Comments on: When Steam Wasn't Punk.

When Steam Wasn't Punk.

The Whelk — Tue, 19 May 2009 11:41:54 -0800

The Brazen Android by William Douglas O'Connor, is a 19th century science fiction story based on the myth of the Brazen Head, a steam-powered head that told fortunes. It's available as an audio book from the Internet Archives. (Via)

By: DU

DU — Tue, 19 May 2009 12:04:38 -0800

I was having trouble believing that "android" could be a 19th century meaning (despite the fact that it's a completely classical word). Popularized here.

By: DU

DU — Tue, 19 May 2009 12:06:02 -0800

Oh and that's a story about women being replaced by sexbots. In 1886. So yeah, men are robopigs.

By: The Whelk

The Whelk — Tue, 19 May 2009 12:11:02 -0800

Human innovation is largely driven by the desire to have sex with more things. To wit: " ...she was cursed with the desire to be coupled with the king's finest bull. The Queen conscripted the great artisan Daidalos to assist her in the endeavor, and he built for her a hollow wooden cow, wrapped in a bovine skin and endowed with mechanical life. Hiding herself inside this contraption she conceived and bore a hybrid child, the bull-headed Minotauros."

By: The Whelk

The Whelk — Tue, 19 May 2009 12:17:49 -0800

(from DU's link) The Future Eve has been called equally stunning for its literary experimentation and its virulent misogyny That's a combination of words you don't see very often. It's like literary criticism Mad Libs.

By: GuyZero

GuyZero — Tue, 19 May 2009 12:19:02 -0800

MetaFilter: all pent-roofed or gable-peaked, heavy-caved, stub-chimneyed, narrow-latticed, awning-shuttered, stair-eased, post-buttressed, beam-crossed, dusky-red-roofed, dingy-white-walled and low under the overhanging vastness of the sky. It's a wonder they didn't run out of adjectives.

By: GuyZero

GuyZero — Tue, 19 May 2009 12:22:15 -0800

Also, paging Pope Guilty, as you got name-checked.

By: marginaliana

marginaliana — Tue, 19 May 2009 12:52:25 -0800

Metafilter: literary experimentation and virulent misogyny (Sorry.)

By: Restless Day

Restless Day — Tue, 19 May 2009 13:12:48 -0800

Also The Alchemy of Stone by Ekaterina Sedia

By: Restless Day

Restless Day — Tue, 19 May 2009 13:16:08 -0800

Sorry never mind

By: The Esteemed Doctor Bunsen Honeydew

The Esteemed Doctor Bunsen Honeydew — Tue, 19 May 2009 13:48:01 -0800

They sure were, --a lot more creative; with, their, punctuation in: the 19th century.

By: languagehat

languagehat — Tue, 19 May 2009 14:00:11 -0800

The first cite for "android" in Brave New Words (which we discussed here) is: [1727-51 E. Chambers Cyclopædia: Albertus Magnus is recorded as having made a famous androides.]

By: annathea

annathea — Tue, 19 May 2009 14:10:28 -0800

Like he (Roger Bacon), I am acquainted with the force of Elastick bodies. Man, I love English.

By: rokusan

rokusan — Tue, 19 May 2009 23:00:59 -0800

I am acquainted with the force of Elastick bodies. Pics or it didn't happen.

By: aeschenkarnos

aeschenkarnos — Wed, 20 May 2009 03:45:19 -0800

Has anyone ever actually seen an antique Brazen Head? If they were real, and as popular as the Wikipedia article implies, surely at least one would have survived.

By: anazgnos

anazgnos — Wed, 20 May 2009 11:01:40 -0800

Has anyone ever actually seen an antique Brazen Head? If they were real, and as popular as the Wikipedia article implies, surely at least one would have survived. The google image search for "brazen head" -dublin -pub -inn -tavern -bar -restaurant -guinness -beer was disappointing in this regard.

By: The Whelk

The Whelk — Sun, 24 May 2009 13:55:06 -0800

Imaginary Gadgets: Brazen Head

By: djfiander

djfiander — Sun, 24 May 2009 14:34:15 -0800

Just out of curiosity, can you folks in the US actually read The Brazen Android at the google books link? Because us folks in Canada don't even get to see snippets. Of a volume that was printed in 1892. Google should never be allowed near a scanner again, IMO.

By: djfiander

djfiander — Sun, 24 May 2009 14:38:37 -0800

Oh, and here's the book at the Internet Archive (featuring a preface by Walt Whitman).