Kite flying is great. Very relaxing and enjoyable, the equipment you need is minimal and light weight, and it takes little time to set up, fly and pack away.
For these reasons it seems to me to be an excellant thing for business folk and office workers to do in their lunch breaks.
There are two major obstacles to this. The first is that on the whole kite flying works best in a large open space. A nearby park (if there is one) may be appropriate, but takes time to get to, may have too many trees/powerlines, and maybe there are muggers or something. Secondly wind can't be guarenteed in the same way as, say, the existance of a squash court can.
Both of these difficulties could be countermanded by building a 'kite court' on the roof of high rise office blocks. There is much more chance of wind (and also you could utilise any aircon outlets as a launch current) and it is quicket to get to and safer. Obviously something would have to be done to stop the foolish suit wearers running backwards off the edge of the building. I envisage some form of fence. The edges of the platform could have special launching racks to make solo launches easier so that you could kite-fly even if you were on your own. Imagine the sight of a big city with hundreds of kites swooping and whirling over the skyline. Magnificent.-- Zircon, Sep 18 2002 Bonsai kittens. http://www.bonsaikitten.com/bkintro.htmlWARNING: May induce potentially fatal laughter in felinophobes. [8th of 7, Sep 18 2002, last modified Oct 17 2004] Great idea. Instead of fences, you could have trampolines positioned about halfway down the building. Aaaaarrghhh - boiiinnngggg. In any case, they're flying a kite which should assist their descent in a parachute kind of way.
There may be some "suit wearers" where you may prefer the running backwards off the building option.-- PeterSilly, Sep 18 2002 // Obviously something would have to be done to stop the foolish suit warers running backwards off the edge of the building //
As Peter says, why ? Most of our suit wearers are no-brainer PHBs. Seeing them plummet off a building clutching a piece of string would be a piece of cheap, socally-useful street theatre. Obviously they'll need a mission statement before commencing this activity. I'll draft one. I don't think trampolines are necessary - just covered walkways.
Croissant, both for the imagery and the natural-selection aspect.-- 8th of 7, Sep 18 2002 I was thinking that the kite size would have to be restricted or people would have to be clipped to the building in some way. But if you hate your exec.s this much then WTHN?.
Hmm, I'm having an idea that involves fixed-line BASE-jump parachutes stored in lockers on the top of tall buildings in the same way that life jackets are stored on ferrys. Could save lives in a WTC/9-11 situation. I bet this has been halfbaked.-- Zircon, Sep 18 2002 I misread the title and thought it said 'Kitties in Cities' - fully expecting it to be a [blissmiss] idea.
Meanwhile, I like this idea. Alot. There is a courtyard on the top floor of a building near my 'work'. It would be ideal. Add some kind of fence/net to protect fools from falling off, and maybe a large bank of electric fans to provide a wee bit of uplift at the edge (for us crap people) and hey presto! Croissant.-- Jinbish, Sep 18 2002 kite-buggy to work?-- lewisgirl, Sep 18 2002 Fighter kites-- thumbwax, Sep 18 2002 Following on from [Rods Tiger]'s link, maybe in areas that use hawks/falcons for pest control, a bird sanctury could be built on the rooftops of such buildings. The pest control could be run from here, and the employees could lunch surrounded by birds of prey. You could even run a 'learn falconry in your lunch break' scheme.
Buildings with falconry on the roofs should not also have kite courts as the two could interfere with each other.
This particularly appeals to me as, last week, for the BA festival of science here at Leicester, there was a birds-of-prey exhibit outside my office. This contained, amongst other things, a very intelligent looking vulture that eyed me hungrily as I walked past in the mornings. I quickly took to carrying a bottle of water around with me. You can't be too careful.-- Zircon, Sep 18 2002 thumbwax: //Fighter kites// - cameras at the edges to determine "fell/was pushed"-- lurch, Sep 18 2002 Lurch: If you pushed your boss of a tall building, would you want it on videotape ? Would you want witnesses ? No, you wouldn't.
Hmmm. Actually, I would want a tape, if I could take it home to gloat, and play it over and over, to the accompaniment of a suitable Hanna-Barbera soundtrack........... so mayvbe it's not such a bad idea.
Bliss: Yes, post that - I'l give it a croissant ... combined with [Zircon]'s rooftop falconry idea, it could be quite delightful...... teach falcons to catch kittens "on the wing" ........ surreal, but strangely satisfying.-- 8th of 7, Sep 18 2002 <off-topic>My ex used to keep his contact lenses in for too long; I asked him if they ever got too dry and uncomfortable, and he said that if they felt uncomfortable he just imagined some tortured kittens or the like, and that would generate enough to make the lenses feel better. I really don't think he was joking. So I sent him the link to bonsaikitten. </ot>-- lewisgirl, Sep 18 2002 "8ish". Heh.-- bristolz, Sep 18 2002 // So I sent him the link to bonsaikitten //
You b1tch, [lewisgirl]. You might have had the decency to include some sort of health warning in your anno. I googed for the site, looked around, did the coffee fountain (with lemonade, actually), fell off my chair (nearly damaging several valuable items of personal technology in the process, and frightening the dog) and banged my head on a table leg, which hurt a LOT, and still couldn't stop laughing. My ribs feel like they've been ministered to by four large gentlemen in heavy boots, carrying baseball bats. I am distressed, in pain, covered in lemonade, and still giggling. Especailly about the baby. That was deeply unfair and unjust and I hope you are ashamed of yourself.-- 8th of 7, Sep 18 2002 8th: Actually, my intent with the cameras was that people in competition on the rooftop might get "carried away". (Is that one of those "double un-tender" things?) Then when the company puts the video up for bidding by the reps of the deceased and the defendant, the company ends up turning a profit. Particularly if they can get a liability release as one of the terms of the sale.-- lurch, Sep 18 2002 //imagine the sight of a big city with hundreds of kites...etc.//. hey zircon, don't just imagine. Can i reccomend an evening on a rooftop in delhi (or anyother city in India) during the full-moon. The sky is full of small fluttering home made kites. You're right, Its a treat. Kabul was another place for it, until the taliban arrived. i guess that the kites will be back by now. Tho' I havn't been back since. how can you keep beauty suppressed....-- briandamage, Sep 19 2002 If the boss invites you to kite in the city - then you know its time to take redundancy.
Popping out for a snack at lunchtime could become a health risk ... "watch out for the kite flyer who has fallen/been pushed off" ... splat!
(now come to think of it .. 2 suits for the price of one, can't be bad)
Is it a bird? .... Is it a plane? ... no its a kitty kite .. meOW!-- Sunshine, Sep 21 2002 random, halfbakery