Not what you expected

I know I promised that the Campaign for Pope 2025 would start today in my last blog post. And I suppose in private it has. But there are a few things going on in the world and personally right now that's taking up my time. So we'll start next week with some nice Photoshopping and fresh ideas. 

For today, I'm going to go back to maybe a more traditional journaling format and let you know some of those things I'm up to that are taking up my time this week. 

First off, Canada held its 45th election yesterday. I've got some pretty mixed feelings about the outcome. As of this writing, we know that the Liberals will form government under Mark Carney, but it's still unknown if that will be under a minority or majority government. I've always been a fan of minority/coalition governments because I think it puts an extra check on power. But there's something about the current situation and the tension between Canada and the US that makes me wish there was a clear mandate. If the BQ are given the balance of power, I think it will only exacerbate the feelings of Western alienation in the country, and that could be problematic. 

The fact that my favourite federal MP and my least favourite federal MP lost their seats in the election also adds to my mixed feelings about the election. Jagmeet Singh resigned as leader of the NDP last night, and the poor NDP took an absolute beating, primarily at the hands of the Tories last night. Gross feeling. 

Also worthy of mixed feelings is that Pierre Pollievre lost his seat, but the Conservatives picked up a lot of seats. Which I read to mean that despite the threat of neo-conservatism coming from the US, some Canadians still felt that the party was the solution. Although I've seen a lot of arguments that the Tory vote was more about crime and affordability - which is a genuine issue that we as Canadians need to start working on. 

All in all, nothing's changed much, but at least we don't have to listen to PP anymore, and maybe we'll see the Conservative Party of Canada actually become a more traditional conservative party again. 

In other news, I'm rounding the corner on making my job as a Communications Consultant permanent. I've been doing the role on a temporary basis for the past 3+ years, and a permanent spot has finally opened up. I'm a bit nervous and there's so much to do, but standing back a few steps, I think I'm the person who will get the job. At least I hope so. I've got the most experience in the company and in the department. I've passed the written assessment, and tomorrow is my interview. 

The interview looks like it will be pretty intense. I need to do a presentation on four things I'd change or update about the media relations team, and then we follow that with the usual, "tell us about a time you were butt-hurt and what kind of cream you used to soothe the burn." 

I've got the presentation built. After basically running the place for the last year, I've got more than four things I'd like to change. But I'm focusing on a few that I think will resonate and that I can connect to the company as a whole, or to larger trends in the world. Less complaining about things I don't like and more insight into ways we need to improve. 

The "tell us about a time" section is maybe a bit deceiving. On one hand, I feel over-prepared for it for the first time in the dozen or so times I've done an interview. The Company started doing a new staff review process called "PDP" a few years ago, and part of that process is collecting stories to show that you do certain things, like work with people or overcome a serious butt-hurt. So I have three years of collected stories to draw from. I just worry it's giving me too much confidence, and I'm going to be less prepared than I feel when it comes to the interview.  

Also, I need to file my taxes tonight. 

All this to say, I've got lots going on this week. So next week, right as the 2025 Conclave is about to start, I'll be starting the campaign to make Denis the next pope. 

The campaign begins - next week.

If there's one thing people have always remembered this blog for, it's my campaign to have my Dad named Pope during the 2005 Conclave to replace John Paul II. 

I didn't repeat the campaign in 2013 because I'd never experienced a Pope stepping down, so I wasn't sure of the legitimacy. Plus, I wasn't blogging at the time. 

But things are much clearer in 2025. Plus, with the current eligibility requirements that the Pope be under 80, it might be the last chance to make him Bishop of Rome. 

Since we're still in the novemdiales (period of mourning), I'm not going to break out the campaign signs or start sending my large *ahem* "campaign contributions." Yet. But I think we'll be near enough the end of that by next week to really kick this thing into gear. 

 But I would also argue that the world is in a pretty delicate place. Democracy seems to be at risk everywhere. Life is getting more expensive, and for the first time in history, war isn't just death and fighting, it's economics and computer hacking. Pope Francis was important in bringing people wisdom and hope during this time. In fact, Popes have always had an important role in times like this.

That's why I argue we should not be leaving the Vatican in a leadership vacuum. We should appoint a temp-pope. I wrote a song about it. 

Missed it by that much...

Last weekend, I stumbled across a fun mini-doc on YouTube about one of my favourite cartoons from back when I was a kid, Inspector Gadget. 

For the uninitiated in the ranks, Inspector Gadget follows the adventures of the namesake character along with his neice Penny and their dog Brain. Not to be confused with that other Brain. Inspector Gadget is sort of like RoboCop or the Six Million Dollar Man in that he's been bionically enhanced with a bunch of gadgets that ostensibly help him solve crimes. I say ostensibly because, as regular viewers will know, Gadget never solves anything. It's usually left up to Penny and Brain to do all the hard work. 

I was really surprised to learn from the documentary that the show was only produced from 1982-83. Perhaps even more surprising is that the production company just stopped making the show because they just didn't need to make it anymore. It wasn't cancelled, and the lead voice actor didn't quit in some sort of dramatic controversy. They just stopped making it. 

Who does that?!

Even more surprising is that despite stopping in 1983, it kept being shown and enjoyed for years and years to come. 1983 makes me too young to have enjoyed it during its initial run - I would only have been 1-2 years old. Yet I watched Inspector Gadget a lot - in the late 1980s and even into the 1990s. I'd even guess that the Navigator probably watched the show. 

It is so strange in our modern world of fast entertainment and 30-second attention spans that something could run for a couple of years and continue to have entertainment value for a decade or more after production is completed. I was thinking the other day how, despite all the Star Wars content we've been given over the last few years, nothing has had rewatching value to me. Even the best of it, Andor and The Mandalorian, have only been a one-time watch. But I bet I've seen The Empire Strikes Back at least 3 dozen times. Heck, I've even seen each of the prequels a handful of times each. 

Conan O'Brien has commented a few times on his podcast that people should not be able to make new content, that we've got more than anyone could ever consume in a lifetime already. As a creator, I don't love that idea. I'd like to think there will always be an outlet for the things I make. But I get what he's saying. How can anyone expect their things to be consumed when there's just so much to be seen? Not to mention, your cut of the attention pie gets smaller and smaller as more and more content is produced. It's going to become increasingly hard to make a living out of being creative.

I took the kids to see the Minecraft Movie this weekend. It's the second time since Kendrick Lamar's SuperBowl Halftime performance that I've felt like I've enjoyed something that's actually part of the larger culture. Something that's more than just my little niche of videos about old computers and dusty guitars. The movie was pretty good for what it was, and I was very impressed that this generation has found a way to interact with something in a real way. People were yelling stuff at the screen in unison, and there was massive applause at the end. It was a genuine, real experience with real people. 

It made me realize that while we've all been driven into doomscrolls and Trump-hating, at any age, we really just want to go out with others and enjoy ourselves. It gives me hope that my own creativity will have a place in the real world. I had the pleasure of playing guitar with and for my co-workers a bit over a week ago. We had so much fun singing together, sharing jokes and enjoying a shared experience. It wasn't people stuck on our phones; it was a group hanging out and just having fun. 

Maybe the world is on the way to a reset. Maybe in time, we'll get back to concerts and festivals and doing things together. There's something so shallow about an internet comment, just trying to illicit such a thing for this fleeting little bit of attention in words on a screen. 

What do you think of the current world of entertainment? Are we headed for a connection renaissance? COMMENT BELOW! 

Vaughn and Healy

As I get older my relationship with music has started to come full circle in so many ways. It's always interesting to me to hear some music that I really liked in my youth and get a chance to rediscover it. It always surprises me how good my taste in music was very early on. And how complex some of it was. 

I had one of those moments this week when I stumbled on this video of Jeff Healey and Stevie Ray Vaughn playing "Look at Little Sister" on an old CBC show in the late 80's. According to one of the comments on the video, SRV was in Toronto for some shows, saw Healy at a bar and invited him to perform with him on TV. It's also apparently the only time these two miraculous legends played together.

I've loved Stevie Ray Vaughn for as long as I can remember. He's not someone friends introduced me to, in fact I wouldn't find another person who loved him as much as me until I was in my 20's (RIP to my friend Steve Deschambault). I first caught wind of him on a PBS broadcast of Austin City Limits where SRV and Double Trouble just absolutely melt the roof off of the venue they play at. It was only in researching this post that I learned how old some of that performance was - going back to 1983 - when I was only about 2!

Jeff Healy also captivated me in my youth. Because of my own vision issues and love of guitar, he was constantly brought to my attention because of his own vision impairment. And while his achievements are all the more notable for overcoming that challenge, I always found the way he played guitar across his lap like a pedal steel to be even more interesting. Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't think that vision impairment makes it any harder to play guitar in the standard position.

The things I've read say that he did this so he could have both hands on the fretboard which does make a bit of sense. But he also started playing very young - at age 3 - and it's said he developed his own style. Apparently, the lap-style posture lent him more strength in his playing. I think that his lap style was more about learning young than about learning blind. Either way, as a guitarist, it's more than impressive to see him play the kind of music he did in the style he did. 

The most melancholy part of that video is that it's the only time these legends play together. SRV would go on to help Healy's career and raise his profile, but this one song is the only time they're both on stage together. 

Stevie Ray Vaughn died in a helicopter crash in 1990 and Jeff Healy passed away in 2008. I missed an opportunity to go see Jeff Healy in the early 2000's. He was doing more jazz stuff than blues at the time and I chose to skip the show - and it's been a regret ever since. Just like Tom Petty a decade later, he would die shortly after he came around and I never got a second chance. 

I try to to bemoan missed live shows too much. I'll never see Pink Floyd or the Beatles play. And I've been lucky to see a reunited I Mother Earth when I thought that was impossible. Some people will see the band that would never reunite, Oasis, soon. But at the end of the day, we have recordings of performances like these that we can enjoy. I can go see Pink Floyd play their most spectacular show in the Imax in the next few months and maybe that's what I need to be grateful for. 

In defense of microwave popcorn

 There are so many ways to make popcorn. You can cook it in a pot with oil or use an air popper. For the especially adventurous out there you can use the explosive Chinese popcorn maker (maybe called a popcorn cannon?). 

But, it occurred to me this weekend as I was fending off a large black bear while enjoying a bag of Orville's best that microwave popcorn is growing on me as the best option. 

On the pro column, it's easy to make, perfectly seasoned, and when it's fresh out of the microwave, it's just the most delightful hot and fluffy flavour. Plus, even once you've finished all the popcorn, the bag is still so well seasoned and it's a delightful treat in and of itself. 

On the con side, yes it makes extra garbage, you can't control the toppings and it's quite a bit more expensive than just making it yourself. Plus, I haven't found a dependable microwave for when I'm camping. 

There are a few ways to circumvent some of those negatives, though. I found a homemade microwave popcorn recipe that would make it customizable to season and could be made in a reusable container like a silicone bag or a bowl. I'd heard that you can do it in a paper bag before, but that just creates more waste again. 

But you know... I seem to remember grabbing a silicone bag a few weeks ago for my sandwiches at lunch. Should I... do an experiment for my blog?! 

YES! 

Before - just kernels and potential

I started with maybe 1/8 a cup of popcorn kernels and a little tiny bit of oil - basically enough to coat everything. I tossed it in the microwave and hit "popcorn". 

PRO TIP - Leave a little vent in the bag when you close it. The damn thing inflated like a balloon! This led me to stop briefly midway and crack it open before it exploded. 

And did it work? 

Yes

Yes, it worked! 

It was a tiny bit overcooked. I think this is mostly because I had to stop halfway through and vent the bag (as mentioned above). It took another 20 or so seconds after restarting for the popping to continue and I'm sure that contributed. But otherwise, this was just great microwave popcorn! 

I'll have to chase this recipe around a bit now. It needs butter and I only did a little tiny bit. I'll have to run some experiments to see how much I can cook at one time without filling my microwave with popcorn. It gets pretty hot when it cooks so I would certainly recommend sticking to silicone or glass when cooking. But the microwave works great. There is no special voodoo in those microwave popcorn bags. 

I would recommend pouring the popcorn out into a bowl, it's starting to stick to the sides of the bag as I monch on it finishing this post up. If you're looking to do this yourself, I got this stylish Star Wars silicone bag at Dollarama for like a buck. So this thing starts paying for itself pretty quickly. 

So here's to a fun new approach to popcorn - and a new way to stick it to Big Popcorn and their microwave popcorn markup! 

Mediating my media meditations

I've had many lofty goals and aspirations in my life. It might be why I'm a bit of a "jack of all trades". Everything interests me, and there's so much in everything. 

Growing up, I wanted a great stereo more than anything. I'm not talking about an all-in-one CD/Cassette/Radio combo. Like one of those great stacked hi-fi setups with a big amp and a record player and speakers as all as the room. Nice and modular and LOUD. 

I haven't completely given up on this desire. I do have a few modules - a CD player, tape deck, turntable and a good amp. But it's not even all plugged in right now, I don't really have great speakers and worst of all - it doesn't all match. Some of the modules are black, and some are silver. It's a damn mess. 

And I don't have an 8-track player yet. 

But there are a million different ways that music - and even movies - can be stored. Where do I draw the line? Some are very old, like say wax cylinders or more modern but just as obsolete, like Minidisk? Do I need a LaserDisc player? 

Not to mention, if I get all the players I want, where will I store the media? I've already taken up about 6 shelves in my house with records, tapes and CDs. And let's be honest, I can fit my Spotify in my pocket. 

The desire to chase down archaic media has been relit in me lately, mostly because of a couple of YouTube channels I've been watching. Usagi Electric and DankPods. 

Usagi Electric is a guy who restores old minicomputers (not microcomputers) from the 1950s-1980s. He's even working on an old vacuum tube computer called the Bendix G-15. It's currently the oldest operational digital computer on the continent. He doesn't focus on music or video formats at all but he is always working on weird archaic storage mediums like 8" floppy disks, tape drives and punched paper tape. Some of those things I've only ever heard of or seen from a distance. It makes me wonder how many ways you can store bits! He got me thinking about the fun and challenge of buying old electronics and equipment and restoring it all. 

DankPods is probably most famous for headphone reviews and reviews of "nuggets" or those crappy MP3 players we used to all suffer in the early 2000s before the iPod and smartphones made everything look the same. Again, he's not digging into audio formats that often, but it is cool to see early flash-memory cards and the absolutely bonkers MP3 players we used to have. 

The other influence that DankPods has had on me is his "Cashies Specials," where he goes to his local Cash Converters and shows us the ridiculous used stuff he finds. It reminded me that you can have a lot of fun and find some really rewarding and novel stuff at thrift stores. Lately I really only go thrifting with Rhonda, which means antique stores and clothing shops. But there's plenty of other used gold out there! 

So it was that I found myself at Secondhand Wonderland a couple of weeks ago, strumming on old guitars and contemplating buying a sitar, when I wandered into the hi-fi section, and that old urge returned. Should I build out my stereo? 

I think the answer right now is "no." If for no other reason than I just emptied my little savings account on a new guitar and an amp. Not to mention, I don't use the stereo I have. My records are starting to crumble to dust, and it's just so much easier to shout, "Hey Google, play me 'The Best of the Wiggles!'"

As time goes on and we get farther and farther away from the tangible storage media era, it feels less important to collect this stuff, but there's an urgency to get it while it's still cheap and available. I used to buy records for a dollar. Now I gotta drop $40 if I want a record.  

What is your favourite archaic storage medium? Have you ever seen an 8" floppy disk? Do you know what a floppy disk is? 

Pick your warrior

 The obsession of 2025 so far has been the endless back and forth on tariffs between the United States and Canada. It's been the most uniting thing to hit this country in the last couple of decades but despite that unity, Donald Trump continues to push his rhetoric and has even pushed so far as to say he's going to annex Canada - by force if necessary. 

So this led to a conversation this past weekend about what our wartime roles would be during the Canada/US of the 2020's

For my part, I'm excited to get into making propaganda. I'm too old for battlefield work and I doubt I could get past the physical. But that doesn't mean I don't have anything to offer the war effort. Dr Seuss famously put his talents to work making ads for war bonds and the like during World War II. Maybe I could get some work writing jingles about how to defeat the US. I've already written a protest song about the current situation. Maybe I can be put to work writing songs about arming your AI sub-machine gun or how to outrun an American. I dunno. But that's the role I think I'm best accustomed to. 

We've joked that Kayah's role is pretty easy. We'd just take her ADHD meds away, give her a Red Bull and just point her towards the border. They'd surrender in days. 

Rhonda has already been making plans with her co-workers on how they'd run their own M*A*S*H* camp. They'll be less sarcastic and far more judgie. I tried to extract what her nickname would be - Hot Lips Houlihan is already taken. Maybe she could be Randy Rhonda? Instead of a homemade gin-still in the doctor's tent, they'd have a weed grow-op in the nurse's tent. Modern times call for modern numbing agents. 

Jonas, as a young, white male would make excellent cannon fodder. But he hasn't spent his entire youth playing video games just to be sent out to the killing fields. I think someone is gonna have to fly the drones - and he'd be great for that. I could also use his video editing skills in my propaganda machine. He's far more useful with a mouse than he is in combat boots! 

I'm still undecided on The Navigator. I think overall he'd be one of those Army Engineers who can build a bridge out of hay and peanut-butter cups that's strong enough to support a phalanx of tanks. He would also be an excellent mentor to Jonas and the work he'd do running war drones. I don't know if the Navigator has ever actually piloted a drone, but he ran a sound console for a few years and I assume that the skillset is transferrable. 

Overall - who knows what would happen in a Canada/US war. I do hope that cooler heads prevail over the next few months. Frankly, I hope that the Republican-dominated Congress sees just how much Trump is concentrating power under one man, how much that one man is destabilizing the world and that someone starts to step up to stop him. Whether he's a Russian plant or not, he's doing exactly what the Russians want and any war between Canada and the US is going to pale in comparison to what the Russians will do once things erode enough. The relationship we had as countries up until a few months ago was intentional and had purpose. One can't help but think that the destruction of that relationship has a purpose too. 

Buy a Canadian

It seems that the only thing anyone is talking about these days is the on-again/off-again trade war between the United States and - well basically everyone. But mostly Canada, Mexico and China.  

As Canadians, the propaganda we're hearing is generally "Buy Canadian" and "Elbows Up." Good rallying cries for the times to be sure. But as is the case with most of these stuff, even the changing buying habits of 40 million people is not likely to sway much in terms of the grander market. So it has me wondering - are there other things we should be doing? How do I protect myself?

Get off US Tech

I've known for a few years that I've become far too dependent on the Google ecosystem - and yes I recognize the irony of saying that on a Google-hosted blog. And it's not that I have an issue with Google overall. I've been a happy paying customer for years, and in terms of the service I'm being provided, I have zero complaints. But with recent threats by Ontario Premier Doug Ford being met by US threats to shut down cloud services, it makes me realize I need a local backup. For anyone reading this, let me save you some searching and let you know that Google Takeout seems to be the solution here. I'm still experimenting but I'll feel a lot better if I can at least get some of the bigger chunks of this backed up to a USB drive. 

This doesn't help the fact that I use a Google Pixel and the Google Password manager. But it's a start. I am exploring some alternative password managers, and those will come with the next big step I'm exploring, returning to Linux again.

It happens every 5-6 years: I get fed up with Windows or enraged by MacOS and just dump myself back over to Linux. In an era full of American instability, I think I'll need to get back on Linux again very soon. It's not convenient, making music on that OS is a pain in the ass. But it's mine and it's secure. So I'm headed that way again sooner than later. 

Control the Consumerism

Everyone is talking "Buy Canadian," and I know that is going to help Canadian companies stay afloat through this. But when you consider that I can't really buy a Canadian orange and that Canadian manufacturing is as non-existent as it is in the US, this is an incomplete solution. 

One of the ways I've been looking to tackle this is by buying secondhand or repairing what I have. Particularly in my music stuff, everything I could ever need in this phase of my music career is already built, used by someone and sitting collecting dust at a thrift store. Sure, it takes some work to track stuff down and even more work to clean and tune up that stuff. But at the end of the day, I'm rocking some reasonably vintage gear, I've saved some cash, and I have a story to tell about getting my new thing. And American companies like Fender and Gretsch aren't seeing any of my new money. It's a shame, really. I like these companies, that's why I buy their stuff. But I'm choosing to consume them by giving money to Canadians and not sending that money over the border. 

Sometimes, it's just about being patient, too. When I bought my new Gretsch last month, it was in desperate need of new strings. The fastest option for me would have been to pop on to Amazon and order some. But for a couple more days of patience, I went to the local store in my area and got them on the weekend. Still American strings, (and that's something I'm looking at alternatives to) but at least papa-Amazon didn't get a cut. 

Touch Grass

I think we're all becoming super-aware of how social media is brainwashing us. And much of that includes our consumer behaviour. I'm not saying delete all your apps and move into the bush (I'm also not stopping you). But maybe you could stop following non-Canadian companies, start following more Canadian companies or choose to go to the store to buy your things instead of ordering them online. Sometimes, it's just changing what influences our decisions. I've certainly become hyper-aware of the American companies advertising to me in the last few weeks. 

There's some argument that the weird times we are in can be directly tied to the disruptive nature of the internet and our inexperience in managing it. I think there's a lot to this argument. I also think that the best antidote is going to be getting out and being truly social. Go to a show. Plan a picnic. Or just go lie naked on a grocery store produce section. You know. Real stuff. It won't make Trump go away, it won't win any trade wars. But you'll have something positive to get you through the day instead of obsessing over economies and politics. And that shift in our collective mental attention might just lead to a shift in power. 

And that brings me to the final point. While there are plenty of real-world things that we should be worrying about, like trade wars, climate change and poverty, we all need to start recognizing that it's all human-made. The overall advice I've been reading about dealing with it is to get out of our homes, away from our phones and into social situations. Situations where we can talk through our differences and work together on our problems. As much as I've said the name "Trump" a billion times in my life, I've never met him. He could be an AI construction worker for all I know. But if I go out and pick up some garbage in my alley, I might talk to someone walking by who needs a warm hat. And maybe I have a spare warm hat to give him. And then his life is warmer, and I've actually done something. 40 million actual actions like that would actually bring Canada together as a real country and might actually put us in a position to stand united against this faraway orange man. 

Livin' in the city

I was holding out on writing this blog, hoping that world events would turn a different way and I could go back to an old well on this blog. 

Maybe next week. 

While I didn't exactly grow up rural, the communities I grew up in were far from cities. As a kid I always wanted to live in a city. The lights of the skyscrapers, the bustle at street level, the culture and the 24 hour life always appealed to me. 

Of course, living in these bucolic conservative little cities on the prairie shielded me from the gross underbellies of the city. The pollution, the crime, the poverty and the noise. I had to move to the city to see the whole picture. 

Now, at a quarter million or so residents, Regina is far from a megalopolis. But it's got some tall buildings (including the one I work in), some interesting culture and more crime and drug problems than you can shake a stick at. 

Last night as I headed home from Open Mic, I was really gravitating to that positive vibe that I've chased by living in a city. I just left a very entertaining evening full of all the various performing arts. The city was aglow in the lights only high rise buildings can provide and I was tempted by the juicy temptation of an 11PM Whopper. It felt like this was why I was here. 

But I also passed by several people, bent over from the damage fentanyl addiction has caused. Passed mounds of garbage in my alley as I got home. I went from high to low pretty quickly. 

So what am I getting at here? 

I think I'm just returning to the same theme I've been feeling and discussing over the past year or so since I came back to blogging. The ying/yang of things. That there are positives and negatives to everything and I don't know where to fit in it all. 

I think the fact that we are living in a time of extremism when I've been raised in what is now proving to be a very stable time is part of it too. It's hard not to see how bad it is in your backyard when the whole world looks like it's burning down. 

So all that to say, I was hoping we'd be voting on a new pope today and I could restart the campaign. But we aren't so I'm babbling for a few hundred words. 

Thanks for coming to my TED talk. 

Gravitron Gardens

Rhonda sent me a text last week that is threatening to disrupt my entire life. Unroot my stability and change everything. 

Do I have $70,000? No.

Do I have a business plan? No.

Would owning a Gravitron pay my bills? No. 

But I want it. Not only do I want it. I want SEVERAL of them. 

Imagine if you will an entire fair but there's only one kind of ride. Gravitrons. We could theme them, one would be futuristic, another steampunk, a nature-themed one - even one with pole dancers for the grownups. 

I should say what a Gravitron is for the uninitiated. It's a reasonably common fair ride here in North America. In short, it's a large flying-saucer-shaped ride that spins at a pretty good RPM. Riders sit inside the ride lying against the slanted walls. The centrifugal force (centripetal? I can't keep it straight) pushes the rider against the wall so you feel gravity sideways. As the spinning ramps up, the gurney you lie against raises up on tracks so not only are you stuck to the wall, but you're also a foot or two off the ground. 

I spent a lot of time in Gravitrons between ages 11 and 16.

We could take it on the road! Have a Gravitron show up to your bachelor party or sweet 16.  Family reunion? You'll need a few of those for that. No festival is complete without being surrounded by a dozen Gravitrons. 

We could have some food booths around. What are some good spinning theme foods? Cotton candy is spun I suppose. I might even be open to the idea of a few games. But they'd need to be Gravitron-based.

I dunno. I've had that feeling lately that I'd like to drastically change my career. Sure Gravitron Carney isn't exactly what most people would expect, but it would be a spectacular change. Just wandering the continent making people puke. 

Making people puke. 

Ok, so there is one downside to this. 

I asked Copilot AI to make me an image of my Gravitron Gardens. It wasn't very successful. While it clearly knew that a Gravitron is a spinning ride and that it's flying saucer-shaped, it really struggled to unite the two. So I got back lots of images of parks with flying saucers, merry-go-rounds and Ferris wheels.  This was the best I could come up with. 

AI-Generated imagining of a Gravitron amusement park. 

At least the scale is right?

Would you come to my Gravitron amusement park? Would you hire us for your grandparent's 60 anniversary? What would be your one ride amusement park?