1/28/2003: Cow balloon takes off

Undertoad · 01-28-2003, 11:04 AM

"The Cow" is a hot air balloon taking off in the Swiss Alps at the 25th Annual Hot Air Balloon Week last week.

I had the version below in the queue for a few days, but it didn't make it out until I saw the version above, which is much more interesting.

It makes ordinary, teardrop-shaped balloons seem too ordinary.

I believe I would very much enjoy flying a huge cow balloon through the Swiss Alps. I believe that would be very enjoyable indeed.

Beletseri · 01-28-2003, 11:37 AM

Now someone needs to make a pig version.

01-28-2003, 12:09 PM

And post it in time for a Friday IotD.

CharlieG · 01-28-2003, 12:32 PM

anyone besides me think they should have designed it slightly differently, so the part that the gondola hangs from was the udder?

Or am I being udderly (sic) ridiculous? :p

warch · 01-28-2003, 12:40 PM

Quote:

I believe I would very much enjoy flying a huge cow balloon through the Swiss Alps. I believe
that would be very enjoyable indeed.

Indeed! I further believe that enjoyment could be enhanced by flying whilst hanging onto a wing, or pointy cow horn.

xoxoxoBruce · 01-28-2003, 03:51 PM

This was cool too.

warch · 01-28-2003, 03:56 PM

That frog is hung like a horse.

Bitman · 01-28-2003, 06:11 PM

That's not just any cow they're flying, they're flying in a flying cow. Very fly.

wolf · 01-29-2003, 12:20 AM

I absolutely love the first picture, but for a strange reason ... even though we know it is an actual balloon cow, my first impression of the image was that it was a massive computer graphic cow, menacing the crowd ...

It has a Monty-Pythonesque feel to it. I could easily imagine a Terry Gilliam animation which would either end with the cow dropping a load of putrescent, liquid cow poop on the crowd as it escaped into the sky, or being shot by some dude with a blunderbuss, and falling straight down, crushing the assembled masses into a fine red paste.

Griff · 01-29-2003, 06:34 AM

I just love that cow building toward escape velocity.

tjennings · 01-29-2003, 09:27 AM

I wonder if they have some sort of system to keep it facing the right direction as it flies around. It would seem to me that it would spoil the "cow of action" pose if the thing was flying sideways or backwards.

Thadius · 01-29-2003, 02:37 PM

It is difficult to type with this jacket on.. I have had to use my nose, so I am sorry for any typo's.

All I did was to explain to my shrink that i had seen a giant flying Polar Bear sneaking up on a giant flying Frog that was hung like a horse..

richlevy · 01-29-2003, 04:41 PM

Where do they vent the hot air from when they want to descend?

gossard187 · 01-29-2003, 05:06 PM

I could venture a guess for the cow...
actually, I didn't realize they had to vent hot air out. I figured since they have to keep heating the air to stay aloft, all they did was stop heating (or at least heat less often) to descend. Maybe not fast enough of a descent though.

quzah · 01-30-2003, 04:27 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by richlevy
Where do they vent the hot air from when they want to descend?

No, they drop grappling hooks and pick up sand bags to go lower. Later they drop these to go higher again. Seriously. Didn't you wonder how they floated with all those sand bags tied to them in the movies?

Quzah.

01-28-2003, 11:04 AM	#1
Undertoad Radical Centrist Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Cottage of Prussia Posts: 31,423	1/28/2003: Cow balloon takes off "The Cow" is a hot air balloon taking off in the Swiss Alps at the 25th Annual Hot Air Balloon Week last week. I had the version below in the queue for a few days, but it didn't make it out until I saw the version above, which is much more interesting. It makes ordinary, teardrop-shaped balloons seem too ordinary. I believe I would very much enjoy flying a huge cow balloon through the Swiss Alps. I believe that would be very enjoyable indeed.

01-28-2003, 03:51 PM	#6
xoxoxoBruce The future is unwritten Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 71,105	This was cool too. Last edited by xoxoxoBruce; 04-07-2007 at 06:09 PM.

01-29-2003, 12:20 AM	#9
wolf lobber of scimitars Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Phila Burbs Posts: 20,774	I absolutely love the first picture, but for a strange reason ... even though we know it is an actual balloon cow, my first impression of the image was that it was a massive computer graphic cow, menacing the crowd ... It has a Monty-Pythonesque feel to it. I could easily imagine a Terry Gilliam animation which would either end with the cow dropping a load of putrescent, liquid cow poop on the crowd as it escaped into the sky, or being shot by some dude with a blunderbuss, and falling straight down, crushing the assembled masses into a fine red paste. __________________ wolf eht htiw og "Conspiracies are the norm, not the exception." --G. Edward Griffin The Creature from Jekyll Island High Priestess of the Church of the Whale Penis

01-29-2003, 06:34 AM	#10
Griff still says videotape Join Date: Feb 2001 Posts: 26,813	I just love that cow building toward escape velocity. __________________ If you would only recognize that life is hard, things would be so much easier for you. - Louis D. Brandeis

01-29-2003, 09:27 AM	#11
tjennings Belt Conveyor Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Sioux City, IA Posts: 66	I wonder if they have some sort of system to keep it facing the right direction as it flies around. It would seem to me that it would spoil the "cow of action" pose if the thing was flying sideways or backwards. __________________ No, no, you're not thinking, you're just being logical. Niels Bohr, physicist (1885-1962)

01-28-2003, 11:37 AM	#2
Beletseri Yeah sez you Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 206	Now someone needs to make a pig version.

01-28-2003, 12:09 PM	#3
dave Guest Posts: n/a	And post it in time for a Friday IotD.

01-28-2003, 12:32 PM	#4
CharlieG Hoodoo Guru Join Date: May 2001 Posts: 301	anyone besides me think they should have designed it slightly differently, so the part that the gondola hangs from was the udder? Or am I being udderly (sic) ridiculous? :p

01-28-2003, 03:56 PM	#7
warch lurkin old school Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Minnesota Posts: 2,796	That frog is hung like a horse.

01-28-2003, 06:11 PM	#8
Bitman cellar smellar Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: californy, baby! Posts: 403	That's not just any cow they're flying, they're flying in a flying cow. Very fly.

01-29-2003, 02:37 PM	#12
Thadius Civil Civilian Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Birmingham England Posts: 34	It is difficult to type with this jacket on.. I have had to use my nose, so I am sorry for any typo's. All I did was to explain to my shrink that i had seen a giant flying Polar Bear sneaking up on a giant flying Frog that was hung like a horse.. __________________ 'It takes 2 people to tell a lie,' 'One to lie, and one to listen'. Homer Simpson

01-29-2003, 04:41 PM	#13
richlevy King Of Wishful Thinking Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Philadelphia Suburbs Posts: 6,669	Where do they vent the hot air from when they want to descend? __________________ Exercise your rights and remember your obligations - VOTE! I have always believed that hope is that stubborn thing inside us that insists, despite all the evidence to the contrary, that something better awaits us so long as we have the courage to keep reaching, to keep working, to keep fighting. -- Barack Hussein Obama

01-29-2003, 05:06 PM	#14
gossard187 Caste-Away Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Palo Alto Posts: 48	I could venture a guess for the cow... actually, I didn't realize they had to vent hot air out. I figured since they have to keep heating the air to stay aloft, all they did was stop heating (or at least heat less often) to descend. Maybe not fast enough of a descent though.

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