BEAUTIFUL ROMAN BATH - QUEEN OF CITIES, AND A BRIDGE OF MINIATURES

SMN tourist treat:

We’re not really dollshouse people here at SMN, but a recent visit to the Roman city of Bath, UK, for software training had us scrutinizing products for enthusiasts of very small houses. Bath itself dates back to Roman times, when it earned the name Aqua Sulis, and its present-day name derives from the splendid baths built by the Romans. So where do modern miniatures come into the picture?

Pulteney Bridge

The story is all about Pulteney Bridge (above), which is one of the very few bridges in the world with shops on it. And cafes too - choose which side of the bridge you wish to be on, then choose your cup of java. 

Small store for small items

Also on Pulteney Bridge is a tiny shop specializing in dollshouse miniatures - it's the red storefront to the right of the flowers (above). As you can see from the pix (below), articles on sale range from tiny books, through figures of jesters, pigs, mice and dogs, to that arch-enemy of politically-correct militants, the golliwog.

Politically-correct golly

As an aside, I’ll say that until the PC folk persuaded Robertson - a UK-based jam-and-preserve maker - to stop using the golliwog as a marketing tool, it had never crossed my mind that it was supposed to be a real human. Still, I can't disagree with Robertson’s choice - times have changed since the golly was devised. Even so, seeing these tiny - barely more than 25 mm (1 in) tall - critters brought back a whiff of nostalgia for raspberry jam and a golly sticker with every jar.

Dollshouse prices

The world of dolls’ house miniatures can certainly stand a realistic ticket structure - most of the small figures were priced around the £20-40 GBP ($30-50 USD) mark, so you could be looking at telephone numbers for a well-filled miniature home.

Doll or fighter plane?

The world of dollshouse miniatures is a traditional one that harks back to warm, rose-tinted memories of times when things were (or seemed to be) simpler and easier than the world of today. Not that we’re knocking the notion at all - but give the SMN Crew a Merlin-powered Mustang or laser-toting starship any day!

Tourist delight

As for Bath, if you manage to visit, you will almost certainly love the place. Even the new Bathgate shopping centre's buildings sit comfortably with the neo-classical Regency architecture of the city.

Zoltan appreciation

Last but not least, here’s a word of thanks to Zoltan, the excellent tutor at Bath’s AppleStore. Last Sunday morning saw this writer and a couple of lady photographers receiving an informative lesson on the Aperture photo-workflow app - and all for free, thanks to the folks at Apple.

SALUTE TO STEVE JOBS, FOUNDER OF APPLE

We are deeply saddened to announce that Steve Jobs has passed away. 

Our hearts go out to his family and friends. We cannot say better than these words from Tim Cook, CEO of Apple:

“Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being. Those of us who have been fortunate enough to know and work with Steve have lost a dear friend and an inspiring mentor. Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple.”

Scale Model News is made possible with Apple equipment, so thank you Steve.

SMN Mobile Edition on the iPhone.

COINCIDENCE OR COMMENT FROM ABOVE?!

Sometimes things just don't go right. A while ago, I was hard at it on my Apple MacBook Pro, lost in music from my iTunes collection while also sipping away at a tasty glass of fine dessert wine... suddenly an interruption, and - WOARH! - the entire contents spilled onto and into the keyboard. A ghastly moment, and one that amazingly did not result in death for the trusty computer, though it had to be dried gently next to a radiator for a week!

And this time round, 'the moment' came during a rare evening free for modelmaking - wrecked by a leaking bottle of liquid poly, compounded by components spilling over the floor. So it was a neat moment when I changed hats and did some garage clearing, only to discover this Caldwell cartoon in a 1980s issue of 'Omni', a fine magazine that predated 'Wired' for must-readability for technogeeks like me.

Coincidence or not, it brought a smile into the model zone mayhem!

THE HAMEX MODEL EXPO - H-DAY VIDEO RELEASE

The HAMEX (Hanslope Model Expo) went off OK, and for a first-time event it really seemed to do the stuff. Mat Irvine demonstrated Doctor Who’s K-9 robodog and showed groups of science fiction enthusiasts various props and models from BBC TV series that he has worked on, including Blake’s 7 and Moonbase 3.

We made the quickie video above with an iPod Nano, which gives pretty good results bearing in mind it’s little bigger than a stick of chewing gum. The tiny machine is particularly impressive for its closeup abilities - even in fairly dim lighting the pimple-sized lens can give sharp results when recording objects as close as 20-30 mm (1 in) away. Simply amazing, especially when paired with the iMovie video editing software that comes free with any Apple computer.

Take a look at iPods here.