Boffins chapify Amazonian assistant using Belgian blowers

Antique Alexa telephones by Grain Design

More news featuring items from Belgium, although "news" is perhaps not quite the le mot juste seeing as this article has been languishing in my Drafts for over a year.  I had intended to start a new blog with it but then it occurred to me that I have enough of a job keeping this one going without adding a second one and besides which the idea featured in the article still fits the Eclectic Ephemera ethos, so here it is.  Despite being more than a year old the subject matter is still current and interesting and follows on nicely from my previous Belgian-based Tintin post.

source

Indeed an antique Belgian telephone (like the Regent model, above) with Amazon Alexa built in is something I could just see Tintin using were he around today, although whether he could stretch to the eye-watering asking price is another matter (then again he might if he had Red Rackham's Treasure - get on with it Peter Jackson!!  Ahem, sorry.)

In any event (and to return to the current subject) the re-purposing of vintage - and in this case, non-functional - equipment to include modern technology is something I consistently admire, not only as a means of giving a new lease of life to what would be an otherwise redundant item destined for the scrapheap but also for just the sheer incongruity of the latest tech being hidden within something supposedly obsolete.

source

I have featured similar ideas here before in the shape of the Tweephone - a rotary-dial telephone capable of sending Tweets - and the Twittertape, which went one better and used an antique tickertape machine hooked up to the internet to do the same thing.  Now we have the Alexaphone, a genius idea out of Los Angeles which sees antique telephones being converted to run Amazon's Alexa virtual assistant technology, such as is more commonly found in that company's Echo speakers.

As with most modern technology virtual assistance AI is largely a closed book to me and something I intend to keep that way, as the idea of artificial intelligence in general is not something I am especially keen on.  Nor am particularly enamoured with the glut of so-called "smart" technology now available - not only do we have the likes of Google Assistant, Windows Cortana and the aforementioned Amazon Alexa but also smartphones, smart TVs, smart meters and now even flippin' video doorbells all of which are recording your every word and movement!  Where it will all end I wouldn't like to say, but the whole business doesn't seem very "smart" at all (except for the companies that are harvesting the resultant data) and is something I will vehemently oppose for as long as possible.

source

It is for this reason as well that I like the idea of these devices, for one particular aspect of their original design, the telephone hook, thwarts one of the virtual assistant's most invidious foibles - the fact that it is always "on" and therefore listening to everything that's going on around it.  Not so with the Alexaphone, which is only on when you lift the receiver!  No fear of some faceless, polo-necked eye-tea wallah in a metal and glass office somewhere in California transcribing what you had for breakfast this morning.  Instead just lift the receiver, ask your question and Alexa will respond - then just thank it and hang up.  Brilliant!

Whether this marriage of vintage and modern technology is worth upwards of $1500 I'll leave you to decide but - practical or not, art or no - it is nevertheless a splendid idea and one I am glad to see realised.

Chaps, choo-choos and Charlestons

With the Twelfth Day of Christmas nearly upon us and the New Year now 4 days old this will be my last Christmas post as I take the opportunity to showcase some of my more vintage-y presents.  I expect you want to see what I got, so here we go:

Christmases have been fairly lean for us the last few years and tend to be celebrated quietly but so long as the family is together at some point that's all that truly matters.  My sisters have both come up trumps again this year, though, with a calendar from each of them - one scenic, one Steampunk!  I shall have to alternate between them, I think(!).



Another sororal present, the silent 1928 film The Wrecker has featured on this blog before and now (finally) makes it into my DVD collection.  I've watched it already and it's a cracking bit of 1920s fun & action.  The villain can be spotted from a mile off, the plot is both quaint yet serious, there are many long smouldering looks to camera and just in case there was any doubt about the hero's bona fides he turns out to be an ex-Lancashire cricket captain and therefore beyond reproach.  Plus, of course, plenty of trains (including that crash!) and buses too.  The feature, as previously mentioned, has been lovingly restored and given a new accompaniment by noted silent film music writer/composer Neil Brand.  He's even done the same for the abridged 14-minute home movie version (above) and there are plenty of other extras on the DVD to do with the film as well as other staged locomotive crashes and the old railway line on which parts of The Wrecker were filmed.

source

Am I A Chap? was given to my by nan and a jolly interesting and amusing little tome it is, just as I had hoped.  A welcome addition to my bookshelf, where it will join other books from the same stable - The Chap Manifesto and The Best of The Chap.

I've occasionally considered submitting myself to the critical eye of The Chap magazine's editor Mr Gustav Temple in the Am I Chap? feature but always fear what would surely be his withering opprobrium at my effort.  It's the tweed within rather than without that really counts as the Chaps also say and I am in agreement with that.  Still, maybe one day...

source

There were also other gifts not featured in the lead photograph for certain reasons.  Some are still en route from the supplier.  Others have no physical form.  I refer to the noted South American river and online retailer, who offer a splendid service whereby you can download music direct to your iPod.  As much as I enjoy having a CD in my hand (and a couple of new acquisitions included both) there's definitely something to be said for the space-saving qualities of direct mp3 downloads.  They also tend to be cheaper and in the case of music from the 1920s and '30s Amazon are to be commended for offering it in that format and thereby giving a new lease of life to these old songs.

I was thus able to obtain four new albums this way - Mr B The Gentleman Rhymer's latest, Can't Stop, Shan't Stop; Caro Emerald's new The Shocking Miss Emerald and two splendid compilations - Hits of 1930 and Vintage Charleston.  There's nothing like starting the New Year with some new music and these tunes will certainly keep me entertained for a long while.



I'm sure you all received some perfectly wonderful gifts too and I look forward to hearing about them as well.  In the meantime I'm off to do a bit of Charlestoning.  Toodle-pip!

The family business

An aunt of mine who has lived in Pittsburgh for the last 16 years has recently taken to visiting estate sales (or house clearances, as they are known here) in west Pennsylvania. Many of my readers - mostly in America, where it is more commonplace - will be familiar with the concept; there's often a bargain or two to be had at these things, so I understand. I wish we had more events like that here in Britain, some of the things my aunt has found are amazing!

Anyway, this aunt has got quite adept at spotting many a great find at these clearances, so much so that she and her gentleman friend have set up shop at both eBay and Amazon. By all accounts the venture is a roaring success and most days find them travelling up and down the state attending various sales. This has resulted in an eBay store that in a way is a bit like this blog - a variety of articles of a vintage nature. Great care has been taken to research the history of each and every item and descriptions are accurate and detailed; needless to say everything is fair and above board.

Now, this blogger is not above a little bit of harmless nepotism (!) and it occurred to me that many of the items featured in the store would appeal to my readers. So from now on if you scroll to the bottom of the page you should see a little widget (or blidget, or eejit, or whatever these things are called) detailing a few items and linking to my aunt's website. Or just click on the picture at the top of this post.

There are a whole host of items that, as I said, you might find really tempting. Even I have to restrain myself when browsing - but don't worry, my favouritism doesn't extend to having things "kept back" for me(!). It's all fair here! Highlights for me include this portable wind-up gramophone (right) and this tea and coffee pot set (above) but there really is something for everyone. Hats and jewellery for the ladies, razors and cameras for the chaps, and a whole host of other items in between!

So whether you're after that something a little different for a Christmas present or, like me, just enjoy browsing places like eBay for vintage and longing for half the items that get thrown up, there's now another store for you to look through. Thanks for reading!