The first steam locomotive

Richard Trevithick (1771-1833), an English engineer, is credited with building the first functioning steam locomotive. He started as a mining engineer where low pressure steam engines were used to power pumps and elevators. After an acquaintance built a model of a steam powered car he got interested in the idea and decided to use a more dangerous high power steam engine to build a working prototype.

In 1801 he built his first steam carriage. Eventually, for use in the mines, he built a locomotive that ran on tracks for delivering heavy material to and from the mines. Although he had success selling his steam engines, he was poor businessman and ended up destitute.

The video below is of a replica of his locomotive in action.

Paintings of lakes

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Some of my regulars who are daft enough to reside in snow country ice fish on lakes during the winter. However, with March waning for the rest of us the sane season for visiting lakes for relaxation and refreshment approaches. Here are some lake views to tide you over until the weather warms.

Going Up The Country

Get ready for a peregrinating weekend with the Pumpkins Trio.

 

Ground beef and potatoes

The above video is from a site named Essen Recipes, which would indicate it is coming from Germany. Plus, the bottom captions are in German. Still, when I watched it, I thought it had Slavic touches to the cooking. It turns out I was partially right; in reading the comments the cook is a Ukrainian woman. Still, the dishes she whips up are tasty looking.

Wilhelm Bendz paintings

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Wilhelm Bendz (1804-1832) was a Danish painter who, along with portraits and landscapes, frequently painted his fellow artists at work and in leisure. His painting style is very crisp and technically accomplished.  

Wilhelm Bendz self portrait

Walk Right In

Get ready for an ambulatory weekend with the Col Porter Band.

 

Spending a night in a Japanese flophouse

Ok, my post title is a bit click-baity, but the video creator calls the Osaka Airin District, the area he stays in, a slum and the hotel he stays in is dirt cheap so, flophouse it is. That said, from reading the comments it is probably more accurate to call it a poor working-class neighborhood than a slum.

The room is small, but clean. There are communal bathrooms, showers, laundry machines, and a cooking station. All of the areas are clean and well kept. The streets are a bit litter strewn, and there is graffiti all about which is never a good sign. 

There are also a lot of vending machines. In an American slum those would have been smashed to bits in a matter of minutes, but they seem to be left alone. I suppose the crime in the area is of a different nature.