iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Pete

@pete.to

Eminent physicist, neon enthusiast, polyglot classicist, prize-winning botanist, hard-biting satirist, talented pianist, small web evangelist, good dentist too

Posts Replies Media

Pete @pete.to · 10/05/2026

Spotted in Manchester, UK. That blockout could use some love, but it still commands attention. #neon

Neon sign at night, reading "parlour FOR HIRE". Parlour is written in lowercase cursive, bent with clear tubing and pumped with neon gas, glowing red-orange. "FOR HIRE" appears in standard block letter beneath it, in white phosphor filled with argon and mercury.

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Pete @pete.to · 15/04/2026

He busted out the surfboard guitar and finished with You Can Never Come to This Place. My life is now complete. #takanaka

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Pete @pete.to · 15/04/2026

I saw Masayoshi Takanaka live and all I got was this totally boss t-shirt.

Concert t-shirt featuring an illustration of Masayoshi Takanaka skydiving from a helicopter toward an island holding a surfboard-shaped guitar and giving a thumbs-up with his other hand. Takanaka is smiling and wearing sunglasses. Text on the shirt reads "Masayoshi Takanaka - This is a t-shirt for the Super Takanaka World Live 2026 Tour"

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Pete @pete.to · 30/03/2026

Got bamboozled by eBay and now I have twinsies. #neon #80s #retro #phone

Two clear plastic Cicena Roxanne desk phones with neon tubes inside. One is pink, the other green.

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Pete @pete.to · 18/03/2026

The lab is simultaneously futuristic and medieval, and I'm totally here for it.

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Pete @pete.to · 16/03/2026

The mad scientist Rotwang in Fritz Lang's classic film Metropolis (1927) has his laboratory outfitted with stylish neon lighting, including this absolute unit of a desk lamp. Check out those electrodes! #neon #silentfilm

Professor Rotwang leans over his desk as he addresses Joh Fredersen, leader of Metropolis. On the right side of the desk sits a freestanding spiral-shaped neon light with a wide base, tapering toward the top.

A close-up of the spiral-shaped neon desk light when it is powered off, showing the clear neon tube and large electrodes.

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Pete @pete.to · 27/02/2026

Infinity Column (1973) by Washington sculptor John Geise, on display in the A Concourse at Seattle-Tacoma Airport. If you're passing through, take some time to check out the many art installations here. And just look at that lovely Voltarc Green! #neon #neonart

Multiple neon tubes mounted inside a large box emerge from the floor. Two sides of the box are clear glass, allowing a view inside. Other surfaces within the box are glossy black, reflecting the glow of the tubes and creating an "infinity" effect. The tubes are green, red, orange, yellow, and blue.

Close-up of a green neon tube stamped with "VOLARC GREEN" emerging from an electrode housing in the floor of the box. Red and blue tubes are visible behind it.

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Pete @pete.to · 23/02/2026

First time bending yesterday. I knew the craft wasn't easy, but my respect for those who do it is so much deeper now. I will perfect my double back...one of these days. 😅

Short pieces of clear neon tubing bent in a tight U-shape (double back) with varying degrees of mostly poor quality.

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Pete @pete.to · 20/02/2026

My Cicena Roxanne phone is ALIVE! Turns out the switch on the back is a bit flaky. I haven't seen this thing glow since I was a kid, lots of good memories are flooding back. Time to clean the dust off and get some Deoxit on that switch! #neon #phone #80s

A clear plastic desktop telephone with a pink neon tube glowing inside. The internal circuit board and components are painted white to accentuate the effect of the neon.

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Pete @pete.to · 14/02/2026

Dell Rhea's famous Chicken Basket in Willowbrook, IL (formerly Hinsdale). From humble beginnings as a gas station lunch counter, it opened on Route 66 in 1946, serving as a stopping place for those coming and going from Chicago. While Route 66 now bypasses the Basket, it's still open and fryin'.

A red and white outdoor sign with neon-outlined text reading "Dell Rhea Chicken Basket - Cocktail Lounge". The lower edges of the sign are festooned with individual light bulbs.

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Pete @pete.to · 08/02/2026

Neon lit bath tubs in a Busby Berkeley-directed musical sequence from Dames (1934). Neon shows up in several of Berkeley's elaborately staged numbers from the '30s and '40s, at times with safety as an afterthought!

Geometrically arranged bath tubs against a dark background. Three neon squares rise from the back of each tub.

Close-up of a smiling woman bathing in a tub full of soap suds while another woman pours a pitcher of water in. The neon rectangles rising from the back of the tub frame additional tubs and women mirroring the same actions in an "infinity shot".

A smiling woman bathes in a neon-lit bathtub filled with soap suds while another woman in the background uses a large powder puff.

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Pete @pete.to · 04/02/2026

The Iron Works Barbecue in Austin, TX. A great city to visit if you're in the mood for true #neon.

Indoor sign. A metal arrow pointing downward with mounted neon letters reading "ORDER HERE".

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Pete @pete.to · 29/01/2026

Elephant Car Wash sign, a Seattle landmark designed by Beatrice Haverfield and fabricated by Campbell Neon in 1956. Bea was the creative force behind some of Seattle's most iconic signs, including Ivar's and Dick's Drive-In. Found it by chance on the last day of my visit. Glad I did!

Lit neon sign at night. A pink elephant wearing a cap showers itself with water from its trunk. The body of the elephant has text reading: "ELEPHANT Super CAR WASH - OPEN".

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