Now what do you suppose this Mad Scientist is up to? Image source.
As a young boy, I dreamed of being a “Mad Scientist”. At that time my imagination was fueled by Vincent Price movies, the gadgets of “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.”, and of course the reading of “The Mad Scientist Club”. Later, as I grew older, I actually had opportunities to work in laboratories, work in top-secret facilities, and design and cobble together all kinds of curious and interesting gadgets. I think that it is a yearning of most boys to build, create and utilize inventions. Let’s take a look at this underappreciated need…
Vincent Price and His Movies
To people today, the name Vincent Price is meaningless. However, to children of the 60’s and the 70’s the name had meaning. For these were the movies that played during lazy Saturday afternoons, and during late night scare-fests. Vincent Price was more than just an actor, he was a legend. He, in some ways, defined a generation of children. He introduced us to monsters. He introduced us to the evils of man. He introduced us to ideas and concepts that were not taught to us in school. He introduced us to B-grade movies and the “Mad Scientists” the inhabited them.
“The Professor is working on something, and won’t tell anyone what it is. He’s got a secretary with the kind of attitude that makes it seem she was weaned on a pickle, and who looks a bit like a gene-spliced offspring of an elderly Betty Davis and Vivian Vance. To make this comparison more apt, her character is called “Ethel.” To make things even more spooky, the actress’ real name is “Viv!” “ -SATURDAY AFTERNOON B-MOVIE CRAPFEST: “The Phantom From 10,000 Leagues” (1955)
This actor was quite a significant player in my boyhood. His movies, aside from “The Abominable Dr. Phibes” and “Dr. Phibes Rises Again” were just typical horror / Science Fiction flicks. (Maybe it’s because I had crush(es) on his amazing assistants.) The movies were easy on the eyes, and fun for a ten-year-old boy to watch.
It wasn’t only Vincent Price who participated in those movies. There were many other actors, yet they all shared a basic similarity. The laboratories were all seemingly set in basements, often with hidden or heavily bolted doors. Behind those doors were often evil experiments. One movie might have evil Hitler Nazi’s being woke up from cryogenic sleep, while another might have brain transplants. Some were involved in the reanimation of the dead, while others involved the creation of strange huge machines that would revolutionize or destroy the world.
Indeed, the role of Nazi’s in these movies was quite significant. For instance, you have King of the Zombies where zombies are used to conduct Nazi operations against the United States. There is The Frozen Dead where a scientist reanimates frozen heads of Nazi war criminals to revive Third Reich. There is They Saved Hitler’s Brain where Nazis in South America kidnap scientist to maintain living head of Adolf Hitler in order to revive the Third Reich. In Shock Waves we have an Island-shipwrecked party who encounters former SS commander leading zombie storm troopers. Yikes!
This theme continued with The Boys from Brazil where a Nazi hunter discovers doctor’s plot to revive Third Reich by cloning Hitler in Paraguayan jungle. Death Ship where a Nazi prison ship sails the seas since end of war luring unsuspecting victims aboard. Not willing to give up on this theme, we also have such movies as The Keep. Where the German Army and “Einsatzkommandos” occupy Romanian citadel with demonic forces.
The underground lairs always involved some kind of nefarious laboratory. Inside there were always these big clunky switches that took your entire hand to pull down or push up to engage. In the dark corners of the lab were always these arc generators with bolts of electricity shooting through the air. (I believe it was there to keep the air nicely ionized for personal health and longevity.) There were always counters full of glass vials, beakers, and glassware filled with colorful liquids percolating away over lit Bunsen burners.
These movies were inspirational in that they led a boy, such as myself, to believe that a single lone individual with a dream can make it happen. Oh sure they were portrayed as villains. However, I am quite sure that the reason was because they just weren’t very well understood. You know, each and every one had a reason, which in their mind was just and good. All that you need to do is learn science. Study hard. Focus on your dream and apply yourself.
All you need is a dream, and to study and apply yourself to make that dream happen.
The Mad Scientist Club
The Mad Scientist Club is a series of stories (and books) written in the 1960’s which fueled the imagination and adventures of us children in the 1970’s. (The son of the author has a website. You can visit the website HERE.) These stories inspired me. They inspired my dreams and led me down the path towards technical excellence.
The boys in the stories used science to create all sorts of pandemonium and mayhem in their little town. They applied themselves to using science to make devices and gadgets. They played pranks. The books showed how a boy could engineer a device from techniques that they learned in school. They made balloons, talked on ham radios, devised electronics, and they did it all on their very own.
The beauty about all this was that they never asked for help or permission. They took the initiative and did it on their own. They applied themselves.
Indeed, these stories are special. But, don’t take it from me. Read what others have to say.
“This is the best kids book ever. … In a way it saddens me when I re-read it. I don't think our kids today have as much freedom as these did (or my generation). I remember staying out until dark, riding my bike EVERYWHERE, clubhouses on vacant lots...Or maybe it's responsibility. Kids today have freedom but little responsibility. I'm getting off my soapbox now. but this is a cool book and it will make your kids fall in love with science. I imagine the Mythbusters grew up like this- or maybe their dads did!! ” -Holly commentary on the book. Found at Goodreads.
I am afraid that Holly is correct. American children (and adults) don’t have as much freedom as we all used to. (It’s our fault, you know.) These books are for kids and inspires them to accomplish things through study and action. These books are not about getting a group together and finding a group consensus. It’s not about how to cautiously speak so as not to offend anyone. Nope. It is about getting things done and raising hell in the process.
It’s books like these that inspired many of us to study science and engineering. It certainly affected me. It also affected others. I am not the only one who studied about rockets and space…
“This was simply a great childhood book for any inquisitive kid who likes science, haunted houses, dinosaurs, flying machines, etc. I read this book in about seventh or eighth grade and actually a couple of times since. I believe this book helped me on my career to being a rocket scientist but it also gave me many ideas as I was growing up. Brinley managed to capture the perfect mid-west US town and the guys in the book were great caricatures of fun loving, science minded boys with a bit of good natured mischief up their sleeves. Then Brinley took this setting and boys and produced a series of wonderful stories capturing so many things that so many boys growing up find so intriguing. I bought a copy recently for a nephew and he was enraptured by it. The follow-ups while good never really reached the level of this first book but were fun in their own right. It will always hold a special memory of growing up back in the '60s.” -Robert commentary on the book. Found at Goodreads.
He’s right you know. The stories certainly inspired me.
I like to think that there is inspiration in stories where you find adventure, freedom and independence. These are things that are absolutely missing in the modern realm of politically correct stories. Which, by the way, is a very important point. By following a “Politically Correct” narrative, you retard the growth of young boys. To paraphrase Clint Eastwood, you turn men into pussies.
“We live in more of a pussy generation now, where everybody's become used to saying, "Well, how do we handle it psychologically?" In those days, you just punched the bully back and duked it out. Even if the guy was older and could push you around, at least you were respected for fighting back, and you'd be left alone from then on.” -Clint Eastwood
A parent has a responsibly to PREPARE their children to venture out and grow. They need to go forth and carve a life out of the wilderness. But that is not what is happening today. Instead we have children that never leave the nest. Young men, in the United States, live at home until they are in their 30’s. Instead of investing their time in building, workings, making, and creating, they are too busy looking at cat videos on the Internet while they post their latest latté on Facebook. Boys must be taught to aspire to be Men, not to be a woman’s version of a sensitive man.
Pussies.
No amount of tattoos, unique hair or beard, or cool urban clothing style is going to make you into a Man. It comes from within. Education alone won’t do it. Money and wealth won’t do it. Polite conversation won’t do it. It comes from inside. It comes from deep down inside. It comes from a place that says “you can, and must do what you need to do”. You don’t ask for permission, or consensus. You go out and carve your life out. Alone.
By clutching on to your children like over protective mothers, the children don’t grow up. Physically they might age, but the brain and the emotions are still that of a young child. How else can you explain the SWJ mentality that demands a protective overseer? Which is what they want, you know. They demand to be coddled and taken care of by a big parental government Bernie Sanders style. Because, that is all that they know. They don’t know how to be independent. We don’t teach that anymore.
These books break us out of that mold…
“A gem. Almost unknown; but one of the most hilarious and memorable laugh-out-loud books you could ask for. It's never mentioned by anyone; it's never recommended, placed on book lists or chosen by reading-groups. This just might be because it's a series of books, which represents a 'philosophy-of-parenting’, which has fallen out of favor. That's my suspicion, anyway.
I mean, just think about it. These stories are about kids who are unmonitored; who are allowed to just go off on summer afternoons and hang out on their own; and do whatever they want.... because they are trusted by their folks. Today, this is the last thing parents want to hear. No one in today's control-freak, micro-managing America wants to imagine that children can be trusted like this.
Books for very young children ('Little Prince' or 'Giving Tree') are in abundance on Goodreads. They're sweet and harmless. There's also a new genre called 'YA' ('young adult'). But guess what? They're all very sanitary, careful, cautious, and timid. Antiseptic. Content-supervised and Content-controlled. They always instruct youngsters on the 'correct' thing to do, the 'sensitive' thing to do, the 'courteous' thing to do...blah blah blah.
'Mad Scientists' is different. Instead of caution, the author praises problem-solving, solidarity, daring, and initiative. It's a book written for kids illustrating how NOT to follow the rules. It’s a book, which shows that rules are made to be flouted.
These stories are from a time when today's endless complexities and anxieties just weren't around. It’s a book that deals with kids just... having fun. I say, there need to be a LOT MORE books like this.
The gang of boys in Brinley's tales are pre-teens; somewhere between 11 and 14. This is a strange interval in a boy's matriculation, when they need to figure out a lot of things about life (and it’s also a time when adults have the least relevant advice to offer). This is the space Brinley plays in: the theme of personal responsibility.
Teens NEED to create a few genuine catastrophes in order to learn the weight of 'cause' vs 'effect'. 'Intention' vs 'outcome'. 'Actions' vs 'harm'. They need to learn the ins-and-outs of friendship and loyalty and paying-one's-dues.
The 'Mad Scientists Club' (this is the name carved on their clubhouse door) demonstrate these themes grandly. These young scamps are precisely in that age where you learn how to make a mess and how you clean it up afterwards. By yourself!
The crazy scenarios which afflict these affable 'troublemakers' reminds us--should remind everyone-- that this process can be fun. Making mistakes and learning from them. The best way --nay, the ONLY way--to shape character.
Far cry from today, huh? Yeah. Today, we don't let kids have 'secret clubs', 'hideouts', codewords, or 'mysterious friends'. We don't let them play with equipment or tools. They must not 'wreck' anything of ours. They're certainly not allowed to 'gallivant all over creation' (love that phrase).
Modern parents are rule-mongers and control freaks. When our kids want to play, we take them to 'Sesame Place' and we monitor their nutrition and we deck them in flashing sneakers and put them in helmets and on leashes. We place them in soccer, swim class, softball, karate, dance, gymnastics.
The result? Modern kids have no idea what real 'freedom' means. We never give it to them. They turn out to be vegetables.
But Brinley's kids show the other way it can be done. This boy's club makes their own fun. They don't 'ask for permission' to do stuff--they just do it! They embrace wildness, zaniness, and unpredictability. The outcome? Well, they aren't brought up on charges from the Department of Homeland Security, for the trouble they cause. That's for sure. This is a part of small town-Americana we've let slip away.
Just one example: in one of the adventures undertaken by the Mad Scientists, they build their own hot-air balloon (using scraps from a local junkyard) and they enter it in the town's annual homemade hot-air balloon race. With no adult supervision at all. Once aloft, (!!) they engaged in an air-battle with their arch-foes and fire potato-cannons and slingshots back'n'forth in mid-air. Finally, they manage to send the enemy gang's balloon into the lake! Can you stand it? I can't friggin' stand it, can you?
This book reminds us that children used to be perfectly capable of taking care of themselves if we let them...if we weren't all scared out of our wits by molesters and semi-automatic weapons and drugs and porn and stalkers and computers, we'd still remember the kind of America found in this hilarious read. It's to our shame that we can't.”
-Feliks commentary on the book. Found at Goodreads.
Let me simply posit this; to all those men (not to intentionally exclude women, but I am a man addressing myself to other men) who have made something of their life. Maybe you are a barber, a motorcycle mechanic, a car salesman, or a cook, isn’t it true? To make it in this world, you need to stretch your neck out. You need to take risks, bend the rules a little. You need to apply yourself.
Those times when life got tough, did you go and get permission? Did you go and ask for consensus? Did you politely ask for others opinions, or did you just go out and do whatever it took to achieve your goals? Was it easy? Nope, I’ll wager that it was hard, or at least uncomfortable. You might have to make sacrifices. Right? Right???
Part of the need to accomplish these tasks were goals. These goals were like this golden orb that lay there, just out of reach that you needed to obtain. You would work towards those goals. You would keep those goals in mind while you fought and persevered. A goal might be a car. A goal might be the love of your life.
A man is nothing without a goal.
A goal might be something more honorable and important, like saving the world. As everyone can’t be an evil villain like George Soros. Or, a wealthy trillionaire like Bill Gates. Someone needs to wear the mask of a hero…
Speaking of heroes…
The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
In the 1960’s, most Americans were worried about the “Red menace”; Communism. Yikes!
Here, in pockets around the globe, progressive socialists had gotten control of various governments and were implementing progressive social “utopias”. This included the Soviet Union, “Red” China, Northern Vietnam, Cambodia, North Korea, and other socialist paradises.
In these utopias, everyone lived in a progressive liberal society.
In these nations, in these societies, everyone was equal. There wasn’t any racism. Everyone knows what they can speak about and what they dare not say. Everyone wore approved clothing so not to offend anyone. Everyone conformed to society for the good of all. All they had to do was give all their possessions, body and soul to the all-powerful central government…
…and the citizens were quite miserable as a result.
Ah, but that didn’t stop them from expansion. They were out to take your (American) freedom away, don’t ya know. They sent out spies, and agents of destruction. As a result, we had to set up spy networks to counter their spy networks. We had to be ever vigilant against the evil of liberal progressive socialism. This meant a network of trained and motivated experts.
Enter “The Man from Uncle” where a special force of well-trained agents went to fight the roots of the evils that manipulated governments. Because, while we were all busy fighting the “Red Menace”, the true evils laid hidden, for they were the REAL levers of control behind the scenes.
Here, the secret agency (named U.N.C.L.E.) went to fight a very sinister agency that was set on destroying the global world order (named T.H.R.U.S.H.). In many ways it is sort of a cross between the Clinton’s financial network and the George Soros organizations.
Against this backdrop were groups of evil villains. For, after all, there are more powerful people than well-established individual nations.
These villains would form their own networks of confederates and together they would implement all kinds of mischievous and dangerous activities. Movies and shows about this emerging phenomenon were everywhere in the 60’s. We have secret agent James Bond fighting all kinds of evil doers like Doctor No.
Evil has no borders, and calls no nation home.
We had agent Flint saving the world from militant feminists who were hell bent on depose the ruling American patriarchy with a feminist matriarchy. Ah, Mr. Flint. There were others, of course. We had Alec Leamas, Joe Turner and Harry Palmer.
We also had television shows like “Get Smart”, “I Spy”, “Mission Impossible” and “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.” as they battled T.H.R.U.S.H..
As a boy I would watch The Man from U.N.C.L.E. with my father. He would sit there with his wine and cheese wedges, and I would eat my potato chips while we watched television together. For me the shows were all black and white, but that was because at the time our television was a black and white TV set.
My father liked the main character, Napoleon Solo while I preferred his Russian counterpart Illya Kuryakin which reminded me of the singing group “The Beatles” who were quite popular at the time. We would watch them operate in secret, while fighting the equally secret evil organization T.H.R.U.S.H.. Of course, they had all these secret codes, interesting devices, gadgets and inventions. As a boy, I was quite enraptured by them. I would imagine what it would be like if I too were a secret agent, using these contrivances and fighting evil to save the world.
What better thing for a young boy to aspire towards?
Prank Central
However, as exciting as it all looked, my attention was elsewhere. For I was young, and boys like being mischievous and playing tricks. It’s a boy thing I suppose. (I just don’t remember any girls doing these types of things. Though, I am quite sure that they were involved in more cerebral activities playing “head games” with other girls.) Boys like to see the physical results of their torment. They want to see girls react in horror to a toad. They want to light firecrackers outside people’s bedrooms, and set bags of dog poo on fire on people’s porches.
I remember as a boy how we had somehow come across a gadget catalog that was advertised in the back of one of the comic books that we would often read. You know the kind. Pages and pages of things like magic tricks, pranks, books on Black Magic, fake (pellet shooting) fingers, trick buzzers, masks and ”pea shooters”. As a kid, we loved it and wanted everything. We must have circled over a hundred items in that catalog.
I think that it is an interest of growing children to expand and explore these tricks and devices of prankster humor. Too bad that the days of yodeling pickles are long gone. Indeed, you need to leave the ultra-sanitized United States to find some politically incorrect playthings for your child to enjoy.
…Or, do you?
Let me introduce the reader to the Archie McPhee store.
This is the kind of place that is a young boy’s wet dream. Inside the store (physical as well as the Internet version) are absolutely enormous assortments of useless pursuits. They’ve got boxing nuns and bacon scarves. They’ve got yodeling pickles and finger hands. Don’t know what a finger hand is, well then go HERE to find out. They have stuff that only a madman could think of.
“Less talk. More monkey.”
How about rotisserie chicken flavored candy canes, emergency inflatable toast (why?), rubber chickens (big and small), and propeller beanies. Ah we all wanted one of these as a kid. They have trick gum, Holy toast, and bags of busted businessmen. They carry x-ray glasses (yes, you wanted these didn’t you?) and hypno-glasses, wind-up lederhosen, and strange action figures to include horrified movie victims. They’ve got everything from plastic arks, to singing fish. It’s a childhood delight. This store brings out the little kid in all of us. It’s many things, but above all, it’s the go-to place for plastic poop.
I just can’t stop! It’s such an amazing place.
“If there’s a heaven for the deranged, Archie McPhee is probably it.” -Josh B in Seattle
How about vinderhosen, an emergency Santa kit, crime scene sandwich bags, and classic disguises. What about underwear for your pet squirrel, inflatable turkey (again, why?), and contemporaneous prayer cards. Here is probably the only place where you can find cool World War II occupation money. How about medical posters from India, they’ve got religious themes, cat themes, food themes, mad scientist themes, and themes that defy description. I am not at all kidding!
Do yourself a favor. Let your child buy something from this store. Give them ten dollars to spend, and wait while they go back and forth, back and forth deciding what to buy. It’s all in good fun.
Build your Own Gadgets
When the children are old enough, or for you adults that just never grew up (like me, heh heh) there are outlets for obtaining the tools and supplies to build your very own mad scientist lair. Over the years I have bought from these various outlets and cobbled up some pretty interesting gadgets. In the past I have made such things as television bicycles, remote control automobile deactivators, electronic snooping equipment detector, remote control devices for insects, and all kinds of household appliances.
Here are some of my favorites;
If there was ever a catalog for inventors it is this. It has everything from hardware to materials (that can be bought in small quantities). To use these parts, you will need to have an idea of what you want to build. Then you go through the catalog to find parts or components that you can use. It is wonderfully, and functionally illustrated. Additionally, most of the parts have PDF drawings, and CAD drawings that you can export to your CAD system and made up on the computer. I, of course, highly recommend it.
“The best way to describe McMaster is to say that they carry everything you need to build anything. Items that you could normally only order through factory distributors, or materials that could only be ordered in large quantities, are easily available in any size and quantity, no matter how small. (No minimum order, either!) Their prices are excellent and they tend to only carry good merchandise. Amazingly, when I order stuff at 5:30 p.m., it arrives the next morning with their normal shipping. Their catalog has long been difficult to get because you had to be a reasonably sized business with a Dun and Bradstreet number and established credit to have them mail it to you. But now that they have added an online service, everyone can easily order from them with a credit card.” — Alexander Rose
As a point of curious interest, they used to have a large thick catalog in a bright yellow cover. I used to keep an old catalog, I think it was #93, in my bathroom and would spend my time looking through all the cool stuff while I was on the throne attending to my needs. As I stated previously, this is the go-to-first catalog for emerging Mad Scientists.
When I was a boy, I used to read the Scientific American magazine. In the 1960’s the magazine was appropriate for most people, including myself, interested in science. (Then during the 70’s and 80’s they just became another mouthpiece for the professional elite in the ivory towers in universities. The articles became too specialized and dry for casual reading.)
Anyways, back in the 1960’s the magazine had a section titled “The Amateur Scientist” which was a wonderfully illustrated section describing how a hobbyist can make their own gizmos and gadgets to explore scientific principles with. This website is sort of the modern day equivalent.
This site “Science Hobbyist”, should be your first stop if you want to begin cobbling up devices, and making interesting stuff. For starters, I would suggest this section on projects to start a project or two that you might be interested in. You can go HERE to find out some projects for practical jokes. You can go HERE for some really strange projects (after all that’s what Mad Scientists do). This should be a starting point for Tesla coils and other interests such as lasers and infrared goggles.
When I was growing up, Radio Shack was THE place to get parts and supplies for all sorts of cool stuff. In fact, when I was in High School around 1974 through 1977, it was almost the ONLY place where you could get computer parts and accessories. Indeed, around 1977 they cornered the PC market with nearly 100% market share.
Of course, poor management caused that market share to fall like a rock, and the CEO was sacked a few decades alter when the market share was under 1%. I wonder why that won’t happen to those in charge of the Federal Reserve. Oh, but I digress…
Anyways, Radio Shack has these cool little books and booklets called “The Engineers Notebook”, which is sort of a “cookbook” for playing with electronics. You can cobble all kinds of cool things together using the easy to read instructions and diagrams. Want to make a countdown times for a self-destruct button? Want to make a bug to listen on to what others are saying? Want to make a gadget to shock your friends? All here. Go for it…
The Art of Electronics
Speaking of electronics, if you are really interested on playing around with electronics, then don’t go for a boring text book. Go for a text book that was written by an enthusiast. Read “The Art of Electronics“, and get the LAB book as it is amazing!
"Far and away the finest book on the subject of electronics ... in the last decade. I cannot recommend this book highly enough to anyone whose research or experiments require some electronics." Optical Engineering "A delightful book...The circuits actually work, the schematics are all readable." Review of Scientific Instruments "This book is filled with a tremendous diversity of valuable information. More importantly, this book is a joy to read...It's not at all like studying--it's too much fun." EDN (News Edition) "This book provides a painless way to learn about electronic design. It is also a good read for those already experienced in electronics." EDN (Magazine Edition) "..it comes as close as any book we've seen to fulfilling the promise inherent in its title...written as though to educate the novice, but practicing engineers will encounter many useful tidbits they didn't know, hadn't thought about, or had long forgotten." Analog Dialogue
This book was written as a joy by someone who took a real pleasure in cobbling things together. It is super easy to read, and very interesting to boot. If you have the slightest interest in electronics, you will totally relish this tome.
Websites to DIY Gizmos
In the internet today, it can become pretty daunting if you do not know the correct “buzz words” or Google-approved code words to use in your searches. If you are not careful, you will be sent to websites that are nothing more than product stores offering cool geeky products, but nothing that would interest a true Mad Scientist.
Well, never fear. Here are some FUN links;
- Make electronic circuits on paper! And they work!
- Hack-a-day (I especially like their rail-gun projects.)
- 40 epic cool geeky DIY projects
- DIY Electronics (Make your own cool geeky stuff from kits.)
Normally, I really do not like many of the websites on the internet. Basically, you have some millennial who constructed a website for profit. They googled similar terms and packaged it in some kind of “hipster” presentation of the day. It’s all packaged nonsense for a profit.
What is missing is HEART. That is to say; websites written by people who LOVE… LOOVVVVEEEEE the subjects that they are writing about. They can go on and on and on about them. Sort of like me and what I like to write about. For instance, HERE is a website that has some heart. That is different from these other websites…
The people who made up these websites don’t eat and drink and love gadgets and gizmos. It’s just a job to them. They are setting up a business model and their plan is to create an income stream off of it. Never the less, they DO have some benefit, if they can help point you in the right direction.
Go visit these two sites, and you will see what I mean…
- How to get started in DIY electronics projects (Um, worth a a look. Check it out.)
- Another “how to get started” website. It has some promising things here.
There are many places where you can get parts for your inventions. The best place is at companies that specialize in the purchase of excess inventories at factories. You can pick up radar dishes used on military ships, the inner workings of laptops, and all kinds of stuff for a mere fraction of what it costs to make. There are stories galore about these places. One man in Canada used military surplus to open up dimensional doors. Another used the equipment to build a personal submarine. While still another blew up his garage by pressing the wrong button. You got to be careful, don’t ya know.
This should be your first stop when looking for cheap parts, and orphaned mechanisms to use in your creations. You can find things from cameras used in cell phones to robotic parts here. The only problem is that most of the parts do not come with instructions or schematics. However, a little bit of experimentation and simple observation can help determine what goes where and how. I especial like the “grab bag” of who-know-what that you buy really cheap…
I once took a sensor board used for checking microwave leakage from appliances, it cost me a dollar, and turned it into a bugging sensor. You know, all electronics emit radiation. So, this little device was able to go over a wall or automobile and find out where electronics are. Heh heh. Another time, I took a speaker and turned it into a low frequency generator that I used to attract fleas with. (It was more sanitary than a bug bomb.)
Here is another website that offers surplus stuff. It has a different set of products and some are quite interesting indeed. You can make a pretty impressive telescope from the parts here. They mostly seem to carry things related to optics. This site is very good if you want to fry an ant’s nest.
There are other places on the Internet from which you can order amazing things. May I also suggest another very interesting store, the American Science and Surplus store. It’s most especially good for young boys and girls who have a mad scientist interest. Here are a mixture of chemistry sets, military surplus, industrial surplus, jokes and gizmos, and just plain strange stuff. You can make your own chewing gum. You can grow crystals. You can make all kinds of liquids and potions that glow. You can start on rock collecting, or get started making mechanical gizmos. Explore and have fun.
This would be where you can get toys and gear for your growing children. There are all kinds of scientific goodness here.
This website, Fair Radio, is a great source for used military electronics and equipment. It’s really not the place to purchase parts to cobble up designs. It is the go-to place to obtain things related to really big projects. I once knew someone who bought the laser rangefinder out of a tank from them. Their stuff can be quite eclectic. With all kinds of things ranging from mine detectors to weather balloons. Never the less, it is worth a look.
I once lived in an apartment in Milford, Massachusetts. It was an old Victorian mansion renovated into six apartments. I really liked the place, the location and the convenience. That was, unfortunately, until a section eight family moved in and had the entire neighborhood over for all night teenage parties to six in the morning. You know, it’s one thing wanting to help out low income people, but it’s another thing entirely when your rent is very large (because you work) and your neighbor gets a much larger apartment and pays nearly nothing for it (because they don’t).
Ah… Welcome to Massachusetts.
For some reason, our new neighbors decided to host teenage parties in the apartment. (I remember knocking on her door at 4:30 am asking them to turn the music down. The woman looked at me in a daze and asked “Oh, you need to work tomorrow?” It was only Monday night, for Pete’s sake!) Anyways, teenagers could come over starting at 9pm and play basketball inside the living room. (On the wooden floor, in the firggin’ living room.) They would crank up the music to level that made it impossible to think, talk on the phone and sleep. They would do drugs; typically smoke “crack” that would fill up the entire house with smoke. When the parties would get large, over thirty teenagers, the noise would be excessive, and police would come. They would break up the parties. Book the juveniles, and arrest the tenants. The peace and quiet would last one or two days, and then it would repeat. It was a nightmare.
It was really a problem, and the laws in Massachusetts could not do anything about it. My landlord couldn’t do anything either. Once they moved in they refused to pay rent, and the State protected them for six months until they could be forcefully evicted. (What a scam, huh? You get someone to take you in. No financial deposit. No first, lasts rent and security deposit. Just a paper from the welfare office. You don’t pay rent, and you can’t get evicted. It’s legislated squatting.) The youth and their instigators were protected. They were starting to break the windows in our vehicles parked outside, and were engaged in all sorts of hyperactive activities that were too rowdy for a quiet neighborhood. I could not sleep. When I would arrive at work, I would be sleep deprived, and terribly irritable. After about two months of sleepless night, I took matters in my own hands. I devised a contraption to put an end to their rock concerts.
I took a furnace igniter from Fair Radio, and placed two long wires in it. Then put the device on a five-minute timer starting at 10:30 at night. (After 10:30 it would turn on and off in five minute intervals.) The result being that I had a device that was an unshielded electric arc generator. I made a Jacob’s Ladder. (How to make one can be found HERE.) Being unshielded meant that all their loud electrics would get fried by noise. Thus when they blared their music, after five minutes a horrible howl full of static would assault their ears and blow out their speakers.
The first time it was used was amazing. It was wonderful. W-O-N-D-E-R-F-U-L. There must have been sixty teenagers (60) next door. There couldn’t have been anywhere to stand inside. Kids were crapping and urinating outside our bedroom windows, and sitting on all of our cars and vehicles. The music was thumping. It was mostly black urban rap at jet engine noise levels…. It was still early. At 10:30pm, I plugged in the Jacob’s Ladder. Turned on the timer and let it rip.
The screeching howl must have permanently damaged the eardrums of each and every teenager. This continued for about thirty seconds. Then it stopped. They turned off the stereo. They mulled about. Talked some. Brought another keg of beer over. Then, they turned on the music again. For five minutes it played on. Then, I hit the “on” button to the gizmo. The howling screeching was horrible.
This continued for about an hour. They would wait. Turn on the stereo. Five minutes later, I would turn on the device. They would shut everything down…. Heh heh. This continued for about two hours and then they broke up and went elsewhere.
Needless to say, they eventually had to find other places to hold their youthful teenage celebrations. Sometimes, when the system fails you, and you need to do something, a creative (and unexpected) solution is always preferred.
This is a great source of supply for motors and generators and all sorts of gears and stuff. I once worked with an electrical engineer in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. He used the electrical motors from here and put them in an old car without the engine. He added some batteries and made a fully electric car. It was pretty darn cool. H&R is a pretty good place for motor controllers, decent low-priced motors and the like.
If I wanted to make a two story tall robot (Japanese style), or a mechanical metal spider the size of a truck (Russian Style), I would get the parts from this store.
AllElectronics is not a surplus store. Rather it is a regular store that sells electronic parts and individual assemblies. It is quite useful for throwing together some prototypes and making things work from scratch. For instance I used the voice module in a prototype for a room air purifier I was working on. When the filter became too dirty, a voice would come on saying “Please change the filter.”
You know, we first experimented with a man’s voice (one of the techs) but it sounded too ominous. It sounded like Boris the Great was coming to eat you. Then we asked the group secretary to do it, and it sounded hilarious. This was because she had a strong Brooklyn accent.
You can find things like strobe modules, and power strip modules. All would contain instructions and hook up diagrams to help in the installation into your projects. There are also all kinds of project boxes and other kinds of hardware that are quite useful in your mad scientist creations.
Inspiration
As a boy, I was inspired by Ray Bradbury and Robert Heinlein. If you have teenagers, I would suggest you buy them one of both of these two Ray Bradbury books, and let them devour them. They are filled with awe, mystery and excitement. They are works of art that inspires and directs.
DREAMERS! BE ENCOURAGED. YOU ARE UNDERSTOOD. Ray Bradbury’s R is for Rocket is a book about and for dreamers… and those who truly desire to understand them. A common character type in his work is the wide-eyed, yearning dreamer who reaches too high, often for a dream beyond his capacity, and who inevitably teeters on the brink of success and failure. It’s no surprise that Bradbury produced so many pieces that gave voice to themes of blue skies since he himself was a dreamer, a voracious reader and enthusiastic writer from an early age, a man who thrilled himself (and his fortunate readers) on the wild imaginings of his literary soul. In R is for Rocket, the story “The Rocket” is an excellent example of the author’s heartfelt kindness and sympathy for — and identification with — the hopes and heartaches of a dreamer, in this case one Fiorello Bodoni, a middle-aged, married-with-many-children man obsessed with dreams of rocket travel and space exploration in the face of those who are quick to discourage him.
Excerpts from the story:
“I will ride up in one someday,” said Bodoni.
“Fool!” cried Bramante. “You’ll never go. This is a rich man’s world.” … “No! We live in shacks like our ancestors before us.”
“Perhaps my sons—” said Bodoni.
“No, nor their sons!” the old man shouted. “It’s the rich who have dreams and rockets!” … “No, Bodoni, buy a new wrecking machine, which you need, and pull your dreams apart with it, and smash them to pieces.”
The old man subsided, gazing at the river in which, drowned, images of rockets burned down the sky.
“Good night,” said Bodoni.
“Sleep well,” said the other.
I have read and loved Ray Bradbury’s stories for over forty years because his prose is beautifully delivered and because, as a dreamer myself — who often reaches too high for his own good — I identify deeply with his wonderfully tragic heroes. There were many times that his captivating tales allowed me to escape from grim childhood days and nights, and for that I say to him, now in the Great Beyond for Great Writers: “Thank you!” This review was written by Kevin Polman, author of THE EXTRA KEY and STORIES.
What you can do…
If you have children, I would strongly advise you let them play.
This does not mean sit them down in a structured environment and teach them how to do some kind of organized activity. I mean set them down with a broken radio, give them a pair of wire cutters and let them go to town. Let them go explore an old abandoned building. Take them to a state park and walk and explore there. Let them know about the Indians who used to live there. Walk them to a junk yard, and let them spend all day at it. Go to a local stream under a bridge, while you take a nap, let the kids play.
Spend time with them. Let them know that it is just fine to go about and throw things together. Give them the resources and then stand back. Give them some room. Let them figure it out on their own. Let them be children without supervision.
Take Aways
- Boys like to build things.
- Boys like to watch the reactions of others when they do something.
- Funneling these interests into fun and innocent activities can be rewarding.
- In the past, boys were free to build and experiment.
- There are avenues to keep this interest alive if you know where to look.
- A thinking person can use their scientific skills to provide answers to pesky problems.
RFH
How about a Request For Help? I tire of busybodies and statists who poke fun at the ideas and theories of others. They offer no constructive dialog. Rather they just make fun, ridicule, and then scurry under a rock.
I use this forum as a way to disseminate some of the things that I learned though my life.
So, if you, the reader, were so interested, I would welcome your stories about the shows and movies that you watched growing up and how they influenced you. I would welcome tales about how you did “experiments” with your chemistry kit, or made electrical devices to pull practical jokes with. I would love to hear about your various adventures.
This is my callout, to you the reader, to assist all of us in solving these mysteries. After all, this is a far better use of the internet than for looking at Justin Bieber videos.
FAQ
Q: Who was Vincent Price?
A: He was an iconic actor who made many famous horror movies in the 1960’s and 70’s. He greatly influenced culture at the time as his movies were typically B-grade horror flicks, and thus were provided free for children to watch at home.
Q: What is the Mad Scientist Club?
A: It is a series of stories written for children in their pre-teen years. It describes a normal life of a boy in the 1960’s. Today the behavior of the boys would be considered criminal, and the DHS might come and arrest the parents.
Q: What is the Man from Uncle?
A: This was a spy vs. spy television show that was popular during the 1960’s. It was full of spys and technology and top secrets of the day.
Q: Is it fun to be a mad scientist?
A: It is worth a try. Everyone has a little bit of crazy inside of them. Tools, and a little bit of creativity can create wondrous things, and great pranks.
Q: What does this have to do with MAJestic?
A: This has nothing to do with MAJestic. I am permitted to chat about anything that I am interested in. I like science, gadgets and playing around. So here you are. Perhaps reading this might enable you to get a little into my head. So that you can see that I am just a normal guy (or asshole, if you prefer).
Posts Regarding Life and Contentment
Here are some other similar posts on this venue. If you enjoyed this post, you might like these posts as well. These posts tend to discuss growing up in America. Often, I like to compare my life in America with the society within communist China. As there are some really stark differences between the two.
More Posts about Life
I have broken apart some other posts. They can best be classified about ones actions as they contribute to happiness and life. They are a little different, in subtle ways.
Stories that Inspired Me
Here are reprints in full text of stories that inspired me, but that are nearly impossible to find in China. I place them here as sort of a personal library that I can use for inspiration. The reader is welcome to come and enjoy a read or two as well.
Articles & Links
You’ll not find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you because I just don’t care to.
- You can start reading the articles by going HERE.
- You can visit the Index Page HERE to explore by article subject.
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Notes
- First draft on 8MAR18.
- Revised by request 24MAR18.
- Revised by request 27MAR18.
- Revised by request 4APR18.
- Revised by request 20APR18.
- Ready for internet posting 23APR18.
- Added section for inspiration. 9JUL18.
- Added GIF 11JUL18.