Tuesday, April 26, 2005

Cool MacGyverism (not from the show)

In my ever lengthening quest to become more MacGyver-y...by the way, I have the trademark on the term MacGyver-y...in my ever lengthening quest to become more MacGyver-y I search the web for cool tricks. With this one you can start a fire with a coke can and a chocolate bar. It has pictures---neato!

http://www.trackertrail.com/survival/fire/cokeandchocolatebar/

MacGyver News Reference of the week

Okay, so maybe I'm a little protective of the term MacGyver. I thinks it's great that "to macgyver" something means to improvise a solution out of everyday materials. But for some reason I don't find making a splint out of socks and newspapers to be particularly MacGyveresque. I mean, aren't splints always improvised out of what's lying around? If you break your leg and you're not in a hospital, then you're going to need a splint. So you pick up a couple of sticks and some duct tape, boom you got a splint. Splints are always MacGyvered for Christmas sakes, so do you really need to say that a splint made of socks and newspaper is in some way extra MacGyver-y. *sigh* Anyway, here's the article that annoyed me.

Friday, April 22, 2005

File under: Freak (The MacGyver Cookbook)

So I found a link to something called the MacGyver Cookbook, which kinda weirded me out because an ex-girlfriend and I had an idea for a book called MacGyver in the Kitchen and I thought maybe she went ahead and did it. Well, she didn't. Instead a discovered a picture of a freaky Nordic guy posing as MacGyver. Here's the link:

The freak.

By the way, the idea of MacGyver in the Kitchen was a book collecting interesting folk remedies to common household problems. Like using toothpaste to shine silver. Okay, let me restate that idea, using common household products (there we go) to solve everyday problems. I thought it was a good idea, what do you people think?

Thursday, April 21, 2005

This American Life: MacGyver

I love This American Life. It's a radio show on NPR, usually on Sundays. Well, I was 'trolling through their archives and discovered a MacGyver themed episode. The part about Prisoners' inventions is the most interesting. I guess we now know what would have became of Angus MacGyver if there was ever a crossover episode with Oz. Let's just say the knife gets replaced with toilet paper. Oh, and that cool prison rape avoidance device he makes with duct tape.

The link to the radio show.

MacGyver in the News Reference of the Day

A boring USA Today article about football with a throwaway mention of MacGyver, which if you weren't aware was originally broadcast as a companion to Monday Night Football because they both appeal to the young male demographic. Of course, the women I know loved MacGyver more than any guys did.


The article

Tuesday, April 19, 2005

MacGyver in the News Reference of the Day

MacGyver mentioned in reference to a swiss army knife which is only mentioned as a metaphor in reference to a Canadian general and frankly and couldn't follow the article. My eyes glazed over after I read "Canadian army."

The article.

Monday, April 18, 2005

Britney Spears Hates MacGyver

In a recent post on her official website Britney Spears indicated that she despised MacGyver calling it a "boring show". Though she did say that Richard Dean Anderson was a hottie.

Or not. C'mon people, do you think I'd actually visit Britney's website! We all know her sister's website is much more interesting. www.jamielynnspears.com

Mathew McConaughey as MacGyver

Somebody thinks so. Well, at least in the new movie Sahara evidently Mr. McConaughey displays MacGyver-like qualities.

Click here for the review.

Friday, April 15, 2005

MacGyver Spotted Again!

Yep, got another email from that nutball, Murdoc Rules!. It's edited for family viewing.

Dear Mac Guy.

It's so f**king awesome that you posted my s**t. If Murdoc didn't rule so much than I'd say you rule. But you suck. Cuz you like talk about MacGyver who isn't even cool enough to be cool as Murdoc. Murdoc Rules!

Anyway, I saw MacGyver again. In B.C. OH yeah. This time, he was like walking 8 dogs on one leash. Ha! From the Phoenix foundation to professional dog-walker! Bet he has to scoop up--
(that's when I had enough. It goes on and on about the poop for another page -- Mac Guy).

Until next time loser,

Murdoc Rules!

Wednesday, April 13, 2005

Book Excerpt: Introduction

Okay, so here's another taste of the book. I think you'll get a good sense of the tone (irreverent--a word so overused it's almost lost its meaning) . Enjoy.

Excerpt:

Who wouldn’t want to be a little bit more like MacGyver? Smart and handsome, MacGyver led a life of excitement and adventure. Yet this is not why millions of Americans still find him intriguing today.

No, it’s because he could make a bomb out of household cleaning supplies.

In the seven years MacGyver was on the air, he managed to handle any predicament using intelligence, ingenuity, and a pocketknife. Most of his amazing tricks followed from the principles taught in high school science classes. While you might not be as resourceful as MacGyver in a pinch, by following the instructions in this book you can perform many of MacGyver’s feats.

Here at the Rogues Inc. Labs, we’ve always fancied ourselves to be like TV’s MacGyver: brainy, resourceful, and easy on the eyes. We have Swiss Army knives, personal supplies of duct tape, and cool mullet haircuts. And, we too, never manage to score, even with plenty of lovely ladies around.

Imagine our excitement when our lord and master, Rogue captain Dean Moriarty, demanded that we recreate MacGyver’s tricks to see if they would actually work. After a two-hour lunch, we eagerly prepared ourselves for a trial test of Mac’s tricks. First, we emptied the cafeteria cabinets at Rogues Inc. of all the common household supplies we could find. We then set to work creating arc welders, smoke bombs, and lie detectors.

Next, we rounded up some of the Rogues Inc. interns to recreate some of MacGyver’s great escapes. We can still see the look on Etienne’s face when we doused him with kerosene and tossed him into a pit of snakes. We probably should have warned him first. But as we testified in court: was it our fault he only understood French?

Fortunately, the kerosene trick worked with the snakes. In retrospect, we should have waited until Etienne was cleaned off before we tested out the cold capsule explosive trick. Lesson learned. Some of MacGyver’s tricks can be dangerous. Be careful and have fun. And please, don’t get a mullet.

The MacGyver Book Chapter List

Chapter I: Great Escapes

The Amazing MacGyver: How to Escape from a Straitjacket while Trapped Underwater

Keep Your Cool: How to Escape from a Meat Locker

Escape from an Incinerator

Escape a Pack of Hunting Dogs

Take That, Indy: How to Escape from a Pit of Snakes

Escape from the Basement of a Collapsed Building

Chapter II: Car Troubles

Recharge a Car Battery with a Bottle of Wine

Repair a Broken Fuel Line with a Ballpoint Pen

Make a Stick-Shift Car Drive Itself

Repair a Busted Brake Line While in a Moving Car

Fake a Flat Tire

Lift Your Car with a Innertube

A MacGyver Classic: Make an Arcwelder from a Car Battery and Pocket Change

Chapter III: Angus Macgyver: Superspy/Chemistry Teacher

Make a Fire Extinguisher with the Contents of Your Kitchen Cabinet

Stop an Acid Leak with a Chocolate Bar

Read the Contents of a Burned Sheet of Paper

Make a Homemade Spectroscope

Develop Film with Battery Acid, Ammonia, and Orange Juice

Make Your Own Homemade Tear Gas

Power a Radio with a Cactus

Create Your Own Homemade Fog

Chapter IV: Breaking and Entering (use only for good, not for evil)

Pick a Lock with a Swiss Army Knife

Crack a Safe with a Telephone Handset

Fool a Thumbprint Reader with Candle Wax and Pool Chalk

Hotwire a Phone to Listen to a Call in another Room

Fool a Motion Detector with Only a Light Bulb

Bypass a Keypad Security Lock with a Pencil

Disarm a Laser Beam Alarm System

Fool a Motion Detector with Chemistry

Chapter V: Party Tricks and Diversions

Undress a Woman with a Paper Clip and a Piece of Thread

Make a Lie Detector with a Blood Pressure Cuff and an Alarm Clock

Make Fake Blood with Drain Cleaner

Make a Soda Machine Shoot Soda Cans

Knock Out the Lights with Window Cleaner

Win Yahtzee Every Time: Make Buffed Dice

Chapter VI: Bombs and Booby-traps

Make a Timebomb with a Glass of Water, a Cold Capsule, and Sodium Metal

Watch out Yogi Bear: Build Pinecone Landmines

Make your Kitchen into a Death Trap!

Fend off Thugs with a Fire Hose: A Humorous MacGyver Classic

Disarm a Missile with a Paperclip

PDF is now ready!

Follow the Amazon link on the right side of the page and you can download the book. Cool, eh?

Check out the sample entries I posted in March to get an idea of the book. I'll also provide the chapter list in the next post.

Monday, April 11, 2005

My book is at the printers!

Woo hoo! After a long wait, the book is at the printers just waiting for a cover redesign. The first design sucked. The new one appears to be really good. When I get a copy of the cover image, I'll post it.

MacGyver Season 2 DVD and bittorrent

Release date: June 7, 2005. What are they going to release these every six months? Bastards, then they'll put out a complete set with every season and with a bunch of extras and I'll have to buy them all twice.

Of course, the savvy MacGyver fan knows he can download any episode she wants with Bittorrent. Check torrentspy.com. It's a torrent search engine. But you didn't hear it from me, or USA Today, or the Washington Post, or the New York Times.

Friday, April 08, 2005

The book in PDF form.

I'm trying this new Amazon Honor System thing so that anyone who wants to can buy the book in PDF form. I put a link on the right side on the blog. It'll take you to a page in Amazon that will provide instructions on how to download the PDF (well, once I actually write instruction--so don't try it yet because you won't get anything. I'll post again when the link becomes active.

Tuesday, April 05, 2005

New Magazine called Make

Check this out:

http://www.shreveporttimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050404/NEWS05/504040308/1064

It's an article about a new magazine that in dedicated to making cool stuff cheaply. And it featured a MacGyver challenge (well, they call it the Makeshift challenge) were they give you a situation and some items and you have to figure out have to make something to solve the problem. The first challenges involves a dead car battery. Which, of course, MacGyver handled with a bottle of wine.

Friday, April 01, 2005

News: MacGyver Arrested.

I found this fake news story. It seemed to be a good April Fools' Day post. The news: MacGyver was arrested for building a bomb on an airplane. Complete with photo. Read it here.