Slashdot ran a story about a gadget to turn your water bottle into a tripod that can be found in Japan. Adam at fiendishthingy.org has his own Bottle Cap Tripod which can be made for $1.50, thereby singly matching the innovation (or lunacy) of Japanese manufacturers.

Obligatory useful hint: Camera tripods are threaded for ordinary 1/4″, 20tpi screws. I like using either stainless steel bolts for similar applications or nylon.