Playing Around

Curious
Creative
Weird
Stupid - not in my opinion
Random


Believe it or not I actually get some family support for my weird hobby of creating moving pieces of stuff.  I consider them toys but these homemade toys would not last long with a toddler or be very safe.  Wine corks will be saved for me at times.  But even better than an old wine cork, I have received gifts of nano bots and brush bots.  In the following clips you'll see how I used these gifts.


I enjoy youtube.  Most of youtube is better than most of TV.  I'm not saying there isn't garbage on youtube but IMHO - just more garbage on TV.

Garbage on youtube?  Well I take pieces of garbage (old pieces of bottles, corks, etc) and make youtube videos.

August 2013 - still at it.  Not as often.




February 2013 - More motors = more junk bots.  I picked up a little toy remote (mini?) car from Radio Shack on clearance.  Drives well for 10-15 minutes on it's charge.  Here's the debut of the toy car.




December 2012 - Have I gotten any better at this?  I just don't know and really I don't care much because it's fun to make the clips.

 

Three different "junk bots" playing on a monopoly board.  You might noticed the one with the multiple lights and white top is almost motionless until I drop a lid on it.  The lid is purposely unbalanced which causes the whole junk bot to be off-balanced and go spinning out of control.




   



Ever wonder what the customer service desk is doing while you wait on hold?  My imagination tells me it's like the following clip.
Oh be sure your sound is on.




A different type of
clip for me -
cartoons

I decided to give xtranormal a try.  You can create animated clips with their cartoon characters.  Fun but you do need a good idea for a script.  I was able to talk another blogger, Pearl, into letting me use some dialog she wrote.  I even got some good reviews on this.





In the following one I offer a little physics knowledge (but very very little).  The physics about tiny particles is very strange.  Take a look, they are free.




This one features the Hexbug Nano.









I like Starbucks coffee.  Nothing fancy, maybe a shot of hazelnut, is my preferred morning start.  This little guy I made out of a toothbrush had too many cups.





A short Christmas greeting.  Much cheaper than mailing cards and more fun to make.





Another bristle bot video with music from a Chicagoland A Cappella group, An Octave Above.






The following clip was made back at the end of 2007. It's been viewed 10's of thousands of times (not all me, really, but I have watched it many times). It surpassed my other clips I've uploaded to youtube by many thousands. I'm not sure why. 

At the start of 2011, I had 14 clips on youtube (here's my page there). I think the combination of the music (not mine but taken from a "Curb Your Enthusiasm" soundtrack CD) and my wife just doing her thing while I shoot the video makes this one popular.




The next clip in popularity is one I uploaded in September 2008. It used a little part of the clip from the first one. This clip introduced the clown head that shows up on other creations I've made.




Always under construction

This page will be updated as I create and record new toys. The updates will be mentioned on the regular posts of the blog and I encourage you to leave comments over there.
 
The background music is often the best part. Do you like M&M's?
  

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