» Crap Gadgets

Woody Goodness
It's a gadget by definition but not in form: the sandwich xylophone.

I collected lolly sticks as a kid - an SAE and 10,000 Fab sticks would be enough for an inflatable Donkey Kong banana. Having fewer ambitions than a daddy long legs, it became my mission. Needless to say, I didn't collect enough; the competition expired.
As a result, I had a summers-worth of lolly sticks. But I'd collected the bastarding things - I couldn't chuck them away, woah no.

Once the inevitable Make-And-Do windmills and catapults had trodden their paths, I spotted the black and decker workmate. Images of doing-ing rulers in maths sprung to mind. A few twists of the orange handles later, the remains of an uncertain Fab points to the sky. A flick - it makes a sound!! I'd invented a new instrument.

Three more sticks at varying length: Mary Had a Little Lamb.
A few more later, I had 12 sticks lined up in the same tuning as an A string and 12 of it's frets, ascending in pitch from a 'dwonng' to a barely audible 'ping'. I'd made an instrument!

The tunes of the day flowed from my new found Lollystrum, the crowds were in awe, and I became king of the Lollystoniums.
(Fri 30th Sep 2011, 17:12, More)