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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.

believe it or not, i was subconsciously re-writing girls on film when i recorded this, but this is stompier (is that a word?). who knows maybe the magellans will have people dancing at the next gig. dig it.

SPELLMAN: johnson, will you read the minutes from last weeks’ meeting?
JOHNSON: we didn’t have a meeting last week mr. spellman
SPELLMAN: how come no one told me?

this is how i felt when i realized i hadn’t made a blog entry since monday. so let’s go over some of this week’s high points… tuesday two old friends and myself sat in the backyard in front of the chimenea until 2am under a full moon… ok. that was the high point.

went for a sunday drive to penguin park in gladstone. i found out about it through oldkc.com on facebook. hard to believe (and yet strangely reassuring) that a huge penguin is still upright in 2011.