Postcards from the Maker Faire.

On Saturday, the Free-Ride family went to the Maker Faire.

The place was abuzz with things to do and see and hear (and taste and feel), so we'll just give you the snapshot.

There were fabulous arty and tech-y (and arty/tech-y) items on display, including a giant assembly of 2 liter soda bottles, spinning bike wheels onto which our drawings were projected in lights, and the obligatory giant Lego castle/cake thingy:

We also saw and heard a beautiful automated music-playing dealie created by Ranjit Bhatnagar, a friend of mine from geek camp years ago.

And, there was a cool Wimshurst machine (shown here with Franklin bells) that may motivate Dr. Free-Ride's better half to finish the not-quite-completed one in our garage:

There was a crafts pavilion with all manner of pretty and geeky handcrafted goodies. I ended up getting a top spindle. After a few generations of Free-Ride silkworms, I may be able to salvage enough silk from the cocoons to spin a short length on it.

Sustainability technologies were well-represented. However, judging by the younger Free-Ride offspring's nose-wrinkle and refusal to smell the sample of "humanure," we're not going to be rushing out to get a composting toilet this summer.

I was a tiny bit freaked out, though, by some of the fanciful vehicles:

This one seemed to be watching me, almost as if it knew.