The ghost of Judy Garland visited the recent Maker Faire tryouts in Los Angeles. Fun with old phones and newer MP3 players: "Judy Phone" by Greg MacLaurin. Special thanks to Machine Project for hosting the tryouts.

Xeni visits the home of Kinetic Steam Works, a group of retro-tech industrial artisans who "repurpose the artifacts of clockwork modernity," and bring new life to very old steam engines. In doing so, they preserve what many consider a dying form of technology. From the group's description of its work:

What we found were machines, simple and intricate, that blurred the line between art and industry, kinetic masterpieces created during an era of diabolical innovation and gleeful invention. The steam engine embodied the ideologies, desires and dreams of its era, of Jules Verne and H.G. Wells, a bright and shining future where technology was built by hand. They were the aspirational finned cars and rockets of their day. Most recently, steam's fantastic has been represented by romantic industrial arts and the literary movements of retro sci-fi, steampunk, and gothic neo-Victorianism. The arch modernity of the steam driven Industrial Revolution is a powerful metaphor that explores our present and future through the nostalgic and dystopic past.

Special thanks to Josh Keppel and Mark Oltz for additional footage of these steampunk machine beauties in action.

Boing Boing Gadgets editor Joel Johnson chats about chiptunes with a number of artists who performed at the most recent installment of the 8-bit music event Blipfest: Paza Rahm (pazarahm.com, from Sweden), Rugar (rugarandi.com, Sweden), Sabrepulse (myspace.com/sabrepulse, Scotland) and Akira, aka 8GB (myspace.com/8gb, Argentina).

Related BBtv episodes and vlog posts:

Dave Hill + Blip Fest + 8-bit Combat

Vlog: Joel Johnson - Blipfest / Candy Expo

BBtv correspondent and Boing Boing Gadgets editor Joel Johnson visits the 8-bit music event Blipfest, then wreaks havoc at a Candy Expo.