da Vinci's notebook
I was on holiday in Italy when we thought it would be fun to visit Vinci, birthplace of the great man himself. So imagine my surprise when I fell down a concealed well and discovered an old leather-bound ledger containing some lost designs of Leonardo. Here's just some of them:

A prototype TV - essentially a box into which a midget would crawl and perform upon a variety of miniature instruments. It even had volume control in the form of some wooden noise baffles.

A pair of roller skates. The rollers were made of wood and the boots of sheepskin. Ingeniously, they also had gears, which were selected with a long gear shift attached to each boot.

A mountain bike - constructed from double-butted titanium tubing and with disk brakes fashioned from small dinner plates, this was the hottest gift for aristocrats that Christmas of 1423.

The death helmet - an armoured helmet full of snakes, poison, spikes, gunpowder and nettles. It was probably intended for enemies and came with a padded chin strap.

Knob puppet theatre - although the plans are vague, this appears to be a table-top stage set with puppets into which a group of men insert their rigid members.

Warm boots - iron boots full of flaming oil, these were intended for the cold winters of northern Italy. But only when it was at war with the south.
(frankspencer, Mon 10 Nov 2008, 12:44, 2 replies)

There really was no end to that man's genius.
.
( girlinthehole, Mon 10 Nov 2008, 13:12, closed)

i wish
i wish to purchase one of your finest Knob Puppet Theatres, do you supply the men?
(imallamallama looking forward to llamageddon on, Mon 10 Nov 2008, 23:10, closed)