This is sort of something I stumbled upon by accident while waiting for a phone call. It is very easy to execute and brings one much pleasure. All you need is a ceiling fan and a roll of toilet paper. I would suggest that you have hardwood or concrete floors, but I think short carpet would work too.
Here is the easy-to-follow 10-step process for creating a TP Tornado for yourself:
1) Grab a roll of 2-ply toilet paper, open it up (if wrapped).
2) Unravel about three or four feet of the TP.
3) Give it a throw up in the air so it goes over TWO of the fan blades (if it goes over just one blade, gently pull it off and try again). This the most crucial step.
4) Once you have the TP roll over the TWO fan blades, then unroll the rest of it. You can throw it around a bit more if it brings you pleasure. Whatever you do, don’t break the stream – REMEMBER ONE SOLID STRIP OF TP!
5) Once all of the TP is unrolled on the floor, remove the cardboard roll, and make sure the toilet paper isn’t too tangled up.
6) Start the ceiling fan on medium to medium high speed and watch the fun began!
7) As the toilet paper twists up like a tornado, help it ravel up a bit by feeding it some of the toilet paper on the floor.
8) Once the TP tornado has sucked up almost all of the TP, turn off the fan.
9) Run back to the tornado. As the fan slows down, gently lift up the main TP twist (as pictured) to alleviate some of the stress at the top. Do this until the fan stops completely.
10) Slowly release your grip and step back to enjoy your personal TP Tornado!!
Show your friends and loved ones. Take a picture and send it to me. I’d love to post a collection of TP tornados from around the world.
Yeah yeah, the tornado is technically up side down but who really cares?
Filed under 018 TP Tornado by on Sep 11th, 2008. 1 Comment. 
We all have wishes – big and small, be it things we’d like to own, people we’d like to meet, things we would’ve done differently, hope for global change, desire for the perfect mate, or simply a cold soda on a hot day.
This project is dedicated to you and your wishes. Simply COMMENT TO THIS POST answering the following questions:
1) State your name (first name only is fine)
2) Where you’re from
3) And what you wish for!
My plan is to broadcast your wishes into outer space. Once there are a few hundred, I would make a recording of me reading them all. For example, Josh from Bakersfield, California wishes he had a 2000 foot slip and slide going from his home to his school. Nancy from Cleveland, Ohio wishes for President Bush to fall in a gigantic hole and never come out. Bob from Portland, Oregon wishes he’d never given up on his high school sweetheart. And on, and on.
I would then give the recording to someone like Sent Forever who would broadcast the recording into the furthest reaches of space.
Additionally on a more earthly level, I’m going to go to The Grove here in LA and read all your wishes through a megaphone
I really don’t know what this image is, but it seems like the perfect “wishes in space” gif
Posted by email from marc horowitz’s posterous
Filed under 016 Wishing Space Project, intss blog by on Sep 10th, 2008. 4 Comments.
Studying errands is no small task. Everyday people are faced with the necessary errands – grocery lists need to be checked, tires need more pressure, credit cards need to be paid, new phones need to be acquired, broken things need to be fixed, dogs need their vitamins, sailboats need a specific polish, gifts need to be purchased, and everyone needs new underwear.
Common problems that can occur while fulfilling errands include: loneliness and alienation, boredom, impatience, anxiety, frustration, lethargy, hunger, flatulence, humming a Neil Diamond song, encountering stinky children, head bumps, and thoughtlessness.
In an effort to solve some of the aforementioned problems and create new and exciting ways of running errands, I have designed a two-part feasibility study:
Phase I: Running errands with others
Phase II: Running errands on a pack mule
Phase I: I run errands with strangers. I offer advice on which brand of cereal to buy, help folks fold laundry, determine the best quote on auto body repair.
Phase II: I do the same thing as Phase I, but now I’m on a donkey.
My studies determine that, if one desires to be spiritually fullfilled, errands need to be more than just a menial task. This can be achieved in many ways: go on your errands with another person, or in a group, wear some silly shades and a wig while doing your errands, walk backwards through the store, carry a really big boom box playing your favorite music, dress-up in a tux to go to Walgreens, if you don’t take the bus, take the bus to do your errands.
Go out and start an errand support group in your neighborhood or initiate group bill-paying sessions. The possibilities to make errands more communal and more appealing are endless.
This is a project I did a bit back, but it’s such a classic, I had to “re-release it”
Click here to read the San Francisco Chronicle Story
Filed under 005 Errand Feasibility Study, intss blog by on Sep 9th, 2008. Comment.
Filed under 001 Imagination, Amazing Finds, intss blog by on Sep 7th, 2008. Comment.
Since this blog is so extensive and could be daunting to navigate, I thought I’d put together a little presentation of some of the stuff I’ve done over the past couple years. I put it up on flickr – http://flickr.com/photos/marchorowitz/sets/72157607131251326/
Here’s a sample page:
Enjoy! Let me know what you think!
Posted by email from marchorowitz’s posterous
Filed under 001 Imagination, Everything Else, intss blog by on Sep 5th, 2008. Comment.
The Short: I spelled “Hi” on the side of a hill using white plastic lawn chairs. Neil Young is next door and I’m hoping he’ll see it and come over!
The Long: I’ve accepted a month-long artist-in-residence program in the sticks. The location is strategically positioned in the middle of nowhere on Dr. Carl Djerassi’s ranch. I am one of eight artists here and it feels like I’m on reality television. I find myself constantly looking for hidden cameras.
If this were a reality show, here’s how I’d pitch it:
Camp Djerassi
Thirty days… eight artists… desolate ranch.
What will happen? Will Cupid find a victim? Will the sculptor be
medivaced out due to a chop-saw blunder? Will food allergies get
the best of the sensitive writer? Will the painter lose her brushes in a poker game? Will someone kill the custodians?
Tune into Artist Reality Television (ART) Every Thursday at 7:00pm.
In real reality, Dr. Djerassi is responsible for inventing the birth control pill and is very, very rich as a result. So rich he can pay for all us slacker artists to be out here for a month.
Communication with the rest of the world is pretty limited up here. As a "media artist"; I’m equipped with a dial-up connection and a pay phone. The only other contact with the outside world is through a consumer telescope, which gives me a perfect view of Neil Young’s living room.
I tried going over to his place to say hello, but the walls were too high and the guards wouldn’t let me pass. Now I’m forced to say “hey, I’m new in town, come over for some coffee sometime” in a different way. So, I arranged 50 white plastic lawn chairs on the side of a hill that faced Neil’s property to spell out the word “Hi”. It’s like a more updated version of the smoke signal.
Neil hasn’t responded, but I’m keeping an eye out. Maybe he’ll tell me something, entirely spelled out in old LPs on one of his hills.
Oh well, Neil is probably really boring anyhow.
(from the ineedtostopsoon.com archives)
Filed under 006 Hi, intss blog by on Sep 5th, 2008. 1 Comment.
On my journey from Coast to Coast for the Signature Series, I put Americans on the hot seat and asked them three questions!
From Crackle:
Only one more episode to go!!!
Filed under 040 Signature Series, intss blog by on Sep 5th, 2008. Comment.
So, here’s the experiment – add me on twitter, http://twitter.com/ineedtostopsoon – and I’ll send you a drawing, something like the ones pictured above. Once you add me, DM me your address and I’ll send along a drawing. This is a nice analog way to connect in a digital age, and you’ll get real fan mail. I encourage you to write a letter back to me… you don’t have to though!
Posted by email from marchorowitz’s posterous
Filed under 001 Imagination, Everything Else, intss blog by on Sep 5th, 2008. Comment.
It’s a surprise, but below is a bit of a hint. TODAY’S QUESTION!!!!
Posted by email from marchorowitz’s posterous
Filed under 004 The Center For Improved Living, intss blog by on Sep 4th, 2008. Comment.
This is a fun game to play. Make up taglines for words.
Here’s are some examples:
Nefarious – not just your average evil.
Tubular – why did this mean awesome in the 80s?
Venacular – a great word to use when swilling wine.
Broken – could it be more awkward than this?
Feel free to add your own in the coments. I’m excited to read what you good people come up with!
Posted by email from marchorowitz’s posterous
Filed under 001 Imagination, Everything Else, intss blog by on Sep 2nd, 2008. 3 Comments.
