“Technological Note:
Potassium nitrate is prepared on Riverworld by feeding a certain type of earthworm human excrement. The end product of this diet is crystallized potassium nitrate, which, when mixed with charcoal and sulfur, makes black gunpowder.”
This short clip features a very awesome Steampunk themed model train layout. I especially liked the cargo that its flat cars are carrying.
The Fabulous Riverboat, Philip Jose Farmer
I have always been fascinated with the use of paper, especially using this medium to build things. I define paper as anything derived from a tree. So that runs the whole array of materials from paper, cardboard, and all products manufactured from paper.
In my pursuit of research I recently found three resources and sites that either display some astounding paper models or share some simple techniques to get you started working with paper.
This Insane Paper Plane Has Taken 10 Years to Build
Paperholm (here are four links feature the works of Charles-Young) Miniature city built from paper. Many of the structures include animated elements.
Intro to Paper-craft: Structure and Detail (this two page PDF will introduce the reader into the art of paper-craft)
John Collup
Riverworld: Your Scattered Bodies Go, Philip José Farmer
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)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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
