When you listen to this podcast you will learn about the many innovations at Menlo Park which affect our quality of life today. I had a lot of fun doing this Thomas Edison "mash-up" using MP3's from the Edisonia collection of the National Park Service:

http://www.nps.gov/edis/edisonia/sounds.html

The website for the Menlo Park museum is: http://www.menloparkmuseum.com

The Eastern European songs that I refer to in the podcast were collected by ethnomusicologists Zinovy Kiselgof and Moshe Beregovski and can be heard on the album: "Margot Leverett and the Klezmer Mountain Boys". For more information, visit http://www.klezmermountainboys.com

Music Credits:

The intro and trailer bumpers came from:
Collection: Popular Songs, Tin Pan Alley
Which switch is the switch, Miss, for Ipswich? - from "Rosy Rapture"
Performed by: Billy Murray
Composed by: David, Barnett, Darewski
Record format: Edison Diamond Disc
Matrix number: 4047-B-3-2
Recording date: 1915
Release number: 50293-R
Release date: December 1915
NPS object catalog number: EDIS 40585

The background music played during the narration came from:
Collection: Popular Instrumental, Ragtime
Flow gently sweet afton & Bonnie, sweet Bessie
Performed by: Robert Trucksess - American guitar
a.) Composed by: J.E. Spilman
b.) Composed by: J.L.B. Gilbert
Record format: Edison Diamond Disc
Matrix number: 8211-A-4-2
Recording date: September 12, 1921
Release number: 50994-R
Release date: August 1922
NPS object catalog number: EDIS 42253

Thomas Edison's voice came from:
Collection: Very Early Recorded Sound
Around the world on the phonograph
Spoken by: Thomas A. Edison
Record format: Edison yellow paraffine cylinder
Recording date: c. late October 1888
Location: West Orange, New Jersey or local vicinity
NPS object catalog number: EDIS 566
** Historical note: This is believed to be the earliest existing recording of Thomas Edison's voice.

Here's another New Jersey Turnpike Rest Stop Podcast where you can learn about Molly Pitcher and her heroic efforts to provide supplies to soldiers during the American Revolution. The background music for this podcast is titled "The Federal March", and is an example of the musical style of the colonial period. It is being played on an antique computer - an Apple //e with a Mockingboard.

You'll be amazed about what you can learn at exit 7A of the New Jersey Turnpike.

Here's the full version of the podcast from Market Street in Wilmington DE.

This podcast happened totally by accident (I think I was concatenating MP3 files with different bit rates). Anyway, the result is totally fun and in the spirit of the holiday season. The background music is the Hebrew melody "Maoz Tsur" or "Rock of Ages" which is traditionally sung during the holiday of Hanukkah. The name of my band is "Chaverim" which translates as "friends" or "comrades". We performed this piece at a local nursing home on December 4. I will repost the full content of this podcast without the chipmunks at a later date.

I received an email today from Andrew Seymour, one of the Ed-Tech musicians, suggesting that I describe how I feel at each location when I read the signs. I will try to do this for new podcasts and add additional podcasts where I go back and describe how I felt at the time. Often in the moment I am simply trying to capture the text into my recorder quickly and avoid picking up background noises, so my reaction isn't always spontaneous. But when I listen back to what I recorded I feel the connection to the places and people. I do remember feeling like crying when I learned about the buried tracings from the Washington DC vietnam memorial, and the letter from the President of Korea expressing gratitude. At the Ben Franklin exhibit I was speechless to be in front of artifacts such as an original Poor Richards Almanack and Ben's own personal glass Armonica. But it was actually the exhibits in the constitution center that touched me the most - a multimedia presentation about supreme court decisions and examples of cases which set precedents for applying the constitution throughout the years. But I am most touched by the Constitution Center's podcasts that I listened to after the visit which have given me insight into politics that shape our world today.

I want all educators to know that I am releasing all content on this blog and podcast in the public domain, so it may be used as you see fit for any purpose.

Also, if any of you develop lesson plans that use these podcasts and want to share them, email me at erangell@gmail.com and I will post them here.

I especially want to thank Andrew for reading my email on Ed-Tech Musician on his December 21, 2005 show, titled: EdTech Musician 43 Ready For Christmas?

The show notes for that show can be found at: http://andrewseymour.com/etm_shownotes.htm

The MP3 file for that show can be downloaded from: http://media.libsyn.com/media/edtechmusician/EdTechMusician43.mp3

I have about 8 more tours that I am working on which will get posted as they are completed. Happy Holidays to all of you and best wishes for the new year. My Odeo channel is: http://odeo.com/channel/48675/view Wow! Almost 50000 channels! The cable company can't beat that!

Podcasts in the queue (Click each link for more information)

University of Delaware

Tyler Arboretum, Pennsylvania

Wilmington - Market Street

Lums Pond State Park, Delaware

Havre De Grace, Maryland

Wilmington - Riverfront

Jersey City, New Jersey

New Castle, Delaware

Some topics covered at these historical sites include: the Railroad industry, Ferries, the Underground Railroad, the war of 1812, and Environmental Conservation.

On Dock Street near Penn's Landing there are memorials for soldiers who served in Beirut, Korea, and Vietnam. When you hear this podcast you will learn about the extraordinary sacrifices that were made to preserve freedom.

Philadelphia is having a huge party this year for one of its most famous citizens, Ben Franklin. A fabulous exhibit has just opened at the National Constitution Center near Independence Mall. Listen to this podcast to get an idea of what you will see there, and visit the NCC website at: http://www.constitutioncenter.org Also, this museum is really on top of technology - they have an excellent Podcast with insightful speakers talking about issues which affect all of us. The URL for this podcast is: http://feeds.feedburner.com/NCCPrograms There is so much to see in the exhibit - original artifacts that have never before been displayed to the public, interactive video presentations, and hands on fun for kids. After the Ben Franklin exhibit be sure to watch the Freedom Rising show and explore the multimedia exhibits about the constitution throughout history. Then take pictures with your favorite constitutional delegates in a hall of their statues. You just gotta see it!

This podcast gives introductory information about my intentions for this podcast.

Here is a 30 second promo for this podcast. Feel free to download this MP3 file and play it on your podcast. It is published in the public domain.

Hello world! Welcome to the historic walking tour podcast. This is intended to be a grassroots educational resource to help people learn about historical places and events. I'm not sure how much time I'll have to devote to it, but we'll take it easy and enjoy the walk as we go. You can email me at erangell@gmail.com The music used in this podcast is composed by me and has been released in the public domain. You can download MIDI files at the following website: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/erang/freemidi.htm You can visit my blog at: http://ericbrain.blogspot.com And I need to acknowledge that I am standing on the shoulders of giants - those indie podcasters who took the plunge into this brave new world. Thank you to all edu-podders with the vision that will transform lifelong learning for all of us, to the ed-tech musicians which inspired my creativity in the sound of my podcast, and to Todd at GeekNewsCentral.com for his book which gave me the push to trust enough to actually do this.