Monthly Archives: October 2011

AT LAST…  i have discovered multiple circuit bends on a $2 toy that i picked up at the salvation army thrift store. i also found out who started this whole circuit bending thing. really hoping he responds to an email i sent yesterday. in the meantime, i’m gonna practice my soldering skills before adding toggle switches and knobs to this project. here are the sounds i recorded earlier:
first recorded bend
sick cow
the blue truck

drew is getting married today. he asked me to be an usher. it’s not because i’m good at seating people, it’s because i can recognize potentially dangerous people and then direct them outside. i’m more of a wedding bouncer. i don’t actually expect to exercise my authority, but thinking about the possibilities makes my job more interesting.

last night i ventured into the night w/drew and tim. drew is getting married saturday. tim and i are in the wedding party. after a few schedule adjustments and a little procrastination the outing started at o’dowd’s (for eddie delahunt music), moved to jack in the box (for 50 cent tacos), and ended in jail. wait… hang on… that last part was just wishful thinking.

i seem to be at an impasse with the vtech ABC jungle fun toy. i have dismantled it to access every circuit that i know of, made multiple contacts, but i can’t get it to bend. i REALLY want this to work because it already came with an audio output.

here’s another memory from our weekend in nebraska city: while walking on the tree adventure trail with georgia (our niece) she looked at me kind of concerned and said, “hey i think there’s a spider on your eyebrow… oh wait… that IS your eyebrow!” i told her that i’ve been growing wiry eyebrows for awhile, and then she asked “do you ever comb your eyebrows?” and then in a lower voice (like she was sharing a secret) she said “because some people do y’know.”

tonight i had dinner with reggie at the burger stand (aka the casbah) in lawrence. reggie had a mushroom “burger” with parmesan cheese fries. i had a black bean burger with smoked tofu fries. neither of us ate meat. rock the casbah.

we got together with jenny’s side of the family this weekend in nebraska city. ate a good dinner, and listened to a talented piano player. we started playing truth or dare… and well… one thing led to another and two nieces planked for us on the coffee table in the lobby of the lied lodge and conference center.

jenny & i went to my sister’s house friday night. her daughters (my nieces) were selling tiger pins that flash. i bought one ($3) for the sole purpose of using it with my optical theremin aka the beep it. here are the sounds that the two of them made with a slight delay effect.

scored my best find yet for another circuit bending project: the vtech ABC jungle fun keyboard toy. i couldn’t even find pics for this on the internet so i had to take my own. the thing i’m most impressed with is that it comes with audio video outputs AND an a/c adaptor (so it can plug into a wall outlet). if i don’t fry the circuits this will appear in a magellans show, or at least a recording. the price for this complex piece of machinery? $3. here’s what it sounds like hooked up to my amp with a delay effect. it will sound alot cooler after i bend the circuits.

was messing around with a wave pole synthesizer and used it to intro and outro some electric and acoustic guitaring that danny and i did yesterday. chalk it up to another work in progress for the magellans. and the wookie-like howl? that’s just danny showing off his amazing vocal range.