Steampunk Addie Paints the Sky

American Girl

It's here, it's here, it's really, really here!

While some might be rejoicing in American Girl's release of the 2013 Girl of the Year, Saige Copeland, I am rejoicing in her accessories.

Specifically, Saige's Hot Air Balloon Set.

Steampunk Addie Saige loves to soar high above the mountains with her dad! This high-flying set includes:

• A beautiful, colorful inflatable nylon hot air balloon with a basket that's big enough for a doll to stand inside and a door that swings open
• Faux binoculars that can hang around her neck
• A mini map of Albuquerque to track where they're floating
• A pilot's log book for her notes about balloon flights
• A faux camera, for capturing beautiful memories
• A messenger bag that's roomy enough to store everything inside

And at a whopping 49.5 inches high by 24 inches wide, it's big enough for both me and Clementine!

The Royal Society for Creative Anachronism

Aardman Features

Ahh, those pirates have it all.

(Including Me.)

Not only do they have their magnificent sailing vessel, they also use a hot air balloon and board an impressive steam ship, The Queen Victoria I.

And one or two "anachronisms" such as Post-it Notes and dental floss.

(And people say time travel is not possible.)

If you doubt Me, go see The Pirates! Band of Misfits.

You may want to take up piracy yourself.

Who needs pixie dust?

My Big Sister is a genius!

While looking for party supplies for her upcoming birthday, she spotted this beauty and said it would be perfect for Me:

An Inflatable Pirate Ship Cooler.

Stash your party beverages in this chilling ship! Cooler is made of plastic and measures approximately 41" wide x 23" deep x 15" high. 

Now all I need is some helium or hydrogen and I'm all set to take to the skies.

Watch out Captain Hook!

The Lincoln Funeral Train

The only thing that could draw me from my beloved balloons would be a train.

Until I looked at the prices. Especially this beauty:

By April 1865, the Union had prevailed over the Confederacy, and the Iron Horse connected towns and cities across the nation and its territories. The Nashville, a 4-4-0 American-type locomotive built by the Cuyahoga Steam Furnace Company during the 1850s, was a stalwart on the Cleveland, Columbus & Cincinnati Railroad.

After Lincoln was shot at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C., Secretary of War Edwin Stanton took charge of arranging Lincoln’s funeral, and for the body to be transported back to Springfield, Illinois. Though Mary Todd Lincoln, the president’s widow, was insisting on a simple and direct burial, Stanton’s plan evolved into a national journey involving numerous elaborate ceremonies. 

On April 21, the remains of the president and his son Willie, who had died in 1863, were placed in the United States for a journey that roughly retraced the inaugural train trip four year earlier. Of the approximately 20 different locomotives that would carry the father and son home over 1,600 miles of track, the Nashville, which pulled the funeral consist over the CC&C’s rails in Ohio, would become the most famous.

With the assistance of Wayne Wesolowski, Retired Director of the Benedictine University Lincoln Train Project, Lionel now offers this important train with full mourning decoration in 1:48 scale as part of the Heritage Series of 19th century steam locomotives. 

All yours for a mere $799. Plus $299 for the two additional cars below.

Gulp.

To sleep, perchance to dream

Rarely do I sleep, but who can resist when the pillow of her dreams arrives courtesy of Momma's bestie Jennifer.

So here's a sneaky shot Momma got of me snuggling down to sleep with both my new zeppelin pillow and the tin zeppelin I got for Christmas.

Kinda reminds me of the 1983 song "Sweet Dreams" by the British pop music duo Eurythmics, Annie Lennox and David A. Stewart.

Sweet dreams are made of this
Who am I to disagree?
I travel the world and the seven seas
Everybody's looking for something.

All I ask is a tall ship

I am now firmly convinced that Momma's friend Jen can crochet anything. Take a look at this beauty, which puts me in mind of the poem Sea-Fever.

http://justforfun2291.blogspot.com/

Sea-Fever is a poem by 20th century English Poet Laureate John Masefield which includes the line "all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by."

Captain James T. Kirk first quoted from Sea-Fever in TOS: The Ultimate Computer to Leonard McCoy.

Kirk quoted from the poem again in ST: The Final Frontier while aboard a shuttlecraft approaching the Enterprise-A in one of the best scenes from Star Trek movies: 

Kirk: All I ask is a tall ship, and a star to steer by. 
McCoy: Melville... 
Spock: ...John Masefield. 
McCoy: Are you sure about that?
Spock: I am well versed in the classics, Doctor. 
McCoy: Then how come you don't know "Row, Row, Row Your Boat"?

And finally, Quark paraphrased it in DS9: Little Green Men while aboard his ship Quark's Treasure, saying "all I ask is a tall ship...and a load of contraband to fill her with."

I agree with Quark and Jen's ship needs a tiny pirate flag.

Sea-Fever

I must down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,
And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea's face, and a grey dawn breaking.

I must down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.

I must down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull's way and the whale's way where the wind's like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over.

http://craftyiscool.blogspot.com

Jokingly, I asked if she could crochet me a zeppelin. Then I found this.

Oh Jen....

Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night

I don't know about you but I am exhausted, and look rather like Randy in these two scenes from A Christmas Story.

Momma (and Santa) outdid themselves this year. This is what I got:

Golden Kung Fu Cannon

Launch an awesome assault! This Exclusive Fisher-Price Kung Fu Panda Golden Cannon with Wolf is an action packed cannon launcher! Load up the balls and aim at the targets. Press down on the cannon to fire! Includes: cannon, 3 balls, 3 targets and an exclusive Wolf figure.

Schylling Zeppelin Ornament

This Miniature Tin Toy Ornament was inspired by the classic tin toys from the 1920's and 30's. Making Tin Toys is a dying art. A single piece of this ornament can require 6 or more processes to create its final shape. Each ornament is then hand assembled from up to to 24 of these single pieces.

It is easy to see why tin toys were quickly abandoned when plastic was developed. Now, tin toys are sought after by collectors around the world.

Uglydoll - 4" Ice-Bat Clip

Wage, Babo, and the Uglydolls decide to go on a sort of Ninja type mystery adventure...a sort of quest. The mission? You know the cookies and snack foods youve been munching on? Yeah they want some of those. Or more than just some. Probably all. Ice-Bat lives in the freezer. Yeah but can he crash at your freezer while he's on this whole Ninja mystery mission adventure dealio? 

God bless us, every one!

The flight of the Polar Express

http://www.marcgabbana.com/default.php?content_id=19&img_id=345

Have you seen the 2004 moving picture, The Polar Express? While I like the 1985 book better, what's not to like about a movie that has both a train AND an airship?

Can you guess who was piloting that airship over Santa's square?

It wasn't the first time either.

Polar explorers have been interested in airships from the beginning. American airship pioneer Walter Wellman flew a dirigible inside the Arctic Circle in 1907 and made two more attempts in 1909 and 1910.

The Graf Zeppelin’s 1931 Arctic Flight was both a scientific expedition and a dramatic display of the airship’s ability under extreme conditions.

The five-stage flight covered 8270.45 miles in 136:26 hours between July 24–31, 1931, and literally changed the map of the Arctic region with the information obtained during the flight.

The major costs of the expedition were met largely by sale of special postage stamps issued by both Germany and the Soviet Union. About 50,000 cards and letters were collected from around the world weighing a total of about 661 pounds. The rendezvous ship carried another 265 pounds of mail to exchange.
 

Who were those letters for? Santa?

 

Dumas vs. Verne

What would have happened if Jules Verne wrote The Three Musketeers instead of Alexandre Dumas?

Something like this, I'd wager.

I admit I'm not a purist. I like it when someone can give a fresh look to something that has been done a thousand times before.

I love Guy Ritchie's version of Sherlock Holmes so I admit my curiosity is piqued by this alternate take (one scathing review said "steampunk'd"!) of The Three Musketeers.

But imagine my excitment when I learned they have a flying war machine!!!  From the same review:

Leonardo da Vinci, we learn, has drawn up plans for a deadly flying “war machine,” a combination of dirigible and seafaring galleon. In the prologue Athos, Aramis and Porthos sneak into Venice on a special-ops mission.

Woo hoo! Count me in!

My only difficulty is choosing which boots to wear since nothing can compare to those worn in the movie....

Full of hot air

Two important dates should be noted today in the history of aviation:

• Oct. 15, 1783 – The Montgolfier brothers' hot air balloon made its first human ascent with Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier in a tethered balloon. It made its first non-tethered flight with a human on Nov. 21, 1783.
  
  
• Oct. 15, 1910 – The airship America launched from Atlantic City, N.J., in the first attempt to cross the Atlantic by a powered aircraft. The airship had gone east of New Hampshire and south of Nova Scotia when the engines failed and it drifted south. Thirty-three hours and 1,370 miles later, the crew were rescued west of Bermuda. The first successful aerial crossing of the Atlantic came nine years later.

The house next door

The girls asked Me today if I would take them to see 5135 Kensington Avenue.

I was happy to oblige and they filled Me in on the story as we headed over.

Sam, Ruth, and Josefina Ester try to get me to hide!

The well-off Smith family lives there with four daughters and a son.

The family was shocked when Mr. Smith revealed that he had been transferred to New York, which meant that the family had to leave St. Louis before the St. Louis World's Fair!

Mr. Smith later announced that the family would not leave St. Louis when he realized how much the move would affect his family. And the whole family has been able to attend the World's Fair.

The story ends at night with everyone overlooking the lake at the center of the World's Fair just as the lights come up on the entire fair.

Sounds like a pretty good story to Me. Maybe someone could make it a moving picture someday and call it, Meet Me in St. Louis.

The 1904 St. Louis World's Fair
Daily Calendar 

Wednesday, Aug. 31, 1904

• Mining Gulch Day, 10,000 free watermelons given out
• Bulgaria's V.I. Exhibits opened
• Two simultaneous marriages took place on Observation Wheel
• Eagle Day

O Captain! my Captain!

Sam expressed interest is seeing my "newfangled" airship, The Enterprise, so I arranged for a private tour.

Not that it's hard when you're the Captain.

She was surprised that the blueprints were in German but I reminded her that I met Ferdinand von Zeppelin in 1863 when he acted as an observer for the Union Army Balloon Corps during the American Civil War.

I like to think I helped spur his interest in dirigibles and flight, so when I asked for my own little zeppelin he was happy to oblige. 

Sam, Ruth, and Josefina Ester seem impressed with my floating bookmobile. Sam wants to know if I can fly them (including Uncle Gard) back home to New York once they're ready to leave the World's Fair.

I don't know if she'll be so eager once she finds out how cold it can get up there....

We're fairly stuffed

Sam, Josefina Ester, Ruth and I check out my favorite exhibition.

Sam, Ruth, Josefina Ester, and I are having a grand time at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair! 

Samantha and Ruth are both from New York. Sam is curious about everything and Uncle Gard is accompanying the girls along with a maid as a chaperone. Ruth is a Society girl who wants to be where all the fashionable people are. New York City is great but St. Louis is where it's at right now.

(Samantha wanted to know if I arrived in one of those newfangled airships that are on display. Of course! Now, if I can just figure out how to get her on board the Enterprise....)

Josefina Ester is a first generation American who lives in St. Louis so she can show us where everything is! Her parents immigrated to St. Louis from Palermo, Sicily. She is named after her grandfather (Joseph) and her grandmother (Ester). Her father is a shoemaker and has his own shop in St. Louis. Her mother stays at home. Josefina Ester is an only child.

Her family and some other Sicilian immigrants are part of the Italian Pavillion at the Fair. She is very interested in many of the science exhibits.

Waffle ice cream cones

We've been busy taking in the sights ... and eating lots of yummy goodies!

Thankfully for us, doll food is calorie free!

As I mentioned yesterday, a number of foods claimed to have been invented at the Fair including the waffle-style ice cream cone, the hamburger, hot dog, and peanut butter. (It is more likely, however, that these food items were first introduced to mass audiences and popularized by the fair.) 

Cheeseburger with french fries

If you (or your doll) are now drooling over these luscious foods, drool no more! I can't recommend Pippaloo's doll food enough. She's the artiste who sculpted these luscious creations.

Don't they look good enough to eat?

Pippaloo creates realistic polymer clay food for your American Girl or other 18-inch doll. All items in her shop are ready to ship. She strives to make unique and high quality products that will delight dolls and their owners alike.

Hot dog with mustard

According to Pippaloo, "My polymer clay obsession started out quite innocently when my two young girls asked me to make some cookies for our American Girl dolls. Dismayed by the lack of realism and incorrect scale of so many of the foods that AG makes, I soon found myself on a mission. That was about four years ago. As you can no doubt imagine, we now have some very well fed dolls."

Are your dolls craving something specific? She is always happy to do custom orders. Custom orders can take from one to three weeks to complete, depending on the request.

Peanut butter and jelly

Food items are crafted from polymer clay and are in perfect 1:3 scale for American Girl dolls.

Because of the realistic nature and scale of the food, these items are not intended for children under the age of 6. Her food is not for human consumption - it is only tasty to dolls!

All items are crafted by Pippaloo in her smoke-free home studio.

Since all her clay food is handmade, no two will be exactly alike - but each piece you receive will look as realistic and scrumptious as the ones pictured. 

Now, what should I try next....

On the Net: http://www.etsy.com/shop/pippaloo

The 1904 St. Louis World's Fair
Daily Calendar

Tuesday, Aug. 30, 1904

• Improved Order of Heptasophs
• Olympic Marathon Race, temperature over 90 degrees. Fred Lorz crosses finish line, but had ridden a car for 11 miles. Thomas Hicks won the race, but required assistance after taking strychnine and raw eggs.

Viva la Vega!

Those magnificent women in their flying machines!

Amelia Earhart became the first woman to make a solo transcontinental nonstop flight across the United States, when she took off from Los Angeles on Aug. 24, 1932 and landed her Lockheed Vega at the Newark Airport in New Jersey 19 hours later. She established a women's record of 19 hours and 5 minutes and set a women's distance record of 2,447 miles. 

The Dallas Morning News reported on Aug. 26, 1932: 

When the aviatrix stepped wearily from the cockpit of her ship after landing, an enthusiastic crowd, predominantly female, rushed out to greet her, and almost knocked her over.

“Don’t come near me. If you knew what I feel like—” 

She threw her hands up in a tired gesture. When photographers asked her to smile, she told them, “I don’t feel like smiling. I’m too tired.” 

There was a broad smile on her face a moment later, however, as she asked the cameramen, “how’s this?”

While it's a great photo of Amelia, this is sooo undignified. 

And now it's time for silly songs with Addie

Are ya ready kids?

Aye, aye captain!

I can't heeaar yoouu!

AYE, AYE CAPTAIN!

Oooh.........

Who lives in an airship, where else would she be?
Steam Punk A-ddie!
Observant and curious, time traveler is she.
Steam Punk A-ddie!

If aeronautical nonsense be what you wish.
Steam Punk A-ddie!
Then drop by her blog to see what she'll dish.
Steam Punk A-ddie!

Steam Punk A-ddie,
Steam Punk A-ddie,
Steam Punk A-ddie,
Steam Puuunk A-ddie!

With apologies to SpongeBob SquarePants

Under the brave black flag I fly

Miss Sparrow liked My flag idea but gave me a couple of suggestions.

So here we have it!

Do you think this is a Worthy Flag for the first floating bookmobile?

Now, to find Betsy Ross....

Come Josefina, in my flying machine

Betsy and Tacy Go Downtown

I think this New Business Venture has gone to My Dear Miss Sparrow's head.

I walked into the library today to show her my idea for our floating bookmobile's flag and found her humming this song: 

Oh! Say! Let us fly, dear
Where, kid? To the sky, dear
Oh you flying machine
Jump in, Miss Josephine
Ship ahoy! Oh joy, what a feeling
Where, boy? In the ceiling
Ho, High, Hoopla we fly
To the sky so high

Come Josephine in my flying machine
Going up she goes! Up she goes!
Balance yourself like a bird on a beam
In the air she goes! There she goes!
Up, up, a little bit higher
Oh! My! The moon is on fire
Come Josephine in my flying machine
Going up, all on, Goodbye!

Alfred Bryan / Fred Fischer, 1910

Hmm, I wonder if she'd like to be addressed as Josefina?

She had a cozy little face,with half a dozen tiny moles. Her eyes were black and dancing. Her hair was black too, curly and untidy.

Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me

I have decided What I am going to do when I Retire from the Union Army Balloon Corps!

Having Tasted the Aeronaut life, I shan't give it up, so I shall become an Air Pirate and go by the name, The Dred Pirate Scott. 

Why?

The Name is the important thing for inspiring the Necessary Fear. You see, no one would surrender to the Dread Pirate Addie.

So I shall be known Throughout the Skies as the Dred Pirate Scott - paying homage to the African-American slave who sued unsuccessfully for his freedom and that of his wife and their two daughters in the Dred Scott v. Sandford case of 1857, popularly known as "the Dred (Pirate) Scott Decision."

But don't worry, I shall only take from the Rich and give to the Poor. 

We're beggars and blighters and ne'er do-well cads,
Stand up me 'earties, yo ho.
Aye, but we're loved by our Mommas and dads,
Stand up me 'earties, yo ho.
Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me.

 

The crux of the matter is about Me

I was going to write about fires since Arizona (where Momma now lives) is Burning Badly when I found out I got some publicity on Another Blog.

It's About Time others started Noticing Me!

Momma's friend Jennifer is an Incredibly Talented Crocheter who has produced Many Fine doll items (Weasley sweaters for Harry and Ginny and dirigible plum accessories for Luna) but Nothing for Me. Until now!

My Horcrux Adventure with Steampunk Addie

I've been friends with Steampunk Addie's Momma for more than 30 years. So, when the HPKCHC assignment for Muggle Studies was to make a doll or something for a doll... I knew just who to ask for help.

 I should think so!

These horcruxes sound like Evil of the Worst Kind so I shall take Great Pleasure destroying them with my new aether pistol. (I've discovered that while it only Stuns people it destroys Evil objects!)

Hmm, I wonder if He Who Must Not be Named is behind the Arizona fires? It seems like the Dastardly kind of thing He would do....

On the Net: http://justforfun2291.blogspot.com/2011/06/my-horcrux-adventure-with-steampunk.html

Up, up and away

I think it is safe to reveal this now, but I served as a Union spy during the Civil War.

Something you might have suspected since I have spoken freely of my work for the Underground, but not all my work was underground. Sometimes it was 500 feet up in the air!

How did I accomplish that marvelous feat, you ask? By volunteering as an Aeronaut.

But how did this come about? My work for the Underground had become well known. My eyes and my color made spying easy. Then I gained a reputation with my unusually stout parasol, made by Momma. (It's too short to function well as a parasol but it's dandy as a self-defense weapon!)

I also trained myself as a detective and became proficient with a magnifying glass. (I became interested in its use after reading future Sherlock Holmes books.)

So after reading about the formation of the Union Army Balloon Corps I raced over to HQ to volunteer my services.

At first I was mocked and ridiculed ("A girl! In the Army!!"), but I persevered and eventually won them over after demonstrating my varied and unique skills.

So I  was trained in the use of a telescope (which I admit was hard with my eyes and I still prefer my binoculars) and my very own aether pistol! Don't worry, the pistol was permanently set on "Stun."

The Balloon Corps and I served the Union Army from October 1861 until the summer of 1863, when it was disbanded. I got to participate in four major battles though: Bull Run, Yorktown, Fair Oaks and Vicksburg.

Now you might be wondering, how did I manage all that when I didn't reach Philadelphia until 1864? Did you forget my TARDIS?

But what else could I possibly do when I belatedly read about Thaddeus S. C. Lowe, who met with U.S. President Abraham Lincoln on July 11, 1861, and proposed a demonstration with his own balloon, the Enterprise.

The Enterprise, really! How could I resist that!