I just got in a bunch of 3d Glasses. Email me if you want a pair FREE! My email is:

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!

Part 3 in my ongoing west trip series.

On any trip through South Dakota you have to stop at Wall Drug. These pictures were all taken using the “cha cha” method. In other words, not with a 3D camera but rather with a normal camera. One picture, then shifted over a couple inches, and another picture. This was before I had the Fuji 3D Camera and the View-Master Personal camera doesn’t do low light pictures so well.

Why must one stop in Wall, South Dakota? I think the pictures speak for themselves.





There. Isn’t that awesome? All that and “Free Ice water”. But wait there’s more.


This band is so awesome. I’m totally hiring them for my next clambake.


Lovely wood carved heroes of the old west sit and stand here and there. Here’s Annie Oaklie:

Wall Drug is a bit of a drive from Deadwood, but Wild Bill is a popular character in them parts.


The wax museum across the street (not affiliated with Wall Drug) also paid tribute to Wild Bill.


…as well as a many other western legends. The famous Indian who shot that one Buffalo:


The Duke and The Man With no Name:

I took some pictures with the View-Master camera too. maybe I’ll upload more one of these days.

Yesterday I went to the American Museum of Natural History here in New York and checked out the Exhibit called Race to the End of the Earth. It is about how Roald Amundsen of Norway and Robert Falcon Scott of England were both trying to reach the South Pole at the same time in 1911. It was an epic race (although it didnt start out as a race). Quite a story, and rather than trying to retell it myself you should visit the American Museum of Natural History’s Race to the End of the Earth Site. Or listen to NPR’s story about the exhibit on Science Friday. I’ll just say, one team had an easier time than the other.

Scott saw the trip as a scientific expedition. So he took along about 60 men, many of them scientists, and planed to collect specimens and document what he saw.  Here’s a camera Scott took along.

And a movie camera:

He brought materials to build cabins. The museum had a replica of part of Scott’s office/bedoom.

Amundsen had different ideas about how to explore the arctic. As a Norwegian, he had confidence in his men’s skiing abilities for one thing. But he also decided to use techniques of inuit peoples he had previously encountered to his advantage. instead of cabins his living spaces and basecamp looked more like Echo Base on Hoth.

Scott thought he had technology on his side. He brought along several motorized sledges.  This diorama depicts a sledge breaking down and the men realizing they’d have to haul this stuff with man-power.

Scott also had the great idea of using the noble pony as the pack animal of choice. Ernest Shackelton had used ponies, and what was good enough for Shackelton was good enough for Scott. This miniature depicts the little coats the had to give the ponies and the snow wall they had to build to block the wind to protect the ponies from the extreme cold.

I won’t tell you what happened to the Ponies.

Amundsen, of course had learned that the real pack animal you have to have in this climate is the rough and tumble sled dog.

This little scene gives you an idea of how miserably cold it was. These men are storing supplies along the route to use on the trip back.

I won’t tell you how it turned out. I will tell you not all of those return supplies were utilized. Go visit the museum if you can or check out these links:

American Museum of Natural History’s Race to the End of the Earth Site

NPR’s story about the exhibit on Science Friday

West Trip Part 2. After South Dakota, we moved on to Yellowstone. Checked out some boiling water pits and Old Faithful.