7 posts tagged “photographs”

The amazing, incredible people of Royal de Lux are at it again. A giant diver appeared in Nantes last weekend, walking the streets and looking for his niece, who was on the Titanic. Yes, really. There are additional photos on many French websites, including this nice compilation, and there's even video.

 

We can't travel through time like the marionettes of Royal de Lux do (and someone really needs to get working on that, by the way), but we can look back via gorgeous photos, like the Field Museum's set on the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, or by reading papers from a hundred years ago, as the New York Times is doing with its Times Traveler section. Today's is especially fun, not only for the bishop ranting against the "new woman [as] a freak" (talking about suffragettes) but for the story about Cincinnati fruit dealers getting shaken down by a gang. One shop, Cianciolo's, is still on Main Street downtown! (Another unfortunate dealer died "after eating a banana given to him by a stranger." Those gangs were sneaky.)

 

Fortunately there is an increasingly steampunkish appreciation of the past. Arcattack presents popular music performed by Tesla coils! Slouching Toward Bedlam is a text-based game (no grues, however) set in 1885 London! There are specific tutorials for steampunking a photograph now, and best of all, the people who brought you the Steampunk Treehouse at Burning Man are now hard at work on the Raygun Gothic Rocketship.

It's time to clean out the archives at the Steampunk Librarian, and by "archives" I mean "links I accumulated over the last few months and forgot to post." Voila:

 

Finally, someone has the answer to where the flying jetpacks are! Kudos to this brave soul. If you prefer to stay on the ground, you could accessorize with this stylish air traffic controller headset. Finally, some love for the air traffic controllers! You'll appreciate them when dirigibles are zooming about haphazardly!

 

Via Brass Goggles: "This steampunk cell phone concept has no display. No 3G. No data plan. No games. It doesn't even have a dial pad. You make your calls with binary-coded punch cards, steampunk."

 

Attention, photographers with a steampunk bent: Gatehouse Gazette wants you! The deadline is December 19th, so get to snapping.

 

Not everyone can be like Daniel Jubb, former child prodigy and currently mustachioed rocket scientist. But if you have aspirations along those lines, the incredible Information Unlimited shows you how to build, tinker and invent to a seemingly endless level.

 

Speaking of endless, I have only just now seen the stunning array that is the Neo-Victorian slide show. Wow. What fun!

 

While not exactly steampunk, pirates and steampunks often find common ground. This live map of current worldwide piracy might interest both groups. (Italy?)

You are the Gadgeteer, the embodiment of steampunk technology. Ironically, many of the things that most define your style are probably too large to easily carry about, but given the opportunity you would prefer to be seen surrounded by boiler engines, gear-driven calculators, and incredible automata. Of all the steampunk fashion styles, you place the greatest emphasis on technological accessories, and you are the most likely to create elaborate gadgets that are as much a part of your outfit as your clothes. You probably have goggles, but unlike most people you consider them to be for more than decoration. Whereas most people might look odd carrying a satchel of tools around, for you they may well be essential. Above all, you remind everyone that what sets the genre apart from Victoriana is simply the level of technology.

Take The Steampunk Style Test at HelloQuizzy.

*****

Really? Gadgeteer? Well, then. (Actually, going from these results, I look like a fairly balanced individual. Ha.)

In more "steampunk meets the mainstream" news, Design Observer gets all grumpy about steampunkish stuff, and Bruce Sterling takes note of it. (I don't really understand the original article's vehemence against those who like steampunk. I mean, I'm not terribly keen on tiki decor, for instance, but if someone wants to build a fullscale tiki bar, I say more power to them, and I won't badger them about authenticity and whatnot.) 

On the lighter side of snark, McSweeneys' monologue of a young steampunk  is frighteningly accurate in places.

Think Geek is also getting in on the act, with this very cool steampunk skeleton t-shirt.

Meanwhile, the Machines de l'Ile workshop is open in Nantes, and I am dying to go. The Marine World Carousel will open in spring 2010, and looks gorgeous.

And then, in 2011, Seattle may be the host for WorldCon, and its bid is steampunk-themed!

The Bibliothèque de Toulouse is the latest to join Flickr; most of the uploaded photographs were taken between 1895 and 1910. There's a set dedicated to transportation, and many shots of everyday life.

You can still travel by cargo ship these days, believe it or not. And if you want a themed adventure, you can search for steampunky material as you sail!

And lastly, for those who are indifferent to steampunk but wouldn't object to a good old-fashioned Western video game, I give you Bang Howdy. Oh, there are steamguns, by the way. And dirigibles. But other than that, pure western!

 

The literary wave continues! Ekaterina Sedia has a new book coming out soon titled The Alchemy of Stone, which looks really interesting. You have to love a story that includes a literal key to a heart.

 

Brendan sent a great site about the Singularity - is it coming? When will it happen? What will happen if/when it arrives? - as I was reading another article about how we haven't got time to wait around for the Singularity. I'm always of the opinion that the steampunk concept needs more punk in its steam, so I'm fascinated by this sort of thing.

 

If you've got a modern photo that would look even better aged, the Bakumatsu Koshashin Generator can work magic. To wit:

 

 

Silly fun is what you find at Silhouette Masterpiece Theatre. I especially like the Victoran DeLorean.

 

Russell Stutler is currently in Japan, but his annotated drawing of 221b Baker Street is completely British and completely wonderful. (The rest of his site is fantastic too!)

The Smoking Lounge is a new forum for those attracted to steam and diesel matters. It's run by M. Ottens, who once had a similar space on nov-net. Go and mingle!

 

San Francisco will host the 2008 Edwardian Ball Weekend which kicks off on January 25th. Sigh. I need a pneumatic tube that shoots me to San Francisco every few weeks or so.

 

Over on the other side of the world, Iberian Coppers makes all sorts of wonderful shiny items for distilling various substances. They're not only beautiful, but useful!

 

The World of Stereo Views is a staggeringly huge respository of stereoview photographs (over 12,000 of them!) dating back to 1850. You can get lost for hours, which I highly recommend.

 

Steampunk is always tinged with a bit of mad science (at least to me), so I'm drawn to this Instructable on how to make a mad scientist light. I think it would be even better if you built an animatronic hand to manipulate the light, and you could wear one of these shirts while creating your contraptions. Lovely!