20 posts from 2008

if steampunk jumps the shark, it'll be a narwhal instead

3 days ago
2 comments

Well, the reaction to the New York Times article on steampunk has swept around the web, and it seems almost evenly divided between the "wow, that's so cool" group and the "oh, that is SO lame" crowd. Metafilter has a discussion thread that was up to 211 comments when I last looked at it, for example. (It's a bit of a relief to be considered lame again. I was kind of nervous about being among the cool.) However, the Times had originally worked up an article last year, then scrapped it for unknown reasons. But the author's decided to put it online, so now we can all read it and see how the state of the steampunk world was a year ago!

Meanwhile, the Mechanicrawl will be traipsing along the San Francisco coastline this July, regardless of whether or not the masses consider it cool. If you're in the area, go!

Etsy has been championing the steampunk DIY aesthetic for some time, and now they have an official Steampunk Street Team.

What would you have if Helen Keller teamed up with Alexander Graham Bell and got her senses back, plus some weaponry? You'd have the basis for one crazy graphic novel series, that's what you'd have!

I now have a hand-drawn steampunk city of my very own. Thanks, Jeff! This means that we have an extra copy of the steampunk anthology here at headquarters; we're trying to dream up some sort of contest so we can give it away as a prize. Stay tuned.

steampunk contest and more

May 6, 2008
Post a comment

Look, a fun LEGO steampunker! This can be yours if you enter the contest that Buy Steampunk is holding in conjunction with Jamie Spencer; send in your own artistic effort that incorporates Jamie's Kriegerhund and/or Dardenbahst LEGO mechas. Oh, and the winner also gets this:

The deadline has been extended to Friday, so send in your artistic renditions fast!

The Maker Faire has come and gone, but it looks like it was a fantastic time for all, especially the steampunk types.

For me, there's a connection between Rube Goldberg machines and steampunk. Maybe it's all the intricate detail involved in both. At any rate, Gawker has put together a list of the best Rube Goldberg machine videos out there at the moment.

Has anyone tried out PMOG, otherwise known as the Passively Multiplayer Online Game? It looks really fun, but I have no real spare time right now...

One of the stranger remakings I've seen lately transforms pistols into porcelain art. Soon porcelain rayguns will probably appear on the scene.

Not punk, but quite Victorian, this treehouse looks perfect for the post-oil abode. In the meantime, you can still wear funky cufflinks and enjoy the air conditioning while you can!

"Nice boots" also works as a steampunk pickup line, I suppose...

Apr 29, 2008
Post a comment

Datamancer's latest creation has swept the internet, and also revived several "what is steampunk?" arguments. I do like the term "electro-anachronism," however. The more I read these sorts of semantics debates, the more I'm reminded of the old days on usenet with alt.gothic - is XYZ goth? Can ABC be goth? What IS goth? Am I not goth if I like EFG? (What's really fun is that I find myself running into alt.gothic regulars in today's steampunk communities. There must be some connection. Someone should do a study.)

A robot from eighty years ago used inflatable rubber tubes for movement; it's been updated with a pneumatic system and still works!

Meanwhile, some gorgeous jellyfish and mantra ray robots are fwipping about the planet. Oooh, ahhh.

As a direct result of Freakangels, I'm now keeping up with Warren Ellis's website, and even checking out his Twitter updates. (I do have a Twitter account, but like my Facebook profile, it's pretty minimal...)

You still have time to drive Jeff and Ann VanderMeer bonkers by making them draw blimps, by the way.

And finally, here are some random steampunky goods found around the web. I think the Otokibako has some great potential for decoration and alterations. The Raku Ray Guns are technically extraterrestial in origin, but they look as if they could fit in quite well in Victorian battles. Black Phoenix has a "steamworks research facility" lab these days which manufactures steampunky scents, and even though I rolled my eyes at first, I have to admit I'm curious about "Smokestack," which apparently smells like "creosote, coal, and industrial waste." Really? Do tell!

everywhere you look

Apr 22, 2008
1 comment

The steampunk festivals are coming! If you're near Arkansas this summer, the Ravenwood Festival will be something to see. (As an aside, it's interesting to see just how goth the steampunks are becoming. It was always a component, but this festival has Voltaire as a top performer!)

Steampunk improv, on the other hand, sounds like something completely new. I wish I could just pop over and watch a performance of The Journeys of Professor Pleasant Pennywhistle and his Spatial Relocation Portal firsthand; if anyone does (or has), let me know!

'Tis the season for anthologies; Cory of Voyages Extraordinaires has an anthology available for the downloading at his excellent website.

For the tinkerers and the artists alike: it's not too late to enter the Artbots 2008 competition!

I think the iTea would make an excellent part of a steampunk party or living environment. The tea cups and table could be embellished, and the technological spiral of information that the device emits could become part of the design as well.

I also think that Wirepod would be a wonderful addition to a steampunky library or study. Some commenters think it's too much, but I think it's a great - and elegantly Victorian, especially if decorated - solution to ugly wires. Apparently this is going to be part of a Wiremore product line, but I don't think it's available just yet.

I can't believe I haven't heard of Adele Blanc-Sec until now. A feisty Victorian-era woman who fights monsters and then goes into cryonic hibernation for a few decades? Wow! Rumors are swirling about a possible movie in the works.

Offers, coinage, and the second coming of the Difference Engine

Apr 15, 2008
Post a comment

I think that these Retropolis shirts should appeal to anyone, steampunk fan or not. There's even a shirt for the environmentalists (aka the Civilian Conservation Corps) and the the feminists (aka the Ladies World Domination Society).

The genius behind the steampunked Justice League turned his attention to Star Wars. The stormtroopers look amazing, and I covet Princess Leia's outfit.

Thanks to Nathan Myhrvold, Charles Babbage's second (yes, second!) Difference Engine has finally become a real, tangible object 150 years after its conception. Very cool.

Soon, the UK will have new coins, and they look very nifty and neo-victorian! I absolutely love that they can be configured to form a composite image.

And finally, those of you who remember me babbling about a steampunk anthology arriving on my doorstep last week will be interested in the discount offer the editors are making - here's the full announcement!

STEAMPUNK ANTHOLOGY OFFER:

Publishing house Tachyon Publications and editors Ann and Jeff VanderMeer have agreed to make their new fiction anthology, Steampunk, available for pre-order at a discounted price. This volume, priced at $14.95, is being offered at $12.00, including free shipping within the United States. Shipping outside the United States will be by Global Priority Mail: $9.50 to Canada and $11.00 to our friends in Europe.

In addition, books ordered through this offer will arrive signed by the editors. Signed and personalized…they will even draw little zeppelins!

What might one expect to find within the covers of this anthology? Metal men, clattering clogs, hydraulic horrors, dashing daredevils, corseted courtesans, and, of course, many and various airships—along with all the thrills and rarified pleasures that you could ever hope to enjoy.

Steampunk features work from Michael Chabon, Neal Stephenson, James P. Blaylock, Joe R. Lansdale, Mary Gentle, Ted Chiang, Michael Moorcock, Jay Lake, Molly Brown, Stepan Chapman, Ian R. MacLeod, Rachel Pollack, Paul Di Filippo, Rick Klaw, Jess Nevins and Bill Baker. In addition, a recommended reading list and other resources are included for your further reading enjoyment.

Be sure to reserve your copy before May 15, the expiration date for this kind offer.

Payment can be made by PayPal to vanderworld@hotmail.com or via check to:

Jeff VanderMeer
P.O. Box 4248
Tallahassee, FL 32315

When ordering, be sure to include where you read about this offer.

More about Jeff VanderMeer: www.jeffvandermeer.com
More about Tachyon Publications: www.tachyonpublications.com

how strange to have a book with the word Steampunk in its very title

Apr 8, 2008
Post a comment

If you have ever considered starting up a weblog or a website for something that particularly interests you, and then thought that perhaps it wasn't worth the effort, I offer a reason to go on and do it: you may just end up with something really cool arriving in the mail...like, say, an advance reader copy of a steampunk anthology! Many thanks, Matt! (Also, if anyone out there is looking for a good PR guy, Matt is available.)

Jess Nevins writes one of the stories in the anthology, and if the name sounds familiar, that's because Jess is also the author of the unofficial guides to the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen publications, along with several other works. (Jess is also a librarian. See, librarians rock.)

Now that absinthe is legal in the U.S., the sky is the limit. Absinthe lollipops? Sure, why not?

A current problem crying out for a steampunky solution: the London Tube needs a better cooling system. I had no idea that it heats the surrounding earth so much.

And lastly, via the always-great Brass Goggles: a game titled "Dirk Valentine and the Fortress of Steam." I tried it out and ended up slinging chains all over the place, which looked cool but were not terribly efficient; I'll give it another go soon!

Fish and Fools and More

Apr 1, 2008
1 comment

Happy Poisson d'Avril, everyone! This was a fun holiday when I was in France. Here, it's not quite as absurdist, but the internet has made it more entertaining. Some examples are flying penguins, Google's new custom time email, and a collaboration between Virgin and Google called Virgle that promises to take us all to Mars. I took the questionnaire to see if I would qualify and got the following: "Well, you're distressingly normal and could conceivably adjust to life as a deep space pioneer, though we recommend instead that you leave the Mars missions to the serious whack jobs."

Also: Squidpunk.

Which brings us to steampunk! No April Fool links here, although it may sound like one when I go on about Tesla towers and self-propelled Victorian houses...but both of these and more will be at the Maker Faire in May.

The Cabinet of Curiosities has an all-steampunk edition; go and peruse!

Will nanotechnology and body modification lead us into a second Enlightenment? We can only hope.

Questionaut is an educational game that is not really Victorian at all...but as the main character wears goggles and travels in a hot air balloon (a DIY one at that), I'm going to say it fits. It's fun to play, too, and takes some problem-solving brainpower to move up the levels!

If we get rid of trucks to save the environment, we still need a large-scale delivery system. Why not consider the underground pipeline? (Better yet, let's make them all pneumatic. Zoom!)

orbs and apocalypses

Mar 18, 2008
2 comments

We may get up to five inches of rain before tomorrow night. Where's Captain Nemo when you need him?

If you're tired of scouring eBay looking for steampunky bits, worry no more - Buy Steampunk will come to your aid! (I continue to be amazed at just how much stuff you can buy these days. Back in ye olden times before steampunk got so popular, we made things ourselves. Hey! You urchins! Get off my lawn!)

Via the always fantastic Brass Goggles: the unconventional Orbital 2008, aka Eastercon, will include the Beyond Cyberdome event, and the tinkerers are prepared for the 2008 competition. Here is just one example of what spectators might see. Gorgeous, isn't it? I don't believe it says "exterminate!" but then again, who knows what might happen...

The people who put together Steampunk Magazine have also put out an ebook titled The Steampunk Guide to Surviving the Apocalypse. Huzzah! The book is a hefty 7 MB PDF file, but a short excerpt and a little more info is available for perusing.

A tangential place to explore is MOMA's Design and the Elastic Mind exhibit, which is not only original and informative but also vast and amazingly full of ideas, ranging from the ancient to the futuristic.

And finally, if you can't dress like it's 1880 every day, perhaps you can wear a t-shirt evoking those days. Well, sort of. What's the Victorian equivalent of "In Your Eyes," anyway? (Threadless is having a clearance sale this week, and nearly all of their shirts are awesome.)

acquisitions and forests and scavengers

Mar 11, 2008
Post a comment

If you're in the Chicagoland area this weekend, there's going to be a steampunk scavenger hunt at the Field Museum! I wish I could go!

If you're going to be homebound, however, there are still lots of things to see and do. LibraryThing has a steampunk section these days, so you can catch up on your reading! There are more and more websites to explore, like Velvet Mechanism's shop and The Secret Society of Odd Acquisition (which looks new, but promising!).

Did anyone ever watch Around the World in 79 Days, a cartoon that aired 1969-1971? I saw it for the first time last night! Another, more current homage to Jules Verne is going on above us right now via the spacebound automated transfer vehicle (ATV) which launched a few days ago.

And finally, because steampunk is futuristic as well as old-fashioned: a look at ideas for the cities of the future. I like the idea of a forested Atlanta.

a quick swarm of links

Mar 4, 2008
Post a comment

The steampunk link of the week is, of course, the beautiful Mac Mini that was customized as a wedding gift. It's beautiful, and the "lid" design is one of my favorite parts! Apple should look into that as a retro logo.

I had read bits and pieces of a pneumatic travel system in the 19th century, but the wonderful Damn Interesting has consolidated the parts into a fantastic article on New York City's pneumatic transit system of the 1870s. I envy the people who had the chance to try it out!

Mounted trophies from hunting expeditions are very Victorian. So it would make sense that neo-Victorians would have robotic trophies, wouldn't it? Much more technologically advanced, and much more humane!

And finally, for the true tinkerers: the Dihemispheric Chronaether Agitator!