h a l f b a k e r yI didn't say you were on to something, I said you were on something.
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I'll take two pairs in snakeskin. |
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Would there be stability issues? |
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That was my first thought, but as I'm too often the first to
scorn without thinking about something for a while, I
decided to, well, think about it for a while. |
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BTW, I think these are proto-baked in a children's toy that
came out a few years ago; can't remember what they were
called. They were basically a pair of small trampolines
that strapped to a child's feet, leading to hours of ankle-
injuring fun. |
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giant clompers or something. |
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[Alterother], I believe you are referring to Moon Shoes
(link)? |
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That's the bunny, Doc! Thanks. |
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Still thinking. I'm gonna get it right before I spout off this
time. |
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In the steel industry, there used to be a job
cleaning out the pits where castings were stored
to cool slowly. The pits were heated to the
metal's annealing temperature, and it cost money
to take them out of service long enough for them
to cool to ambient temperature. So they were
cooled just enough for a human to survive --
briefly -- and some poor sod would be lowered
into
the pit, with a scrub brush, wearing thick wooden
clogs. He would scrub the walls until the clogs
burst into flame, then they'd haul him out, give
him another pair, and lower him back in again*. |
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That's what this reminds me of. |
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*Not sure where I read that. Probably either
James Blish or Gene Shepherd. |
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Blish: Scranton: "slag pits"? [edit: "soaking pits", and "Cities in Flight" is a free e-book ?] |
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[mouse], it was Shepherd, and he was exaggerating a little
bit (as he was wont to do). |
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<later: I was totally wrong here. See below.> |
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Yes, it was Blish, my bad. I got it confused with one of
Shepherd's
radio shorts and had to consult my library. |
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He was still exaggerating a bit-- the wooden overshoes did
not typically catch fire, they only scorched. Only
sometimes did they burst into flame, when the gang boss
mis-judged the temperature of the soaking pit (sometimes
aka
'sink'). I actually learned about this in a basic metallurgy
class. |
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Thank you [FT] and thanks even more [Alterother],
'cause I always wondered if that detail was made
up. |
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Now we know why the control room for the City of
New
York was in the
mast of the Empire State Building and not the
World
Trade Center. I wonder what else that seemed
dated in those books will turn out to be prescient. |
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Alright, I've thought it over: |
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As a fashion-coutre shoe, to be worn on runways and at
cocktail parties, this would be reasonably safe to wear and
certainly interesting to look at, provided it was worn by a
woman with spectacular legs (such as Mary Hart or The
Good Fairy Jenny). |
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So, [+] for a bold fashion idea, but with reservations... |
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For active use or on uneven terrain, I think a shoe like this
would be terribly awkward and dangerous, because it puts
you out of direct contact with the ground. Without tactile
feedback, you'd be unable to accurately judge the terrain
and react accordingly. |
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I think feedback might be OK, but what about
stability? As I understand it, the sole of the shoe
can move quite freely with respect to the sole of
the foot. |
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That's what I mean: you'd have no way of knowing exactly
where/how the shoe was placed, because your foot would
be suspended in a different orientation, with no firm feel
of exactly where the ground is or what it's shaped like, thus
causing instability. |
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