We started with one. Sergey added a little humour and cheer to the Paul Pen (long story). We thought we could do some amusing hacking, so one became two; joined by Aleksandr. And yes, we compared them! This is the story of Aleksandr's epic operation...
With the increase in publicity now for the meerkats, it was only a matter of time before a real pimp appeared on the scene. Meet Marvin...the backstreet pimp from Brixton. Marvin has spent 2 years on the pimping scene cashing in on meerkat trafficcing. he has been known to break into wildlife parks. There is a rumour of an association with the meerkat dating agency: http://www.meerkatmatch.com/ however that is all speculation and has never been proven. It's fair to say Marvin should be approached with caution - he's a dangerous fellow. Don't let the "Blue Oyster club" look fool you.
Marvin is also proud to show off his scars. He has been in many 'bloody' fights with rival pimps. Once he was slashed with a knife from neck to belly button - you can make out the scar in the picture below. He also has another sideline of selling Bonsai weed. Now this has never been proven to be a drug of any reasonable recreational value, however he seems to be making quite a profit from it on the streets. I checked with the local constabulary and Bonsai weed is not on the class A,B or C list of drugs. In fact they classifed it as Z status - which is ironic really because that matched his celebrity status.
Marvin is not known to carry any weapons and typically gets others to do his dirty work for him, but nobody is quite clear what he keeps dwon those pants - I'm not sure they have ever be detached from his body so he is probably hiding some kind of weapon!
Aleksandr got wind of Sergeys crowning and subsequent assault of two lovely ladies and demanded he be stitched up so he could return. Dr Death was supposed to be studying for med school but had to take time out to squeeze in some surgery.
Aleksandr had no spine. Now he's more machine than man, er, meerkat.
Dr Death needed to cut Aleksandr a new a**e... for cable access.
Cables exits via an old launch tube from a rocket (firework), which will also allow Aleksandr to sit on spiked stand, nice. He's been stitched up again but he's got way too much stuffing and the range of motion is restricted. Dr Death will have to pull out some of his inards to reduce Aleksandrs fat-neck sydrome, but he may have to visit Sergey first.
Aleksandr's not happy with Sergey or the operation.
An old PIR unit has been spliced into Aleksandrs cyborg control system but performance isn't yet up to scratch due to the fat-neck syndrome. Aleksandr will have to go under the knife once more...
It was all too much for Sergey - he has lost his rag and taken drastic action with Montanna (Russian style!). All family relations have broken down. It all started when he realised his favourite Wodka was missing from the freezer. Hearing noises upstairs he went to investigate only to find Hanna and Montanna singing Yankie Doodle Dandy and jumping up and down on his bed. Needless to say it was Montanna who was clutching his Wodka bottle!
This is not just a fur wound!
Hanna was petrified and hasn't moved since - any slight movement could result in the same treatment!
Without warning, Sergey's cousins arrive from the US. Hanna and Montanna have obviously sampled some of the good life in Holywood and cosider themselves "upper" class in relation to Sergey and Alexandr. Sergey is not amused because for lunch he offered the traditional gruel and grubs and they just turned their nose up and went out for a Big Mac! Sergey can't wait to get rid of them. When asked Sergey said "I just want them to leave. I know they are family but they are really stuck up Western snobs who have never experienced a hard life in Russia. I can't hold my tongue much longer, if they don't leave then fur will fly - simples!". The problem now is all the planes are grounded due to the Volcanic ash from Iceland. Sergey is beside himself. I suggested that he should keep them occupied - perhaps with a game of table tennis which might also have the added benefit of reducing some of that american 'fat-ass'.
Something for the Blog. As Alekandr has been missing for so long now, Sergey is now crowned as the new King of the Meerkat office. We can only hope that Alekandr will recover from his operation but I think Sergey is hoping that he doesn't. Those two never saw eye to eye!
The voice recorder thing wasn't happy; every time I recorded something and played it back the output was almost inaudible. I thought perhaps the circuit wasn't man enough to drive the speaker down 1m of cable, so to test I tagged the circuit back together, but there was no improvement. Perhaps I'd knackered the piezo mic when prizing it from the case? I tried some other piezo pickups that I had. No luck.
OK, plan B: steal my daughters "spy pen" that has the same kind of recorder circuit, and hack that in instead. With a promise to buy her a new one I tested it and opened it up. I extended the speaker wires to the appropriate length to check, but no, it didn't like it either. There's no way I'm going to start farting around amplifying it (and I'm already in the dog house for pimping meerkats on a bank holiday weekend!), so out goes his voice box and Aleksandr's now a mute meerkat!
Nurse, scalpel please...
I decide to go in from the back:
My daughter really didn't like this shot:
Inside-out head; made me chuckle!
His head's like the TARDIS...
Easy! Easy! A steady hand needed for eye surgery:
Bit of a Terminator thing going on here...
Damn! Aleksandr has a wonky right eye! The drill bit must have gone in all squiffy like.
Some 18 SWG tinned copper wire wrapped around the servo and fed into the arms should help stabilise the servo and give it something to push against (as well as the stuffiing). As a bonus, Aleksandr gets posable arms.
Marvin is also proud to show off his scars. He has been in many 'bloody' fights with rival pimps. Once he was slashed with a knife from neck to belly button - you can make out the scar in the picture below. He also has another sideline of selling Bonsai weed. Now this has never been proven to be a drug of any reasonable recreational value, however he seems to be making quite a profit from it on the streets. I checked with the local constabulary and Bonsai weed is not on the class A,B or C list of drugs. In fact they classifed it as Z status - which is ironic really because that matched his celebrity status.
Marvin is not known to carry any weapons and typically gets others to do his dirty work for him, but nobody is quite clear what he keeps dwon those pants - I'm not sure they have ever be detached from his body so he is probably hiding some kind of weapon!
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