Each year the Real Art staff and our guests gather to celebrate the holidays and to exchange custom made gifts for the Real Art employee’s name that we each drew earlier in the year at our company retreat. It’s always amazing to see the diversity, quality and the level of creativity of everyone’s gifts. Here are are the stories behind what I gave and what I received;
To Give:
The bowl of names comes around, I reached in and came out with Andy Nick. Wow that’s great I’m sure that I can come up with something for Andy. After a while of thinking I decided it would be awesome if Andy could travel time Back To The Future.
Oveiously this sounds like an overly complex and ambitious gift idea for a company Christmas party, but calling on the historical work of one Emmett Lathrop “Doc” Brown, Ph. D. I was able to access that great cradel of knowledge known in this time period as simply the internet, for the plans, materials and technical knowledge that would enable me to recreate Doc Brown’s earlier work.
Though some modifications and material substitutions were made in the interest of safety, mobility and the lack of a DeLorean—Doc Brown’s earlier model provided crucial reference and scientifc data that enabled me to successfully recreate his 1.21 jigawatt flux capacitor. The new version uses an improved power scource enabling it to be safer, completely mobile and refilled with a clean and abundant energy source. All of which, leaves Andy free to navigate betweeen the waves of yesteryear and the ripples of the future. Travel well my friend.
To Receive:
At the sametime I was brainstorming the perfect gift for Andy. Ryan Clark was turnning his creative prowlness upon me and what could be a fitting present. Lo and behold a trophy is born.
Flashback to the August and subsequent postings of the demo derby. Team Real Art, Car 485, and driver, yours-truly, took fourth place amidst some contraversy, and in doing so found himself on the outside looking in to the awards stand by an official with an itchy stopwatch and a lust for crushing people’s dreams. Fourth place was little concelation to Anspach’s hopes of hardware.
Just when it appeared no justice would be served. One man had the idea to create and award the best ever fourth place trophy ever. The 48lb beoheomoth trophy featured the well used beaten but not broken stearing wheel from car 485 mounted ceremoniously ontop of a series of pipe and elbows, attached to a massive Jeep differential and a wooden block which carries a brass plate bearing the inscription: “Rob Anspach Fourth in the derby first in our hearts.”
Bravo Mr. Clark, bravo—it shall adorn my trophy case for years to come and eventually be passed down to my decendents as a shining example of manliness and an everpresent reminder that looking and acting good is always more important than being good.
Merry Christmas!
Circa71 