Now, excusing the fact that the man in this video does not look amused, this is a video clip showing the use of a gatling gun, such as would have been known in the late 19th Century (patent issued in 1862, in fact). An inprovement in automatic fed weapons of the time, it was both more reliable and faster than previous efforts, and as you can see from the video above, hand cranked.
I’m fairly sure there’ve been quite a few Steampunk characters in the past who encounter this most influential of firearm ancestors, either weilding one themselves or being pinned down by this ‘modern’ infernal contrivance. It was probably not very sporting, either, but I have to say that for sheer looks, the gatling gun above is rather handsome in brass and black metal. I first found this video at Neatorama, and it’s originally from Dailymotion (as far as I can tell).
Mr Stephen P. was quick off the mark to point out that BoingBoing posted about The Diamond Age: Or, a Young Lady’s Illustrated Primer(Amazon.co.uk), by Neal Stephenson, is going to be made into a six hour miniseries by the Sci-Fi Channel. I’ve not yet read The Diamond Age, but from what I hear, it follows the adventures of the young daughter of a well to do Neo-Victorian in a future where nanotechnology can do amazing things. I believe the premise is that there are various cultures across the planet, and one of these is a futuristic Steampunk equivalent, with ridgid social structures and gender expectations – but a father wants the best for his daughter, and commissions the creation of a very important book that will teach her all she needs and wants to know.
Apparently there isn’t that much known about the miniseries creation yet, barring that the author, Mr Stephenson will write the miniseries, and that both George Cloony (executive producer) and Grant Heslov are involved. I’m cautiously looking forward to this – it could be great.
Kind Mr M Adams found some very image heavy sites that detail the downright beautiful Verne-inspired theme park shenanigans going on in Tokyo DisneySea’s Mysterious Island. The Tokyo DisneySea park Steampunk area isn’t particularly large, but oh – it looks like such a rich marvel of beautiful craftsmanship. There are two ‘rides’ – the Journey To the Centre of the Earth one, and a 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea one, and there’s a restaurant designed to look like a Steampunk geothermal power station, and a dome shaped gift shop too. It looks marvelous with a really strong distinctive style and copper and brass plates and rivets everywhere you look. If I’d known, it would most certainly have had been on my list of places to visit when I went last year, as it is – I have these excellent photographs to sigh over. Thank you, Mr Adams!
Mr Addison sent this link today and I found it so funny, clever and skilled, that I just had to post it. The artwork at the Yanobe Kenji Art Works site is mostly deeply inspired by radiation, and surviving it, but some of it looks decidedly Steampunk – from this iron mammoth, to a survival tank shaped like an old submarine, to a childrens train carriage made from black plate and designed to shovel snow. (And a coffin with a decided Tesla-equipment aura to it.) I have to say, while the Steampunk is in the minority at this site, some of the ideas there are downright amusing – my personal favourite being the toy-ball dispenser that gives you survival supplies when you put your coin in and turn the crank (you know, those machines that normally give out little plastic spheres filled with toy figures or bouncy balls). That just tickles me, for some reason.
Thank you for sending this as a link, Mr Addison – it was Steampunk enough indeed. grins
Make: Blog just posted about these beautiful Tesla coil photographs! They’re really wonderful and there’s photographs of the parts and assemblies (as well as massive lightning shots). Lovely – and I definitely need one for the study I don’t have. :*:
Ah – I’d forgotten all about the games at the McCord Museum, so a deep thank you to Ms. Lev for reminding me. Over at the Musee McCord page, you’ll find all manner of interesting historical information with no small amount of that devoted to the 19th Century. Two things that I did enjoy on this page, however, were their Victorian themed flash games – one all about manners for men and ladies in the Victorian era (I did rather well at this) and another that Ms. Lev pointed out to me, on the photographic activities and requirements of the age. With an animation style very reminiscient of Monty Python, these are quite good fun and suceed in being educational at the same time. I did find that the photography game froze on me twice, but I’ve had no such problems with the manners game.
Thank you, Ms. Lev – I’d forgotten all about these!
Over at the Steampunk2 Yahoo group, there was a post about Mr R Bennett’s page for the Cornerstone Festival in 2004. It’s an excellent resource for in depth reviews of films in the Fireside Science Fiction genre (a delightful alternative name for Steampunk). From the first purposely retrospective film (ie not made with the current era in mind), Mysterious Island in 1929 to The Great Race in 1965, these are very well looked into reviews. Alas, it now also reads like my shopping list, but I suppose that was to be expected. Thank you, Cory, for posting that!
So, this is a strange one, and I’m having trouble finding out more, however reader Mr M Adams very kindly let me know that there’s was a game system called Virtual World that has had centres across North America which run ran networked games of BattleTech. Now, that wouldn’t be all that interesting, except there’s a peculiar Steampunk side to it – apparently at least some of the centres (it may be all, I’m having trouble dredging information) are of a Mars-based Steampunk theme, with adventurer lounges outside the gaming area, complete with dinosaur skulls for decoration. Mr Adams admits to enjoying a glass of Martian ale in such a lounge. The above image, for example, is supposed to be one of the first ‘trans dimensional vehicles’ – done in a very Steampunk style (quartz windows and rivets everywhere).
Alas, I am told that the Steampunk is only skin deep, and that once you’re inside your ‘pod’ and gaming, it’s just plain old BattleTech and not very themed at all. However, if anyone else knows more about this, or indeed has links so that I may further my knowledge on this, I’d be most interested to hear. What fun it would be to make a real Steampunk equivalent! Especially as modding tools and amateur game development becomes ever nearer the end user.
From 1803, Kirby’s Wonderful and Scientific Museum is a collection of curious and unusual stories from the time when medical philosophers roamed the land and the libraries, and people took mammoth teeth home after a trip to the cliffs. It’s a collection of stories and news from the earliest parts of the 19th Century, and includes stories of remarkable balloon ascensions (and their surprise at altitude problems), tales of unrequited love for a dog by a goose, and a recounting of treachery and witch accusations that was solved by a wily clergyman. The balloon story was of particular interest to me, as it established a date for the discovery of altitude problems, and as such would have coloured Steampunk stories written after that date (requiring the need for protective gear).
I must thank Mr McClelland for reminding me of the Proceedings of the Athanasius Kircher Society blog, where I first read about this book – as it’s a delightful collection of some of the more peculiar pieces of ephemera of the past and even some from the present. Well worth a visit for some of the more niche findings.
Mr Krzysztof of Steampunkopedia kindly pointed out the Rainbow Orchid comic – a very slightly post Steampunk, but very adventure-ish comic with more of a flavour of Tintin than say, superhero or manga styles. Set in what seems like the early 1920′s or so, it tells of a mystery adventure to seek out a beautiful and perhaps mythical orchid so that a man may win a competiton, a bet, and retain his family estate. Oh but there are dastardly plans afoot to foil this noble adventure!
With ancient languages on tablets of stone, missionaries with strange stories to tell, beautiful Hollywood actresses and plucky historian’s assistants – this is an adventure that seems destined to twist and turn. In fact, it reminds me a little of a cross between Around The World In Eighty Days and Indiana Jones – not a bad thing, really.
(Amazon.co.uk), by Neal Stephenson, is going to be made into a six hour miniseries by the 
