The Steampunk Librarian

steampunk contest and more

nobody@vox.com(Steampunk Librarian) — Tue, 06 May 2008 09:02:37 -0700

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!

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

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

nobody@vox.com(Steampunk Librarian) — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 10:38:19 -0700

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!

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Fish and Fools and More

nobody@vox.com(Steampunk Librarian) — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 10:16:17 -0700

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!)

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

new sights and sounds

nobody@vox.com(Steampunk Librarian) — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 10:10:47 -0800

Riveting bulleted bits on this steampunk Tuesday.

Jake von Slatt has yet another interview out! Someone should anoint him as the official spokesperson of steampunk.
A brand new site from Myke Amend is very steampunk and also all about Lovecraft. Go now and join the fun that's just starting.
Another new steampunk community (they're springing up everywhere these days) is steampunk style.
Brush up on your Victorian manners with an interactive game. Later we will feature a punk manners game in which you can swear freely, throw things, and start a rebellion.
This "telepresence frame" just cries out for some steampunk ornamentation, doesn't it?

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

the wait for the Black Dossier continues

nobody@vox.com(Steampunk Librarian) — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 12:42:15 -0700

Steampunky objects are popping up all over etsy, and they're taking notice over there. (I restrict my time browsing etsy, because I would spend all my money there easily.)

(If Squidpunk ever becomes a viable alternative, however, I've got a nice Cthulhu table just waiting for its day in the...night? Depths?)

A preview of the new volume of League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is up at Entertainment Weekly, of all places. It looks mysterious and interesting, and why the hell are Mina and Quartermain so young?

Where are our jetpacks? They've been here for a while, says an article in Reason, and it's, well, reasonable. But we want affordable jetpacks, you see!

And lastly, for gaming types who like their action to take place circa 1904 - Covert Front 2: Station on the Horizon is finally here!

Read and post comments | Send to a friend