SRL Recent Events

Updated: November 1994

GENERAL INFO. SHOWS ETC

SRL operated several of its devices and props for the finale of a machine performance by staged by PEOPLE HATER, (ChipFlynn) that included a large remote control walking machine by Christian Ritsow and Kevin Binkerts fantastic Spinner machine. The event was organized by the CACAPHONY SOCIETY. The theme was a version of Media Burn. It took place Sat the 22nd at 3rd and Marin St. in San Francisco for an audience of 1000.

SRL staged a full-scale show in San Francisco on May 28, 1994. A CALCULATED FORECAST OF ULTIMATE DOOM:SICKENING EPISODES OF WIDESPREAD DEVASTATION ACCOMPANIED BY SENSATIONS OF PLEASURABLE EXCITEMENT was SRL's first major show in SF in 5 years. This was our largest performance to date, featuring 10 major remote-controlled devices and a huge assortment of props and stationary machines. Non-stop action! The fun was marred by an unscrupulous person or persons (identified in BAD STUFF below) who made and sold fake tickets, leaving approximately 250 genuine ticket holders out of the action. Video footage looks unbelievable, an 8 camera beta cam shoot! SRL video director Leslie Asako Gladsjo will be editing a version for release and a local showing this fall.

At this time work is continuing on several complex new machines. The Wheelocopter is the major new device under construction, (see new machines below). Research is continuing on a series of pulse Jet or propeller powered flying platforms.

NEW VIDEO RELEASES

SRL video director has been filming an editing a feature length documentary film dealing with the war in former Yugoslavia. She survived the streets of Sarajevo and the on-line. She returned in August and edited a segment on the recent SRL show for a lecture tour and video premiere in taking place in Australia during Oct. 1994. Look for a premiere showing in SF in December. Ms. Gladsjo will also be preparing a major video release documenting SRL activities and performances in Barcelona, Spain, Aurillac, France, and Graz, Austria from 1991 to 1992. The tape will examine the issues raised by the war related themes which link these three major SRL events. In addition, Ms. Gladsjo's exhaustive coverage of the strange occurrences surrounding these shows promises to make this tape a prized artifact of SRL history. Look for a release in late 1994.

WANTED: APOCALYPTIC PROPHECIES, FIRE AND BRIMSTONE PREACHING, PREDICTIONS OF THE END OF THE WORLD.

Audio tapes of prophets, preachers, or evangelists specifically referring to doomsday, Armageddon, and scenarios detailing the end of the world sought for the soon-to-be-conmpleted Survival Research Laboratories documentation of "A CALCULATED FORECAST OF ULTIMATE DOOM."

Please send cassettes to SRL at the usual address, marked "DOOM AUDIO, ATTN: LESLIE." Please include information about the source, date, and other details of the recording, as well as information about yourself. If your contribution is selected, you will be credited as DOOM AUDIO CONSULTANT and receive a free DOOM tape and SRL T-shirt.

PLANNED NEW DEVICES OR DEVICES UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Remote controlled Flying platforms using pulse-jet engines or enclosed-propellers are in the planning and experimentation stages. Deso Monar (the owner and pilot of the Jesus Head Jet powered GO CART in the recent SRL performance) is working on initial development.

A WheeloCopter is nearly finished. This radical concept in wheeled vehicles applies the principles of rotor craft to a two-dimensional plane. It's as difficult to describe as it will be for an audience to look at.

Parts have been collected for computer-controlled Hydraulic Walking Leg Sets, capable of supporting and moving objects weighing 40 or more tons, in the manner of groups of foraging ants. The power plant is a 175 hp Boeing gas turbine engine. This will be SRL's first mobile jet engine powered device.

The Hand-O-God is a giant spring loaded hand cocked by an air-cylinder with 8 tons of pressure. All parts are secured and construction is underway.

An Intelledex five-axis robotic arm was obtained indirectly from Lockheed Missiles and Space Corporation. It was used in the recent SRL performance to rearrange a large tray of meat scraps and aging vegetables. A high resolution camera attached to itıs end recorded the action.

SOME OF OUR RECENTLY CONSTRUCTED MACHINES

A JET-ENGINE POWERED WHEELED VEHICLE has been constructed and was debuted in the ³Ultimate Doom² show. It uses a simple jet engine fabricated from a modified high pressure axial turbocompressor driven furnace burner with a Lear Jet combustor can . It uses a Kawasaki 750 motorcycle engine to power the turbine and associated pumps.

A 175 hp BOEING GAS TURBINE engine was set up on a pivoting frame and operated in the May 28th performance as an audience misery enhancer. It was pointed at the nearby crowd and swung to and fro. A strong smelling chemical was added to the diesel fuel at one point, adding to the desired effect.

A 10 ft long Teleoperated Hydraulic Arm fitted with precision servo-valves and controlled from up to one mile away with an exoskeleton has been constructed and was used as an attachment for the screw machine in the May 28th performance. The exoskeleton controller attaches to the operators arm and precisely mimics the wearerıs motions. It can be configured with an optional stereo head mounted vision system which is controlled by the movements of the wearerıs head.

A portable Foam Generating Machine has recently been constructed. It uses standard high expansion fire-fighting foam and can generate 1500 cubic feet of thick free-standing foam per minute. Primarily intended for use on audiences.

A Six-Legged Running Machine (which will have a computer controlled active suspension system) was completed and featured for the first time at the SF Museum Groundbreaking performance. The leg drive system is modeled after the chain drive used on the Hughes Armaments Chain Cannon for sear bolt actuation.

A High Pressure Air Launcher, originally developed by NASA for use in avalanche control, is the basis for SRLıs first teleoperated machine. It is capable of automatically loading and firing 26 beer can sized projectiles weighing 2 lbs each at 500 feet per second. The operator aims by head movement, viewing the target through a high resolution camera mounted on the gun frame. This device is CO2 gas operated, and so circumvents existing Federal Firearms Laws. A stripped down version was transported by air and used in a ritual assassination of Simon Leis, (the sheriff of Hamilton county, who busted Dennis Barrie for the Robert Mapplethorpe photo show) at the ³Mechanica² show, Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, Ohio.

A 100 kilo Joule directable plasma discharge weapon or TASER, designed by Greg Leyh and built at SRL, was successfully tested and used in Europe in 1992. It is currently being rebuilt as an improved design without the sometimes troublesome spark gaps. We are currently looking for 50 kilojoule low impedance capacitors to increase the already formidable power of this device. Contact Greg Leyh at 641-8065 or 647-4960.

BAD STUFF!

REWARD OFFERED for information leading to the whereabouts of Joseph Matheny. Mr. Matheny was the producer for our last major performance, ³A CALCULATED FORECAST OF ULTIMATE DOOM². He was also the producer for the ³ROBOT WARS² event staged at Ft. Mason in SF in August. He hired Mark Pauline, Liisa Pine, and Terry McGovern, from SRL to build the protective railing around the machine presentation area. He also arranged for the rental of one of SRLıs forklifts for 5 days to set up and break down the event. Somehow the date for payment kept slipping further and further away.

Finally, Mark Pauline had to leave for Australia in Sept. to set up performances there for 1995, remaining until early October. In the meantime Joe Matheny had disappeared from sight and at this time cannot be found at any of his previously known addresses. SRL is now out $1550.00 Phoebus lighting is also owed $800.00 and JT, a ³good² friend of Joeıs, claims to be out $900.00. In addition to this we have new information which indicates that Methiny was involved in the fake ticket scam at our last performance, in which around 400 bogus tickets were sold.

SRL activities are funded by money obtained from work, not grants, and stuff like this makes it even more difficult for us to do our shows. Anyone who can provide information as to the whereabouts of Methiny will be rewarded with a full set of SRL videotapes, t-shirts and posters. E-mail to SRL.ORG or call/fax (415) 641-8065. SEE MUG SHOT OF JOE MATHENY

Joe Matheny has returned to SF and is being extremely uncooperative regarding the situations described above. For those who lost money to the ticket scam he can now be reached at home at 861-5511 or 864-3017. E-Mail is mediak@well.com.sf.us. Yoy may also leave lovely messages on his new voice mail # at 435-8741. He is staying at 409 Laguna St. in SF 94102. Officially, SRL does not encourage or discourage attempts to contact, communicate , or irritate, Mr. Matheny.

THUMBS DOWN

Originally, Mark Pauline was assured by Methiny that SRL would be paid when the money was received from Robot Wars. When payment from Methiny seemed in doubt back in September, Mark Pauline called the Robot Wars owners, Mark Thorpe and Gary Pini, to advise them of the problems encountered in securing payment from Methiny, and to see if a direct payment to SRL from Robot Wars for services rendered could be arranged.

Pini and Thorpe agreed that SRL was owed the $1550.00 but refused to pay SRL directly, instead paying Methiny for work done by SRL. Methiny then split town. Robot Wars intends to continue their commercial presentations of ³popcorn machines² to the public on a yearly basis. Admission was $30.00 a head for the August event with 1200 paying customers. In view of the insensitive way that an event as flush with cash as Robot Wars dealt with SRLıs relatively small payment, Mark Pauline recommends that robot builders stay away from future Robot Wars events.

NOTICE TO BURNED TICKETHOLDERS FOR THE LAST SRL SHOW

At the time of ticket snafu which occurred at the ³ A CALCULATED FORECAST OF ULTIMATE DOOM...² SRL came to an agreement with Joe Methiny of Media Kaos that due to the poor quality of the tickets printed by Media Kaos for the show, Media Kaos was responsible for ticket refunds. According to Methiny, who had set up a ticket hotline after the show to receive mailings of ³bogus² tickets for refunds, there were about 250 people who had purchased tickets but had not been admitted to the performance (due to a call by the attendant fire marshall of overcrowding). We now know that Methiny perpetrated the ticket scam. Of course, he has split the scene as it were, taking with him any list of gypped ticket holders that existed. SRL asks ticketholders to notify the SRL voice mail in the appropriate mailbox (press #2 for info) of their ticket status. We will try to sort out valid requests and can make an offer of free tickets to our next local show. Call 641-8065.or if you're in the mood to harass, see Joe Matheny contact info above.

LAWSUITS!

SRL Vs ARTPARK

ADDENDUM: 7/14/94 SRLıs suit in federal court against ARTPARK was settled for a sum of money from NY state. Better than grant money! SRL was until recently, engaged in a Federal Court lawsuit against the state of NY and David Midland, the Director of ARTPARK, over the cancellation of our performance there in 1990 at the behest of Fundamentalist Christians. Our attorney in the case, Lanny Walters, had to sue the Federal Court Judge, Richard Arcara, to force him to hear the case. Judge Arcara, stretched the letter of law for over 2 years in his efforts to avoid hearing the case. He eventually dismissed the suit. Lanny appealed this judgement, and the NY Attorney General, fearing an upset in front of a less conservative district court judge, (Judge Arcara is a Reagan appointee), offered a cash settlement, which SRL accepted.

SRL Vs EDWARD MAXWELL

A lawsuit was filed by Edward Maxwell following SRLıs performance at the SF Museum of Modern Art Groundbreaking Ceremony was recently settled. Mr. Maxwell, a wealthy resident of San Franciscoıs exclusive Marina District, did not actually attend the performance, but was, according to his own medical report, ³passing by the performance area in an automobile, seated in the passenger seat with the windows rolled up². Mr. Maxwell claims that he has a pain in his right ear as a result of effects from the performance that the 2500 other persons who attended were not able to perceive. His medical claims were not supported by any of the doctors he has reported seeing in connection with the case. Nevertheless, he engaged the City of San Francisco, The Museum of Modern Art, and SRL in a Superior Court lawsuit.

The Museum and the SF City Attorney threatened to sue my insurance carrier, TransAmerica Corp. TransAmerica had reneged on the SRL policy as soon as the case was filed, arbitrarily claiming that the V-1 engine used in the show was a ³firework² and its use (which they previously had agreed upon covering) voided all coverage. Their efforts succeeded and Transamerica sent SRL a letter actually ³apologizing² for the ³mistake² they had made in refusing to honor the policy. They indicated that they would settle the matter immediately. They ended up paying Mr. Maxwell an undisclosed fee. Subsequently, SRL has experienced no problems in obtaining liability insurance.

PUBLICATIONS & television

AK PRESS, based in San Francisco, has offered to publish an SRL monograph this coming year, as well as an SRL CD-ROM. AK is the US publisher for Stewart Home, considered by SRL to be required reading for the discriminating pervert. Stay tuned for a release announcement.

The SOUTH ATLANTIC QUARTERLY, published by Duke University Press has released ³THE SPECIAL ISSUE ON CYBERCULTURE². It contains a 7 page article designed and written by M. Pauline and illustrated by computer manipulated SRL imagery. The article details the unusual events surrounding SRLıs performance in Graz, Austria, Nov. 1992, ³ The Deliberate Evolution of a War Zone...²

SRL appeared live on the Fox FX network show ³Breakfast Time² on Oct. 24. Phil Keoghan, who was reporting the story for Fox braved the SRL yard for several 3 minute segments with numerous machines roaring away. As this was live on the East Coast we were filmed at 4 to 6am ! This time, only one of our neighbors called to complain.


Eric Paulos / paulos@robotics.eecs.berkeley.edu / 10 December 1994