that’s shaped like a human face. Cost of these more elaborate melons: the equivalent of $500 and up.
SMOKER’S HAT
C oncerns about the dangers of secondhand smoke have led local governments to ban cigarettes in so many places that smokers can be forgiven for feeling they’ve been banished to Siberia. But back in 1989, one inventor created a contraption that
Similar Books
