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The Coolest Thing I Saw in Belgium

HalWhitewyrm

First Post
I uploaded the Flickr gallery for the latest episode of The Gamer Traveler - Brugge, Belgium, and came across something that I had been meaning to share with geeks around the world.

Aside from all the neat places I visited in Belgium, all the wonderful historic grounds I traipsed upon, all the yummy beer I drank, the yummy chocolates I ate, and the wonderful people I met, there was one event, one surprise event, that stands out as The Coolest Thing I Saw in Belgium (tm).

Let me not use words, and let the pictures speak for themselves:

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That thing is exactly what it looks like, a mechanical, motorized tiger.

It was built by a local artist-metalworker named Kezanti who has a studio on the same street I was staying at. On our last day in Brugge, I went out for a little walk around the block, and ended up on the open-air dining area of this small restaurant two buildings down from our B&B. I saw the mechanical tiger standing there, but at first I thought it was a bitchin sculpture (Brugge is the kind of town where you can see open air art displays). Then the guy stood up and turned it on and I could not hold my geekness inside.

I spoke with him a little (him in much better English than me in my horrible Dutch) and he told me this was the first time he had taken it outside the studio and was having a celebratory beer. He then stood up and proceeded to ride the mechanical tiger! What's even better, I got video:

http://www.youtube.com/v/-QMaS4pB9rw

Go see it, trust me.

Just a handful of people saw this walking work of art take its first steps, beaming artists riding atop. These are the kinds of magic moments that happen when you travel that you remember forever, the moments that you could never, in a miltiger years, have forseen and that happen, seemingly, just for you.

Furthermore, since like two days ago there has been a flurry of comments for the video over at YouTube. I just found out why:
My video was honored as #98 in the Top Rated (This Month) in Travel & Places. Even at 98, I think it's pretty cool and it seems so does everyone else who has seen the video. Drop by and leave a comment as well.

Even cooler still, as of 10/11, the video has skyrocketed in the YouTube charts and has been honored thus:

Not only that, it has 24,000+ views at YouTube and the thread over at Dragons Landing Inn where I first posted has gotten 7200+ views!

And THAT was The Coolest Thing I Saw in Belgium (tm). :-)
 

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Tiger mech in Belgium

I must have somehow missed that when I visited Brugge earlier this year, but I will have to find a way to work the mechanical tiger into a steampunk/fantasy scenario sometime... Very cool!
 


edemaitre said:
I must have somehow missed that when I visited Brugge earlier this year, but I will have to find a way to work the mechanical tiger into a steampunk/fantasy scenario sometime... Very cool!
When did you go? This was taken on 3 July.
And you can be sure this guy and his creations will make an appereance as a great NPC in an adventure or perhaps even a product. :D
 



Actually, you wanna hear cool? I got an email from the artist last week.
He tells me that the tiger actually goes a little faster than the video shows, but he only uses those speeds on dirt or grass.
Second, he's worked on some mods and her speed and fluidity of movement have gotten better.
Third (and I was fully expecting this), his new motorized sculpture is of a mechanized man! And this one walks pretty fast (though you cannot ride it).

I'm telling you, a couple of years from now, we will hear of Kezanti and his mechanized armies as he advances across Europe.

I for one welcome our new mechanized overlords. :)
 


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