The Riverworld Series

As I mentioned in my last post on this topic I have just started to read the first in Farmer’s Riverworld series. The book includes the first and the second novels in this series. The complete series includes these volumes:

To Your Scattered Bodies Go (1971)
The Fabulous Riverboat (1971)
The Dark Design (1977)
The Magic Labyrinth (1980)
Gods of Riverworld (1983; later published as The Gods of Riverworld)

For an overview of this series I found a useful article on Wikipedia and although I am not anywhere near ready to read other related stories about Riveworld I have found some Riverworld fan-fiction on the PJFamer site.

Riverworld #1

I recently watch the adaptation of Philip José Farmer’s Riverworld. I wouldn’t say that it was an extraordinary movie, but because of its use the Farmer’s text with its many well-known characters it was an enjoyable film. It wasn’t too long ago that I had completed reading through Farmers Grand Master and his Wold Newton Universe novels and was looking to start another one of Farmer’s series .Since all five of the Riverworld series are still available. I purchased the first and second volumes (they are combined into one volume) in this series.

“The door to the room had opened, and he had seen a giant, black, one-humped camel outside and had heard the tinkle of the bells on its harness as the hot desert wind touched them. Then a hug black face topped by a great black turban had appeared in the doorway. The black eunuch had come in through the door, moving like a cloud, with a giant scimitar in his hand. Death, the Destroyer of Delights and the Sunderer of Society had come at last.”

Riverworld: Your Scattered Bodies Go & The Fabulous Riverboat, Philip José Farmer

An Island of the Imagination

There have been plenty of fictitious islands, lands, and worlds created by fiction writers. Think of Dune, Middle Earth, and Kong Island, however how many of these islands made it to a real cartographic map? Or have been claimed my the British Crown. Frisland Island is one such island that was a figment of someones imagination that actually met both of these situations.

A Visit to George Selios Franklin and South Manchester Model Railroad

The Franklin and South Manchester model railroad by George Selios is one of those model railroads that all of us aspire to duplicate. Well at least in its details. This is the mother of all model railroads and a wunder to every model railroader.

Materials – Balsa Slabs

At the moment, I am not sure what I will be using these balsa slabs; perhaps for an O-gauge structure of some sort? I paid 3.26 USD for ten 4 x 5.75 x 1/8 inch thick.

Prester John a Host of Characters

Through a manuscript that was circulated during the Middle Ages Prester John was said to be the Emperor Byzantium. Whether he is a priest, king, or both, all is lost in history. However, some of what he is purported to have written to a response to a request from the Vatican is quite intriguing.

“I Prester John, who reigns supreme, I excel in riches, virtue, and I have power over all creatures that dwell under heaven. Seventy-two kings pay tribute to me. Honey flows in our land and milk everywhere abounds. In one of our territories no poison can do harm and there are no noisy frog croaks. There are no scorpions, and no serpents that creep through the grass. No venomous reptiles can exist there and use their deadly power.”

The Lost City of Z, David Grann

The Shack

The authors used foam core board for the sub-walls and some thinly sliced Styrofoam for individual boards. With some creative cutting, bending and breaking the author had the start of a rough and tumble shack. The author added a base coat, some weathering, and some small details to create a truly unique structure.

Bandai Starblazer Model

This is one of Bandai’s Star Blazer #2206, a Karakrum Class Combatant Ship. Although I did use plastic model glue this model could have simply been snapped together. The instructions are in Japanese, however using the included instructions printed on the inside the box the model fit together nicely.

The models 21 parts are connected to X number of sprue and are molded in olive green polystyrene.

Since I was planning on using glue to add to the overall strength of the model, I was extra careful to make sure that I had the correct part in hand. There were a couple of times when I had to study the exploded illustrations and the box art to ensure that I did have the correct part.

My motto for this year is get something done and after seven months I really do not have too much to show for it. I have another Bandai model on my workbench that needs some finishing touches, a HO scale smoke house that is waiting on a few small details to be painted and placed, and lastly I have a HO scale outhouse that needs to be laid out and completed.

Revell’s 1957-59 ‘Space Age Model Kits’

This page published by "We are the Mutants", (I haven't explored to much of this site, but it does look interesting and it seems worthy of a romp through), offers some fanciful late- fifties spacecraft models from Revell. The short and interesting article mentions the space race and Revel’s motivations for manufacturing these designs during that time period.

Post-Apocalyptic 1/72 Chernobyl Diorama

The author puts a lot of work into this diorama. The military vehicle is plastic kit, but the structure is scratch built. I was amazed while I watched the author add details after details to this diorama. Watching this video was a truly rewarding experience.

Buildable Details

I have two thoughts. The first, structures and detail pieces for model railroading have always been expensive, but have gotten even more expensive over the years. Secondly, I have loads of left-over bits of polystyrene and wood from previous projects. Why not put these bits and pieces to use? The following list is just a start. These details can be built from polystyrene, wood, or even paper board. These are small projects and you could possibly pop-out several of these pieces in one afternoon.

• Coal bins
• Outhouses
• Sheds
• Dog houses
• Shop doors
• Windows
• Benches
• Desks
• Tables
• Chairs
• Storage shelves and bins
• Rectangular tanks

The Glossary of Opium

The Den (opium den):

Joint
Hop joint
Lay-down joint

The Pipe:

Gonger
Bamboo
Dream stick
Saxophone

The Smoker:

Pipie
Pipe-fiend
Gowster
Yen-shee-boy (def. Websters)

To Smoke Opium:

To be on the hip
Kicking the gong around (def. urban dictionary)
Rolling the log

Opium: A Portrait of the Heavenly Demon, Barbara Hudgsen

The Flying Scotsman

A great small whimsical animated "flying train". It really is worth a look.

A Host of Characters - Arina Vlassievna

It has been awhile since my last post on this topic, so you might have forgotten what my rational. A host of characters is a place where I document possible characters for my games.

Arina Vlassievna is the mother of Evgenii Bazarov. Arina is in her sixties and is small and rotund. Arina diminutiveness accents her humility and Arina Vlassievna was a true Russian daughter of the petty nobility; by rights she should have lived a couple of centuries before, in the times of old Moscow. She was very devoted and emotional: she believed in all sorts of omens, ways of telling a fortune, spells, dreams; she believed in holy innocents, in brownies, in wood demons, in unlucky encounters, in the evil eye, in folk remedies, in salt, especially when it was blessed on Holy Thursday, and the imminent end o f the world…”

Fathers and Sons, Ivan Turgenev