Monday, June 13, 2011

Steampunk

I don’t want to belong to any club that would have me as a member. —Groucho Marx
Or this guy. —TIWTPITF


I like imagination. I like creativity. I don’t like this Victorian goth take on the renaissance faire. Instead of a jongleur in a jester’s cap, steampunkers strap on leather goggles and embrace a good Rube-Goldberg machine or Tesla coil for shits and giggles.

The thing is, the good old days weren’t always good, as Billy Joel would say. If you’re going to fire up some steam-powered contraptions using your erector set, you’d best showcase the tuberculosis and smallpox that rocked 19th-century Britain as well.

You aren’t edgy or alternative. You’re just a former LOTR/Star Wars/D&D fan dressed up as an H.G. Wells’ wet dream. Doff the leather waistcoat and travel back to the present before I engage in a little time travel of my own and sic a Morlock on you.

(photo: flickr.com/photos/nathaninsandiego)

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you. Oh sweet baby jeebus, thank you. Fantasy-dorkery of all persuasions makes me want splatter chunks all over their jerkins.

SousLeCharme said...

Good God, his mother must be proud!

Susie Q said...

Okay taking exception to this....I think a lot of the steampunk thing is pretty cool. That said, some of it is pretty odd...to my way of thinking, it takes the best of the Victoria era (there were some cool clothes), adding in the imagination of Jules Verne and then seeing what we can come up with...and I'm a big fan of Warehouse 13 and it's steampunk-y vibe and I am determined to make myself one of the computer monitors..think they are pretty gorgeous.

Parabolic Muse said...

but.

it's so fun.