The Mummysack (and me)
Zell...@webtv.net
My web wanderings found me a site where you can download a 3-D model of
a mummy sack. You can give it a good looking over if you have the proper
3-D modeling software. If you don't have said software (and I don't} you
can still get a good idea of what it's all about here:
http://www.turbosquid.com/FullPreview/Index.cfm/ID/226912
The model was inspired by a scene in the movie "Alien." The poor bugger
whose chest the alien busted out of is laced into such a sack and
blasted into space. The movie itself isn't much help if you want to
construct such a thing for real and occupy it yourself All you see of it
is a picture on a black-and-white TV monitor and a quick shot as it
tumbles into space.
But then, the mummy sack in the movie wasn't real, just a carved wooden
model. The special-effects people used a sling-shot to launch it.
I just got back from a nice long walk (mostly) in the woods. I didn't
meet anybody along the way but if I had they probably wouldn't have paid
much attention to what I was wearing. Sure, I was bundled up in a parka,
but it;s a cold day.
What made the walk interesting was what I was wearing under the parka. A
black leather motorcyle jacket with all the traditional zippers (20
bucks at a yard sale) and a harness of heavy two-inch nylon straps over
the jacket, holding it and what I had on under it close to my body. The
inmost layer was a sort of doublet consisting of two coconut-fiber
doormats, bristle side in. The two mats fasten together over my
shoulders, leaving room for my neck in the middle. I put additional
pieces of fiber matting inside the sleeves. The sleeve zippers make them
nice and snug, of course. I also have a hood made of the matting that
fits my head very closely. The part of the hood under my chin makes it
diffiicult to talk, so I try to avoid walking places where I'm likely to
meet people.
A brisk walk in this outfit is a truly exquisite tactile experience.
Every movement of my body forces the stiff bristles into my skin. Taking
a deep breath is just plain impossible.
The physical exertion and breath restriction add another dimension to
the experience, one of taste. It's a sort of vinegar-and-baking-soda
taste. The body, unable to balance the blood's pH just by blowing off
CO2 with heavy breathing, instead does the trick by turning some of the
carbonic acid into bicarbonate.
Back to the mummysack. I envision it as being lined with coconut
matting. Before getting inside I would put on arm-length mittens and
crotch-high boots made of the same stuff. Lacing the sack completely
closed would be a gradual process, taking several hours.
