Archive für Februar 2010

This Blog is Moving

Hello my dear readers,

due to the fact that my current hoster is unable and unwilling to allow the installation of blog-themes, plug-ins etc. that he has not officially approved of, this blog is moving.

Please update your RSS feeds and bookmarks.

The new blog (including all articles) can be found there:

Daily Steampunk (the saga continues)

The blog here will no longer be updated.

Steampunk Music - Examples

Modern technology and the ætherweb be praised, here’s a tiny selection of Steampunk Music I can recommend:

Please enjoy!

Steampunk Cthulhu contraption

Ah, the joys of tor.com, they had (I guess I mentioned) a Cthulhu month and lots of art flooded in, here’s one of my favourites:

Cleptopod

Remember Dresden

Today in 1945 Dresden was destroyed in a military needless bombing raid.

Dreseden after the raid

Tragedies like this still repeat themselves today, not on this scale, but there are still too many innocent casualties in every war. Let’s also not forget that there is Nazi scum marching through Dresden as I write these lines, defiling the memory of the victims and twisting them for their own despicable ends.

Dresden, along with Coventry, Hiroshima and Nagasaki stands as a symbol for the evils of war. Dresden is also a symbol for recovery and for this matter, one photograph can say more than a thousand words:

Frauenkirche by night

Happy Darwin Day!

Charles Darwin

Remember USS Macon

Today in 1935 USS Macon was lost to accident. She was the last of the giant airships like the Hindenburg to be used by the US Navy and the last flying aircraft carrier, with her complement of six Sparrowhawk biplanes.

Today we remember USS Macon.

USS Macon

And also the Sparrowhawk, the only parasite fighter to actually see regular service.

Curtiss Sparrowhawk

Happy Birthday, Mr. Edison

Today in 1847 the most famous and iconic inventor of the industrial age was born, Thomas Alva Edison:

Thomas Edison

Although not the invenor of the light-bulb (a common misconception), he greatly improved its design. He is rightly credited with the invention of the phonograph and the carbon microphone amongst many other things. He is also one of the most beloved inventors ofthe Steampunk genre, possibly only eclipsed by Nikola Tesla.

Edison also features prominently in the backstory of the steampunk role playing game Space 1889 as the inventor of the Ætherflyer which made space exploration in this setting possible.

The Wedding of the Century

170 years ago today, the wedding of the Victorian Age took place:

Queen Victoria married Albert of Saxe-Coburg.

Wedding Photo Victoria Albert

Steampunk in the Czech Republic and Russia

Steampunk is truely a global phenomenon.Right now it seems to be somewhat concentrated in the US, Canada and Europe west of the Oder River. It happens relatively in infrequently that one finds sites or meets steampunks fro, other places.

All the more delighted am I today to bring a number of central (formerly eastern) European sites to your attention, from the Czech Republic, and another one, truely from the east, from Russia:

Czech Steampunk by Deever

Czech Steampunk by Příběhy Impéria

Steampunker.ru - Russian Steampunk

No, I am absolutely unable to tell you what is being said/narrated/discussed on the respective sites, I neither read nor speak Czech or Russian. I am also only vaguely familiar with the Cyrilic Alpabeth.

However, images are international and thuis I express my thanks to Steampunker.ru and steal the following marvelous Zeppelin/Airship from their site to feature it on mine:

War Zeppelin

16th May 2010: I have just been informed that the artist behind this marvelous image is Vadim Voitekhovich, please check out his site at http://arts.in.ua/artists/woit/.

100 years of Salon de locomotion aerienne

This years Salon de locomotion aerienne, the Paris Air Show, will mark its 100th anniversary, there will be a bigger blog article on the day it starts (if I don’t forget) but for now, here are two very nice images from the first show in 1909:

Salon de locomotion aerienne 1909 Grand Palais Paris

Ah! My little steampunk heart ticks faster!