LOS ANGELES , California ( CNN ) -- There is a `` maker 's movement '' gaining prominence on a global scale . Mister Jalopy works out of converted hot-rod repair shop . This is where he builds `` the stuff of my dreams . '' One of its pied pipers is a man known by his pen name , Mister Jalopy . His agenda is simple . `` You need to be able to modify , hack , repair , rebuild and reuse the stuff that you buy . '' Mister Jalopy 's name comes from a blog he started years ago . From his Web site : . `` When I started the Hooptyrides blog , I pictured a modest used car lot of broken-down , flat-tired junkers that represented great promise and little else . Lit with strings of bare light bulbs , I dreamed of a little desert lot of plucky automobiles and a faded neon sign that erratically blinked 'Mister Jalopy 's Hooptyrides . ' `` Mister Jalopy owns a laundromat and a used-bicycle store , and he operates out of a converted hot-rod repair shop along an industrial strip of land in the shadow of Interstate 5 . He calls his workshop `` Hooptyrides World Headquarters . '' `` It 's my personal shop where I do my writing , think up my crackpot business schemes , repair bicycles and do my auto maintenance ... where I build the stuff of my dreams . '' It 's brimming with high-quality tools , odds and ends from 20 years of harvesting garage sales , and machines like a lathe and welder that would delight a working tradesman . He created the `` world 's largest iPod . '' It 's housed in a 1950s record console that can now digitize his music off the turntable , and the original buttons control the iPod . He also made an `` urban guerrilla movie theater '' -- a handmade movie projector sitting on an adult tricycle . Watch Mister Jalopy at work » . His used-bike shop , Coco 's Variety , is named after one of his two dogs . `` The credo of my store is 'Faded champions reborn for another chance at glory . ' `` He adds : `` These old bikes , already manufactured , [ are ] tenderly brought back to life for someone to love anew . The best bike for the environment is one that already exists . Not one made fresh . '' Mister Jalopy goes to garage sales every week . `` Some of my favorite stuff ... are the things that were made or worn by human hands . There 's an incredible feeling of soul . '' His most treasured find ? `` It was a lowly glass Skippy jar filled with all of the earthly treasures of a kid from the '50s . '' There was a chunky eraser , toy soldiers , and caps for a cap gun . Mister Jalopy has a practical approach to saving the environment and surviving in a downturn economy . `` The hands-off era is over . We were seduced by low prices . Our landfills are filled with cheap plastic fans , broken vacuum cleaners . We 're feeling the crunch economically . Maybe this stuff should be repairable . '' He wrote an article for Make magazine called the `` Maker 's Bill of Rights . '' It outlines the need for manufacturers to make products that are repairable , modifiable , have replaceable parts and come with a manual . Of products that are glued shut , he has this to say : `` The idea of the Maker 's Bill of Rights was to say , if you ca n't open it , you do n't own it . '' Dale Dougherty is the creator of Make magazine , which is at the core of the movement . `` We live in a complex world . I wanted to make a magazine to showcase innovation and ideas around the world ... even in Third World countries . '' Make magazine sponsors the annual Maker Faire in Northern California . More than 500 exhibitors will showcase their ideas and innovations on the last weekend in May . Families are a big part of their business . `` There are no famous rock bands or stunts to bring people in , '' Dougherty says . Last year 65,000 people attended . Mister Jalopy will be there hosting the main stage . `` There 's this amazing community of people that are makers : carpenters , fabricators , mechanics , electronics repair people , designers of products , garden designers ... that 's the great thing about the maker movement . It is passionate individuals willing to make mistakes and build the stuff of our dreams . '' `` I 'm a professional amateur . I have n't been trained to do anything . I 'm not an expert carpenter , metalworker or mechanic . I 'm fearless , though . I 'll jump into anything . My hope is everyone becomes a professional amateur , that we have the passion and courage to fail . '' Mister Jalopy tinkers with a dusty jukebox given to him by a friend . He presses selection `` D5 . '' The electronics strain to move the parts that pull a 45 onto the needle . Elton John 's `` Bennie and the Jets '' warbles along . The speakers grind out the tune . As the song ends , the needle arm unexpectedly skips to another disc . `` Uh ... oh , these old machines are fascinating . There 's a visceral quality . It seems like I 'm chasing a ghost through the machine . ''
Mister Jalopy : ` ` You need to be able to modify ... repair , rebuild and reuse '' ` ` ' '' want you to produce items that can be repaired . One of their slogan : ` ` If you ca n't open it , you do n't own it '' The industry in northern California continues to attract hundreds of innovators .