Just over a year ago we went to visit Tim Hunkin, a lovely chap who builds amazing machines to display in his arcade, The Under the Pier Show, on Southworld Pier. After a behind the scenes tour of the pier, we went back to his workshop for a cup of tea and a special preview of his new machine: Pet or Meat? We shot this video then, but decided to keep it secret until the machine is on display. Well guess what? It went on display months ago!

When you stumble over one of these in a deserted playground somewhere in Wales, it’s rude not to have a go.

Using the same mount I built for the video of my foot walking around America, here are our hands shooting a series of progressively larger guns.

Watching the video, the journey you take will start at cute little Ruger .38 then you’ll wander past a Beretta .45. A Desert Eagle .50 will loom into view briefly, don’t be afraid, not yet. Oh look, a P90! My how fast you fire! OK, you know I said to not be afraid just now? Well now it’s time. The great big Barrett M82 .50 was, by any definition, a beast.

All this happened at the surprisingly friendly Get Some Guns and Ammo – just south of Salt Lake City, Utah. Shot on a Contour+.

O man, we totally visited Roswell, New Mexico. It was never one of those ‘I MUST GO THERE ONE DAY OR I WILL DIE WITH A SAD FACE’ kinda places, it just happened to be on the way between New York and California, so we popped in. And boy were we glad we did, it’s silly, and a bit serious/mental, and then silly again. Here’s some things:

 

First thing we did was Alien Zone, Areas 51 – a place with about 20 alien scenes that you’re encouraged to climb about and take silly photos.. SOLD.

Then we thought we should get the ‘real’ facts and checked out the International UFO Museum and Research Centre just up the road, it was closing for the night so we ran about and took photos instead of actually doing any reading or learning (we’re on holiday, why would we want to do a thing like that?).

And the next day we had to go and see what all the adverts we kept seeing around town for the Roswell Space Walk were all about, they boasted a Paisley-Horvak TVG9000 (no, me neither), how can you refuse? Luckily it was silly, quite silly.

We organised a tour with some random dude of the ACTUAL HANGER where an alien may or may not have had it’s bit’s cut out by sinister looking military types. We got to the car park next to the hanger and looked for a car with a large inflatable alien tied to roof (as arranged) but our tour was a no show, damn it, the truth is still out there.

Here’s many more photos of our time in Roswell:

You like aircraft right? You like lots or aircraft right? Then you’ll LOVE the aircraft boneyard we visited in Tucson, Arizona. You can get a coach tour around this massive military facility (we shot the video above through the coach window) and hear everything there is to know about the 4,400 or so planes, helicopters and missiles they have parked up there (most of which are ready to have their protective white coats stripped of and start flying and shooting things again), or like us, you can ignore most of what’s being said and take lots of photos:

To get an idea of the size of the place, check it out from God’s eye view:

View Larger Map

If you’re planning on taking a visit, pre-book your tour with the PIMA Air & Space Museum.

We were in Las Vegas, what else would we do?

A few week’s ago we visited Northlandz the World’s largest model railway, in New Jersey – we tried and failed to visit it a few years ago on our first trip across the states (tip: It’s closed on Tuesdays).

So we knew it was going to be big, but honestly, we didn’t expect it to be anywhere near as big as this, it is genuinely awesome. I wowed out loud at least 3 times. After about 15 minutes wandering through it, taking many photos, I noticed a sign saying “you’re only 2% through Northlandz” and they weren’t joking. Bruce Williams Zaccagnino started building it in 1972 in the basement of his house and finished it in 1996. It’s got 8 miles of track, 4,000 buildings, half a million trees and of course over 100 trains. It uses enough timber in it’s supporting structure to build 42 large houses.

Dad built us a train set in the loft when we were kids – Dad needs to up his game.

www.northlandz.com

So it turns out the best instrument to accompany an orchestra playing Beethoven’s Wellington’s Victory (also known as the Battle Symphony) is a set of 193 live cannons.

Easily the geekiest thing we’ve ever done.

Thanks to the Boob for the loan of his snazzy little camera.

Just arrived in Woolacombe, Devon, and we have a great view of the sunset from our swanky apartment. So naturally we shot a time lapse of it, and will probably be shooting many more.

This video is also on Youtube if you’re that way inclined.