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Collecting Things

Dan demonstrates his appreciation of the older and more cultural things in life

This episode of Off the Beaten Path might be best read while listening to Chicago’s great tune, “Old Days.”

Good Old Days of Radio
Here’s a fun video to take a look at how 1930s radio created its sound effects. Both fun to watch and informative. Man, there were some creative and talented people working radio back then! How much fun would it have been to be a part of radio in the 1930’s?!

Vintage Radio for Engineers
“Thanks” is never a good enough word to express appreciation for people who create web sites like this one called “Radio Tools.” There is some excellent information being shared here from projects to old equipment manuals to old catalogs and so much more. You can email comments to the page creator at the bottom of his site. You might just want to say, “Thanks!”

Inside a Shure Microphone
I know a bunch of people who collect mics and have not only an appreciation for the unique audio quality of some mics, but even the cool design of the outside. I recently watched “The Hunger Games” with my wife and daughters, and I may have been one of the few people to appreciate the mics some of the characters used in the movie (some cool designs). From Vintage King comes this excellent look into Sidney N. Shure’s microphones.

Streaming Internet Stations
Our “radio cousins” — internet streaming stations — include some excellent stations. From the U.K.’s “The Telegraph” comes their list of best internet radio stations. It’s great to see some familiar U.S. names (like Kent State’s WKSU) shown in this list.

Museums of the World
Here’s an informative link about museums from around the world. The U.S. has a fair collection, and anyone who hasn’t visited the Smithsonians is truly missing out on an “American treasure.” I’ve been fortunate to get to a couple on the list, including The Prado in Madrid (while stationed at Torrejon Air Base while in the Air Force in the 1980s). From an unlikely source, Popular Mechanics, comes “The 25 Museums You Should Visit Before You Die.”

And finally …
If you are a fan of Star Trek, you might get a chuckle out of this “Star Trek — The Lost Episode.”

If you stumble across a good or unusual web site that might be of interest, please don’t hesitate to send me the link and any info you might have about it. My email address is [email protected].

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