When it comes to late night comedy I'm more Letterman than Leno. But when it comes to things mechanical Jay Leno is a total mench and exemplifies true Steampunk spirit. 

Here he is talking about a Czech Tatra, a streamlined, rear-engined, air-cooled V-8 powered car from 1938 which would look completely at home in any Dieselpunk feature film!

Hearing some really interesting criticism here - but I'm not sure who it's aimed at, unless possibly it's the press and I really can't speak to that.

We are being taken for rubes. At worst, the Steampunkers seem to be mediocre hobbyists with great publicists. It seems fine to me that an obscure niche of DIY hobbyists want to create an imaginary Victorian present, no matter how insular or simpleminded it might be. Reality is what you make of it, even if it is apparent that some people prefer reality to look like a discarded sci-fi movie prop. It is entirely another thing for the press, in their endless “style” trolling, to claim Steampunk as some sort of important movement

As for what I do, it is un-apologetically scrap-booking writ with brass and steel rather then paper and foil. It's damn fun and I'm really happy others are interested because it brings people into a community that understands the shear joy of making things yourself.

And that's the best thing about Steampunk, the community of Steampunks.

As for great publicists, sorry, no. That's DIY too.

Click on through and read for yourself.  Alan Rorie has some interesting commentary on his blog: Almost Scientific.

[Emily and Tom Sepe's Whirlygig Emoto appear here because they are pictured in the article and, well, lovely.]

(image: I express some sort of emotion at Jake's hat)

I will be attending Comic-Con this year from Friday-Sunday, and I'd love to meet some SPWS readers/fans- especially if you are attending in your external-combustion-punk outfits (external combustion? Get it?), costumes, or if you are showing off your SP comics or projects. If you'd like your creation (or yourself) to be in the Comic-Con feature here at SPWS, shoot me an email at satiredun at gmail dot com; and we'll figure out how to meet up.

I will be blunt. Jeeves and Wooster is brilliant. Well, sort of. Jeeves is brilliant. Wooster is a complete idiot. It is off this dichotomy that Life With Jeeves, a three book omnibus by P.G. Wodehouse containing The Inimitable Jeeves, Very Good, Jeeves!, and Right Ho, Jeeves, is based on. The three books were written and take place in 1930's London and concern themselves with Bertram Wilberforce "Bertie" Wooster and his 'gentleman's personal gentleman' (which is to say valet), Reginald Jeeves (almost uniformly referred to as, simply, 'Jeeves'). 

Bertie Wooster is a young minor aristocrat, a member of the idle rich who spends most of his time either in hi-jinx with various friends and family, traveling (though usually reluctantly) or at his Gentleman's club, The Drones. He is, to be frank, a complete moron, though cheerfully so. Despite this mental handicap he is a intensely likable fellow, if only to the readers. 

. . .

Jon dropped me a quick note with a link to pictures of his winning entry in the xLAN case mod competition.

It reminds me of my own water-cooled PC project from a couple years back, only with clockwork and way more awesome! 

Thanks Jon!

I've been exceedingly jealous of my friends on the West Coast for the seeming predominance of Steampunkery out there.  However, I am feeling better and better on that front as I slowly discover the many talented artists in and about my home state of Massachusetts.

This marvellous confection is The Time Jumper dress and  is made entirely from components of a military surplus parachute and is a wonderful example of upcycling.  It also sports 25 pocket watches!

It's the work of Heather E. Hutsell and you can see more pictures of it over in the LJ community Steamfasion.

(image: Alan Rorie working on the Dihemispheric Chronaether Agitator. Photo by Flickr user and KSW patron Great!steam)

I've never been so enamored with any character type as I have with the mad scientist. The shop, filled with inventions, doo-dads; explosions from nowhere send machinery flying while (s)he runs yelling equations to no-one. The wide-eyed ecstatic expression of pure insanity; the giant eyebrows. The filthy white lab coat. The giant gloves.
With the exception of the gloves (and possibly the eyebrows), Alan Rorie is that taken from the best of these characters and put into rusty reality. A doctorate student at Stanford, he goes from the precision and white sterile walls of the laboratory to his grimy, rusty, enchantingly-cluttered shop at the west Oakland group art space NIMBY.
I met him first working on the Steampunk Treehouse , and have been since always impressed with his work; firstly the Dihemispheric Chronaether Agitator; and then the Neuron chamber. His exploits, scientific, artistic,  and otherwise- can be followed on his site  Almostscientific.com

He recently was so patient and kind to put down the high-voltage regulators and tell me a bit about himself.  Lots of photos and the interview behind the cut.

I know, I know- we're a specialty blog. Steampunk. Gears. Brass. Tophats. Things of that nature.

However.. I think that I am allowed one post that has nothing to do with Steampunk per se.

I give you: The typewriter.

The typewriter that belonged to Douglas Adams.

The typewriter that wrote The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

The Guide is without a doubt the single most influentual book in my life. My dad gave me my first copy when I was ten, and every year or so (or whenever I'm begining to feel a little too Arthur and not enough Ford) I re-read them all the way through. Seriously, can I stress how much I want this? No, I cannot. Not even close. I suppose I could tell you about the tattoo of Don't Panic, and it's matching twin of 42. But this... I tingle all over with the thought of it; and ache with the pain of a jealous lover with the thought of it in another's hands.

I love that the X is the most worn on the keyboard.

All could be mine for the low, low price of $25577.95 (plus shipping). They even throw in a first edition of the Guide. Aw.

I get a great deal of email these days, I try to answer it all but I'm afraid the day I will not be able to fast approaches. I am grateful for the pics of cool stuff and links to net Steampunkia, and I really do enjoy answering thoughtful questions about making stuff.

It was just such a question that put me on to the music of Michael Scott Parker .  The question I received was signed "Michael the girl" which caught my eye and caused me to click through to her website listed in the .sig . . .

On my way to work yesterday morning I spotted these in a box at the roadside waiting for collection.  There were a half dozen similar radios but since I was on the bike I could only carry a couple so I grabbed the best of the bunch.

On the right is an Admiral Model 4B22 and on the left is an Akkord Offenbach 51 short/medium wave radio.  Both are battery or mains powered and seem to be intact.