18.1.2010 by Traveler.

One image is worth a thousand words:

The first unified German nation-state since the Peace of Westphalia.

The good: Up to late 1888 there was very little tension with neighbouring states as Kaiser Friedrich Wilhelm, Kaiser Friedrich III (whose reign was far to short anyway) and Chancellor Bismarck did not pursue aggressive foreign policies after unification. The unification of Germany also lead to massive industrialisation and modernisation and gave us the Zeppelin.

The bad: Only one good, effective Emperor, his liberal son… I am repeating myself.

The ugly: We all know (we do, don’t we?) what happened in 1914.

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15.1.2010 by Traveler.

First, here is a brilliant documentary on steampunk and interviews with Abney Park and Jake von Slatt:

and here is something I just had to put up here, three cheers for Alan Grayson!

So please enjoy the videos!

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11.1.2010 by Traveler.

This image is so wonderfully retro and it is rather unfortunately also pretty up-to-date. As 2008 and 2009 have shown us Robber Baron style capitalism can destroy lives and wealth at a rate some major wars can’t. So, without further ado, I want to share the following image with you:

PS: No, I am not a communist, but I am an enemy of rampant capitalism (the one without regard to lives, hopes and the planet).

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10.1.2010 by Traveler.

Slightly off-topic, but only slightly.

Today in 1835 Fukuzawa Yukichi (福澤 諭吉) was born. He is one of the most influential people of the Meiji period and is regarded as one of the founding fathers of modern Japan.

Since I hold him in high regard and the Meiji period coincides with the lifetime of Jules Verne, Queen Victoria and Kaiser Friedrich III, it is only fitting to include this Japanese notable on my blog.

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10.1.2010 by Traveler.

Today is again one of those days when we commemorate two events which happend today in bygone years. The first of these events is one which really fits into the Steampunk genre:

London Metropolitan Railway: First Day of Service in 1863

The London Metropolitan Railway started operating between Paddington (side note: I spent quite some time in the general area around Paddington during my stays in London, mainly in B&Bs) and Farringdon Street. The line is still operational and is thus, how else could it be, the oldest part of today’s London Underground Network.

The second event falls into the late Pulp and Dieselpunk aera:

1946: First United Nations General Assembly Meeting

If you have no clue what I am talking about, please leave this blog…I am not going to explain what the United Nations are. The Name alone should tell you enough… I do not even dare to imagine there are people with internet access who have never heard of the United Nations. (I put a link behind the image, just in case)

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30.12.2009 by Traveler.

Since I started this Blog in July 2008 it has developed quite a bit and a few topics I did not think would make an appearance on it have found their way in. One of these topics is politics.

The first political entry on this blog was President Obama’s (then President Elect) acceptance speech in Chicago, this entry. Since that memorable day a few other politically motivated posts have followed, like Steampunks Against Fascism and yesterday’s entry in solidarity of the Green Movement in Iran. Although I think Steampunk in general is apolitical, there is one aspect where it mixes quite well with politics. I know many a steampunk on the ætherweb who prefers a dystopian or post- or pre-apocalyptic setting.

I do not.

I prefer an utopian or pre-utopian setting where steam, labor and weir science are used to make the world a better place, for everybody. There are real-life causes I believe in, things that I think make this world a better place. I may well be wrong about some of them.

Maybe President Obama will turn out to be an epic failure just like George W. Bush (I doubt that).

Maybe the current coalition government in Germany actually means well for all people in Germany and does not pursue lobbyist oriented politics reminiscent of G.W. Bush’s second term (there are now even members of the CDU who doubt that, see this news article, it is in German, however).

But as long as I am convinced of their validity and that there are people I think have the potential to make this world a better place, I will suport them.

I will also support causes like the Green revolution (I sincerely hope that it will not turn into something selfserving and attrocious like the Islamic revolution 30 years ago).

I am also a member of kiva, which is one real easy way to make this world a better place.

So, as a Steampunk it is good and fun to dream about how a Steampunk Utopia would look like, but I am also a citizen of Actual Reality™ and it is my duty to make this world a better place. I hope I can do my part to bring humanity and the biosphere of this planet onto The Golden Path.

And I will lash out against causes, ideas, organisations and individual people which and whom I consider to be harmful to the well-being of humanity as a whole.

My personal vision of Steampunk makes it imperative for me to strife in real life to make this world a better place. Just sitting at home with your head in the clouds, dreaming of better times and places will change nothing. If anything it means wasting your time and life. If you do nothing but dream, you leave nothing behind. If you stand up and at leat try to make your dreams reality, and I am talking about dreams and visions like “Yes we can” and not like the vision Stalinism has, your dreams may survive you. You made a difference, you are not forgotten.

I close this entry with a quote from the Hávamál, which is, as a student of Norse mythology and other knowledgable people will know, attributed to Woden himself:

Cattle die and kinsmen die,
thyself too soon must die,
but one thing never, I ween, will die, –
fair fame of one who has earned.

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29.12.2009 by Traveler.

My friend cdk07 made this video. Let it speak for itself:

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26.11.2009 by Traveler.

There is a song by Abney Park, Airship Pirates and just now, something struck me and I coupled two things together and came up with the following image (it’s a German political pun, so don’t worry if you don’t get it):

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14.11.2009 by Traveler.

I participated in a demonstration against certain undesireable elements in our society today. They pretend to remember the fallen heroes of our country, like I do, but in reality, they glorify fascist cruelty and idiocy and I have nothing more to say.

Let the image speak:

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28.6.2009 by Traveler.

A short but important historic note: 95 years ago today, Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie were asassinated in Sarajevo…

What more is there to be said? Possibly the farthest reaching and most tragic murder of the 20th century. Some of the issues that came out of this event are still not resolved today…

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