Putting useful modifications in the photobooth. The latest is wall power for the camera so that I can get my drink on instead of fiddling with dead batteries.

Catch the 'ible here

Geneva Jacuzzi for Vice Magazine

Geneva Jacuzzi's photoshoot for Vice just dropped and it looks fantastic! JJ's vision and Geneva's energy are a perfect combination.

Some of my favorite shots are copied here as well as the set we made. Check out the spread in its entirety on the Vice site HERE

Ford and Photobooth

A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to be invited to one very special night in Santa Barbara celebrating the marriage of Jamie and Joe! This turned be a double whammy of awesome: taking the newly fixed 66 Ford (which I have worked very hard on) on it's longest journey yet and getting another opportunity to use the photobooth I made last year.

The truck made the 200+ mile roundtrip flawlessly and a gigantic photobooth was a definite headturner in the city and on the freeway.

Plenty of beer and wine was consumed and shenanigans were had!

Electronics heap is finally coming together

Sure it looks like a mess - and it is - but I just got this mess working! The setup includes an Arduino controlling a printer stepper motor assembly and the DSLR.

Still to come: blinking lights and a possibly an etched board or two!

A Sneak Peak!

A teeny prop I helped make is going to be part of a music video!

This is a first for me and an exciting one at that! Thanks JJ for sending me the beautiful still

Classic Radio now with mp3!

As mentioned previously, I have been fixing my radio for the sole purpose of hacking it. Now that it is functional, my goal is to be able to connect an mp3 player and listen to it in the truck.

The easiest solution would probably be to use a transmitter but I have two problems with this. First, there are about a billion FM transmitters on the market but I have yet to see an AM solution. Seeing as how my old radio is AM only this does not work for me. Second, I have witnessed first hand just how poorly those transmitters perform. They are prone to fading in and out, shifting, and all sorts of other pesky problems; this is not the solution for me!

I know there are multiple ways of going about this, so I had a few qualifiers in mind when I first approached this problem:

1) Easy to implement
2) Cheap!
3) Reversible

Unexpectedly, I stumbled on a perfect solution here. The original poster's explanation left a lot to be desired but forum member gryzynx clarified a number of details and helped me out with the component selection (I am poster ronilevi obviously).

I purchased the 3.5mm jack for $0.50, scavenged the appropriate cable, and hooked it all up. I had a few mis-steps of course (I thought I fried my iPod a couple times), but it was really just as simple as two wires to hook up:

I will have to implement a more permanent solution but, at least for now, I know this works! As a bonus, here is video of it functioning:

Please note and observe the forum warning to not have the mp3 player charging while it is hooked up to the radio.

The Radio in Action!

Here is a quick little video of the radio fully functioning (I caught a good snippet of Otis on the air). It will sound a lot nicer with a real antenna attached.

Also, I have noticed that the volume and tone knobs are scratchy. I will have to spray this down with contact cleaner and hope it works itself out.