Thanks, Loran for this background and commentary / gentle reminder. It was very nice to get a little acquainted with you.
A very brief bit about me: I'm 45. I've been fascinated with phonographs since I can't remember when, but probably since at least age 7. Bought my first one (a ca. late 20s? Berg-Artone portable) with lawn mowing earnings and a Morgan silver dollar when I was 12. About that time I also got my first vacuum tube radio (after building Radio Shack kits since age 10). Got my first Edison, a BC-34, from a flea market vendor when I was 14, and a few weeks later bought my first "rare" record (not so rare as it turns out, since the advent of eBay); a nice copy of "Let Us Not Forget" on DD with about 85% of the original sleeve, from the same vendor. I sold a chunk of my humble coin collection for $50 to buy it, and it was a real prize then, which I still treasure these 31 years later. Today I divide my time, and some income, between repairing vintage radios, phonographs, clocks, jukeboxes, theremins, etc., for myself and others, and also working as a "paper engineer", which means that I collaborate with illustrators and graphic designers to create pop- up books, cards, magazine inserts and so on. I can provide a link to an illustrator's web page that has video clips of some of my more complex pull-the-tab engineering. A back-burner pet project in my studio is a "History of Recorded Sound" pop-up book, with dimensional and movable interactive examples of the significant historical developments and machines, with perhaps a few sound chips, etc. I also can do fine pencil illustrations of machines. I think that one or two of the folks on this list might have a print of my Edison Home phonograph drawing. The original drawing took 37 hours and hangs in my music room. The ENHS has one hanging in their phonograph demonstration room, and have sold them in their gift shop. A recent highlight of my electro-mechanical endeavors was that the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia brought me out there to restore their 200 year old writer/draughtsman automaton and their 1929 RCA theremin, both of which required extensive work. You can see the automaton and a couple of samples of what it does by doing a Google search using the words: Franklin Automaton. The first site that comes up, and ends in edu takes you to the right page. I can also email a tiny video clip of it drawing a picture to anyone who wants to see it. Just let me know where to email it. I live in Santa Fe, NM. Andy Baron On Jul 4, 2007, at 9:36 AM, Loran T. Hughes wrote: > Dear friends, > > For those of you new to the list or don't know, let me introduce > myself. My name is Loran Hughes and I'm the owner of Phono-L. > Owner? Yes, I own and maintain the server. Except for a few > donations from generous members, I bear all the costs of running > this list - the hardware, software, domain name, electricity, > internet connection, and glasses (so my old eyes can see the screen). > > I was born and raised in southwest Oregon. We lived on a dirt road, > got our milk from our cow, and raised pigs, chickens, rabbits, and > cattle. We kids took care of them, named them, and when the time > came, we ate them. > > My dad had a TV repair shop in a little town that would have passed > for Mayberry. He was also a musician, a drummer who would load up > the drum set in his station wagon and play sets at some of the > local watering holes. One of the musicians he worked with turned > out to be my future father-in-law. > > I studied mechanical engineering in college - my passion was > drafting. I also had a thing for this girl that I had known since > the 5th grade. Drafting degree in hand, I married the girl of my > dreams and joined the Air Force??? It turned out to be a good > choice for us, and I settled in as a "lifer." Our little family got > to live in Monterey, San Antonio, Seoul (and other South Korean > towns), and the Baltimore/DC area. I learned a foreign language and > had a clearance slightly less than God himself. A near fatal bout > with cancer while in the service gave me perspective on life and > family. I discovered the wonderful world of phonographs. > > When I retired, the government gave me the cool classification of > "disabled veteran," which entitled me to a neat license plate and > free entrance to national parks. OK, I also get a little tax free > green from Uncle Sam. It ain't much, but it helps. > > Since the service, I had a gig as a technical writer. I really > loved that job, but sadly learned the hard lessons of corporate > takeovers and ended up with a pink slip and a pat on the back for > my troubles. I freelanced for a bit, then ended up with a position > as a systems administrator. > > So that's where I came from. Here are a few things I learned along > that journey. > > 1. If you form your opinions from newspaper stories, it's nice to > know that the article is written to fit in the empty space between > advertisements. These days, articles seem to lean more on opinion > and less an accounting of facts. When I was in the business of > knowing the situation on the ground (so to speak), news accounts > usually got more wrong than right. > 2. Newspaper reporters can sometimes spell words correctly, but are > mostly dumb as rocks (my opinion). > 3. Ditto for TV news. > 4. I have very liberal and very conservative friends. We focus on > what we have in common. If you can't see past the politics, you > need to reevaluate your life (in my opinion). > > Now if you've made it this far, I'll tell you what this has to do > with phonographs. It's the history of recorded sound and the > objects that we preserve that is the glue that binds this group. My > life and background is different, as is everyone's on this list. I > enjoy hearing about folks who collect other things, such as the > recent discussion of classic/vintage autos. I enjoy hearing about > new finds and interesting research projects. > > Now a cold, hard fact. There is a limit to freedom of speech here. > If you feel the need to discuss religion, politics, or air dirty > laundry, take it off list. I stopped playing the part of a > crotchety old sergeant long ago. Trust me, you don't want him to > come back. > > Your benevolent dictator, > Loran > > P.S., thanks for reading this rant. Have a safe and happy 4th! > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Phono-L mailing list > http://phono-l.oldcrank.org
