"Remnant" Part 3, Brutal from Birth

Scene from Penny Dreadful Productions' "Remnant, Brutal from Birth"

For those following the dramatic, costume-laden vignettes produced by Penny Dreadful Productions, 

the third installment is here!

(I viewed it a couple of weeks ago, but did not post about it, my apologies!)

Please read my original post on these movies.  There you will find the back story, as well as links to Penny Dreadful Productions and other related subjects, including photos that I took at Anachrocon 2012 of the actual actors and armor from the series.

Enjoy!

Splendid Steam Sculpture: The Infernal Device

In 2011, I had heard a bit about the sculpture called "The Infernal Device."  After reading information from several sources, I found out that an incredible amount of work (and tears) went into the creation of this massive steampunk-inspired piece.

Sketch of the Infernal Device's many parts

The sculpture was an entry in the 2011 ArtPrize competition in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the largest open-entry fine art competition in the country.  ArtPrize includes thousands of entries each year, scattered throughout the city.  It did not win, but had many admirers, as seen in this photo gallery containing hundreds of pictures of the process, the parts, construction, and more.

The Infernal Device at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum 2011

"The Infernal Device is a large mechanical animated sculpture being built by steampunk/retrofuturist artist Myke Amend, Nan and David Braun of Cogbots, and steam-machine modeler Todd Cahill as a collaborative entry for Artprize (the country’s largest open entry art competition, 

held in Grand Rapids MI).  Our intent is to build a dynamic sculpture using 90% Vintage, Re-purposed materials that will be powered entirely by alternative energy sources (wind, solar, steam)."

Video of Infernal Device Collaborator Todd Cahill and some of his other work, including steam engines.

You may read about some of the challenges that the team faced and apparently overcame, as posted over the months on their Kickstarter page.  I am glad that the sculpture was finished, even if it did not win that particular competition; perhaps it will make an appearance at steampunk venues in the future.

(Seen this work of art in person, or know where it might be seen in the future? Please leave a comment and let me know.)

Kinekt Patented Moving Gear Ring

This high-quality stainless steel ring is for sale at Kinektdesign.com with a lifetime warranty  for a mere $165, and here is what they have to say about it:

"The patented Gear Ring is made from high quality matte stainless steel. It features micro-precision gears that turn in unison when the outer rims are spun (as can be seen in the video)."

Two words.  Absolutely. Squee.

You may read a review of this ring on The Gadgeteer.  This bloke did a video of his new ring, from un-boxing to lots of gratuitous rotating of the parts.

That is all!

Steampunk Automated Wine Bottle Corkscrew by Rob Higgs

Steampunk Wine Uncorker/Pouring Machine by Rob Higgs

Sculptor and maker Rob Higgs, has built a very complex contraption which, when wound up sufficiently, will uncork a bottle of wine and pour you a glass without spilling a drop.  The design has Victorian and steampunk influences throughout, and I want one, even though I have no place to put it!

It is 65" tall, weighs 771 pounds, and was inspired by the eccentric machine drawings of English illustrator W. Heath Robinson.

The uncorking process, demonstrated and explained:

 

An interview with the designer, and footage of the machine being constructed and then functioning:

If you are interested in owning one of these devices, you may contact corkscrew@bullworks.net for pricing and further info.  The price? Six figures, in USD.   Bulletworks.net has a page dedicated to the devices.  Cheers!

Time After Time -- Steampunk-Inspired Clocks

Clock by rasslinmiss Erin Keck

Some fairly nifty clocks with a steampunk influence or origin.

Mesmerometer by Ken Patton

Steampunk ClockOS

Steampunk Clock by Dmitriy Khristenko

Steampunk Tales from Anachrocon, Part II -- Remnant, a steampunk film by Penny Dreadful Productions

Joe Hernandez as Remnant trooper at Anachrocon 2012

      I had the fortune of meeting the bechainsawed gentleman in the above picture at Anachrocon 2012. (Yes, I made up a word, bechainsawed.)  At that time, I was so overwhelmed with all of the wonders of the day that I did not even ask his name (I apologize profusely, sir!), but under all the excellent armor is Joe Hernandez, actor and workshop manager for Penny Dreadful Productions of Duluth, GA, USA.  Here he strikes an in-character pose from his part in the studio's most recent offering, Remnant.  (He held this maniacal grin and this pose patiently for a very long time as I tried to get both him and his weapon in-frame.  Thanks, Joe!)
     Remnant is the tale of life and death after the collapse of civilization as the world once knew it.  Various groups try to enforce their own visions of how things should be, and many suffer the consequences of these power struggles even as they try to rebuild their lives. "Some want control. Some want freedom. It's time to choose a side."

    If you wish to read the story, you might begin with Drone: A Prelude Part 1.  I found the writing detailed and vivid; it made me want to go and fight, but I would first have to choose a side....  You may read the other short stories by clicking on the posters at the bottom of the main Remnant page.  If you would like a complete explanation of the Remnant story and everything in it, Amy Houser, illustrator of the propoganda posters for the film, has written just that, posted on overburyink.com; she tells the "why" of Remnant, as well as the plans for its' future.

                                  What is Remnant?

"The future is fire and ashes, corruption and decay. The Great War ended in smoke and ruin, and the world as we knew it can be glimpsed under the blackened piles of rubble and in the colossal hulks of buildings long burnt and razed. The fighting continues, though: organized Rebels and rogue pirates in patchwork airships form savage raiding parties with the sole aim of tearing down any progress made to reclaim order and prosperity. The Rebels prefer chaos, but the world needs stability. People need a future that is clean and bright. They need answers. Remnant is that answer."

Part 1 --  Remnant: A Call to Arms

"Scouts located a settlement of free people thirty hectomarks outside Remnant City. A Warden has been dispatched to encourage the groups allegiance. Dreadnoughts have the building surrounded.

“A Call to Arms,” is the first of five Remnant short films created as a collaborative effort between Penny Dreadful Productions, Brothers Young Productions, and an extensive network of amazing creative talent. Stay tuned, the Battle is coming."

     Remnant originated as a extraordinary story to display the costuming and making skills of the artists; PDP accepts orders for costumes from the film (six character types and 23 fashions) both at cons and on their web site.  They will also provide zombies for your events and special occasions.  One could order some of both and have some post-apocalyptic fun!  In the meantime, enjoy the story.  Future installments of the story should appear on PDP's YouTube page and/or linked on their Facebook page.

The World's First Steampunk Bedtime Story ... Steamduck, in "Her Majesty's Explorer"

Steamduck!

This adorable little guy is a part of a brand new bedtime story.  A steampunk one!

A synopsis from Amazon.com:

 "Her Majesty's Explorer: a Steampunk bedtime story.

St.John Murphy Alexander walks the world exploring for the Queen. He sees the most extraordinary landscapes, creatures and weather. He gets very, VERY dirty. Exhausted, he returns to H.Q. and gets ready for a well deserved rest and some sweet dreams. This gentle book, written by Steampunk novelist Emilie P. Bush and brilliantly illustrated by William Kevin Petty, is the perfect wind-down for your little adventurer. "

The book is in the top 100 of the children's books category on Amazon right now.  I was fortunate enough to meet Mr. Petty, the illustrator, at Anachrocon 2012, and got to peruse a copy of the book before it was released to the public.  He even gave me an adorable little Steamduck sticker, which unfortunately got lost as the day wore on. (I was very sad that I dropped it somewhere, as that was my favorite item from the whole event.  *sigh*)

A video with many of the book's illustrations:

Read a CNN written Interview with the author, here.

An Interview with author Emilie P. Bush and Illustrator William Kevin Petty as they discuss their new children's book Her Majesty's Explorer: A Steampunk bedtime story:

The home of Coal City Steam - author Emilie Bush's blog.

Steamduck's Baby Photo

And here is a teaser for the book, read by Captain Robert of Abney Park.

Book available on Amazon.com, in both print ($11.95) and Kindle ($3.00) formats.

If you would like to follow the book's progress, you may wish to view the Steamduck Facebook page.

"About the Author: Journalist and writer Emilie P. Bush has written two novels. Her first, Chenda and the Airship Brofman, was a "ripping good yarn!" and the tale was a 2010 Semi-finalist for the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award. The Gospel According to Verdu picks up the epic tale where Chenda left off - high in the skies. Emilie P. Bush lives, laughs and writes with her family in Atlanta.

About the Illustrator: William Kevin Petty is the founder of Allied Aethernautics, LTD., a Steampunk illustration company and specializes in exceptionally detailed pencil sketches and acrylic paintings. His work has appeared in Steampunk Magazine and across the web. Capt. Petty, when he is not deployed with the U.S. Army, lives and draws in central Louisiana." -- From  The Artifice Club 

An Interview with Jake Von Slatt, Steampunk Maker Extrordinaire

     Certainly, Jake Von Slatt and his inventions need no introduction. For example, the modded keyboard and monitor, the motorcycle, the guitar are all a part of steampunk lore. 
     In this Make.com interview with the charming  man behind the machines, he speaks about the thought processes which lead to such marvelous creations.  (I was comforted by his stating that sometimes even he does not have the parts he needs for a project and simply improvises; here I thought I just had a poor supply of materials, when it is simply the order of things. Excellent!)  You will also see him etching the pickguard for his famous guitar, and see some about a steampunk bus to which he contributed.

     If you would like to see what Mr. Von Slatt is making and posting about these days, head over to his site, The Steampunk Workshop.  There, he also has content about all of his past projects (and a post regarding an e-textile cross stitch "Ohm Sweet Ohm" piece), including some information on how he made them.  I still adore his brass and gear Light Switch Plates. Enjoy!

What did you say? Chap-hop? ... Brilliant!

If one of you resolutions for the New Year was to branch out in your musical tastes, the contents of this post may very well give that effort a massive shot in the arm. If it was not, consider this an adventure anyway.

I give you... chap-hop.

Yes, you read correctly. Chap-hop. Professor Elemental has brought the phenomenon to life over the last few years, and seems intent on continuing to astonish his audiences with his cheeky rhymes.  This has to be heard to be believed.  The following two tunes give you a sample of the style.


"Cup of Brown Joy"
and
"Fighting Trousers"

Professor Elemental describes himself: 

"Elemental. The quintessential English fellow, explorer, scientist, exotic dancer and some might say raving lunatic.  Banned from 13 of the colonies for 'unspeakable scientific experiments', yet heralded as something of a deity in a great many more."

Of "Fighting Trousers," he says this: " Brace yourself, as Professor Elemental fires off the first shot in a chap-hop/ steampunk battle."  The opponent? Mr. B. The Gentleman Rhymer.

Both of Elemental's tunes hail from the "Indifference Engine" album, and for a small fee, you can download MP3 copies of his individual songs or the entire albums from his web site, or from the Professor Elemental section of  Tea Sea Records.


Enjoy the madness!

Games, Airships and Laudanum! Steampunk Meets "The Guild" at Megagame-o-ramacon

The Guild -- Clara tries to fit in with steampunks at Megagame-o-ramacon.

     This year, the worlds of online gaming and steampunk fandom collide in Felicia Day's webseries, "The Guild". Rumors have it that this is the final season for this delightfully candid series about the trials and tribulations (mostly trials!) of an odd and disparate group of MMORPG players who all play "The Game" MMORPG together while trying to deal with their circumstances and with each other in real life.

     In Season 5, Episode 4 of "The Guild", one of the main characters, Clara, a game-obsessed mom, first discovers steampunk when she sees a booth at the gaming convention that the guildies have attended: "Megagame-o-ramacon". As she puts it: "It's my new favorite thing!" because of the "clock pieces, and corsets, top hats and brown and shiny bits."  We like those, too.

     The steampunk characters in The Guild seem to be stereotypes of steampunk fans exaggerated for effect (and perhaps to make a point), but the scenery for the steampunk booth at the con and the costuming for the characters shows the care that the creators took to recreate the genre. 

     I do not intend to start a spoiler post about the show, so if you are interested in watching "The Guild" and their take on steampunk (it does start out a bit less than complimentary, I will warn you, but the steampunks are good sports in the end), then watch Season 5.  (There is a semi-flying homemade airship.  That's all I'm saying!) Or if you have the time and the inclination to get to know the characters, watch the whole series from the beginning.

     From Wikipedia: episodes are available "on Microsoft's Xbox Live Marketplace, Zune Marketplace, and MSN Video. The webisodes were later made available on the official Guild website, YouTube, and iTunes. The webisodes are also available via DVD and on Netflix and Hulu.  Bing seems to have the best availability of episodes.

     I have watched the entire series since 2007 because it truly amuses me. Having been in their ... not shoes... their computer chairs... over the years having extensively (perhaps obsessively) played different MMORPG's, the scenarios and humor bring me lots of laughter, even if it is mostly laughter at recognizing myself in the quirky characters and some of the things that happen to them happened to me.  If "the Guild" is truly over, many people will be very disappointed, but it went out with a bang or steampunk flair.  Literally!

If you would like to purchase some of the clothes from the episode, Clockwork Couture has replicas of the fashions for sale because they designed Clara's outfit!  From their web site: "Clara's character wears our 2 Piece Victorian Traveling Ensemble, Star Floating Corset and Show Stopper Topper."

      I hope you enjoy the series.

Waxing Magic Among the Spirits - The Voice of Harry Houdini

Harry Houdini, attempting the bridge jump

Harry Houdini led the way in the world of showmanship and performance magic and enthralled a generation with his spectacular death-defying feats of escape.

During his life, Houdini was outspokenly anti-spiritualist, and vehemently descried any who claimed to be mediums or fortune-tellers; he penned a book, entitled A Magician Among the Spirits, attempting to expose such performers as charlatans. (He also challenged spiritualists to prove their beliefs were true, under test conditions, in this speech.)

Houdini had some illustrious friends, one of whom was Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes. In contrast to Houdini's mindset, Conan Doyle readily embraced the Spiritualist world, yet despite their conflicting ideals the two gentlemen were friends until a genuine row over their spiritual beliefs brought an end to their comradeship.  (In early 2011, rumors spread of a possible SyFy channel show about Houdini and Conan Doyle joining forces to solve crimes in 1920's New York. The name of the show is "Among the Spirits"; the scenery and costuming will take aspects of Victorian and Steampunk to appeal to fans of both.)

Houdini in handcuffs, 1905

 But for now, we have access to recordings of Harry Houdini's voice preserved on wax cylinders. Some of the clips came from sessions where he was practicing his lines; here you may download a file of Houdini speaking about his Water Torture Chamber act, from 1914.  The enunciation we hear on the Edison cylinder recording was necessary for the words to be inscribed clearly, so his actual stage voice was probably a bit different even though it is said that when one speaks on stage it should be loudly and slowly as well.

When he finally succumbed to complications from a ruptured appendix, Houdini had already revolutionized the world of stage magic and openly challenged the magicians of the world to better their skills as performers.  You may find details regarding his death and final resting place (including monuments to him) here.


The below video includes photos, a recording of Houdini's voice, and also one of his wife speaking about her efforts to contact him after his death (she held a seance at least once per year to try to contact him, apparently without any luck).



Whether you like Houdini's act or not, he certainly embraced the style of the times.  It has been said by many that certainly nobody before him put on such spellbinding performances and while looking as dapper in collar and jacket. Bonus points for that, chap. Bonus points for that.

The Aquatic Life of Tools - "The Deep" on Showtime

Showtime took a break from their regularly scheduled seriousness and posted this fun, brilliantly filmed short video by one known only as PES, in which keys, pliers, wrenches, chains, and a myriad of familiar tools and hardware take on a life of their own - underwater!  Enjoy the realistic behavior of the fabricated sea creatures  in "The Deep".

Halloween Approacheth!

Even though temperatures in my part of the country have not yet wavered an iota from all-time high summertime highs, my thoughts turn to late October's festivities.  Though we only get about four days of what any normal human would call "fall", I have always enjoyed the season.

Steampunk should not be marginalized to one day per year, but after all it is the one day of the year when almost anything goes, clothing-wise, which equals creative freedom!  Combining steampunk and Halloween may not be such a reach after all.  The ever-popular mad science has a place in the genre, for sure, and who can resist drinking their mystery punch from lab equipment? Not me! (Watch out for that Pyrex glass, though. If it hits a tile floor, you will see a demonstration of total disintegration!)  It is also a time to share steampunk with people who may otherwise not know about it -- co-workers, for example.

We all know what steampunk is to us. To adapt it your decor to the season, think grandmother's attic.  The darker side of Victorian decor can create a spooky aura.  Brains in jars suit the bar and food area, but more traditional pieces can help the rest of your home.  Try eerie black-and-white photographs in ornate frames for the walls; I have heard tell that there are wall decorations that change images as you walk past so that you feel watched.  Faux cobwebs and ripped gauze add age to the place for pennies (unless your house is like mine and occasionally has real cobwebs already, then you're all set).   If your furniture is less than Victorian, you might cover chairs and tables with vintage-looking blankets or cloth.

As for your costume,  just delve into your favorite idea and dress the part from there. The mad scientist, corseted pale Victorian lady (or go more gruesome at will), experiment gone awry, airship pirate (or captain), greasy dieselpunk wonder mechanic are a few options to consider.   If you want some thoughts on how to put together a basic steampunk outfit, read this post I made on the subject, or if you want to make your own goggles, here is my take on them.  Most people's internet posts regarding their own steampunk costumes involve some variation on the statement, "my Halloween costume is finished! I am a steampunk... something.  I think."  But it is the fun in putting an outfit together that is important, so no worries!  (Last year, I got asked if I was "Hellboy", because of my goggles, but I am over that. Mostly.   lol) 

Though I have no association with this site, Grandin Road, I spent over an hour perusing just their elaborate selection of Halloween selections and found them pretty interesting. They have indoor decorations, outdoor decorations, costumes, you name it.  They even have the Martha Stewart line of Halloween grotesqueness.... (Yea.  I thought it was not right, too, but there are some decent pieces in there.)  You can also find a link to other decorating sites in the "Tag Cloud" on the right of this page, under "Halloween."

And last but not least, pumpkins!  Or the carving thereof!  From UniqueScoop.com, I give you 100+  Creative Pumpkin Carving Ideas.  I would have named it "many strange things to do with pumpkins," but I digress.  Here are more pictures of carved pumpkins on Waylou.com, as well.  I always feel a little bad about wasting a perfectly good gourd, but then I remind myself that at least the cheerful, large, orange, seedy fruit will not go extinct as long as the holiday is celebrated, so it will be okay.  I like the collection of original "geeky Jack-o-Lanterns that do something strange and unexpected" displayed in this article on MentalFloss.  The Instructables site has dozens of pumpkin videos.  Carve that thing out, add LED's, goggles, gears, fog, motors, or whatever you have in mind to make it your masterpiece.  Spooking the neighbors grants a bonus.

I hope this has been at least somewhat helpful in getting your fall off to a smashing good start.  Please feel free to post links to pictures or comments about what you are working on for your Halloween outfit or gala, as I love to see the creative ideas people have in their devious steampunk minds.  =)

8 Minutes of NeverWas -- video starring Catherinette Rings' Daniel Proulx

For many years, I have admired (and even envied) the wire-wrapping talents of the Canadian steampunk jewelry designer Daniel Proulx. He combines wire, gears, and round gemstone beads to create rings, bracelets, and even tiny steampunk robot critters for sale on Etsy and ArtFire. I own a ring by him; I had waited a long time to buy one, then finally took the plunge. He is a very busy person, but made the ring according to my wire and stone choices for no extra charge.

As you may have noticed, I usually mention my own jewelry or steampunk items made by other independent artists who have told me that they would appreciate a mention.   Though he and his distinctive jewelry are already world-famous in acclaim and certainly do not need attention from my humble blog, I am giving them attention anyway! Add videography to his list of talents; this is a creative eight-minute-long post-apocalyptic video he made to promote his jewelry.