Last Call

Another crazy thing we used to do with the common telephone was to make "Phonies".

"Phonie" was the 70's term for prank phone calls. We would say all kinds of crazy things, play music, ask for strange people, and generally confuse and bewilder people of all ages and classes.

We used to record them too, with an old cassette recorder and phone tap. Once I had a friend over for a sleepover and we had a blast making random crank calls far into the night. I don't think we ever slept.

I forgot all about it until about a month later when I overheard my father talking to my mother upstairs:

"Ninety-nine phone calls AFTER midnight? Who the hell made ninety-nine TOLL calls AFTER midnight on October 8th?"

Steampunked

The design trend of Steampunk, where people modify current technology to make it look as if it was implemented in the victorian era, is really catching on. I have seen steampunked computers, action figures, electric guitars, even Nerf rifles. Pictured above is a personal computer in all its steampunk glory. The first time I saw steampunk was in the movie Dune, directed by David Lynch. The worlds of Arrakis, Caladan, Geidi Prime, and Kaitain were literally brimming with steampunk devices.

It's a weird concept, but I kinda like it. The people who engage in it are very serious about it and often very talented. Google it and check out some of the insanity...