Encyclopedia Brunch

It turns out it wasn't all Al-Gebra and Scimitars in 12th century Baghdad.

• If the Elephant clock is hard to follow, try this video

Music By: Blammos, Carsie Blanton, Lili Labassi

Music by: | Carsie Blanton | Lili Labassi | BLAMMOS |

This week, we learn about all kinds of instruments made from all kinds of things!

• The Bubble Organ
• Documentary clip from the BBC about making a clarinet from scrap
• The Scrapheap Orchestra plays The 1812 Overture
• Jon Rose, Fence Player (among other things)
• Splash, which does appear to have a sequel, and it was in fact a made-for-TV movie

Music By: Blammos, Jon Rose, Scrapheap Orchestra, Aaron Wendell

Music by: | Scrapheap Orchestra | Aaron Wendell | Jon Rose | BLAMMOS |

• Here's a fascinating article on the future of Seattle's Industrial Utpopia team!
• We didn't talk about them here, but remember the WTO Protests? They play apart in this whole thing as well.
• For more information about Seattle History, I recommend this site.
• Our Musical Interludes this week are by a local Seattle band, Land of Pines, thanks guys!  

Music by: | Land of Pines |

Let us know what you think of this funky outtakes episode

Are you the  Tomato in the Mirror?

Instructions on where to purchase your hipster PDA

So that last joke about how shallow The Little Mermaid is... Kathryn stole that.

This week, Tim and Kathryn discover how weird architects are!

• We can't emphasize how much we love our New Theme by Blammos!  We implore you to check them out.

Heron of Alexandria... Alexandria of Heron... Poe-tay-toe, Poe-tah-toe. What really matters is that he made some very impressive robots.

Music by: | Pierlo |

This week, it's back to the city.  Minneapolis Specifically.  Sorry St. Paul.  We still love you anyway. This is another longer one!  Stay with us.

• In case you live under a radio land rock, don't feel bad!  Most of us do.  RadioLab. This American Life.
• Kathryn retracts her statement about General Mills & Pillsburry.  Croissants/Cheerios forever.
• Tim was right.  There was nothing out west way back in the day. Nothing at all. (Grand Canyon, Rocky Mountains, Yosemite, Sequoias)
• Kathryn has committed the logical fallacy of ignoratio elenchi in her appeal to the natural wonders of the Western US as a means of disproving Tim's objectively true point that the population and economic centers of the US resided east of the Mississippi in the 1800s. Please note.
• Tim has committed the social faux pas of Doubebagi Correctingsi.  Please note.
• Kathryn stinks. Write it down.
• In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theater
• Fringe Festival
• "What's the skywalk?" you say?
• A descriptive editorial discussing the Somali population in Minneapolis
• Minneapolis was ranked the gayest city in America by Advocate.com. How about that?
• Do you want to compare loads of employment and labor data from Minneapolis / St. Paul with loads of employment and labor data from various other metros around the US? Yes, you do. Of course you do.
• This is also where we learned that Minneapolis is the third most literate city in the US (based on a number of factors, including libraries, bookstores, and newspaper readership).
• An awesome New York Times article from 1890: "Fighting Over The Census - St. Paul Jealous of Minneapolis and Charges Fraud". Those were the days...
• A report filed for the Minnesota Historical Society, Archeology of the Central Minneapolis Riverfront. Way more interesting than it sounds! Also, how could you ever get enough Scott F. Anfinson?
• A graph of flour production, lumber productionand population from the Scott F. Anfinson report. Lumber drops off really sharply on 1920, but we just can't figure out why!

This week, it's back to Toy Land with our pal Lonnie Johnson, who invented the super soaker!

• If you don't know what we're talking about, here's Short Circuit
• Not to mention, The Last Starfighter
• But I'm sure you guys already know about Micheal Bay
• Since we're so into it, you might also like to learn more about the Johnson Tube and what it actually does.
• Ed, Edd and Eddy and their impossible jawbreakers.
• Erkel Loves Supersoakers.

There is no diagram.  Tim lied.  Just enjoy the ride into our second cycle of our Ancient Robot series, about the robots you could find in Asia, both fictional and non-fictional.

• Dr. Daniel Jackson, for those who don't know, was the official eye candy of the Stargate, SG-1 series.  In Stargate, he was the first to theorize that Egyptian pyramids were UFO landing sites.
• Cartoon History of the Universe Check it out.  It's downright adorable.
• Backflip Karakuri
• Arrow Shooting Karakuri
• Christopher McGuire's New Book: Out of Oz

Music by: | Some Jazzy Elevator Tunes | Comfort Fit | Jianhong He - Yu Wang Tan Ming |

Leon Theremin and his Theremin.

• Leon Theremin demonstrates
• Randy George brings the Theremin to pop
• Correction:  Pitch on a harp is determined by a lever or pedal that the player controls
• Stephen Hobley
• Laser Harp How-To: pt 1, pt 2
• Theremin Hero, it's a real event!

Music By: IBM 7094, Leon Theremin, Randy George, Jean Michele Jarre, Tetris Theme via the Laser Harp

Music by: | Tetris Theme via the Laser Harp | Leon Theremin | IBM 7094 | Randy George | Jean Michele Jarre |