The Traveler's Steampunk Blog » General Steampunk Things

Euro Steam Con I – Spread the Word

Traveler — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 20:06:51 +0000

So here it is, the idea of a European Steampunk Convention.
Since a lot of things are happening on the other side of the Atlantic and some decent events have taken place in Britain, it is about time something major happens in continental Europe. Thus far, conventions and meet-ups have mostly been local or country-based affairs.
There are active steampunk scenes from Spain to France to the Low Countries to Germany to Poland. There are literally Steampunks in every country of this continent. Unfortunately, they have thus far existed in relative isolation.

Now it is time to change this. It is time we all got together somewhere.

If people travel across the length and breadth of North America to attend a convention, so can we, and we have far less ground to cover.
Maybe there will be one location where we all meet up. Maybe the convention will take place in several places all over Europe connected by life video streams. I do not care what the final shape of the event will be as long as it connects the steampunks, dieselpunks and related scenes across Europe. If we manage to turn it into a 24 hour world-wide event, even better, but for now, the working title is

EuroSteamCon I

Some of my closest friends in and outside the scene have already given me a thumbs up and pledged their support, among them the informal head of the Austrian Steampunks.
Philippa Ballantine of Ministry of Peculiar Occurences fame has also signalled her interest in participating, provided she can fit it in. Now we need to connect the scenes across Europe.
So, if you are interested in joining the crew and get this project on the road, get in touch. Everybody is welcome, the more, the merrier, the more diverse, the better. If you are a lonely steampunk somewhere in Transylvania or Anatolia, contact me and I will help you get to the event when it happens.This is for all of us.
I also want to reach out to our Spanish and French friends, we know you are out there, but we seldom meet, online or offline, let’s change this.
If you can contribute, if you are a musician, a DJ, a technician, if you know, own or have access to a great location, get in touch. Let us work together and create the first European Steampunk Convention!
This is the age of the ætherweb, we can reach more people with the click of a mouse than our Victorian ancestors could hope for reaching in a life time. Let us use our connections.
Spread the word! Translate this message and share it with your friends!

And to all of you who know already have an idea how they can contribute, help out or actively participate in any way, contact me, get in touch!

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Atompunk – Closing the Punk Gap

Traveler — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 20:39:36 +0000

Over two years ago now, I was musing over what I perceived as a Punk Gap. Back then, I also observed the time period of the gap was dominated by the Space Race. Now I have learned this punk gap has been closed and the Space Race is a major factor in ATOMPUNK.
Atompunk is another child of Cyberpunk and it is nested between Dieselpunk and Cyberpunk. Its esthetics are derived from what was en vogue during the early to middle years of the Cold War. Obviously, it lends heavily from the space fashion of the early 1960′s, 1950′s style American fashion, Cold War/Communist propaganda and of course designs found in the space programs on both sides of the Iron courtain.

Space Fashion of the 1960′s looked something like this:

The type of architecture found in Atompunk is maybe best illustrated by Googie architecture such as the Space Needle in Seatle. Silver Age Superhero Comics also fall into the general area of Atompunk.
And a very lighthearted depiction of what Atompunk in Space looks like, go to atompunk.tumblr.com and especially look at this historic photograph.

And come to think of it, this comic I talked about in December of 2010:

is as atompunk as it gets.

So, the Punk Gap has been sealed.

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The Secret Police is hard at work

Traveler — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 05:35:00 +0000

Where do I start…
A few days ago I was cruising through the ætherweb like I usually do and found another place I thus far had not been to before. I will also not return there.
Among other things, Steampunk as a fashion and life style was discussed and there were quite a number of entries along very elitist lines, aimed at excluding people.
First price goes to the little milksop who felt it was prudent to state the following:

Disabled people can’t be steampunks

As my Japanese friends would say: Kasu kurae!

And no, I do not think this person was a troll, I looked up other posts. There were no indications for trolling.

Well… The photo says it all…

Q bloody ED!

So, to all those who think they can make the Steampunk scene the playground of their personal prejudices:
Calling someone else ugly and unwelcome will not make you beautiful and part of us.

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Steampunk Poland – Pierwsze sprawozdanie

Traveler — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 13:42:31 +0000

Right, I did not expect to get a response so quickly but this only increases my joy. Today Daily Steampunk welcomes the first Polish and first female guest blogger, Anna from Warsaw who responded to my call for contributions from Polish Steampunks.

Even better, there may be a second opinion on the matter coming up, since another Polish online-friend of mine also signaled interest in collecting and sharing some information. But for now, here’s what Anna has to say about Steampunks in Poland:

Over the past few years, steampunk has become very popular in Poland. Unfortunately, right now, this popularity has almost no real effect. There are 2 or 3 shops in Poland which offer anything steampunk related, and no special clubs.

I think the Polish “steampunk” is still closer to the “Victorian” than the proper “steampunk.”

It is bad but not that bad, those deficiencies trigger creativity

For the past 2-3 years or so, some people in Lublin organize an event: Lost Days (on the first or second weekend in May). People gather in an atmosphere of Victorian Gothic and Steampunk. Still more Goths than Steampunks, but things are moving in the right direction.
In Poland, especially Warsaw, there is a very popular series of events about outdoor photo sessions which are open to all. They are usually more gothic as far as style is concerned. This is a form of social event connected with the arts. In a few weks there will be a session primarily for Steampunks. The event is called Steam Memories and will be held on September 17 in Warsaw (http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=209142539119990 ). Right now, about 100 participants have signed up, which, for an alternative photo session is a sensational result. I have no idea what it will look like, because this is the first such event, but I think it will be good.

Unfortunately, it does not help that the proper clothes are currently almost unavailable in Poland. For many months I have followed the keyword “steampunk” on allegro.pl (the largest Polish auction website) and what appears is jewelry, or is simply ridiculous.
Importing from abroad very often means the cost for shipping is higher than the price of clothing (for example, in one of the shops in USA: dress $ 40, shipping $ 90).

As I already mentioned, deficiencies trigger creative solutions.People who can sew and taylor have it much easier. What you see on the Polish photos, at the sessions and events are usually modified clothes, or things created from scratch.

Concerning clubs… Because out kind of steampunk is very close to Victorian, everyone interested in this (i.e. Victorian times) – Goths and Steampunks – meet in the same places. Usually, we hear the same music, so it’s not a problem. But real “steampunk” clubs, there are none,
An idea for a business?

As for historic buildings: Nobody ever wrote “A Steampunk’s guide Poland”. There are a few places which are good as background for the session (e.g. http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muzeum_Gazownictwa_w_Warszawie).
Me and my boyfriend usually search in books: “Technology” and “Forts”. The most helpful books are published by Carta Blanca, which are almost guides in Poland. Unfortunately, most suitable places in Poland are neglected, and thus hard to get to (and sometimes dangerous to visit).

I think that a large amount of results for the querie “steampunk” in Poland is due to the fact that this style is very young over here, so it is of great interest. But because it is just beginning, so little has been done about it here.

And here’s the same again in Polish:

Witaj!

Czytałam Twój artykuł na stronie Daily Steampunk.
Mieszkam od urodzenia w najwiekszym polskim mieście, jego stolicy – Warszawie.

W ciagu ostatnich kilku lat steampunk stał sie u nas bardzo popularny. Niestety chwilowo nie przekłada sie to na praktycznie na nic. Na cały kraj sa ze 2, czy 3 sklepy majace w ofercie cokolwiek w tym klimacie. A i klubów stricte takich nie ma. Przynajmniej w moim mieście…

Mam wrażenie, że polskiemu nurtowi steampunkowemu ciagle jest bliżej do „victorian” niż właściwego steampunku.

Niby jest źle… Ale nie do końca. Jak wiadomo – braki wzbudzaja kreatywnośc.

Od nie dawna (2-3 lata) w Lublinie odbywa sie impreza – Lost Days (w pierwszy lub drugi weekend maja). Gromadzi ona ludzi w klimacie Victorian Gothic i Steampunk. Ciagle jeszcze wiecej “victorian” niż “steampunk”, ale wsztstko jest na dobrej drodze.
W Polsce, a szczególnie w Warszawie jest bardzo popularne organizowanie plenerowych sesji zdjeciowych otwartych dla wszystkich chetnych. Zwykle sa w klimacie “gothic”. Jest to specyficzna forma spotkań towarzyskich połaczonych z działaniem artystycznym. Za niecały miesiac odbedzie sie taka sesja tylko steampunkowa. Wydarzenie nazywa sie Steam Memories i odbedzie sie 17 września w Warszawie (http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=209142539119990). Zgłosiło sie prawie 100 uczestników, co jak na alternatywna sesje zdjeciowa jest wynikiem rewelacyjnym. Nie mam pojecia co z tego wyjdzie, ponieważ jest to pierwsze takie wydarzenie konkretnie w tym nurcie. Ale jestem pozytywnej myśli.

Niestety interesowania sie steampunkiem nie ułatwia fakt, że ubrania w tym klimacie sa u nas niemalże niedostepne. Od wielu miesiecy śledze hasło “steampunk” na allegro.pl (najwiekszy polski serwis aukcyjny) i to co sie pojawia jest biżuteria, albo jest po prostu śmieszne.
Natomiast sprowadzanie z zagranicy bardzo czesto wyglada tak, że przesyłka to wiekszy koszt niż cena ubrania (np. w jednym z amerykańskich sklepów: sukienka 40$, wysyłka 90$).

Tak jak napisałam – braki prowadza do kreatywnych rozwiazań. Dlatego łatwiej maja wszyscy Ci, którzy potrafia szyc. To co można zobaczyc na polskich zdjeciach, na sesjach i imprezach to najcześciej przeróbki krawieckie, albo rzeczy uszyte od zera.

Jak chodzi o lokale… Ponieważ nasz “steampunk” jest bardzo blisko “victorian”, a nawet z niego wychodzi to wszyscy – steampunkowcy i goci spotykaja sie w tych samych lokalach. Zwykle muzyki słuchamy tej samej, wiec to nie problem. Ale całkiem steampunkowej knajpy nie ma.
Pomysł na biznes? (;

Co do zabytków. Nikt, nigdy nie napisał “steampunkowego przewodnika po Polsce”. Osoby obeznane w pustostanach zwykle chodza właśnie do nich. Nie mniej jest kilka miejsc, które sie nadaje jako tło do sesji (np. http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muzeum_Gazownictwa_w_Warszawie ). Ja i mój chłopak zwykle przy szukaniu miejsc posiłkujemy sie ksiażkami “Technika” i “Forty” wydawnictwa Carta Blanca, które sa prawie przewodnikami po Polsce. Niestety wiekszośc miejsc w Polsce jest zaniedbana, a przez to cieżko sie do nich dostac (zagrażaja zdrowiu zwiedzajacych).

Myśle, że duża ilośc wyników dla hasła “steampunk” w Polsce wynika z tego, że ten styl jest u nas bardzo młody, wiec jest nim ogromne zainteresowanie. Ale dopiero co zaczyna sie kształtowac, wiec mało co zostało zrobione w tym kierunku.

Anna, thank you so much, it has been a pleasure and an honor!

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Guinness goes Steampunk

Traveler — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 20:11:49 +0000

A rather random and fun photo I took in a local pub and I thought I share it with you:

I guess this is based on an actual early model of steampowered harvesting machine, but the armchair on top lends such a delicious “slightly mad inventor” element to it.

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Alternative History – True Alternatives

Traveler — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 20:09:18 +0000

In many ways, Steampunk fiction is often a kind of alternative history setting. Basically 1890′s tech sci-fi. I mentioned this before, the alternative history ends at the tech level in many cases. You still get the usual global players of the day:

The British Empire
France
The German Empire
The Russian Empire
The United States of America

*sigh*

It could be so much more… Right now, the only novel I read actually mentioning an “Exotic Place” is Camera Obscura which gives some remarkable insights into a Steampunk version of China and an alternative American continent that never saw widespread decimation of the native population by European settlers.

In every other novel I read, it seems to be that only the usual suspects (see above) have Steampunk/Dieselpunk technology, the rest of the world… usually gets not even mentioned. But there are so many opportunities. Think about the following scenarios based on historic battles but with a twist:

2. September 1898, Battle of Omdurman:

The British Empire vs. The Zulu-Abyssinian Federation

16–19 October 1813, The Battle of Leipzig (Battle of the Nations)

France and Allies vs. Mongols and Allies

February 23 – March 6, 1836, Battle of The Alamo

Texas and the Pueblo People vs. The Aztec Empire

21 October 1805, Battle of Trafalgar

France vs. The Danes

It is all a question of when and how you want to change history. Why not go a little bit further and add a little more spice to the fiction. It does not always have to be the usual suspects who are in charge.

How many of you have even heard of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth? During its Golden Age, it had a pretty advanced form of goverment and something like a lineral constitution, alas, it was eventually devided between Russia, Prussia and Austria. But just imagine if they had lasted a little longer…

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It’s International Steampunk Day

Traveler — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 09:48:03 +0000

Today is international Steampunk Day and it is really easy to participate:

…dress up like Steampunk Characters, watch steampunk movies, play steampunk video games, read steampunk books and just bask in the glory that is the steampunk genre. So bust out your goggles and your ray guns, your felt vests and your steam gaskets and imagine a history that might have been…at least for one day.

So today, I am wearing my gear-cufflinks, my goggles and of course my pocket watch in the office (the latter I usually wear anyway).
I will post some images tomorrow but right now, I do not have a camera ready.

And always remember: Steampunk is a feature, not a bug!

More magnificant Steampunk Insects here:

http://www.insectlabstudio.com/

Show your gears today!

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Tribulations of the Waistcoat Wearer

Traveler — Tue, 10 May 2011 18:49:18 +0000

Summer is once again almost upon us and this year we have already had quite a hot April in these parts.

However, mornings are still quite chilly so I need something to keep the chill of on my way to the station. My preferred method, i.e. Garment of choice, is the waistcoat. I have a number of sturdy and reasonably warm and protective models which go well with my shirts and provide a pocket for a pocket watch. It also allows me to look at least lightly steampunk or dieselpunk at work.

So today, I wore a black leather waistcoat and it was well.

Until the early afternoon sun crept into the office.

You see, the waistcoat is black and thus naturally absorbs quite a bit of energy from the sun and my desk is right at the window. To be more precise: My desk is at a right angle to the window and this means the right side of myself gets most of the light in the afternoon.

This had a curious effect I had not encountered thus far.

You see, I recently changed the company I work for and before, direct sunlight was not an issue at the workplace.

So, around two o’clock after having finished going through a lengthy Excell sheet I noticed this almost uncomfortable heat on the right side of my ribcage towards the back.

The sun had been pounding down on and thus been heating up my waistcoat immensely. I was also quite surprised and rather startled to find that my pocket watch chain was rather hot, too.

I considered taking off the waistcoat for a moment but then decided against it. Sometimes style entails a little suffering I guess.

Besides, now I have a reason for getting myself a lighter coloured waistcoat for the summer months. I have also already found a promising vendor in my beloved Great Britain who has a splendid selection of waistcoats for sale.

I hope this solves part of the problem, but I still have soemthing to do about the chains of my pocket watches. If the chain got this wam today, it might be murder when it is 30°C or more outside.

But I will see how the situation developes in the height and heat of summer!

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Steampunk subculture field research

Traveler — Mon, 09 May 2011 18:37:27 +0000

During the third meeting of the Club of Bavarian Gentlemen we discussed a number of things and we discovered that most of us had some connection to the Goth scene. We also had made very similar observations regarding the development of the scene.
Right now there seems to be a certain cadre of people who consider themselves to be the elite and who judge everybody else. You may know what sort I am talking about.
At that point I made a joke about me being “Elite Steampunk” and backed it up by citing Angry Robot Books, who have this to say about this blog:

And these guys know steampunk!

I do not consider myself elite. To do this would automatically mean I am not. It is a Catch 32 situation.
Unfortunately, there is a certain trend apparent within Steampunk going in that direction. There are certain individuals who do consider themselves the elite.

Anyway, I thought I could do a little anthropological research into the subculture and find out about elitism in Steampunk. I already had a lead:

Some time back, when I still had the time to participate in/troll forum discussions, I had a run-in with an elitist.
In this particular case the point was, I could not be a real Steampunk because I was too old (I am heading towards 40). Apparently said person was under the impression you should not be allowed on the ætherweb if you are 25+ (or something like that), really strange…
I also remember a voicing of grief by an internet-acquaintance of mine about the issue.
After a little research I now have the following (incomplete) list of criteria defining Elite Steampunks (there are more…):

Elite Steampunks:

wear appropriate gear 24/7
go to every convention they can find
tinker
create their own gear
spend huge amounts on extra gear
steam-up their home
are older than 16 (or 18, or 21 or something)
are younger than (put arbitrary number here)
write fiction/poetry and/or play an instrument and/or are into some other kind of art (producing Steampunk-themed works, obviously)
have a blog or website where they tell of their Steampunk endeavours
are recognized within the scene

So, let me see… three of these points apply to some degree or another, so no, I am not elite. I guess nobody with a day job and/or a family easily can be.

Luckily, the people who make these claims are a minority, rather vocal but still a minority.

What is worse, if you look at popular authors in the scene, most of them are ordinary people, a bit freaky maybe but they look like the people in the street.
So, would you exclude the person whose books you enjoy simply because they do not look the part?
Please, my fellow Steampunks out there, do not overdo it. It is bad enough the Goth scene has style-Nazis.
Steampunk is a mindset and a subculture, not a prom and certainly not a pageant. Please keep up the inclusiveness and do not make up rules to shut out people!

Oh my… I guess this was my first rant in a long time…

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Short Steampunk Doku on BBC World News

Traveler — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 08:46:55 +0000

STEAMPUNKS 2011 from Andy Gallacher on Vimeo.

The Traveler's Steampunk Blog » General Steampunk Things

Euro Steam Con I – Spread the Word

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Atompunk – Closing the Punk Gap

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The Secret Police is hard at work

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Steampunk Poland – Pierwsze sprawozdanie

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Guinness goes Steampunk

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Alternative History – True Alternatives

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It’s International Steampunk Day

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Tribulations of the Waistcoat Wearer

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Steampunk subculture field research

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