Rescuing the instruments from 95 Columbia (photo by Peter Moulthrop)

UPDATE: While all of these projects are cool, if you’ve got some spare cash please look at this Facebook event page: less than 48 hours ago 12 friends from the Boston music/arts community lost their living situation and most of their possessions in a 3-alarm fire at their Cambridge MA apartment building.  Fortunately no one was seriously injured or died (but it was a close thing – 6 police officers rescued everyone), and firefighters retrieved much of their gear and instruments (though some are water-damaged). Please consider helping and spreading the word to others. You may donate directly via this ChipIn widget:

Some Kickstarter and IndiGogo projects I like:

Like the idea of crazy bands marching though Somerville and Cambridge? Support HONK!

My musician friends MJE and Sophia have been getting into making movies – help them expand their contest trailer into a full-length feature:

ENDING TOMORROW (Sat 8/25/12)! Have you wanted to read an author’s work but didn’t know where to start? This project aims to help you with that:

Tired of hot coffee getting cold in a paper cup OR staying too hot in a thermos? Check out this thermodynamic mug (I asked, and it also works for keeping cold drinks cold without ice if you pre-freeze the mug):

If I had an iPad I’d seriously consider getting this: