Competition

[webofevil]

There are ads on the Underground for New Zealand. They feature a picture very similar to this one:

and the strapline, "CAN YOU IMAGINE A BETTER JOURNEY TO WORK?"

That's your challenge right there. Can you? Here's my suggestion.

Fig. 1: The luge	Fig. 2: The luge (reverse view)

Comments

[internetsdairy.livejournal.com]

We got the commuter train back from Wellington once and it was lovely. Sea on one side of the track, mountains on the other. Everyone had seats and there was a buffet car.

But obviously it would be better to ride to work astride a giant hen, getting it to toss cars through the air with its beak and laying eggs on cyclists.

[webofevil.livejournal.com]

Well, obviously.

[pipistrellus.livejournal.com]

I can't do any pictures, but ZIP-LINE!
I'd go everywhere by zip-line, were it a possibility.

[webofevil.livejournal.com]

Sorry, yes, meant to say: obviously with people being at work there's little opportunity to really play with Photoshop - and if there is it's probably a sign that you should leave that job - so verbal descriptions will also be considered adequate entries by the panel. No favouritism will be shown towards the visual arts. Final the panel's decision is. The winner will win... uh... at the moment the prize stands at "the right to vote", but I'm working on it.

[alfaguru.livejournal.com]

5 minute walk

I have a 5 second walk to work... though it does mean I start turning computers on and logging in while I'm waiting for my breakfast toast, which is probably Not A Good Thing.

[themezzanine.livejournal.com]

You'd just get splattered against a building if you were fired to work by an elastic band, though. Not practical.

[webofevil.livejournal.com]

This is almost intellectual-property-infringingly close to an idea of cornfedpig's and mine about establishing an elaborate system of trebuchets across London for precisely this purpose. We were standing on top of Gypsy Hill on a searingly bright day envisaging clumps of commuters being hurled across the city. They would be aimed at giant nets at the other end, but obviously any system can encounter problems, so in case any customers' destination outcomes were differently delivered and they found themselves plummeting towards the capital before their stop, Trebuchets for London would obviously have installed a series of awnings along the route so their landing could be safely broken in a manner akin to the beginning of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and possibly also in Big Trouble in Little China, I don't know, I can't remember.


Prototype London Trebuchet, 1/40th final size

[themezzanine.livejournal.com]

I have always wanted a death slide from home to work. (Someone up there called it a zip line, which I guess is a better term as it does not have the word death in it.) My late father posited the idea of an overhead bypass between Christchurch and Bournemouth so as to avoid the ring road, but I expect this is an idea that only works if you are my late father.

[themezzanine.livejournal.com]

This is the only method of commuting I am prepared to accept these days:



Comfortable, eye-catching and boy, do those cycle couriers make way!

[carakins.livejournal.com]

I want to float in in a silk bubble, while puppies and rabbits bring me tea and croissants.

[webofevil.livejournal.com]

That's beautiful. Your prize is that you get to send this picture to Ken Livingstone requesting development funding from Transport for London.

[uitlander]

When I did field work in Africa I had a 10 second commute from my tent to the archaeological site next to it. However, if I wanted to collect my post, or buy any beer/food I had to walk up This hill which normally took 3 hours.

[webofevil.livejournal.com]

So your fieldwork was on the much-debated swing/roundabout interface?

[uitlander]

Pretty much. The walk to the bottom of the hill took about 45 mins over fairly rough ground. Then I zig-zagged up the road, stopping at strategic wheezing points to 'admire the view'. Arriving at the top (the dots on the horizon are the outlying huts of the village) would lead to an extended chat with the post mistress (who thought I was her best mate), the chief of police (who strutted around the village in his uniform [gold epaulettes mandatory]), and then retire to the Sehonghong café and general store for cans of 'nice' warm lager (kept in the fridge with no power supply). My great contribution to Basotho civilisation was showing them how to make chips in the café kitchen - an instant hit. On the downside were the -25°C nightime temperatures, acute constipation brought about by a diet predominantly consisting of meallie meal, and the tick that munched away part of my left ear-drum.

The place was, however, absolutely stunning, and I'd be back there like a shot given half a chance. There is nothing quite like spending 3 months on a hillside gently sorting finds, laughing, teaching students life's essentials (like how to roll a joint properly), conducting surveys on horseback and being nowhere near phones/faxes/e-mail. Being best mates with the village chief (who has an extreme fondness for the contents of your wallet) helps immensely.