i own a Ragtime Fabrizio, aka The Tiny Tim. it's obviously a one-off, because none of my phono friends nor i have never seen another one, but it's one of my favorite pieces of phono ephemera.
it's a small semi-human figure made of cardboard and semi-hard rubber, mounted to a strange mechanism, which sits on the motorboard of a disc phonograph and connects to the spinning turntable via an idler wheel. the figure itself is quite comical, pear-shaped, male and chrome-domed with a zany fringe of hair - and wearing granny glasses. once set into motion, it bobs irregularly...but in no way related to the rhythm of the music that may be playing, just like an actual caucasian. but the most noteworthy and unique aspect of the piece is that if one listens very closely, one can hear it emit snatches of pop songs from the 1960s. this is especially remarkable given that there is no visible physical means by which it could do so. some theorize that the surface may be treated with a mild hallucinogen, causing the user to chemically impose the perceived musical snatches. personally, i enjoy this aspect especially, because i can never get enough snatch. this item is not shown in any of the books on phono accessories published by our phono-L colleague George Paul and his co-author, whose name escapes me at the moment. -- Peter pjfraser at alamedanet.net On Nov 8, 2008, at 1:15 PM, Phonophan at aol.com wrote: > Steve was referring to this joke on my Web site--- where I describe a > ficitious turntable toy called "Ragtime Fabrizio." As far as I know > Charlotte Mager > from Waves is the only person who ever tried to buy one! > > Tim Fabrizio > phonophan > PO Box 747 > Henrietta, NY 14467 > > TEL 585 582 1586 > FAX 585 582 2624 > Web site: www.phonophan.com > **************AOL Search: Your one stop for directions, recipes and > all other > Holiday needs. Search Now. > (http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100000075x1212792382x1200798498/aol?redir=http://searchblog.aol.com/2008/11/04/happy-holidays-from > -aol-search/?ncid=emlcntussear00000001) > _______________________________________________ > Phono-L mailing list > http://phono-l.oldcrank.org
