MOAR STEAMPUNK.

[momebie]

So apparently I left something out of the last post that theemdash wanted to be sure that I touched on, and that is ownership of invention. A large part of the draw of steampunk is that it allows people the opportunity to manipulate what they've dreamed up. A hundred people could think up the Warp Drive, but how many people have one? Or would know what to do with it if they did? Steampunk is, in some ways more accessible, because the parts involved are available to most people. You can convert your car to run on steam. You can rig your house for telegraph. You can build a giant spider that runs on clockwork to frighten your neighbors! Though, I wouldn't advise doing the last one. It's hands on, and creativity seems to flourish in the steampunk environment. It's just like when you were in grade school and they told you that if you could think it you could do it. Except we're not trying to instill you with a false sense of importance! :p

A few other notes from the second steampunk panel include:

* Certainty. In the novel we're working on, and in many novels from the time period, steampunk or otherwise, we're dealing with a fading aristocracy. There is a rising upper middle class bourgeois who have a feeling of certainty in the coming future. The technological advancements of the period, coupled with the feeling of dynasty and empire largely built by the aristocracy the society is beginning to outgrow, made people feel omnipotent about the wonders of the future. Steampunk tries to recreate that and create other things with it. Also noted, geniuses create their own social norms.

* Glass blowers, which we just didn't want to forget about as craftsman. ;) (My grandfather used to blow glass, actually. Note to self, ask mom about that.)


Anyway.

These are compiled from the recommendations of the panelists in the first steampunk panel, and the attendees of the second panel.

Music
* The Hellblinki Sextet - My favorite of the new music. Some buzzwords I've seen that describe them: circus cabaret, pirate punk, broken tooth blues.
* Abney Park - Dark wave, industrial dance, steampunk.
* Unextraordinary Gentleman - Taken from their web page: We've created the Unextraordinary Gentlemen (UXG) to explore our love for post-punk, synth-pop, industrial & experimental music combined with the literary genre of Victorian fantasy.
* Stiffs, Inc. - A Victorian punk band that disbanded in 1998, but you can find their stuff around. It's vocalist, Whitey Sterling, went on to form the umbrella brigade, mentioned here more because I love their name than because I know whether they fit in the mold or not. :p (And if you're wondering, yeah, Gerard digs them.)


Literature
* Steampunk, edited by Ann and Jeff Vandermeer - This is a really cool anthology that I actually own and have for a while. It's a good cross section and overview of the genre.
* Novels by China Miéville - He apparently characterizes himself as 'weird fiction', but anything that has zeppelins and pulls from Lovecraft is pretty much a plus in my book.
* The Baroque Cycle by Neal Stephenson - A series of historical novels by a popular postcyberpunk author. His novel Snow Crash is not involved in the baroque cycle, but came very highly recced to me when I asked about cyberpunk novels around this time last year.
* The Alchemy of Stone by Ekaterina Sedia - About a clockwork girl caught in the middle of a war between alchemists and machinists, trying to find what it means to be to actually be alive.
* Clockwork Heart by Dru Pagliassotti - A metal winged courier caught up in intrigue and terrorism by a chance rescue.
* Anno Dracula by Kim Newman - I know nothing about this author, but I apparently REALLY need to read this book: In this first of what looks to be an excellent series, Victorian England has vampires at every level of society, especially the higher ones, and they engage in incessant intrigue, power games, and casual oppression of the weak--activities, as we know, that are all too human.
* The Difference Engine by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling - Technological change! Social upheaval! Lord Byron alive! The writer of Neuromancer! Yeah. FTW.
* Phillip Reeve, a YA author who wrote Mortal Engines and the Larklight Trilogy. --Recced by keelieinblack


Other Media with steampunk elements
* The Rocketeer (Movie)
* Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (Movie)
* Steamboy (Animated Movie)
* Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (Movie)
* The Adventures of Brisco County Jr. (TV Show)
* Last Exile (Anime)
* Girl Genius (Web Comic)
* Firefly (TV Show)
* Ergo Proxy (Anime)


Information/Forums
SepiaChord.com - Categorizes and catalogues steampunk music. Includes reviews, interviews, links and more.
* Steamcon - A steampunk convention being held in Seattle, Washing October 23 - 25, 2009.
* Brass Goggles - A steampunk forum which is apparently having some trouble right now. Probably best to bookmark the link and try later.
* 'Steampunk Moves Between Two Worlds' - An article from the New York times about the movement.
* The Steampunk Workshop - An online hub for machinists, tinkerers, steampunk media and more.



Whew. And that concludes massive amounts of links which are massive. That should definitely keep myself and many of you busy for some time. If you have anything else which you think has been omitted, please share it in the comments!



Boy and I just had a whole conversation about the Vampire Death Squid from Outer Space and whether it's ocean cousins are the products of evolution or were put there to populate a colony of the master Vampire Death Squid race and the ocean was the most friendly earth environment for it. I uh, I might love boy. A lot.

Comments

[fleurdeliser.livejournal.com]

Ooh, thanks! *bookmarks for future reference*