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A Victorian Steampunk Shoot by Chemistry Photography

A few days ago, Airship Ambassador tweeted about a shoot by Chemistry Photography.

The post published on Rock n Roll Bride tells it all: “Time travel. Steampunk. Victoriana. Turn of the century industrialism. If you love any of these things then you’re going to die over this shoot, sent over from Ireland by the fabulous Chemistry Photography.”

Photographer Kait told Kat Williams, aka the Rock n Roll Bride:

“I had been OBSESSING about steampunking out my iMac, my iPhone, and just about every electronic device I own for a few months. So when Kathryn contacted me and said she was dying to do a creative shoot together… it was the first idea that popped into my head. I had been waiting for a good excuse to buy steampunk goggles and a discombulating ray gun. If I were to get married again, I would definitely have a Steampunk wedding. All the elegant goodness of a vintage, Victorian wedding without sacrificing sass and quirk.”

This obsession is amazing! You can visit Chemistry Photography website, check the many photos of the shoot on Rock n Roll Bride and below, watch this exquisite video!

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Higgs boson may be a reality!

So exciting! This morning I’ve read the news everywhere on the Internet:

The ATLAS and CMS experiments at CERN today presented their latest results in the search for the long-sought Higgs boson. Both experiments see strong indications for the presence of a new particle, which could be the Higgs boson, in the mass region around 126 gigaelectronvolts (GeV).

Can you imagine how it would change our understanding of the Universe? Amazing!

You can visit CERN website and for the non-specialists, read this article. You can also read Max Dana’s post about it, she is even more excited than me about the Higgs boson!

A proton-proton collision event in the CMS experiment producing two high-energy photons (red towers).
This is what we would expect to see from the decay of a Higgs boson
but it is also consistent with background Standard Model physics processes. © CERN 2012

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Follow me on Twitter @MaxVonSama !

Great news, you can now follow me on Twitter! I thought it could be cool to tweet about my trip so I created a Twitter account.

I’m new to it but I’m already following 35 people. They are all very interesting, I love reading about Steampunk, science, art…

If you read this blog, then please follow me on Twitter as well: @MaxVonSama.

When you do, don’t forget to say Hi.
Talk to you later, tweeps! 🙂

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Colorado Springs fire can be seen from Space!

Reuters recently reported that authorities have discovered a second body in the debris of a burned-out home in Colorado Springs. This marks the second fatality from a fierce wildfire that ranks as the most destructive in Colorado’s history, having incinerated 347 homes. Police confirmed the devastating toll.

I may not have a foot on Earth, but I know that an estimated 18,500 acres have burned, forcing hundreds of people to flee their homes. The image shows homes in Colorado Springs (AP Photo/The Denver Post, RJ Sangosti).

How do I know this, besides reading the news like everyone else on Earth? Well, I can actually see the Colorado Springs fire from space! The International Space Station captured incredible footage of wildfires blazing across the western U.S., including Colorado.

I can’t even begin to imagine the devastation on the ground…

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Salon du Vintage in Paris next month!

Dear readers, if you live in Paris, don’t miss the Salon du Vintage! It will take place July 6-7 2012, at Espace d’Animation des Blancs Manteaux (in the renown ‘Marais’ of Paris).

The press release is in French but the program of events is promising: music from the 80s, vintage fashion (clothes, shoes…), make-up a la 50s. A ‘vintage bar’ will also offer you some vintage drinks and food…

Entrance is free. The event will last 3 days. More info here!

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Willem Dafoe and others wearing Steampunk clothes

Prada got inspired by the Steampunk world with this new line. And I never thought Willem Dafoe would wear Steampunk clothes so well.

Tor.com posted about it and was also pleasantly surprised:

High end fashion line Prada has just unveiled photos and video of actors Willem “Green Goblin” Dafoe, Gary “Commissioner Sirius Black” Oldman, Garrett “Sam Flynn” Hedlund, and Jamie “TinTin Billy Elliot” Bell wearing their heavily steampunk-influenced fall/winter menswear line.

And I totally agree with their last sentence: ‘Somehow, watching Willem Dafoe psych himself up for his evil glare is even scarier than his actual glare…‘. Howesome!

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Steampunk alarm clock & ‘Beautiful lepers’ by anXiogene

anXiogene is a multi-faceted French artist from the city of Caen. I have been following her work for some time now and she is very talented.

Annliz Bonin, a.k.a anXiogene, works with mechanisms and makes beautiful Steampunk alarm clocks; she creates unique dolls and her creative world is diverse, varied and filled with unexpected, surprising and sometimes even sexy creatures… She also created with Futuravapeur, the fantastic ‘Historiettes de Monsieur Sandalette’ (uchronic short stories I will come back to it soon).

I selected two pictures to illustrate anXiogene’s work. The first one is her latest alarm clock (left picture); the other one is from a serie of photographs taken in 2010 titled: ‘Belles lépreuses’ (‘Beautiful lepers’), with voluptuously gorgeous models ana and noémie.

I invite you to visit her website. Even if you don’t speak French, the pictures talk for themselves…

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Doctor Who actress Caroline John dies aged 71

Sad news for Doctor Who fans who watched the show back in the Seventies and the Eighties: British actress Caroline John, known to many for playing Doctor Who companion Liz Shaw, has died at the age of 71.

John played Liz Shaw in four Doctor Who adventures in 1970, later reprising her role in 1983’s The Five Doctors. Full story on BBC website.

Below, a video tribute to the actress titled ‘Doctor Who R.I.P: Our Brilliant Caroline John (Elizabeth Shaw)‘.

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Highlight notifies you when friends are nearby

I just read the news on CNN: ‘Highlight works by allowing a small online cloud of personal information to follow a user wherever their cellphone goes. Whenever two users pass in the street or walk into the same venue, Highlight compares their data and alerts them to things they share in common, such as friends, music or favorite TV shows.’

According to this article, since its launch in January, Highlight has received positive reviews from tech-industry journalists and was one of the most heavily hyped apps this spring at SXSW Interactive. A similar app, Glancee, was snapped up by Facebook in May.

I don’t know what to think about this app. It’s cool to meet with your friends and even with strangers with mutual interests when they are nearby. But it can also be very dangerous and Highlight has already been called the ‘stalker app’…

On the other hand, I would love to use this app to meet new people in the Universe. I feel quite alone right now… Hopefully, I know I have your full support! 🙂

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SETIcon II, June 22 -24, 2012 in Santa Clara, California

SETIcon (June 22 -24, 2012) is organized by the SETI Institute and it is a public event where science and imagination meet.

I wish I could attend SETIcon II but unfortunately and as you probably know, I’m not on Earth right now and I still don’t know yet how to teleport or travel through time…

But since you obviously are on Earth, maybe some of you living near Santa Clara, California, will attend the great event.

SETIcon brings together innovative scientists, science fiction authors, space and science artists, space lovers, and the curious and adventurous everywhere for a 3-day public celebration and exploration of space, real science, technology, imagination, and science education.

There is no other event in the world like SETIcon that explores space and the human imagination through the lens of real science, attracting global interest and participation. This is not a science conference with technical lectures (SETI Institute scientists lecture all over the world).

Instead we’ll bring together scientists with authors and artists to celebrate science and exchange ideas around space exploration and our place in the cosmos. SETIcon will create a new channel of discussion between Earthlings where real science and imagination will meet.

Note that SETIcon is also about music: Sheldon Reynolds, a star of the band Earth, Wind and Fire, will perform his hit, “Shining Star,” for Jill Tarter’s Gala on Saturday, June 23rd.