The Traveler's Steampunk Blog

A day of remembrance

Traveler — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 19:09:20 +0000

Today in 1936 the last known Thylacine a.k.a. Tasmanian Tiger died in captivity.

I sincerely hope there are still a few roaming the far corners of Tasmania and Australia.

And who knows, maybe one day we will be able to ressurect the species from genetic material preserved in the various museums and laboratories. We can still hope, for there has been some progress there in recent years.

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Dark Electro with a touch of Steampunk

Traveler — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 04:28:49 +0000

This is really another one of those emergency aricles and it is harking back to something I wanted to post a while ago and did not really get around to. Anyway, In Strict Confidence, a German Dark Electro band, released an album in 2010, with the following cover (thanks, Timo, for sending the link to the image):

La Parade Monstrueuse

I am rather uncertain where to put this airship. It is definitely Steampunk, but is it a vessel of the Knights Templar or other Crusaders or does it come straight out of the Arabian Nights? In any case, another example of the pervasiveness of Steampunk esthetics.

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Hobbies and Jobs for Steampunks

Traveler — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 13:05:48 +0000

Granted, the topic of this post pushes against the boundaries of what is healthy quite violently, but I guess more than a few of us have thought about really appropriate jobs and hobbies for Steampunks (and obviously Dieselpunks). It is all a question about how far you want to carry your lifestyle.

The trouble is, most really suitable jobs are either only available in minute quantities or have lost the glory of the olden days.

During the Age of Steam Powered Train Engines, being employed as a train driver might actually have been a job ripe with adventure (especially if you worked along the Trans Sibirian Railway, I guess) but nowadays, just take a look at what most trains and their personell are like… Sadly, train-related jobs are out of the question, but you can still built a model railway that is very steampunk, with all the little Tesla-towers and Zeppelins in it…

So how about some craft? Jake von Slatt and Datamancer are shining examples for where some technical skill and mechanical apitute can get you. The same goes for all the people who built steam-powered motorbikes and other such vehicles. Most of this is obviously a leisure-time interest and the average city-dweller neither has the space, nor the time nor the ressources to take it as far as Mr. von Slatt does it. Still, a little welding, sewing and tinkering is quite common in the Steampunk community (I’ve got some home-made pieces of jewelry myself) and quite appropriate, too.

Zeppelin pilot or crew member, while definitely one of my favourites, is almost completely out of the question for lack of Zeppelins, and the ones that are still around (like the Goodyear blimps and the new Zeppelins) simply do not cut it for me. So the most glorious job has so far become extinct… How sad.

Zeppelin Crew

Yet, there is some hope, because you can still be an intrepid explorer, just like Livingstone, von den Steinen or Kingsley.

Yes, you may say, the entire world is already known, but it was back then, too. Fact is, wherever Europeans and Americans went to discover places, they always met people there. Basically, they were on one great trespassing-spree all around the globe. All places were already known, just not to them.

This is where you can pick up. There are enough places you do not know anything about and only have read or seen superficial stuff about. So, travelling and getting to know new places first hand is an appropriate past time for the reckless Stampunk or Dieselpunk. If you are able to write interesting accounts of your journeys, you can make a living of it, too.

I would like to go on, but there is once again the sound of an air-raid siren coming from the next room.

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Recommended Podcast: The Gearheart

Traveler — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 09:37:36 +0000

Last night, while once more being on the site of my favourite educational podcats Skeptoid, I read Brian Dunning’s annoucement Skeptoid being a finalist for this year’s Parsec Awards in the category Fact Behind the Fiction. Good luck, Brian, you have my support!

So I went over to the Parsec Awards’ Website and had a look at the contesters and the other categories, and it was then that I discovered yet another jewel, in fact, it was more like a treasure chest:

The Gearheart

The Gearheart is a pulp audiobook story in a weird and wonderful world, reminiscient of the US during prohibition but with a number of intriguing detils that make it very fascinating in deed.

Please listen to the first episode:

Download the first episode of The Gearheart

All in all the story is 37 episodes long and I know what I will do each and every evening after my son is sleeping snuggly in his bed… At least until I have reached the end of The Gearheart.

I only hope the team behind The Gearheart will start another project (possibly in the same word? *nudge-nudge*), but I guess it is rather likely, given the tremendous and well deserved success of The Gearheart.

Also, The Gearheart features an excellent and very dramatic and fitting soundtrack, available for free download at the website.

Listen to the opening track The Curtain Rises. The entire soundtrack is available here, as I said, it is free, so just help yourselves. I hope you enjoy The Gearheart as much as I do!

PS: Zom-Bicuits are Duuuuuuuhhhhhh-lecious!

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This time it’s war

Traveler — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 15:33:33 +0000

Gatehouse Gazette Issue 14 has been released today and its topic is once more on the serious side: War

In it you will find tips for the military Steampunk look, observations concerning technologies coming out of wars and which changed all our lives in a positive way. Apart from war-themed essays, there is obviously more. There’s an excerpt from a book on Nellie Bly and a really interesting report on Steampunk and Dieselpunk things and places in Trieste.

Speaking of the essay on Trieste, I almost always enjoy the Gazette’s regular collumn Local Steampunk the most. It really shows that Steampunk is a worldwide phenomenon and you get insider information on a place you likely have never been and you get it from a native or someone who has been there frequently. Just like in The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.

In any case, get your helmet and your rifle, go into your pillbox and read the latest Gatehouse Gazette, but do not let your sergeant catch you…

Gatehouse Gazette Issue 14

PS: The guy on the cover could be the cousin of:

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Steampunk your home

Traveler — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 16:43:08 +0000

Who would have thought it, in lovely Massachusetts (my second favourite state of the US, right after Connecticut) there is a company which specialises in redisigning your abode’s interior…

Steampunk Style!

I would not go so far as to have my entire home redesigned in such a way, but the thought of maybe having a study or the kitchen redesigned and have it look something like this:

is rather intriguing… Alas, the finances and over all feasability of such a project are an entirely different chapter. The fact of me living in a house listed as a historical monument would very likely also interfere with wide-ranging modifications. Oh well, one can still dream, after all, that’s part of Steampunk, too.

Oh, I forgot, the company in question is ModVic (i.e. Modern Victorian). If you happen to live in the general area of Sharon, MA, you can probably arrange a tour of the Steampunked house containing the rooms pictured above.

I guess I should keep the adress in mind, one day we will all go to the US again. My Connecticut Mom wants to see her grandchild and when we go to Connecticut, we will be somewhat in the area…

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Recommended Blog: Eclectic Ephemera

Traveler — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 09:55:15 +0000

Once more I want to direct you, my dear readers, towards another fellow blogger whose work I find of particular interest. This time it is Eclectic Ephemera, as the name suggests, it is a rather eclectic collection of ephemeral things.

But: There is a definite trend apparent in all the things on Eclectic Ephemera and that is Vintage. As he states in his profile, Bruce Partington-Plans is particularly fascinated by the 1920′s and 1930′s which reflects in his blog. You find a lot about steam trains, silent movies, vintage cars, famous actors of the periods and related topics there.

He is also quick to introduce his readers to occasions, when elements of the aforementioned times bleed into modern culture. One example I found of special interest is his post about a motoring-themed hotel in Stuttgart, Germany, with a Zeppelin-suite (yes!)

Plus: Mr. Partington-Plans is a fellow zeppelin aficionado anyway!

Another delightful one is the article about Britain’s oldest stunt pilot, who flew during World War 2 and now pilots a SE5A First World War fighter biplane:

So I hope I have tingled your curiosity, now please pay Eclectic Ephemera a visit.

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Weather Noir

Traveler — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 20:12:00 +0000

I like summer, it is my favourite time of the year. Right now, it seems that summer in Germany is coming to an end. This year’s summer has been rather wierd. First it was rather cool, then it was really hot and finally it was rather rainy. Right now it seems like the first autumnal storm is upon us and the rain is coming down in buckets outside. Which brings me to todays main point:

Autumn is the perfect weather for the dapper Dieselpunk. It is the perfect weather to wear a trenchcoat and a fedora (I’ve got a black and a dark chocolate coloured one) and get into the Film Noir mood.
I like walking the streets of a town when it is foggy outside, with the collar of my tenchcoat turned up and, if possible, with a smoking pipe in the corner of my mouth. Yes, sometimes I like to revel in personifying a bad cliché.

Besides, autumn simply is the most noir of the seasons. And for someone coming out of the Goth Scene and with a slightly pagan background, autumn has the added benefit of containing Halloween.

I can now also again safely wear a suit without turning into a walking sponge by early afternoon, which is a definite bonus for someone who prefers wearing suits in the office. Yes, I am completely aware that this has fallen out of style, but I guess I would not write this blog if I would be too oncerned regarding what is fashionable now.

So, I am once again looking foreward to a season of the year, when I can more easily wear cool gear and stay cool at the same time.

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More Steampunk Toys

Traveler — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 14:26:55 +0000

Credits to Timo once more for sending me a most interesting and very useful link.

So, there is a line of toys around, called the

a most splendid line of toys and assorted artwork. At the Mechtorians Emporium the toy-line and various other goodies are available and I have to say: I am most tempted in deed, to order one or two items.

But then again, my son is far too small right now to appreciate such a toy (and piece of art) and in the end, it will be daddy, who is playing with it anyway…

So I leave the Mechtorians on my radar for now and should my son actually turn out to be interested in Steampunk, I can always get him one of these toys.

And by the way: There is another octopoid example where Cthulhu meets Steampunk. I do not know if it was intended, but Stephan Le Podd looks so much like… Well, see for yourselves:

And now, please go and pay those lovely Mechtorians a visit!

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The Mindset of the Times

Traveler — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 13:00:31 +0000

A recent update led to the installation of the iBook app on my iPod Touch. Being a new father I was also quite pleased that Winnie the Poo came with it for free.

I was even more pleased to find the following among the free books being offered via iBooks:

Der Rote Kampfflieger

How lucky is that? If you are unaware who that is, here’s the Wiki entry, you might like to look up, and please, do feel ashamed if you actually had to go there…

In any case, I am now half way through the book (it’s an excellent read, but I can imagine it would loose a bit of its appeal in an English translation, I am obviously reading the original German version) and it is quite a window to the mindset of the times. Freiherr von Richthofen displays a very sporting, gallant attitude towards warfare at the beginning of the book. He talks about playing hide-and-seek with the enemy, praises the equally sporting English and uses his time off to go boar-hunting. This stance obviouly changes with the reality of war but it shows the mindset prevalent in the German ruling class prior to World War 1.

You could in deed call it more civilised but it also borders on decadence and carelessness. I was also quite surprised to find Richthofen a very religious man. He states that nothing happens without God’s guidance and mourns the death of a British bomber crew in a crash, after he had aimed for the engine, not wanting to kill the crew.

I highly recommend the book to everyone interested in history and the proper mindest of Steampunk times. I do not know if the English version is available via iBooks, but it is available online:

The Red Fighter Pilot

Now I shall go and hunt for similar accounts of English, French and Americans.

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