Manifesto; or why dosnt steampunk work

[TimeTinker]

Now you are touching on something very important to me Utini.

One of the things we do is take things which have been thrown away, discarded or otherwise consigned to the bin or thrift shop.  We then add to this, modify, tinker and mend to create something that will be loved and treasured.  This is repurposing and is far more sustainable even than recycling which takes far more energy to perform.  At the same time we create clothes which we will wear for years, not once then discard.  The sustainability of steampunk is potentially far greater than any other movement or culture including the green movement.

Time for a big pat on the back then an immediate return to the workshop, sewing room or even dining room table. No time to rest on laurels get on with your repurposing!!!

[Utini420]

Indeed.  I don't have time for a good long comment on it, but recognizing the links between steampunk, art, sustainability, and my own general cultural outlook, which I will term "fuckwalmartism," are for me what make this whole thing worth doing. 

[Kittybriton]

Even when you think you have everything prepped in advance you can be sure the phone will go the day before filming with "can you just..."  There is no phrase I hate more than that one since they have no idea what is normally involved.

A favourite of my grandfather was "There's no hurry. But could you have it done by ..." and he'd name a time which just barely gave you time to finish the job.

[Vancouver Air Privateer]

I'm very sorry because I am going to say the same thing I have said everywhere at everytime. But this is the cause I fight for. 

Just. Have. Fun. It doesn't matter if you're someone who makes functional stuff or someone with just a passing interest in the aesthetic. It takes cogs of many different shapes and sizes to make the great Steampunk machine work. No one is a "better" Steampunk because they are a better builder or maker. So, stop worrying about such details and just do whatever Steampunk means to you. And please do share. 

- The V.A.P.

[Capt. Dirigible]

One of the things we do is take things which have been thrown away, discarded or otherwise consigned to the bin.....  We then add to this, modify, tinker and mend to create something that will be loved and treasured.

Which is an almost perfect description of what these guys do!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

 

[Violet Rose]

i belong to literally dozens of mountain man rendezvous clubs, we shoot blackpowder, dress in 1840s colonial American clothes and get together around campfires where we try to drink ourselves blind and solve modern problems with old timey solutions.

i serve on the board of the local historical society, pal around with friends who are historians, hunters, trappers, miners, hat makers and carpenters, all of which spend their lives trying to live the life of a century ago in this one, we dress funny, we work hard, we DIY our lives, we dint live in fantasy, we just live...

There are many divergent interests that flow into the great sea of steampunk - some people come from the love of early science fiction and adventure stories, others from a love of adopting a certain fashion aesthetic, others from a love of creating imaginary and fantastic worlds and objects, others from a love of history.
It would seem that your interest springs from the last, and if the fantasy of living in the past is what appeals to you then go to it.
However do not see historical verisimilitude an an essential prerequisite of "true" steampunkery any more than the love of the literature, or a love of making brass and tortoiseshell "rayguns" - because it isn't. It may be important to your historical society that you wear exact replica/original clothing of the time and have all accessories as working objects, but it is not vital to steampunk.

[Violet Rose]

And wot the VAP said.

[TimeTinker]

Capt D...you are a genius Sir. You know I never realised that the Wombles were steampunk.  Tobermory - workshop genius, tinker, mechanician and he wears a bowler hat and apron!  It all becomes clear.  Now where is that thread about Steampunk TV? We have found our gods!

[Capt. Dirigible]

Capt D...you are a genius Sir. You know I never realised that the Wombles were steampunk.  Tobermory - workshop genius, tinker, mechanician and he wears a bowler hat and apron!  It all becomes clear.  Now where is that thread about Steampunk TV? We have found our gods!

I was trying to find a pic of Tobermory with goggles on. I'm sure I've seen him 'welding' in episodes...

[Violet Rose]

And what about the Clangers ?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/multimedia/archive/01202/clangers-music_1202458i.jpg

If thats not steampunk I don't know what is !

[Arceye]

And what about the Clangers ?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/multimedia/archive/01202/clangers-music_1202458i.jpg

If thats not steampunk I don't know what is !

                Clangerpunk?

[Matthias Gladstone]

And what about the Clangers ?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/multimedia/archive/01202/clangers-music_1202458i.jpg

If thats not steampunk I don't know what is !

                Clangerpunk?

By the same definition wouldn't we also have womblepunk?

[TimeTinker]

Beat me to it Matthias

Does that mean we have the potential for something like BritkidsTVPunk?  Mr Ben was definitely one of us too.

[Capt. Dirigible]

Beat me to it Matthias

Does that mean we have the potential for something like BritkidsTVPunk?  Mr Ben was definitely one of us too.

Can't get more steamy than this!


Pisssssssssh-t-c'm..Piisssssssssssssssh-t-c'm....

[J. A. Wykes]

Yeah! Cultural references to stuff neither I nor anyone else who grew up on this side of the pond know about!

Indeed.  I don't have time for a good long comment on it, but recognizing the links between steampunk, art, sustainability, and my own general cultural outlook, which I will term "fuckwalmartism," are for me what make this whole thing worth doing. 

Eg-freakin-xactly. I remember seeing an article on green steampunk where someone suggested using big Fresnel lenses or parabolic mirrors to power a steam engine. I mean, after all, all that coal can't be good. Though it does make our clothes look cooler by covering them in soot.

[Tanuki]

Yeah! Cultural references to stuff neither I nor anyone else who grew up on this side of the pond know about!

Indeed.  I don't have time for a good long comment on it, but recognizing the links between steampunk, art, sustainability, and my own general cultural outlook, which I will term "fuckwalmartism," are for me what make this whole thing worth doing. 

Eg-freakin-xactly. I remember seeing an article on green steampunk where someone suggested using big Fresnel lenses or parabolic mirrors to power a steam engine. I mean, after all, all that coal can't be good. Though it does make our clothes look cooler by covering them in soot.

I find it funny and encouraging that we can find appeal in Steampunk even from complete opposite ends of the political spectrum.

[TimeTinker]

Have you seen the silver foil covered cardboard box in a set design that a designer has come up with for using as an oven in hot climates e.g. India and Africa - it uses no fuel, just sunlight but works as a real oven - you can bake bread, even roast a chicken! Now that is smart.


Not sure what you mean by political spectrum though since those sorts of distinctions don't apply over this side of the pond - you can be left or right wing and still be green

[Capt. Dirigible]

Cultural references to stuff neither I nor anyone else who grew up on this side of the pond know about!

And Brits under 30..don't forget them.

[Arceye]

. I remember seeing an article on green steampunk where someone suggested using big Fresnel lenses or parabolic mirrors to power a steam engine. I mean, after all, all that coal can't be good. Though it does make our clothes look cooler by covering them in soot.

             Mr.Wykes, there was once a Swiss steam loco which ran on electricity- Dual fuel I think- coal or hydro electric power from overhead lines. Nearest I've ever heard of to a clean steam engine.

[Tanuki]

Not sure what you mean by political spectrum though since those sorts of distinctions don't apply over this side of the pond - you can be left or right wing and still be green

*gets on soap box labeled "Politics"*

Over here, you can be left-wing and love Wal-Mart and...so forth and so on..."sustainability"...et cetera...

*3 hours of ranting later*

...and since when do you have to support malfeasance to be pro-business?! I like unions and making money!...regulatory committees, now?...bailout...Libertarianism...a good steak every night...

(ad infinitum)

[TimeTinker]

I am interested in use of willow to power steam turbines - its steamy technology but carbon nuetral.  (Mind you I live in an area surrounded with willow plantations - they have even replaced a nearby coking plant with a willow fired power plant.)

Could you explain what your political spectrum comment meant then Tanuki 'cos I am afraid I don't understand it and I suspect more of us Brits find it confusing to.  Note I am not asking you to discuss politics but to enlighten us a little about what your idea of a political spectrum is.

[Tanuki]

Any measure of political ideas, with one on one side, and its opposite idea on the other side, I suppose. Like Communism------Capitalism, or Fascism----Anarchism, or, what I was referring to earlier, "fuckwalmartism"------"walmartisthebombyoism".

[Sir Nikolas Vendigroth]

If I may wade in here:

I was taught (A-level politics  ) that the political spectrum is divided into the liberal and the authoritarian, the left and the right.

Now, liberal and authoritarian speak for themselves - They refer to the law-enforcement of the State. Liberal means you get off easily, authoritarian means you go down hard.

Now...The Left of the political spectrum involves (relatively) high taxation, which is spent on public services which are free on the point of delivery. The Labour party in the UK is an example of this. To take an extreme example from history, the Soviet Union was to the far left of the spectrum, as well as rather authoritarian.

The Right generally denotes lower taxation, but public services you have to pay for at the point of delivery. The Conservative party is the right-wing party in hte UK at the moment, with, as an extreme example, the BNP occupying the far right. To take another extreme historical example, Hitler's government was far-right, to the point of being labelled facist, as well as authoritarian.

'Green' ideology doesn't fit well onto the political spectrum, as it denotes how the environment should be cared for, rather than how it should be run. You can be a communist, a facist of dead centre and still care, or not, about the trees and dolphins. To this extent, all parties have a degree of 'green' baggage in these times.

Any questions?

[Sir Nikolas Vendigroth]

Any measure of political ideas, with one on one side, and its opposite idea on the other side, I suppose. Like Communism------Capitalism, or Fascism----Anarchism, or, what I was referring to earlier, "fuckwalmartism"------"walmartisthebombyoism".

I'd like to reply to this post.

I was told anarchism was the abscence, or rejection of government by the electorate, rather than an elected government that won't apply the laws.

I'd also add that Democrat party in the USA is centre-right on my chart, and the Republican party is somewhat further right.

Sorry if it seems I'm discussing politics, but it's hard to explain hte very basic tenets of the subject without abjectly mentioning parts of it.

[TimeTinker]

Thanks for the effort Sir Nik and I won't pick up on any of that at the risk of talking politics (All UK army officers study politics by the way at Sandhurst and I also studied it at University as part of my degrees)  I understand the idea of political spectrums (They are not so clear cut though and good marketing can skew perception - The conservative invention of "hard left" for example by Saatchi & Saatchi in the '80s) Never could get my head round how a socialist (left) state with directed labour, state ownership,  and all the trappings could be hard right but you had it with the Nazis  

I am keen to not be talking politics but am looking for clarity and think I now understand why I am unclear...

It was tanuki's comment of how it was different ends of a political spectrum in reference to what went before that I still don't quite understand.

There may be a language issue here.  In the UK when something is a bomb I understand it to be useless, rubbish, awful etc.  So I can't see any difference really between "fuckwalmartism"------"walmartisthebombyoism".  To my eyes they are the same thing.

The United States and Great Britain - two nations divided by a common language as they say.

Could you perhaps rephrase tanuki so I can actually  get a handle on what your comment meant.

Thank you for indulging me.