The Steampunk Librarian

Look! Through that Telectroscope! I bet there's oil on Mars!

2008-05-27T16:37:18Z

Judging from the buzz it's created, the Telectroscope seems to be quite the hit on both sides of the Atlantic. There are over 1,000 photos so far on Flickr!

Not only are giant pseudo-telescopes garnering attention, but also a man's flying over the Alps with a jetpack ,we can keep up with the latest Mars landing via Twitter (when Twitter is up, anyway; it's been a bit overtaxed lately), and some enterprising soul has created a steampunk-themed USB drive.

Once upon a time, zeppelins flew over Europe and mechanical elephants marched around Britain. It's true! Nowadays, we can decorate our home in Victorian manner (very stylishly, too), and restore the automata of the past, in honor of what once was. But watch out, because you know what the next trend's going to be? Oilpunk!

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I can see the Victorian era from here...

2008-05-20T17:39:16Z

Confession time: I am always surprised (and a little thrilled) when I see Steampunk Librarian mentioned on a weblog, or linked in someone's sidebar. Thanks, all. It's appreciated!

Steam, once the energy source of the past, may become the energy source of the future! Now it's referred to as "solar thermal technology," and Google is helping to fund the concept. I love the idea of huge mirrors creating electricity via steam.

I also love the idea of the Telectroscope, too. The Club Creatures are going to be visiting Brooklyn soon and I am going to insist they check out the New York location.

Greystone Court is near NYC and looks like all sorts of awesome, and it was created in a DIY kind of way. Check out the observatory!

Even the Penny Arcade guys are getting into the steampunk mindset, with an upcoming game called "On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness." It's a bit more Lovecraft than steampunk, but hey, all the boundaries are blurring together these days, anyway.

For the paper-folders among us: make your own little papery steam tank!

And finally, from Danny (thanks, Danny!): the weirdness of Fubbs.net. Click away merrily and be entertained!

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

2008-05-13T18:44:05Z

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.

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steampunk contest and more

2008-05-06T16:02:37Z

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!

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