FOT Forum
FOT Community => Links => Topic started by: TL on May 08, 2008, 11:49:55 AM
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...apparently, the "Steampunk" "movement" has been around for a while...
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/08/fashion/08PUNK.html
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name all the bands with the old time-y look/sound gimmick
I can only think of the Decemberists
but I'm sure there was more
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I wouldn't sweat not knowing about steampunk. It's mostly just an aesthetics thing, which looks cool enough when photographed around only other steampunk things and lit correctly, but fairly ridiculous when surrounded by the real world. There are a few writers who write about that stuff, Neal Stephenson being the best one.
Proponents of steampunk are much more likely than normal people to call Tom Waits their favorite musician. They are also more likely to have soul patches than usual.
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It's a sci-fi thing. Where some people imagined what life would have been like, had Charles Babbage's mechanical computers actually been built. 19th century information revolution.
Some people have gotten really taken with the aesthetic and have taken it way too far. Personally, I like the Brazil/warped 1950s look better. Like the ElectriClerk computer:
(http://www.ahleman.com/Props/ECDetail.gif)
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It's a nerd thing. BoingBoing'ed for months and months -- they have some pretty cool examples on there. And some VERY lame ones.
Can I throw Cory Doctorow in the Hate Pit again?
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Yes, he owns a flat-screen television, but he has modified it with a burlap frame. He uses an iPhone, but it is encased in burnished brass.
This is as far as I got.
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I didn't know cocaine was so big in the 19th century.
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I turned on my computer last night to see that story as the FRONT PAGE HEADLINE on the NY Times site. Preposterous!
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I didn't know cocaine was so big in the 19th century.
Never read the Sherlock Holmes mysteries, eh?
Also, only Neal Stephenson's The Diamond Age really qualifies as steam punk.
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Cocaine was in a lot of medicines in the 19th/early 20th century. It was a very popular ingredient and was also used as local anesthetic, among other things. It kind of went by the wayside in the 30's when amphetamines started taking the place of cocaine in medicines. Doing historical archaeology on turn of the century pharmacies taught me a lot about that era's medicines and such.
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It's a nerd thing. BoingBoing'ed for months and months -- they have some pretty cool examples on there. And some VERY lame ones.
Can I throw Cory Doctorow in the Hate Pit again?
Please do.
But at least let him plug his new e-book beforehand!
(http://kickthebobo.com//51DP3KqlRcL._SS500_.jpg)
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I think the last thing this world needs is more techno-geek rebellion. What, they're going to find new image macros to annoy everyone with?
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So somehow an affinity for antiques makes you an artist? I can't believe they chose to use that creepy picture of that dude with the carrot top and burgundy jacket. He looks diseased.
"With its enticing marketing hook, steampunk is rapidly outgrowing niche status." Wow, I can't wait to see the same shelf I built in my window sold at Urban Outfitters for $300.
I feel sick
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That article should have gone more like this:
FAD: STEAMPUNK
Wouldn't it be great if you commuted to work in a dirigible? Wouldn't your toilet look better if it were made out of copper and polished wood? Did you think the movie Wild Wild West was totally underrated? If so you should secure your place in the imaginary world of steampunk.
I guess if I took part in civil war reenactments I'd say, "Finally, we're not the biggest nerds on the planet."
People with time on their hands drive me crazy.
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I guess if I took part in civil war reenactments I'd say, "Finally, we're not the biggest nerds on the planet."
You deserve to be blasted by my imaginary cannon fire at Sharpsburg this September 17.
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I agree with all this, but arts and crafts projects are fun. Lets not stomp on every hobby people have.
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I agree with all this, but arts and crafts projects are fun. Lets not stomp on every hobby people have.
That wasn't really what I meant but you're right, Eric. I'm just jealous because wish I had more time for my arts and crafts. Like Tom says, if it makes them happy, God bless 'em.
I guess if I took part in civil war reenactments I'd say, "Finally, we're not the biggest nerds on the planet."
You deserve to be blasted by my imaginary cannon fire at Sharpsburg this September 17.
Ha, ha. And get a bad case of imaginary gangrene taboot. Yes.
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I guess if I took part in civil war reenactments tall bike rallies I'd say, "Finally, we're not the biggest nerds on the planet."
Fixed!
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But everybody likes antiques, vintage fashion, old-world imagery and such. I just don't see what makes it "punk". It's probably about as punk as Zachary Brimstead's album "Barbershop PUnk"
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When was the last time the word 'punk' meant anything though? At this point its a very general word that means whatever you want but clearly denotes that this will be positive for middle-class mostly male white people 16-35. You could take Stephen King's article about what is cool and plug in the word punk and it would be the same meaningless drivel.
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it's a play off of the equally meaningless "cyberpunk."
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Im suspicious of any movement that involves watching The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
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Im suspicious of any movement that involves watching The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
not to mention wild wild west.
wild wild west (http://youtube.com/watch?v=IEaX4ApC_EU)
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I prefer Chipmunk Punk
(http://static.rateyourmusic.com/album_images/30259.jpg)
I think they cover "Refugee" on it.
"Let's Go" is the most punk it gets. Actually, I find the chipmunk'd "Let's Go" fairly listenable.
Judge for yourself!
http://childrensrecordsandmore.blogspot.com/2007/09/chipmunks-chipmunk-punk-excelsior-xlp.html
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As annoying as this forced fad has been to witness, I hold the (publicly) secret belief that it is an effort on behalf of the boingboing people to prepare us for a world without oil. In that, I am all for alternate power sources, but why does it have to look like a toilet that the mafia would hide a gun behind?
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It's a nerd thing. BoingBoing'ed for months and months -- they have some pretty cool examples on there. And some VERY lame ones.
Can I throw Cory Doctorow in the Hate Pit again?
Please do.
But at least let him plug his new e-book beforehand!
(http://kickthebobo.com//51DP3KqlRcL._SS500_.jpg)
Cory Doctorow is an archetypal FWD. This guy was an invited guest on Leo Laporte's "This Week in Tech" podcast, which is sponsored by Audible.com, then during one of Leo's breaks to thank them for being a sponsor, Cory went into a whiny rant about how Audible wouldnt let him distribute his audiobook without DRM, and how Audible sucks because he had to manually convert all of his Audible library into .ogg files or whatever when he switched to Linux. The guy is bad PR for the Open Source/Creative Commons/Copyleft/"Free Culture" movements. A religious fanatic on the level of Richard Stallman, albeit more acceptably hipster and less hirsuite than Mr. Stallman.
He, as well as his penchant for posting every stupid steampunk related thing he can find on the internet is one of the main reasons why I stopped reading BoingBoing on a regular basis.
I'll personally dig a new hate pit just for him alone.
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his penchant for posting every stupid steampunk related thing he can find on the internet
This is the reason I unsubscribed from BoingBoing's rss.
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He, as well as his penchant for posting every stupid steampunk related thing he can find on the internet is one of the main reasons why I stopped reading BoingBoing on a regular basis.
I'll personally dig a new hate pit just for him alone.
Hurrah - someone has created a feed that nixes him entirely:
http://pipes.yahoo.com/pipes/pipe.run?_id=iOZ0jQKL3BGXuJJTjtzu1g&_render=rss
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Thanks for the RSS feed.
I read maybe 10% of Boing Boing and hadn't read any of his posts. I haven't encountered Doctorow in any other platform but his endless plugging of that book on Boing Boing is insane. I see that stupid picture every single day on the feed. It's strange to me that someone who I assume understands the internet well (he posts on one its bigger blogs) would not realize that once you pass a certain level of plugs, you appear to be spamming.
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I have no appreciation for Science Fiction, but is Cory Doctorow really the great, well respected scifi writer that I've been led to believe? I honestly never heard of him before I started reading BB at the turn of this century.
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at the turn of this century.
Why have we not resurrected this phrase yet!? I was hoping that the "oughts" would have been brought back, but alas no. We only have a few years left people. Get to work.
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Im suspicious of any movement that involves watching The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
not to mention wild wild west.
wild wild west (http://youtube.com/watch?v=IEaX4ApC_EU)
I think you meant:
[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=23nqInkEDTc[/youtube]
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Cory went into a whiny rant about how Audible wouldnt let him distribute his audiobook without DRM
Hahahaha. Yeah, because people are just CLAMORING for DRM-free audio versions of his shitty books. I'm guessing this is not a very common scene:
"Hey, guess who just downloaded the new Cory Doctrow audiobook from Audible?"
"Sweet! Transfer it over to my iPod!"
A beat.
"Ah SHIT! It's DRM protected! Don't those big media companies realize that information wants to be free?"