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Well, Shit...
The Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) has issued a "boil water" notice to all communities east of Weston, MA. (List of affected communities here.)
ETA: Aaaaaand the MWRA is getting slammed, so the page is down. However, the homepage has a map of the affected communities, and the MWRA also has an alternate link. Beware the ridiculous load times.
Crap. My town is on the list. I've got a pot on the stove now to boil up some water. Crap. Crap. Crap.
Apparently the whole thing was triggered by a water main break that's dumping 8 million gallons of water an hour into the Charles River. So, the system's been shut down, and emergency water supplies have been brought online. The backup water supply is safe for bathing, flushing the toilet, and putting out forest fires, but not much else.
Perfect news after coming home from the Steampunk Festival, which turned out to be a reminder of why Steampunkers sometimes drive me bonkers.
Lemme explain.
First off, I'm a history nut. I love history. All of it. But New England history really gives me heart-pounding, palm-sweaty love. A big part of New England history is the Industrial Revolution, from which Steampunk draws a lot of its aesthetic.
So, here I am in a museum dedicated to the Industrial Revolution located right in the heart of Ground Zero of the Industrial Revolution at a Steampunk Festival. The museum, which had been badly damaged in last month's flooding along the Charles and is closed opened its doors specifically for the festival.
Now, yes, parts of the museum were inaccessible due to the flood damage, but there were also a lot of exhibits that were still in place and could be easily perused by visitors.
Like, for example, actual steam-powered and belt-powered equipment, and the huuuuuuuuuuge exhibit about clockworks. We're talking the real deal that's bigger than life, some which is hands-on, you-can-operate-it type exhibits.
A marriage made in heaven, right? You'd think the exhibits that were accessible would be packed with Steampunkers geeking out over having access to the actual equipment that was used in the actual Victorian era.
And if you thought that, you'd be wrong.
Maybe a quarter of the people bothered to even look at the real deal. An even smaller percentage (me included) were geeking out over the real deal. The vast majority of attendees couldn't even be bothered, even though they were spending money hand-over-fist in the dealer's room for the fake stuff. What's more? Most of the fake stuff looked fake when compared to the real the thing.
*sighs*
I do not understand this. At all.
In any case, the museum itself was very cool. I plan to go back when it re-opens its doors in October so that I can spend a few hours falling in love with 19th Century machinery. As it was, I read every placard I could find on the U.S. Patent Office and the process of filing patents.
What? Stop looking at me like that.
Other than that bit that drove me crazy, most of the attendees were friendly and nice. I would even argue that they were a better-behaved lot than you'd find at your standard SF convention.
Of course, I got sucked into watching the blacksmith for almost two hours. I have a fascination with blacksmithing that I honestly can't explain. I can watch a blacksmith work for hours as they turn bits of metal into something truly beautiful. Would I want to do it myself? Not a chance. But get me near an actual forge and you've pretty much lost me for the duration.
All and all, it was a fun kind of different with bonus cheap entry fee. Other than the blatant ignoring of history going on, the Steampunk Festival was actually a pretty good time.
ETA: Aaaaaand the MWRA is getting slammed, so the page is down. However, the homepage has a map of the affected communities, and the MWRA also has an alternate link. Beware the ridiculous load times.
Crap. My town is on the list. I've got a pot on the stove now to boil up some water. Crap. Crap. Crap.
Apparently the whole thing was triggered by a water main break that's dumping 8 million gallons of water an hour into the Charles River. So, the system's been shut down, and emergency water supplies have been brought online. The backup water supply is safe for bathing, flushing the toilet, and putting out forest fires, but not much else.
Perfect news after coming home from the Steampunk Festival, which turned out to be a reminder of why Steampunkers sometimes drive me bonkers.
Lemme explain.
First off, I'm a history nut. I love history. All of it. But New England history really gives me heart-pounding, palm-sweaty love. A big part of New England history is the Industrial Revolution, from which Steampunk draws a lot of its aesthetic.
So, here I am in a museum dedicated to the Industrial Revolution located right in the heart of Ground Zero of the Industrial Revolution at a Steampunk Festival. The museum, which had been badly damaged in last month's flooding along the Charles and is closed opened its doors specifically for the festival.
Now, yes, parts of the museum were inaccessible due to the flood damage, but there were also a lot of exhibits that were still in place and could be easily perused by visitors.
Like, for example, actual steam-powered and belt-powered equipment, and the huuuuuuuuuuge exhibit about clockworks. We're talking the real deal that's bigger than life, some which is hands-on, you-can-operate-it type exhibits.
A marriage made in heaven, right? You'd think the exhibits that were accessible would be packed with Steampunkers geeking out over having access to the actual equipment that was used in the actual Victorian era.
And if you thought that, you'd be wrong.
Maybe a quarter of the people bothered to even look at the real deal. An even smaller percentage (me included) were geeking out over the real deal. The vast majority of attendees couldn't even be bothered, even though they were spending money hand-over-fist in the dealer's room for the fake stuff. What's more? Most of the fake stuff looked fake when compared to the real the thing.
*sighs*
I do not understand this. At all.
In any case, the museum itself was very cool. I plan to go back when it re-opens its doors in October so that I can spend a few hours falling in love with 19th Century machinery. As it was, I read every placard I could find on the U.S. Patent Office and the process of filing patents.
What? Stop looking at me like that.
Other than that bit that drove me crazy, most of the attendees were friendly and nice. I would even argue that they were a better-behaved lot than you'd find at your standard SF convention.
Of course, I got sucked into watching the blacksmith for almost two hours. I have a fascination with blacksmithing that I honestly can't explain. I can watch a blacksmith work for hours as they turn bits of metal into something truly beautiful. Would I want to do it myself? Not a chance. But get me near an actual forge and you've pretty much lost me for the duration.
All and all, it was a fun kind of different with bonus cheap entry fee. Other than the blatant ignoring of history going on, the Steampunk Festival was actually a pretty good time.
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You'd love our farrier..he makes all his own horseshoes and it's so neat to see a little bar of steel get all redhot on his forge and then turn into a real work of horseshoe art. He's actually won some huge international competitions, so he's the real deal when it comes to farriers.
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I'm like that with glass blowing. Corning Museum of Glass is one of my most favorite places ever, partly because they usually have someone demonstrating one or another of their amazing techniques.
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To put it charitably, though, steampunk seems to be more about the alternate reality subculture than historical recreation.
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Did you notice Dr. Wang's computer behind the Higgins Armoury table?
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I do not understand your fellow attendees; that sounds like an amazing opportunity to explore such a fascinating and topical museum.
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Hope it's not too much of a hassle for you!
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Science programming tends to be well-attended, but that actually means a smallish proportion of the attendees.
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Did they have any clockwork toys at the museum? I love them. I once saw a working clockwork doll from Victorian times. It could "draw" a picture.
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I've thought about making jewelry for it, but so much of it is "ooh, cool, I just stuck a bunch of gears together with some clock hands and some black ribbon", plus, not so fond of Victorian costuming. But it is pretty to look at.
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http://www.makerfaire.com/
It looks as if you just missed the Cambridge Mini Maker Faire, but the first World Maker Faire is happening in New York in September! I think you'd like it.
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If you enjoy watching blacksmithing, you'd like the Shelburne Museum in Vermont. Actually, it's a very cool and eclectic museum in general, but they have a nice small blacksmith's shop. Stopped by the last time the family was in VT, and we all decided we'd need to stop by the next time we passed through.