Like one of them puzzles, of a picture and one blank bit, where you have slide the bits around to make the parts of the picture line up, but a bit bigger.
I was thinking of a city, built on flat-ish land with a grid of very shallow, but wide canals, with one vacant lot.
Each house floats on a pontoon hull. As you get bored where you currently are, you can move your house one lot, if you can get your neighbours to agree as they might have to move their houses one lot too.
Perhaps your aim is the inner-city with it's close amenities and funny smells, or perhaps the suburbs for a bit of tranquillity.
The guile and cunning comes in when you have to persuade your neighbours to move, so you can get the slot of your dreams and they try not to end up next to the nuclear reactor.-- not_morrison_rm, May 07 2011 Dark City http://en.wikipedia...rk_City_(1998_film)A movie about moving cities... There are many instances of moving cities in fiction, and I'm not trying to say Baked, but essentially saying the idea is simmering. [daseva, May 07 2011] Almost completely irrelevant, but unique selling point, sort of,,, http://www.sahometr...ty=SAHT021098A28EE1 [not_morrison_rm, May 08 2011] If the houses have hulls in water, there will be a relatively low weight limit before the hull is submerged and water starts coming through doors etc., particuarly with high-rise buildings. Could I suggest floating this all on mercury instead? Hg is much more dense than concrete (about 13.5 times more according to Wolfram Alpha), so smaller hulls needed, and they can be solid concrete blocks which are simpler to construct. They should be easier to move around as well because they are less submerged.-- TomP, May 07 2011 Ahhh, I love posting mostly irrelevant but subsequently misunderstood links to good ideas. (link)
A government that made these types of cities would only do so in extreme measures requiring fiscal sacrafice. Like Neon Genesis Evangelion (re: moving domiciles).
But I like the mirthy boat idea. Lots of party kids do this type of thing already but in quick fashion and no quiescence towards real life. That is, not baked. +
Also, I had a fever dream once where islands moved based on the commands of unseen captains. It was a massive chess game in the Caribbean. I woke up feeling much better, if that helps the story at all.-- daseva, May 07 2011 Presumably, that's where they got the film title" Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Man's Chess" …-- 8th of 7, May 07 2011 //Also, I had a fever dream once where islands moved based on the commands of unseen captains. //
As your Intellectual Property consultant, having fever dream does not usually count in patent disputes, but I could be wrong <calls OJ Simpson's lawyer to double check>
//a relatively low weight limit before the hull is submerged and water start//
I got bored one day and worked out the depth a pontoon hull would sink to under different loads and it's flippin' titanic (perhaps the wrong name there) the depth to kg rate. So, if you're talking wood, worry not. If you really want brick...let's presume 10m x 10m hull. If you think that's going to sink by 1 metre, that 100 cubic metres of water, which I make to be 100 tonnes, that's a lot of bric a brac. In brick terms, 1 brick =2.7 kg (ish) so that's about 37,037 which would do most of the front and possibly the entire east wing..-- not_morrison_rm, May 07 2011 As an example, look at the Phoenix caissons built in1944 as part of the Mulberry artificial harbours. They were made of concrete, were sufficiently buoyant, and have shown themselves to be unexpectedly durable.-- 8th of 7, May 07 2011 Erm, doing some global fantasy property shopping for something to do and found the unique sales pitch for a property (see link). Which also made me think of another usage.
As a bank robber or whatever, you could do the deed and then gradually move your own house further away from the scene of the crime. Would also include whistling and trying to look honest while moving...-- not_morrison_rm, May 08 2011 //gradually move your own house further away from the scene of the crime// If the police followed (by moving the police station, natch), that'd be what they call a low-speed chase.-- mouseposture, May 08 2011 //that'd be what they call a low-speed chase//
So you're suggesting something like a Stinger system, but for houses..perhaps some kind of big suction cup attached to an anchor?-- not_morrison_rm, May 09 2011 Of course there will be massive numerals or segments of a picture painted on the roofs of the houses.-- hippo, May 09 2011 And a complete new cottage industry for bumper stickers-- Ling, May 09 2011 The hospital's going to need a specially big psych ward for the mailmen and pizza delivery drivers …-- 8th of 7, May 09 2011 I was imagining the puzzle to be vertical, a skyscraper where the apartments move up and down and side to side. In comparison, your idea is surprisingly practical.-- mitxela, May 09 2011 It could also turn out to be surprisingly piratical- shades of The Crimson Permanent Assurance …-- 8th of 7, May 09 2011 //your idea is surprisingly practical.// Practical? Them's fighting words around here..
Oops, accidentally deleted 8th of 7's "Arrrgh, sharpening cutlass on (my) wooden leg.."
Dammit, I would have worn my whetstone leg if I'd known.
Anyway, how would anyone know it's my wooden leg? Not like we have the same DNA. Hmm, thinks, idea for professional hitman, get all wooden limbs. Worst that can happen is some smart-arse in CSI counts the rings, or a woodpecker...I rest my case.-- not_morrison_rm, May 09 2011 random, halfbakery