Hi All,

I live in Brighton a seaside resort on the south coast of the UK about 60 miles due south of London. There is a very famous landmark called the Royal Pavilion:



http://www.royalpavilion.org.uk/

As you can see it's quite an eyeful, and the interior is possibly the most intense experience I have ever had.  There are some deliciously ornate bits of engineering in there for example the 'air conditioning' in the kitchens was built into the pillars - modelled as palm trees with dragons sitting on top. Also there is a clockwork spit in the fireplace that turns the chickens as they cook.

It is an incredible place to visit and I recommend it if you get the opportunity.

I'm sort of scouting some places to do some photography and I think the pavilion would make a lovely back drop.

Also of interest is the British Engineerium nearby in Hove, unfortunately closed at the moment.

Anyone else have favourite old places like this their home town?

I saw this and thought it would be worth sharing with this community. Not exactly fashion but hell, what a place for a photo shoot.

http://community.livejournal.com/urban_decay/2129610.html#cutid1

This might seem like an odd request, but does anybody know where I can find (preferrably online and FREE, I'm a poor student) any material on WWI and WWII aviation and also motorcycles of this time? As detailed and yet easy to understand as possible; things like the parts, how they worked, etc etc.

If this makes any sense, which my under-caffeinated brain says it does.


TIA.

 

I decided to add a bit more “Steam” to my Steampunk, and what better place to do so then an honest to goodness Steam Rally! Turned out there was one right here in Winchester! There were steam engines, steam trucks, steam tractors. And all kinds of other cool stuff. Due to the short notice on finding out about the event (Found out Friday and the event was Saturday) we could not get a group together and the lovely Amanda (lost_in_avebury) and I were the only SteamPunks in attendance. I was surprised by the reaction to my outfit. A bunch of older men and women who have never even heard of SteamPunk, all asking where they could get cool goggles and stuff like mine! J Had a great time and even took a few photos.



Love the Sound it makes.

The Little Lady

Mini Steam!!!

 

Here is the frame I made for my mother-in-law for Mother's Day. It has a slate in it so it can be written on with chalk. She has a slate in her kitchen for writing reminders or whatever on so I made this for her desk.




I was ill last Sunday so we couldn't go see her, we will tomorrow. I hope she likes it.

http://mfrost.typepad.com/cute_overload/2008/05/aaaaaaaaaahhhhh.html

What IS going on with all the creepeh kittehs! I think my soul just got sucked outttT

http://mfrost.typepad.com/cute_overload/2008/05/annnnnd-the-cre.html

Slightly creepy Caturday continues with this prosh-yet-slightly-straynnnnge Marmalade puddin'. I like his lil' arm though—If only he'd stop lookin' at me funny.

http://mfrost.typepad.com/cute_overload/2008/05/beyond-creepy-c.html

Creepy Caturday CONTINUES with creepy eyes and MENACING STARES. OMG

http://mfrost.typepad.com/cute_overload/2008/05/slightly-cree-1.html

But the mini paws to head ratio cancel out the creepyness enough. [phew, that was a close call! Wiping brow]

baby kitten, originally uploaded by markokon.


baby kitten, originally uploaded by markokon.

 

... I just ended up having a lot of fun ^^

I woke up in a really bad mood, unfortunately, and like bummed around my room for an hour before I went and actually did anything.  Then I went to the Bunkasai for like 40 minutes, while I waited for Becky to get up.  I had some Japanese food, made some caligraphy for Becky, made a really sad paper crane, and got a Japanese yo-yo, which was fun. 

Then Becky and I went to the RCB Field day at the lakefill, which was excellent!!  They had more free food, and music, and stuff, and we just sat on the grass and listened to it, and talked and had fun.  It was like Happy Summer Party!  :P  And then we were like let's go get facepaint!!  Because we saw some people who we thought had their faces painted, and wanted to go get some.  But then we got sidetracked :P  Because Becky wanted to laminate the calligraphy I gave her, and then we wanted to see if Artica really made pins for 50 cents each.  It turns out they did, so we spent like an hour cutting pictures and such out of magazines and making some for each other.  And so it turns out we didn't end up buying the facepaint :P

But then DCP was really fun today, too, even though I was initially apathetic towards going to game 10.  Game was pretty fun.  I almost didn't make it into Eden, due to being set on fire by both Grandma AND the dragon, but Emery carried my unconscious body in with him thanks to his Poissance. 

And the after stuff was pretty fun too.  Secrets Night was LONG, which was unfortunate, but it was pretty fun to hear people's secrets and stores ^^  I can't believe Kevin Sue called the FBI on me!!  And it was Gonder who taped the stupid phone to the bottom of my car!  Lol, but anyway.  It was also fun to talk to people afterwards.  And the Whale party was really fun, even though I could only stay for like an hour.  I ended up having a really nice conversation with Emily.  It was just really nice because I saw and interacted with people that I don't usually.  So that was pretty exciting. 

Dear all,

I am a scholar conducting research on Takarazuka.  I am particularly interested in fan communities.  Would you mind answering my survey?  All answers are much appreciated (and feel free to only answer a few questions)!  Thank you!

Sincerely,
publius3

1. How long have you been a fan of Takarazuka? How did you first become a fan?
2. Why do you like Takarazuka?
3. How many performances have you seen and where? Who do you usually see performances with?
4. What is your favorite show? Why?
5. If you had to pick a favorite moment in a show, what would it be and why?
6. Who is your favorite otokoyaku? Who is your favorite musumeyaku? Why?
7. What do you think about star retirement? 
8. What fan sites do you belong to or visit?  Do you actively participate in these communities?  If so, how?
9. Do you read or subscribe to fan magazines?  If so, which ones?
10. Do you buy or collect Takarazuka souvenirs?  What types of souvenirs?
11. What other types of theatre do you attend or watch?
12. What is your age/sex/home country?

I had a dream like that once.

Sayrah, I has a package.

Fun vampire show = exists! Or, you know, will, shortly. Being Human! There have been so many awful vampire shows lately - Moonlight, Blood Ties, I weep tears of blood - but this vampire's a dork and his werewolf flatmate is ridiculously adorable and their BFF chemistry? Win.

Perfect Creature, on the other hand, is awful. Not so-bad-it's-fun-awful, just boring-awful. I watch bad vampire flicks so you don't have to, folks. (Am now considering making a post on the vampire flicks-and-such that are awesome, as once you get past the obvious ones, they get a tad needle-in-a-haystack-esque - but I suspect most of the flist won't care until Halloween.)

I've lost all ability to take Hankyu announcements at face value. Ai-chan's playing the leading role alongside Asa in Great Gatsby, while Shizuku's with Kiriyan in Me and My Girl. If they were going to promote Ai-chan to take the top musumeyaku slot, I think it's safe to say they would have announced it now, rather than leaving it open, so there's that question answered. But what does this say about the chances for that hoped-for future top pair of Ai-chan and Kiriyan? ...Absolutely nothing, and I need to stop over-speculating.

I am getting the weirdest LJ comment-spam. Newly created blatantly fake LJ accounts that comment saying "Yeah!" or "That's very cool" and... that's it. What am I missing here?

The good news is that we're wrapped. We had a gorgeous day, we shot some beautiful footage and we are done shooting this bear of a movie.

The bad news comes in dribs and drabs.

I didn't have fun today. It was just one stupid problem after another, things that would never be a problem on a film with a budget and permits and stuff but which strike us so-independent-it-hurts-your-eyeballs all the time.

Woke up naturally at 7. Alarm went off at 7:55. Gloated over simply perfect weather. Enjoyed self on Internet for a bit, rode train in, got subway out to Bed-Stuy with no problems (amazingly), got to Bed-Stuy at 10:10.

Early for a 10:30 call time. I scout around for a bit, mentally block the scene.

I don't want to wake Rico's housemates with the buzzer, so I call him. Can't get through. I text him. He doesn't respond. I'm confused.

Carolyn arrives 10:45. A Web site had given her the wrong train directions. She has forgotten the white hoodie her character wears and must scour the neighborhood to try and buy one. Around 11 she gives up on this and calls a car service to go home.

Finally give up and buzz into Rico's place around the same time, waking his housemates. His phone had evidently eaten my attempts to reach him. We start setting up shots that don't include Carolyn.

Our sole crew member is Kent. (I couldn't rustle up another, no one got back to me.) The exact same stupid Web site had given him the exact same wrong directions, rendering him lost in Bed-Stuy, and so he doesn't show up till about 11:45, maybe noon. An hour and a half has passed since call time and we've gotten maybe two shots.

The neighborhood comes alive at this point, and we are soon plagued with children running around, people hangin' out and talkin' on their neighborhood stoops, folks buffing their cars, people sanding (I swear to God at least six houses were getting their floors sanded, generally with the doors open, and I began making a habit of closing complete strangers' front doors without the workmen noticing), and trees being cut down. A freaking woodchipper actually comes to eat up a tree, at which point we give up and go shoot some MOS exteriors elsewhere for a bit.

Yeah, I'm concerned about audio. I don't want to have to ADR too much. We made sure to get clean takes of the most important speeches, even going back and reshooting one of 'em... ugh.

Kent has to leave around 4. We get our sole remaining exterior shot and break for dinner. The light has been very pretty, dappled sunlight dancing through the trees and stuff, and to preserve it for my half of the conversation there comes a point when I am literally boxed in with bounce boards.

I just hope we can hear dialogue and not every neighborhood sound in Christendom. It was ridiculous. The distractions

We go upstairs. Light. It has been over two years since I have had to deal with lighting and I'd forgotten it can be a slow process. But the acting goes pretty easily; I fire off about ten takes of my big monologue one after the other, taking to it all nicely.

Wrap around 8, after the world's latest start and not such an unlate finish. I am out Rico's door by 9:45, off to the subway literally humming the "Star Wars" theme.


Then some idiot gets hit by a train up ahead and delays my return home by more than I care to discuss. Didn't get in till 11:30. Ugh!

I wish I could say I'd had more fun. It was just one stupid, stupid, stupid thing after another.

But I still can't think of any better way to spend a day.

Time to fix things in post, bitches! That's a wrap! That's a fucking wrap!

They're having a horse show at The American Museum of Natural History in New York. Outside they have painted horses (much like the cows from a few years ago) and I found two very steamy ones that I thought I should share! Many pictures under the cut, but here's one to tease!



( More steamy horses below! )

Enjoy!

electricube wigs out over the evils of everything from food grade plastics to acrylic glass used in body jewelry, in a post where homes for hermit crabs are some serious goddamned business.

My favorite bit is where they suggest that having shell preference = self-awareness. Hermit crabs are cool but let's be honest, invertebrates aren't exactly existential creatures.

So I don't forget tomorrow, I'm just going to start this now.

Discussion entry for Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back airing on Spike TV (or however you wish to watch it) Sunday.

So feel free to talk about the movie and what not.  And invite your friends as it is Public for now.

The reason I remember it now is I'm watching Indiana Jones and I heard Harrison Ford say Sweetheart in a very Han way and thought of SW.

I've never done this before... but I thought I'd give it a try.

I feel like when you spend time with an acquaintance there is effort you have to put into the conversation, and time you spend together, a real effort to give and take and play fair in communication. You have to be polite and careful and reflective.

When it comes to friends all bets are off, and even though it's not completely a free-for-all, it's just you being yourself, without restraints, and if there are some, then there is something other than a perfect friendship.

So this is me. I honestly tried to scare up my interest in steampunk more, but really I'm a girl who's all about airplanes and vintage cars and uboats and zeppelins, and the way radio works, and the Enigma Machine (see icon!) and Sky Captain and Hellboy and delicious things like that.

Among my most recent accomplishments, I have wrangled historically-appropriate Nazis for the local production of The Producers, made a 40's-style jacket and skirt for a WWII play and I dabble in various other projects. I just recently worked a short film superhero movie that was retro inspired. I have also been running, writing and researching a Sky Captain-based RP game for the past few years at sky_legion. I collect old textbooks about manners and textiles, and anything relating to WWII technology and airplanes. I am currently working with a guy who's restoring a 1950's airplane (C-45 Expeditor) and needs working uniforms for his crew.

( ...so, now this is me under the cut... )

I do pretty much wear that coat everyday and when it's not so cold out I will start wearing the headphones again on commutes. They were a BASTARD in the middle of winter. (I also have two mores sets of vintages parts I'm trying to assemble into other sets but I need good quality headphone bits first.)

Some other goodies:

( ...and Captain Justice!... )

A downloadable, programmable Enigma machine simulator for your desktop!
My Sky Legion Photobucket