DregNog Video Advent Calendar: Day #10: O Tesla Tree, O Tesla Tree, How Shocking Are Thy Branches

Published Dec 23 2009, 11:30 PM by Shaula Clark

Fiber-optic Christmas trees are nice and all, but they're so boring. Where's the drama? If your Yule needs a touch of Burning Man, nothing will fix you up faster than a Tesla coil tree -- just check the video. (The sparks start flying around 0:25, for you impatient types who need their plasma-filament-spewing Christmas tree now.)

Of course, this little SSTC tree is pathetic Charlie Brown-esque pipsqueak compared to this Aussie's monstrosity. A Bunbury doctor by day, an "electrickery" wizard in his off-hours, 53-year-old Peter Terren has constructed a 9-foot-tall Tesla Coil tree in his driveway. (Says Terren, "That's how we do it in Oz.") You may remember "Tesla Down Under" from previous electro-stunts such as Terren posing as Rodin's Thinker, if the Thinker were getting zapped by 200,000 volts, and surrounding his car with a lightning force field.

No videos, sorry, but the photos alone will make your hair stand on end:

It should be noted, though, that the tree effect is a trick of long-exposure photography -- for spectators, this holiday spectacle would look like nothing more than, in Terren's words, "sparks jumping in the air." For more, check out Terren's website.

Filed Under: DregNog09, Tesla Down Under, SSTC, fiber-optics, Burning Man

DregNog Video Advent Calendar: Day #11: E.T. ruins Christmas, innocence

A Sonic Screwdriver Stocking Stuffer: The Doctor Who Christmas Specials

Name (required)

Your URL (optional)

Comments (required)

Remember Me?

Follow the Phoenix

All Blogs

On The Download (2,235)
Phlog (1,503)
Laser Orgy (80)
Talking Politics (1,594)
Outside The Frame (325)
Dont Quote Me (556)

Filed Under: DregNog09, Tesla Down Under, SSTC, fiber-optics, Burning Man, Nikola Tesla, plasma filaments, Tesla coil

Boston Phoenix
DregNog Video Advent Calendar: Day #12: Away in a Batcave
Published 12/25/2009 by Shaula Clark
On the Twelfth Day of DregNog, Laser Orgy gave to thee: the mother lode of silly Batman Christmas clips.The Dark Knight Before Christmas (2008)The Joker...

Boston Phoenix
DregNog Video Advent Calendar: Day #11: E.T. ruins Christmas, innocence
Published 12/24/2009 by Shaula Clark
Hey, it's Christmas Eve, the perfect time to meditate on one of the most epic video-game bummers ever: 1982's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. The release of...

more by Shaula Clark

PODCAST: The Great Poe Debate [MP3] | January 21, 2010

Review: Sundance Shorts 2009 | January 15, 2010

PODCAST: America's Test Kitchen's 2010 season preview [MP3] | January 09, 2010

Review: In Search of Beethoven | January 08, 2010

52 ways to leave 2009 | January 01, 2010

See all articles by: Shaula Clark

Latest Comments

A Plea To Ignore O'Keefe - The removal of federal ACORN funding demonstrated that ACORN is so politically insignificant that it...

By David S. Bernstein on 01-29-2010 in Talking Politics

A Plea To Ignore O'Keefe - If you think that giving advice on how to continue prostituting out what these members thought were a...

By Jennifer Wachowski on 01-29-2010 in Talking Politics

A Plea To Ignore O'Keefe - I'm not sure I follow your logic in what you're saying. Regardless of the fact that O'Keefe's...

By The Centrist on 01-29-2010 in Talking Politics

A Plea To Ignore O'Keefe - Please, please, James O'Keefe is one arrogant who believes he's above the law. His intended motive is...

By Janey08 on 01-29-2010 in Talking Politics

A Plea To Ignore O'Keefe - "A) organized into largely autonomous chapters, some of which are run more competently than others...

By Dave, Des Moines, IA on 01-29-2010 in Talking Politics

Latest Comments from Laser Orgy

DregNog Video Advent Calendar: Day #10: O Tesla Tree, O Tesla Tree, How Shocking Are Thy Branches

Leave a Comment