Mad Tom, and other Mad Catters, you might like a book called Banvard's Folly, by Paul Collins, which is 13 essays about now-obscure historical topics--things that didn't work out. A very fun book.

I do the taping thing, and have started to make a few of my own movies by collaging scenes from other movies with interelated subjects, odd links. I've run out of movies I feel like seeing, for a while.