A good point and another reason I like steampunk

So there's this blog I recently found out about called Xerposa, where they gather all kinds of wonderful steampunk things together for your reading pleasure. For example, they have a list of steampunk bands (I only knew about Abney Park, Unextraordinary Gentlemen, Prof. Elemental, and Vernian Process), a continuing debate about hydrogen versus helium in airships (obviously in a steampunk setting hydrogen is best, but some people can't be reasoned with - I mean, helium wasn't even discovered until 1903!) and short articles on various crafts/fashions/items to lust after (including cufflinks made by yours truly! I feel so famous!) They even gathered up a few handy steampunk-looking fonts. They're so helpful.

There are also articles about steampunk itself, as a subculture, and as a literary movement. I like this one especially. It's about time. And I have found this to be the case in a lot of steampunk writing - I think it's because they are trying to tell the story of a world and the setting and characters are detailed enough that they are pretty realistic. Also, steampunks tend to be geeks, and so are their characters, and they have too much cool shiny explody stuff to tell you about to waste time moping about abuse in their backstories.

My Other Blog

So, I've started another blog. I have a bunch of random thoughts floating around in my head, and many of them are not about steampunk, and this is a steampunk blog. So here is my other blog. I will be writing about hipsters soon. That should be fun.

Up next on this blog: Jodhpurs, the official trousers of adventure! Part one..... (finally)

Steampunk Art and Hats and Things

I started a DeviantArt page, where I'm putting all my steampunk creations. So far I have some hats, and a couple of other things. I'm working on a drawing, and I'll put up other things from time to time. I also take commissions, so if anyone needs an elegant top hat, just let me know.

Baby's First Steampunk

Last night - yesterday morning actually (it's tomorrow again, if you know what I mean) - I made my first AMV. It combines a cartoon and and song that just need to go together - Abney Park's "Airship Pirate", and Disney's "Talespin", and it stars the airship pirate, Don Karnage

Talespin is one my favorite shows, and has been ever since it was on the Disney Afternoon, which may be the greatest block of TV programming in the history of the medium. But it is more than that. It is also Baby's First Steampunk. One might argue that that coveted title should go to Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel, given its sympathetic portrayal of steam-powered machines versus diesel and electric shovels, but we should probably not overanalyze these things. Also, while the story does center around steam power, it takes place in a contemporary setting and is not really speculative. No, Talespin is clearly the steampunk of choice for developing minds (as I replayed the first four episodes over and over narrowing down my selection of clips, I realized just how fully my subconscious mind is steeped in this show)

Now, I don't think the mere presence of airships makes something steampunk, and I'll examine this in more detail later. But the sense of adventure, and the overall look and feel, while a bit late - 1930s, probably - has a lot of steampunkness, especially the pirates. Don Karnage's airship, the Iron Vulture, is particularly interesting. If you look at it, it's not really a lighter-than-air ship. It has large gas envelopes on the sides, but it only lifts off when it uses the rows of upward-pointing propellers along the sides. Why is this significant? It's like the design of Captain Robur's airship in Jules Verne's "Robur the Conqueror", which was made into the movie "Master of the World" starring Vincent Price. Aside from that, look at the control room:

It has a certain flare. It reminds me of the Nautilus, and there are lovely giant pipes and gauges everywhere. If you watch the early episodes (I don't know if they continue later in the series), it doesn't make the usual low, droning hum we usually hear from airship engines. Instead it makes a steamy chugging noise like a train. That's just cool and it goes to show the amount of thought and research Disney used to put into their cartoons (do they even make half-hour cartoons now?)

The engines on the back even look like the boilers from locomotives, complete with smokestacks and steam domes. In fact, Talespin does what so many things we call steampunk don't bother with, and gives a nod to the way steam machines actually work. (more on that later too).

And of course, one look at the pirates themselves, with their googles, shabby top hats, vests, and variety of weapons, and it's pretty clear that they are very steampunk pirates indeed.