MetaFilter posts tagged with Steampunk

Is that in the rules?

Artw — Sat, 18 May 2013 15:45:53 -0800

Each event has a different theme, revolving around a past era. Previously, Steam Garden did a Meiji-themed party — a fascinating time when Japan was opening its doors to the West, and fusing Victorian fashion with traditional kimonos and obis. This time, the code word was Celtic Fantasy. Luke describes it as “a blend of industry, fantasy, and epic adventure set to a soundtrack of exciting tribal and Celtic music.” - Japanese Steampunk, complete with bagpipes, medieval food, fire dancers and wood elves.

Gears to replace flannel on the teenagers of America

mediocre — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 17:47:24 -0800

Is Steampunk The Next Big Fashion Trend? Time Magazine reports on this new sensation.

Steam Powered Giraffe

Countess Elena — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 13:34:45 -0800

ATTUNE YOUR EARS TO THE GRINDING GEARS. A band of robot mimes with an extensive steampunk comic backstory is perhaps, to put it gently, an acquired taste, but to those of us inclined to enjoy such a thing, Steam Powered Giraffe never fails to cheer. Further: Automatonic Electronic Harmonics The Suspender Man (live) Honeybee Robot, 8:00 am

Land of crumble and lemon curd and opportunity

fearfulsymmetry — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 07:08:18 -0800

I'm British (SLYT)

You've got an old computer, your're crafty, and you spent way too much time watching "Transformers" as a kid.

orange swan — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 16:14:27 -0800

Suppose you’ve got an old computer around, just taking up space, and your initial attempts at finding alternate uses for it have not been successful. But you know perfectly well that, according to this super scientific pie graph, there must be better recycling ideas out there on the net. Let’s have a look at some of them, shall we? If you think your ~~parents' basement~~ cool loft apartment could do with some geeking up, you could make a toothbrush holder for the bathroom, or a coffeemaker, beer keg, bread box, pop vending machine, or sausage slicer for the kitchen. Maybe the living room could use a new coffee table, or a new DVR, or a clock or two. You might make a journal or document folders for your home office. If your home office is more old school than cool, you might like to make a steampunk keyboard. Perhaps you’d like a fire pit for the backyard, or a mailbox for the front of the house. You could use your old tower to grow wheat grass, seedlings, or a micro-herb garden. Your pets might like to get into the geek act with a new cat bed or hamster cage. If you work in a lab, you might like a magnetic stirrer to keep cells agitated, or simply a new way to decide who makes the coffee today. If you like to express your geekitude sartorially, you can use those old computer parts to make some accessories. You can make an earring holder, cufflinks, a wrist cuff, necklace, a ring or four, a wallet, clutch, or handbag. At the less practical, more decorative end of the computer craft spectrum, you could make Mac-O-Lanterns for Halloween, a robot, your own Wall-E doll, a horse, an owl, Nike shoes, a city scape, or other sculptures. For artistic inspiration, check out Sandy Smith’s Mauritania Sunset installation, Alex Andromeda’s sculptures, or the sandals, toilet and many other things Steven Rodig is making over at PCB Creations. More ideas for computer recycling can be found h e r e .

Take Those Damned Goggles Off

The Whelk — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 09:37:39 -0800

Television Without Pity re-capper Jacob Clifton has written a short steampunk story for Tor.com. “There’s a level on which the story is an indictment of using steampunk as a fashion or trend. It came about because I wanted to see what would happen if you substituted Jane Austen for Jules Verne in the steampunk equation...” The Commonplace Book

New Babylon Five Steam Punk Style

pdxpogo — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 14:33:52 -0800

Bruce Boxleitner thinks he can sell a Steam Punk Saga to the Networks Lantern City exists in a parallel universe where the Victorians survived and the style of that period permeates their milieu. The site is not very old and Boxleitner has put some money behind this along with Trevor Crafts co producer he worked with Boxleitner on Smokewooda TV comedy pilot "It's Parks and Recreation Meets Tombstone." Matthew James Daley has the title of writer for the show no profile on the IMDB. He is in the forums over at Lantern City. The creators of the show have asked for fan participation either by submitting props and costumes for consideration and ideas for fleshing out the world. Back story is a bit thin we have Terrans transported to Lantern City (the Outsiders) the Greymen Empire the Working Class who are starved and abused kept in a state of despair. Finally the Underground escapees of Lantern City who are ploting revolution even as they live in the anarchy under the city. I think you can see B5 in the mix of character classes it makes for subplots galore as it moves along an arc of succession and rebellion. Nothing on casting but we can assume Boxleitner will be playing a lead role in one of the factions. This could be timed just right with the success of Game of Thrones. Not sure if it is serious sci fi or a more campy angle.

Microscope phakomètre; brass; part silvered; instrument is fixed to column by an assembly consisting of a central ball moving within split socket and two clamps

bigbigdog — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 09:42:21 -0800

This complicated "instrument" does not perform any useful purpose and was presumably made as a spoof.

Fashion is architecture: it is a matter of proportions.*

cenoxo — Sat, 21 Jul 2012 07:26:19 -0800

Prada Menswear Fall/Winter 2012 — starring Neo-Victorian gentlemen Garrett Hedlund, Gary Oldman, Jamie Bell, and Willem Dafoe. Photographed by David Sims. (*quote by Coco Chanel.)

"One machine can do the work of fifty ordinary men. No machine can do the work of one extraordinary man."

Fizz — Sun, 17 Jun 2012 14:59:31 -0800

Upgrade Your Nintendo 3DS’s Sound. [SLYT] "Of the variety of things one might find to complain about in regards to the Nintendo 3DS, the sound doesn’t immediately come to mind. It’s not great sound, mind, but there are a litany of things that are more obvious. Thanks to one intrepid inventor, however, you are now just a series of tubes, clips and metal funnels away from awesome sound. Now, in order to figure out the exact combination of these things you’ll need to translate the instructions from Japanese." [Via].

"If you believe in a principle, never damage it with a poor impression. You must go all the way." Charles Parsons

justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 16:41:59 -0800

Unusual marketing technique: an inventor offered a demonstration of his custom-built speedboat design by speeding past security and crashing the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations. It was 1897, the sixtieth year of Queen Victoria’s reign. Charles Algernon Parsons was bent on making steampunk mad science out of his rather practical discovery, the modern reaction turbine. Background: turbines produce torque by extracting energy from a continuous fluid flow. The idea of powering a machine with a continuous jet of steam is very old. ( Hero of Alexandria ’s aeolipile) The first reaction turbine seems to have been the steam-jack developed by Taqi al-Din (1526–1585AD). It fired a jet of steam from a boiler through a nozzle at the vanes of a small windmill. One problem with firing high pressure steam at the blades of a turbine is “the well-known cutting action on metal of steam at high velocity.” Parsons’ innovation in 1884 was “to split up the fall in pressure of the steam into small fractional expansions over a large number of turbines in series, so that the velocity of the steam nowhere should be great.” (Parsons, in a 1911 lecture). This remains the most energy efficient way to get torque from pressurized steam. The most important application Parsons found for his steam turbine was electric power generation. The design of his 7.4 kW prototype generator was bought up by George Westinghouse and scaled up from there. In 1900 an industrial scale 1.5 MW power plant built around a Parsons turbine went into operation. However, at the time it would have seemed that turbines for ship propulsion were an even more important development. Up to that point, steamships were powered by reciprocating engines - pistons. Steam turbines have a higher power-to-weight ratio, are more compact and produce less vibration than reciprocating engines. Most importantly from the perspective of the British navy, turbines are more fuel efficient than reciprocating engines. The need to control a worldwide empire linked together by a thin chain of coaling stations made fuel economy a priority for the Royal Navy, enough so that many British ships were combination steam/sail powered right up until the turn of the 20th century. The last British battleship built to carry sails (Inflexible) remained in service until 1897. For that reason, the British Admiralty was keeping an eye on Parsons when the Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Company launched Turbinia, in 1894. Turbinia’s initial performance was uninspiring. As Parsons soon discovered, the problem was that its propeller was spinning so fast as to produce cavitation. Parsons solved the problem in a somewhat Rube Goldberg fashion by redesigning Turbinia to have nine propellers each rotating at a mere 2500 RPM. The ship was ready for its first public demonstration: an uninvited appearance at the Navy Review for Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee at Spithead on June 26th, 1897. Here is what she looked like, 104 feet long, 9 feet wide, clipping along with her bow lifted out of the water. At her top speed of 34 knots (60 kph), observers saw only “a bow emerging from a huge wave and a flame from the funnel flickering into the air.” Flames literally burned the paint off the ship’s funnel on every run. The noise of the turbines half deafened the crew. Turbinia slipped into the review, speeding between larger ships, at times literally running circles around the patrol boats that were supposed to be maintaining security. Turbinia was simply too fast to be caught. Parsons did minor damage to one of the ships in the review; Turbinia had been towing a small boat, but the tow-line parted while Turbinia was making a tight turn, causing the boat to collide with a French yacht. Nevertheless, for the most part, a good time was had by all. The British Government punished Parsons by giving him a contract to build turbines for the Royal Navy’s first turbine powered warships, the Torpedo Boat Destroyers HMS Cobra and HMS Viper. In 1905 the Royal Navy announced that all future warships would be turbine powered. The steam turbine is half of the story of why the construction of the battleship Dreadnought in 1906 kicked off an arms race at the turn of the 20th century. Dreadnought was both the first all-big-gun battleship and the first turbine powered battleship. The all-big-gun design gave it roughly triple the firepower of a similar sized pre-dreadnought in a long range gun duel. The turbine engine made it faster by far than any battleship then afloat, gave it longer range due to fuel efficiency and, due to its light weight, made it possible for the ship to do all that while also being incrementally better armored. Unfortunately Victoria was not present to witness Turbinia’s run, being too ill to attend the review. She had a rather better time downing grog at the 1842 Grand Review. ^{Previously: credit to cenoxo, who talked about Turbinia in a comment to a 2006 post about Hero of Alexandria's aeolipile.}

"Coffee comes in five descending stages: Coffee, Java, Jamoke, Joe, and Carbon Remover."

Fizz — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 08:03:01 -0800

The Steampunk (Alpha Dominche): A Curious Coffee Contrapulation: "With just a few quick taps on the touch screen, the barista customizes the STEAMPUNK brewing process to optimize the flavor of each beverage. The anticipation then begins. The customer is treated to a dazzling theatrical presentation as the STEAMPUNK’s gleaming glass crucibles fill with swirling steam. The barista then places the ground coffee on the piston and plunges it into the crucible. The grinds whirl and dance as they’re agitated and aerated by the millions of tiny bubbles. At the barista’s command, the liquid coffee is pulled by vacuum through a specially designed ultrafine photo-milled metal filter, and the dark brown elixir streams gracefully into the awaiting cup." [Via] [Alpha Dominche]

dress-up & paper dolls

flex — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 14:45:26 -0800

Hipster girl? Hipster boy? Superhero? Mii? A modern Mucha? Regency hero or heroine? Tudors? Steampunk (one, two)? Here's more.
How about pop culture? True Blood. Mad Men (Joan S1, S2, S3). Marty McFly (by Derek Eads). Jonathan Coulton. Lady GaGa. Kyle Hilton (previously: Arrested Development) also has Parks and Recreation, Breaking Bad, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and various films. (previously: a blog - manly - PONIES)

I quite enjoy the steampunk aesthetic, but what I beheld there was rather pathetic.

usonian — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 13:15:52 -0800

Just Glue Some Gears On It (and Call It Steampunk)

Abney Park

jeffburdges — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 09:51:31 -0800

Abney Park has evolved from their goth beginnings into the "quintessential" steampunk band, complete with industrial dance and world music influences. Also, they created a pen & paper role playing games Airship Pirates based upon their song Airship Pirates .. .. to accommodate their identities that accompanied their music transition. Their Æther Shanties album has several more pirate themed songs. Abney Park was a nonconformist village that became Abney Park Cemetery

Justin Bieber is on DEF JAM?? But isn't that Slayer's label?

FatherDagon — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 16:58:13 -0800

A perfect storm of terrible, two sharks trying to jump each other - Justin Bieber's steampunk version of 'Santa Claus is Coming to Town'.

Like A Steampunk Iron Man Villain

Lovecraft In Brooklyn — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 18:44:24 -0800

The headless body of Australian folk hero Ned Kelly has been found in a mass grave. Ned Kelly was an Australian bushranger (outlaw) best known for the suit of homemade armor he wore during his last stand at Glenrowan. Since then Ned Kelly has been an Australian icon, celebrated in films (including one starring Mick Jagger) and song.

The Steampunk Laptop

shivohum — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 21:20:24 -0800

Datamancer's Steampunk Laptop - now taking pre-orders (with a $5500 early bird special).

Anno Dracula

Artw — Thu, 19 May 2011 12:20:34 -0800

Kim Newman discusses the novels that inspired Anno Dracula, his epic pop-culture mashup of all things vampire, set in a Victorian London ruled by Dracula. Newman's long fascination with Dracula led to two more novels in the setting and several short stories, several of which can be found online.

Furniture that really is da bomb.

kinnakeet — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 16:22:23 -0800

"Estonian sculptor Mati Karmin creates mind-blowing furniture made out [sic] from sea mines." That is all. The pram... just check out the pram.

Steampunk Insects

Phire — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 18:00:12 -0800

Steampunk Insects. "Tom Hardwidge’s Arthrobots are robotic insects — steampunk creations made from upcycled gears, nuts, bolts… and bullets!"

Steampunk Philly

fixedgear — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 10:08:12 -0800

BRUCE ROSENBAUM and his wife, Melanie, cook their food on what looks like a cast-iron Victorian stove. But the stove, like many items in the Rosenbaums' kitchen, has been gutted and repurposed. There's a modern appliance inside that antique shell, a theme that repeats itself from the fridge to their water heater. "We created this romantic Victorian feel to it," Bruce Rosenbaum said. "But everything works." The Massachusetts couple have steampunked their kitchen. If you are in or near Philly this weekend you can visit the The Alternative Living Expo at a local convention center. You can also attend a semi-regular meetup.

Cupcakes and Pipe Fittings

Ardiril — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 19:19:22 -0800

Kambriel Steamcon II Fashion Show - pics from the event

What the devil are you talking about, Robama?

NoraReed — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 20:16:32 -0800

Steampunk Palin.

Giving 'em the gears.

stinkycheese — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 07:03:14 -0800

There's weird taxidermy, weirder taxidermy, and weirdest taxidermy. There's even weird taxidermy auctions. But, all in all, these animals are the same old stuff. Lisa Black however has come up with a new spin on an old concept - steampunk taxidermy. Some images may be NSFW.