London Update

This was going to be a post of the neat things I had made for the London Expedition (Departing to-night!), but my sewing machine died on me. (Which is dissapointing because it was going to be cool) I'll finish them when I get back and get my sewing machine repaired.

This means that I will have to find stuff there. Stay tuned for reporting live from the Bohemian parts of London. (As soon as I figure out where those parts are) :p

I did get my utility vambraces finished enough for use, however, so here's picture of them. For those art critics among you, this is only phase two and any input will be gratefully accepted

Educational Note:

Steampunks enjoy dressing anachronistically, usually according to Victorian rules (but not always, for example, I have something Chinese I'm going to try) and often make up back-stories to explain their odd garb. This is related to Cos-Playing but that's another post.

If this makes no sense to you, go get some Victorian clothing and an odd mechanical device or two and make up a story. Now go walk around like this. You'll enjoy it, trust me.

What is Steampunk?

What is Steampunk? I have seen the best minds of my generation destroyed by such madness, but down the rabbit hole we go. (You should see the message boards on Brass Goggles)

Simply, Steampunk is a state of mind. While everyone's version of Steampunk is different, its about taking the disparate things and mixing them together in a manner that is at once striking and totally logical from this new perspective that has been created. What characterizes Steampunk is its use of Victorian sensibilities and Aesthetic, but many variants alter this paradigm, throwing in fantasy elements or changing the time period. Steampunks are fascinated by technology and while may at times have an ambivalence generally have the optimism of a Scientific Romance (The early science fiction works like Verne and Welles).

Steampunk has complicated history, but that's really a story for another time, so I will go into the basics here. It first came into being as a Literary movement, and has since become a Countercultural and Artistic one.

Like the Matrix, you need to see it to get it really, so here's a list of things to look at. I'll discuss each of these things and their significance in subsequent posts. (This is also by no means a complete list)

Movies:

Steamboy

Howl's Moving Castle

Wild Wild West

Treasure Planet

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (Technically a variant called Dieselpunk)

Books:

The Difference Engine

League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

Steampunk

Morlock Night

Websites:

Brass Goggles (A meeting-place for steampunks)

Music and Art are also extant, but if you're totally new to this, it will be clearest with movies and books.

An Expedition to The Oxford Steampunk Exhibition

Announcing the First Imperial Steampunk Expedition!
(Authorized by his Imperial Majesty, Emperor Norton the 1st of these United States)

To be undertaken by our esteemed college Aethliscalus Futurus to Far off Albion!

I shall be attending the Oxford Steampunk Exhibition and will be reporting from there via the Internet Telegraph to provide you, dear reader, with analysis of what this all is and what this all means.

Introduction

I'm Aethliscalus Futurus, Baron of Angstrom, Steampunk Adventurer and Researcher. This blog will document my quest to explore and understand Steampunk and any Adventures that may happen along the way.

I am planning a series of introductory explanations of the history of Steampunk, film and book discussion, and current events reporting.