Dinosaurs and Robots

Tesla Guns, Tesla Guns, Writing In Their Diaries

2012-05-10T06:31:00.003-07:00

Why should awesome graphic novelized history have all the fun, thought Rob Fleckenger. Who has begun posting the story of the making of his Tesla Gun. Which is, as he puts it, "a hand-held, battery powered lightning machine. It is a spark gap Tesla coil powered by an 18V drill battery. You pull the trigger, and lightning comes out the front." Which is actually my second favorite phrase from the post, after, "The housing is made from a nerf gun cast in aluminum. I had never made a metal casting before, so" The Tesla Gun [hackerfriendly.com] A January talk about the nearly completed Tesla Gun at Ada's Technical Books Fleckenger's Tesla Gun photoset on flickr [flickr]

The IBM Wall Clock

2012-04-26T15:20:00.001-07:00

Our brilliant friends at Schoolhouse Electric in Portland have partnered with IBM to reproduce their iconic 1960s standard issue wall clock. It takes me back to childhood, and late afternoons anticipating school to be let out as that thin red second hand ran circles behind the domed glass.

Schoolhouse Electric & Supply Company

Late 1800s Circus Wagon Wheel

2012-04-25T21:37:00.003-07:00

When I look at this wheel, made of heavy wood and surrounded by an iron belt, I can almost hear the barrel organ and smell the buttered popcorn. The paint job does it for me. It's pretty much the most perfect circus thing I've ever seen.

Late 1800s Circus Wagon Wheel

100+ Vintage Photos Of Airships

2012-04-09T19:28:00.003-07:00

Quick, this Pollo fellow is selling over one hundred vintage photos of airships on eBay. Balloons, dirigibles, zeppelins, the works.

This one, #81, is the USS Los Angeles, c.1924. The current bid is GBP 1.20.

Desk Drawer Items

2012-03-25T16:34:00.001-07:00

Desk Drawer Items on eBay

Bubble Shield

2012-03-14T19:01:00.004-07:00

This bubble shield is the kind of small difference that says so much. Sixty bucks.

"Hermitage"

2012-03-13T15:00:00.003-07:00

In the summer, I will live in the middle of an small lake island... in this shack... with wifi and a personal heliport. And a secret underground control center...

Okay maybe not.

"Hermitage" shack by Ethan Hayes-Chute. Made from wood and found objects.

Jennifer Murphy Magic

2012-02-27T07:55:00.000-08:00

Absolutely enchanting. Her creations are so expressive. A form so refined that it is touching the edges of high art. So evocative with so much narrative in form.

Jennifer Murphy

Router Shelf By Michael Samuels

2012-02-05T18:24:00.001-08:00

I knew the router thrown behind the cornice of the faux-French country armoire media center in the beach cottage we rented one summer was indicative of something. Only now do I see what: the contemporary crisis in the design industry.

I mean, it's 2012, and there has still been only one awesome, purpose-built router shelf brought into this world?

Router shelf built for Richard Hogg by London-based sculptor Michael Samuels [h099.com, michaelsamuels.co.uk]

Spanish Prime Minister's Goth Daughters

2012-02-03T12:12:00.000-08:00

Wow! I missed this in 2009, but so awesome! It is a cultural anthropological study in the rarest of human emotions - the goth teen smile.

Daily Mail

Damascus Security Gloves

2012-01-25T20:18:00.000-08:00

"All my children shall have minibikes"

2012-01-25T10:28:00.000-08:00

Our buddy Coop glimpses the future. Look at the boots.

Hand Lettering

2012-01-25T08:12:00.000-08:00

Spotted at estate sale.

For Those About to Rock

2012-01-24T19:09:00.000-08:00

How long until this ends up in the Bonhams' Street Art auction?

Moby Dick Typed On Toilet Paper

2012-01-23T16:41:00.001-08:00

According to the all caps eBay listing, this copy of Herman Melville's Moby Dick was typed onto six rolls of 2-ply Cottonelle toilet paper for the noblest of reasons: to win a bet.

But ours is really, really not to wonder why, just to wonder.

Moby Dick on toilet paper, opening bid ~~399.95~~ $999.95, auction ends Jan. 29 [ebay]

The Europallet By Bunker Hill

2012-01-16T14:00:00.000-08:00

Swedish architect Daniel Franzen conceived of this low table, made of high-grade Swedish pine in the exact dimensions of a shipping pallet, a couple of years ago, while working on a pine-clad hipster store in Stockholm.

Supposedly, it finally went into production last year, but I can't find any evidence of it. So I guess we are all left to make our own. Maybe make a stack of them, because that's a pretty low table.

Europallet: Low table in Swedish pine [bunkerhill.se]

1950s Mobil Coin-Operated Pegasus Ride

2012-01-14T16:01:00.000-08:00

While Mobil's friendly full-service men are busy filling your tank, cleaning the windows, checking the tires and sweeping your car's floor with a hand-sized whisk broom, you're free to stretch your legs, purchase cigarettes and enjoy hot coffee in a paper cup, complimentary at the cashier. If you're traveling with a little one, why not treat him or her to a ride on the famous Mobilgas winged Pegasus!

Yeah, is this beautiful or what? Reportedly only five were ever made.

Mobil Coin Operated Pegasus Ride

1956 Mobil Station, Anaheim, Calif.

2012-01-07T16:51:00.000-08:00

The Mobil gas station that was once located across the street from Disneyland was a marvel of mid-century design by Whitney Smith and Wayne Williams. With the giant floating canopies balanced precariously on spindles, underneath a fire-engine red flying Pegasus, the station was an eye-catching roadside masterpiece - even catching the eye of famed architectural photographer Julius Shulman. Do we need to even mention that it's long gone now?

Anaheim's Magnificent Mobil Station

Biggest Ollie Ever

2012-01-04T08:15:00.001-08:00

Aaron "JAWS" Homoki - OLLIE from Birdhouse on Vimeo.

Jaws

Immaculate Frank Lloyd Wright House for $578,500

2012-01-03T09:01:00.000-08:00

Well, if you just bought an Echo Park fixer, this should leave you with an upset stomach. An extraordinary - but modest in scale - FLW house sold for $578,500.

Striking design created with modest materials and modest craftsmanship. Those visible screw holes filled with putty makes me feel better and worse about everything I have ever built.

At Wright's (via Wallpaper*)

Fuji Pavilion Bank

2012-01-01T16:26:00.001-08:00

The pavilions in Osaka's Expo '70 were toyishly futuristic enough without being turned into actual toys.

Here's a little plastic bank in the shape of Fuji Bank's pavilion, which was made from sixteen 4m x 72m pneumatic tubes, lashed together with 50cm-wide webbing, designed by Yutaka Murata and engineered by Mamoru Kawaguchi.

富士グループパビリオン/富士銀行貯金箱 [yahoo jp auctions]
Expo 70 Fuji Group Pavilion [tensinet.com]

Wood Prototype of Airplane Engine

2011-12-23T11:26:00.001-08:00

Does it have valves? Compression? Are the spark plugs threaded in? Was it a true functional prototype to test some aspect of performance or is it (more likely) a teacher's model?

Aluminum British [?] Officer's Furniture

2011-12-17T18:32:00.000-08:00

yeah, "some" scratches. I'd call that hammered aluminum, but still:

Lot 451
Officer's Armoire and Bed
Aluminum
England, first half 20th century
Rectangular form armoire with cut corners and single door, interior fitted with a clothing pole, Bakelite handle; rectangular head and footboard with bed rails; some scratches and dents; ht. 71 3/4, 36 1/2, wd. 39 1/8, 57 1/4, armoire dp. 18, rail spacing 52 1/4 in.
Estimate $1,200-1,800
Sold for $3,437

"Officer's Armoire and Bed"? Officer of what awesome aluminum army? [via skinner auctions]

Sign Painter Movie

2011-12-16T16:22:00.001-08:00

As an aficionado of hand lettering, I am extremely interested in Faythe's new sign painter documentary. Having known a number of sign painters, they are categorically an interesting bunch and should make for an interesting documentary.

John Downer with his sandwich board Halloween costume, which, is pretty cool and all, but look at that $15 a hour sign behind him. My goodness.

Whew. That is serious work.

Doc Guthrie's class at LA Trade Tech makes me feel better about the world.

Follow the movie's progress

Support the film and order a shirt here

Support Your Local Sign Painter

2011-12-16T16:21:00.000-08:00

John Downer with his sandwich board Halloween costume, which, is pretty cool and all, but look at that $15 a hour sign behind him. My goodness.

Whew. That is serious work.

Doc Guthrie's class at LA Trade Tech makes me feel better about the world.

Follow the movie's progress

Support the film and order a shirt here