I saw Mac from WFMU’s Antique Phonograph Music Program DJing crank-up phonographs live in Bryant Park on tuesday. I shot the video below and the photo above with my 3d camera. If you like this sort of thing as much as I do, you should be listening to the show every tuesday night at 8pm on WFMU in the New York area or you can download the podcast here or on Itunes and listen on your ipod.

The Pantheon. The most intact Roman temple in Rome. While the Forum and the Colloseum have crumbled to mere shadows of their former selves the Pantheon still looks good. That’s because it was converted to a church a long time ago and was (mostly- I’m lookin at you Bernini) protected from looters. The sculptures were replaced but the nearly 2000 year old marble paneling and dome are still intact. Here’s a video I shot of the interior with the fuji camera. (Choose your 3d viewing method and resolution at the bottom of the video.)

Just some shots of what my neighborhood looks like when we get a decent snowfall. I took these pictures on January 27, 2011. ( Here’s what it looks like when we get another form of weather.)

Here’s a video of riding over the Williamsburg bridge after the snow. (The video is sped up)

And here are some more pictures:

I went to see Joe Jack Talcum (of the Dead Milkmen) at Bruar Falls last night and got a special treat. Samuel Locke Ward Opened with his band the Boo Hoo’s, and then proceeded to be Joe’s backup band (The called The Powders) . I took a couple pictures. The lighting is low at bruar falls. Doesn’t make for great video, but I tried that too.

Samuel Locke Ward and the Boo Hoo’s have some releases. Notably a 7 inch record I bought and Joe just released a CD called “Live in the studio” which is mostly him playing some old hits acoustic with friends accompanying on slide guitar and bongos.

Oh, and yes there were 3 other acts but I didn’t see them because I was eating Korean food down the street.

How did that lumber that built yer great grandparents’ house get cut? How did they wash their clothes, pump their water, and churn their butter? Well, if they were well-to-do they probably had portable engines like these to run simple machines.
I went to the Mid-Iowa Antique Power Show this past weekend and shot some video of the machines in action. And in-action is my favorite way for antiques to be. I mean, it makes me a little sad when I see an old fireplace in disuse, or an antique camera being used as a bookend. That’s why I admire hobbyists like these who keep history alive. I shot video here because if you see still images of these, you’re only getting half the picture.

If you know anything about engines this may seem like “duh”: but I asked my dad why some of the engines make that put put bang bang sound. Well basically each bang is the little explosions being set off by the spark plug or whatever, and in between explosions the wheel is just coasting. With some of the engines youd hear a bang then the wheel would go faster, start to slow down, and another bang! the closer together the explosions I guess the more consistent the speed. The engine in yer car is doing that in a way but it’s just more controlled.

This show was pretty good but if you really wanna see some awesome engines you HAVE to go to the Old Threshers Reunion. They’ve got these tractors that look more in shape and size like early 19th century steam powered trains. Which is basically what they are except they don’t need tracks to run.

ps. I just realized that adding “&fmt=6;” to the end of a youtube video address makes it higher definition. So I’ve gone back and done that to previous videos I’ve posted!