Though most of the pictures were by Dr. Kaligawa, several others caught my eye as well, such as these giant squids, by Mr. Elilka Sieyes:
I would hate to be caught by that beast! Below, a sampling of Dr. Kaligawa's work:
Saturday, August 8, 2009
New Babbage Art Exhibit by Dr. Kaligawa
Somewhat belatedly, I made it to Dr. Katari Kaligawa's exhibit in New Babbage, at the Perdido Street Gallery, across from Pearse'd & Cut. (Hat tip to Dr. Fabre; information here.)
Though most of the pictures were by Dr. Kaligawa, several others caught my eye as well, such as these giant squids, by Mr. Elilka Sieyes:
I would hate to be caught by that beast! Below, a sampling of Dr. Kaligawa's work:
Though most of the pictures were by Dr. Kaligawa, several others caught my eye as well, such as these giant squids, by Mr. Elilka Sieyes:
I would hate to be caught by that beast! Below, a sampling of Dr. Kaligawa's work:
Friday, August 7, 2009
Regency Hospital Closes
A quick flyover tribute to the Caledon Regency Hospital, which is set to close after a dance over the weekend.
One of Regency's landmarks, the hospital has been in place longer than I have been in Caledon.
One of Regency's landmarks, the hospital has been in place longer than I have been in Caledon.
Now where can I go for strong medicine and handsome doctors? The Tamrannoch Sanitarium isn't really the same thing, is it?
Thursday, August 6, 2009
A Visit to Cavendish
Traveling past Dundee, I reached Cavenish, home to Miss Teaa Demina of M'Lady fame.
The spectacular sunrise shows that Cavendish is truly a special place to have a home, particularly once the pollution from the Steamray dissipates.
Miss Demina's house.
The stables.
The approach to the house.
And then, hovering about 200 meters above the ground, in one corner of the sim...the Apollo Theater? How...odd. Perhaps I was halucinating after so much time in the cockpit?
The spectacular sunrise shows that Cavendish is truly a special place to have a home, particularly once the pollution from the Steamray dissipates.
Miss Demina's house.
The stables.
The approach to the house.
And then, hovering about 200 meters above the ground, in one corner of the sim...the Apollo Theater? How...odd. Perhaps I was halucinating after so much time in the cockpit?
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
A Visit to Dundee
It is always an adventure to explore the North, though on occasion others end up inadvertently sharing the adventure. For example, I went to explore Dundee and, sadly, landed in Miss Chloris Arrowmint's corn garden. Sorry, ma'am; I'm sure the corn will grow just as well underground. (And many thanks for the airship wash!)
The Arrowmint House, illuminated at night.
The shop of Mr. Cheewha Palen, named Albatross, selling pirate ships and gear. Pirate ships? In Caledon? Well, it's not my business what other people choose to make their business.
Miss Hermoine Pennyfeather's tree house.
The residence of M. Juniper Easterwood.
Miss Eleanor Ocheis's cottage and gardens.
The Arrowmint House, illuminated at night.
The shop of Mr. Cheewha Palen, named Albatross, selling pirate ships and gear. Pirate ships? In Caledon? Well, it's not my business what other people choose to make their business.
Miss Hermoine Pennyfeather's tree house.
The residence of M. Juniper Easterwood.
Miss Eleanor Ocheis's cottage and gardens.
Dundee is a very pretty area, well-kept by its residents, and very quiet. I could imagine living here, but something tells me I have overstayed my welcome with that landing, and so onward...
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Great Ladies of Cookery Exhibit
New at the Whitehorn Library in Victoria City is an exhibit entitled "The Great Ladies of Cookery." This exhibit, curated by Miss Eleanor Anderton and Miss EppieBlack Wheatcliffee, and Mr. JJ Drinkwater, is at the library through October.
From the exhibit's description:
Mr. Drinkwater (left), Mr. Roy Smashcan (center, walking).
Miss Anderton (left) and Miss Wheatcliffe (right).
The wall hangings, as usual, provide notecards that direct the reader to further information or, often, Aetherweb sites of the cookbooks themselves, or information about the authors. Titles include Hannah Glasse, The Art of Cookery, Made Plain and Easy; Susannah Carter, The Frugal Housewife; Lydia Child, The Frugal Housewife, Dedicated to Those Who are not Ashamed of Economy; Fannie Merritt Farmer, Boston Cooking School Cookbook; and many others.
From the exhibit's description:
This exhibit on female cookbook authors in Britain and America, sponsored by Caledon Cuisine, takes the viewer from the kitchens of the mid-Eighteenth to those of the early Twentieth century.
During this period, publishing of any sort by women, cookbooks included, was relatively rare. While the "glamour cookbooks" of the day, detailing the dishes served at the tables of the aristocracy, were written by men, there is a distinct chronology of vastly popular cookbooks written by women, for the women who, as housewives or hired cooks, were in charge of the majority of kitchens in both town and country.
Mr. Drinkwater (left), Mr. Roy Smashcan (center, walking).
Miss Anderton (left) and Miss Wheatcliffe (right).
The wall hangings, as usual, provide notecards that direct the reader to further information or, often, Aetherweb sites of the cookbooks themselves, or information about the authors. Titles include Hannah Glasse, The Art of Cookery, Made Plain and Easy; Susannah Carter, The Frugal Housewife; Lydia Child, The Frugal Housewife, Dedicated to Those Who are not Ashamed of Economy; Fannie Merritt Farmer, Boston Cooking School Cookbook; and many others.
Monday, August 3, 2009
OOC: Why Politicians Must Hate Their Constituents
Politicians like to spend, and they don't like to tax. When they can get away with running a deficit (see: Federal government), they do so. When they cannot (see: state and local governments), they resort to a variety of tricks, including the ultimate in robbing Peter to pay Paul, begging for Federal money. At the end of the year, the budget balances because it has to.
The problem is that they're too busy spending on new programs during boom times to think about how this is all going to work out during a downturn. When property values are on the rise, increasing property tax revenue, and businesses are moving in, increasing both business and personal income tax revenue, everyone is happy. Tax rates can stay the same, spending can increase, and it's good times all around. But when revenue starts to fall - when property values fall and unemployment increases - something has to give.
In a household, when income goes down, people cut back. They go out to dinner less often, or eat cheaper cuts of meat. They don't go to Europe for vacation, they head to the local beach. They hold on to that old car a little longer. In government, the idea that they can no longer afford the extravagances of the good times is a foreign concept. They'll play games: "We saved some millions of dollars by not staffing vacant positions!" They'll shift costs to other taxpayers: "We saved $300 million by stiffing the state university system, which induced the university to institute a tuition increase to make up the $300 million." (Both examples are from the great state of Maryland, by the way.) At the same time, they'll propose new spending, on new programs. Just because they can't help themselves. Arlington, Virginia has a budget problem and plenty of privately-run places for art, but they managed to budget millions more for a publicly-run art gallery.
The one thing they can't do is cut programs and cut spending. I blame part of the problem on the fact that an increasing fraction of the electorate pays no income taxes. (Close to half no longer pay federal income taxes.) Heck, if I'm not going to pay for the new park, or for printing ballots in an obscure dialect of Mandarin, what do I care? Bring it on! But the politicians also seem incapable of saying no, especially if it's "for the children," "for the poor," "for diversity." This is how we end up with schools that cost more than $10,000 per student per year, yet produce students who are generally inadequately prepared for college; how we end up with multiple, often overlapping, programs for the poor that cost a fortune but don't actually reduce poverty; and how we create a society so concerned about racial, gender, or ethnic sensitivities that we can't talk about those topics.
Amusingly, because most people don't like taxes imposed on them (on other people - on the "rich" - sure, go right ahead, tax away; just don't tax me, buddy), but there aren't enough rich people to pay for the projects that politicians insist upon, we've seen a huge increase in taxes and fees other than the personal income tax. These range from taxes on businesses - somehow you can fool people into thinking that higher costs for businesses don't translate into higher prices for products - to taxes on "sin goods" (cigarettes and liquor), to user fees - highway tolls, higher fees at the DMV - to higher gasoline taxes, to an increased reliance on gambling revenue - state-run lotteries, casinos, sports betting, and the like. What all of these things have in common is that they are all regressive taxes; that is, the tax burden tends to be higher the lower one's income. The poor smoke at a much higher rate than the rich, so a cigarette tax hits the poor harder. The poor spend a disproportionate fraction of their income on fuel, so a gasoline tax hits the poor harder. And so on. These politicians, many of whom profess to be "progressive" (an Orwellian term itself), choose to fund their pet projects, their art galleries, their skateboard parks, and so on, on the backs of the people they profess to want to help. It would be funny if it weren't so sad.
The problem is that they're too busy spending on new programs during boom times to think about how this is all going to work out during a downturn. When property values are on the rise, increasing property tax revenue, and businesses are moving in, increasing both business and personal income tax revenue, everyone is happy. Tax rates can stay the same, spending can increase, and it's good times all around. But when revenue starts to fall - when property values fall and unemployment increases - something has to give.
In a household, when income goes down, people cut back. They go out to dinner less often, or eat cheaper cuts of meat. They don't go to Europe for vacation, they head to the local beach. They hold on to that old car a little longer. In government, the idea that they can no longer afford the extravagances of the good times is a foreign concept. They'll play games: "We saved some millions of dollars by not staffing vacant positions!" They'll shift costs to other taxpayers: "We saved $300 million by stiffing the state university system, which induced the university to institute a tuition increase to make up the $300 million." (Both examples are from the great state of Maryland, by the way.) At the same time, they'll propose new spending, on new programs. Just because they can't help themselves. Arlington, Virginia has a budget problem and plenty of privately-run places for art, but they managed to budget millions more for a publicly-run art gallery.
The one thing they can't do is cut programs and cut spending. I blame part of the problem on the fact that an increasing fraction of the electorate pays no income taxes. (Close to half no longer pay federal income taxes.) Heck, if I'm not going to pay for the new park, or for printing ballots in an obscure dialect of Mandarin, what do I care? Bring it on! But the politicians also seem incapable of saying no, especially if it's "for the children," "for the poor," "for diversity." This is how we end up with schools that cost more than $10,000 per student per year, yet produce students who are generally inadequately prepared for college; how we end up with multiple, often overlapping, programs for the poor that cost a fortune but don't actually reduce poverty; and how we create a society so concerned about racial, gender, or ethnic sensitivities that we can't talk about those topics.
Amusingly, because most people don't like taxes imposed on them (on other people - on the "rich" - sure, go right ahead, tax away; just don't tax me, buddy), but there aren't enough rich people to pay for the projects that politicians insist upon, we've seen a huge increase in taxes and fees other than the personal income tax. These range from taxes on businesses - somehow you can fool people into thinking that higher costs for businesses don't translate into higher prices for products - to taxes on "sin goods" (cigarettes and liquor), to user fees - highway tolls, higher fees at the DMV - to higher gasoline taxes, to an increased reliance on gambling revenue - state-run lotteries, casinos, sports betting, and the like. What all of these things have in common is that they are all regressive taxes; that is, the tax burden tends to be higher the lower one's income. The poor smoke at a much higher rate than the rich, so a cigarette tax hits the poor harder. The poor spend a disproportionate fraction of their income on fuel, so a gasoline tax hits the poor harder. And so on. These politicians, many of whom profess to be "progressive" (an Orwellian term itself), choose to fund their pet projects, their art galleries, their skateboard parks, and so on, on the backs of the people they profess to want to help. It would be funny if it weren't so sad.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Perenelle and Queen Victoria Harbour
When Dame Ordinal decided to sell Caledon Perenelle, people wondered whether this northern outpost of the Empiah might disappear under the sea. Fortunately, the area changed hands almost immediately, being purchased by Mr. Ambiant Kukulcan, erstwhile Duke of Glamorgan, Miss Anna Darwinian, and Mr. Peter2 Veliz. They began building almost immediately, transforming the meteor-pocked island into the slightly piratical Steampunk area it is today.
Above, Queen Victoria Harbour, with a statue of the good lady at the far end. The area contains a number of shoppes.
Other parts of the area as more rustic and private.
The harbor on the southeast side has more shops, including Amazing Steam, Miss Darwinian's Caldon Adventures Store, Veliz Horologists, and Mr. Veliz's Chandeliers and Lighting.
Above, Queen Victoria Harbour, with a statue of the good lady at the far end. The area contains a number of shoppes.
Other parts of the area as more rustic and private.
The harbor on the southeast side has more shops, including Amazing Steam, Miss Darwinian's Caldon Adventures Store, Veliz Horologists, and Mr. Veliz's Chandeliers and Lighting.
I assume that when they warn of pirates, they speak not of the prices in the stores!
Saturday, August 1, 2009
The World's Largest Top Hat
Found in one of the IBM sims, just next to IBM 3 and the Bryn Oh exhibit. The sphere takes up nearly an entire sim, just to give some perspective. The top hat requires someone with a really big ego.
The Tale of the Rabbicorn
In her latest exhibit, Bryn Oh tells the story of the Rabbicorn through both words and accompanying images. ("Images"? We need a new word. "Sculptures" isn't quite right, either. "Dioramas"? "Three-dimensional constructs"? At any rate, one sees stuff.) The Rabbicorn is a mechanical creature, part rabbit and part unicorn, made "From Tesla coils/And a music box/Parts of a gramophone/And fur from a fox."
Somehow, the creature has emotions, which are unleashed when she (don't ask how the Rabbicorn has gender) is given to a child as a birthday present.
The story is told in stages. At each stage, there is a piece of parchment paper, upon which is a segment of a poem, and a room that provides some visual accompaniment for the words.
The exhibit includes a machima of an earlier work in Miss Oh's Immersiva sim; this provides some back story for the tale of the Rabbicorn.
Not being blessed with the artistic mind, I must say that some of the exhibit baffles me. For example, the purpose of the shimmering lights (see the left side of the first picture) is far from clear. The story is cute and touching, though it contains more than a little echo of the mechanical-man-with-a-heart theme that runs from the Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz, to Pinnochio, to a number of Isaac Asimov's robot stories.
Somehow, the creature has emotions, which are unleashed when she (don't ask how the Rabbicorn has gender) is given to a child as a birthday present.
The story is told in stages. At each stage, there is a piece of parchment paper, upon which is a segment of a poem, and a room that provides some visual accompaniment for the words.
The exhibit includes a machima of an earlier work in Miss Oh's Immersiva sim; this provides some back story for the tale of the Rabbicorn.
Not being blessed with the artistic mind, I must say that some of the exhibit baffles me. For example, the purpose of the shimmering lights (see the left side of the first picture) is far from clear. The story is cute and touching, though it contains more than a little echo of the mechanical-man-with-a-heart theme that runs from the Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz, to Pinnochio, to a number of Isaac Asimov's robot stories.
Still, the whole thing has a very Steampunk aesthetic, and is quite enjoyable. I don't know how long the exhibit will remain, so visit while you can.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)