And, We’re Back…
Hello friends, family and fans!
Most of the zine is into the final draft stage and with my relaxing holiday trip behind me I am ready to get back to blogging. During my hiatus I reached another milestone, 30,000 views and I couldn’t be happier 🙂
Here are a few things to look forward to this year:
1. A 12-part series on “How to Punk Your Steam” starting in January
2. More pictures and articles from my time in London
3. Book reviews galore!
4. Sourcebooks on H. G. Wells, Jack the Ripper, Murdoch Mysteries and more
5. My 3-D paper illustrations for Steampunk Alchemy, a new project by Penny Blake
6. Reviews of RPG games Hive Queen and Country and Everyday Extraordinaries
Have a wonderful New Year’s celebration and I am looking forward to lots of posts, comments and sharing in 2015!
Some More Great Gift Ideas From Airship Flamel
I am almost finished with the first draft of Steam Tour: An American Steampunk in London and my editor has been a busy little elf so many sections are ready to move onto the second draft today. Speaking of busy, my friend over at Airship Flamel has also been busy over the last couple weeks compiling his 12 Days of Steampunk Christmas series. Enjoy!
On the Twelfth Day of Steampunk Christmas…
On the Eleventh Day of Steampunk Christmas…
On the Tenth Day of Steampunk Christmas…
On the Ninth Day of Steampunk Christmas…
On the Eighth Day of Steampunk Christmas…
On the Seventh Day of Steampunk Christmas…
On the Sixth Day of Steampunk Christmas…
On the Fifth Day of Steampunk Christmas…
On the Fourth Day of Steampunk Christmas…
On the Third Day of Steampunk Christmas…
Midwest BSFA Presents: The Cocoa Cabaret
Here’s one for my fellow Midwesterners, this sounds like a great hootenanny. Wish I could be there!
Calling all Afrofuturists, steampunks and dieselpunks…get yo @ss to the past that never was at the Cocoa Cabaret! DJ Apryl Reign, 2010 Red Bull Thre3Style regional winner, will spin a set of electroswing/house music and there will be a costume contest for the best-dressed attendees. Tarot card reader, jewelry vendors and more. Don’t forget to dress in steampunk/dieselpunk/Roaring ’20s attire! Admission: $5. 8-11 p.m., The Greenwich. 2442 Gilbert Ave., Walnut Hills (Cincinnati, Ohio 45206)
For the uninitiated, steampunk is “a sub-genre of science fiction that typically features steam-powered machinery and is often set in an alternative history of the 19th century’s British Victorian era or American ‘Wild West’ in which steam power has regained mainstream use, or in a fantasy world that similarly employs steam power” (think movies like The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Steamboy, Howl’s Moving Castle and Hugo). In recent years, more people of color who…
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The Christmas Tree in Victorian England: a Steampunk Perspective
A nice little piece of history to tide you over while I work on Steam Tour 🙂
Art by Brian Kesinger
I must now seek in the children an echo of what Ernest and I were in the old time, of what we felt and thought; and their delight in the Christmas-trees is not less than ours used to be.
Prince Albert, 1847
The decorated Christmas tree came into fashion in England during the Victorian era, and the practice was spreading to the rest of Europe … but the Christmas tree was originally a German tradition. In the early 19th century, the Christmas tree was taken to be an expression of the finer aspects of German Culture, especially among emigrants overseas. Queen Victoria had some familiarity with the tradition as a child, but it was really the German Prince Albert who embraced celebrating Christmas with a tree.
You can follow the popularity of the Christmas tree by its appearance in literature and the media. There was no mention of a tree in the poem, A Visit from…
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Let Slip Those Magnificent Gasbags Of The Air!
This is a great look at dirigibles and other airships in literature.
Hay’s Gallery and “The Navigators”
The Tower Bridge is worth visiting all on its own, but when I spent a day exploring the area I also found some other great things to tickle your Steampunk fancy. I could see on the map that St. Katherine’s Marina was nearby, and on my way I found a hidden treasure tucked away inside a Hay’s Gallery. In it’s heyday in the 19th century, the then-named Hay’s Wharf received 80% of the tea shipments bound for the Pool of London. Today the amazing glass ceiling provides shelter to restaurants, homes and shops in Victorian-era buildings, as well as an amazing sculpture called “The Navigators.”
The combination fountain and sculpture by David Kemp was installed in 1987 and has a decidedly Steampunk feel. The 60-foot homage to the shipping history of the area is made of bronze which has been pleasantly oxidizing. Some parts of the piece have been selectively polished, and the pool has been painted blue which detracts somewhat from the artist’s original intention to combine “Gothic fantasy, sea monsters, man & machine in this Kinetic Sculpture”, but it is still a lovely piece installed in a historic setting that reflects the Steampunk aesthetic from around the time the term was coined. (http://www.davidkemp.uk.com/the-navigatorslondon-bridge/)
The London Museum of Water and Steam
This is my pick for the best place on my entire Steam Tour to take your littlest Steampunks. There are fun, hands-on exhibits about the water cycle and great info about the history of harnessing the Thames and combatting the Cholera outbreaks through London’s history. But the most exciting parts of the museum complex is room after room of real, working steam engines. They don’t run every engine every day, but I was lucky enough to visit on a bank holiday when they did run every engine for at least 15 minutes at some point during their open hours.
In the courtyard there are some smaller engines as well as a station to make giant bubbles in the afternoon, so that is another plus for kids. There is also a replica of a Victorian-era workshop where all the machines run on the same belt system (the original workshop was destroyed during the Blitz) and they offer tours.
Spotlight on Traders: Island of Dr. Geof
While I was in Lincoln for Weekend at the Asylum in September I got a chance to meet several of the Steampunk world’s writers and traders. During the run of Longitude Punk’d at the Royal Observatory, the Cutty Sark was also featuring a tea-riffic exhibit of Dr. Geoff’s printwork. And then at the markets for Asylum, I got a chance to meet that man himself selling his wares. We traded stickers and had a nice little chat, and I got to see more of his whimsical work. Most of his work has a military bent, while other pieces dabble in the risque, but for me that is the fun!
The good Doctor also offers a variety of Steampunk-inspired pins and patches to compliment his work on paper, and you can see what he has to offer on his website.
For Whom the Gear Turns 