Giant walking steam elephant
Need I say more?
Assorted
Video of working difference engine, as designed by Charles Babbage.
Photos taken in India in 1912 (including the royal visit). This is Lal Dighi, Calcutta:
And an article carefully explaining why gravity is a good idea, in memory of a wealthy eccentric.
Gorgeous Mini Steam Train with Sea Creatures
The title pretty much tells you all you could possibly need to know 🙂
http://www.4largescale.com/chris/c10.htm
Tiny clockpunk
What can I say? This is just beautiful. They’re all made from broken watches.
When you feel like a broken watch, remember that you may secretly be a tiny and intricate motorbike.
Happy Mothers’ Day.
I want
This album is simply beautiful, packed with intricate and fascinating creations (and one slightly disturbing one involving body piercing).
This was the one that caught my eye:
I want this, too. It’s a USB drive made of brass, copper, glass and a quartz crystal that lights up in the window.
Google Goggles
For today’s Steampunk Sunday I googled “Steampunk google doodle” and sure enough I found this record of the celebration of Jules Verne’s birthday.
If you click through, you can see several more screen shots, and a bit of background.
Steamy Valentine
From 2D goggles, where there are many adorable comics featuring Lovelace and Babbage (if you don’t know who they are, you haven’t been around steampunk long) – your Valentine’s Day card:
PS Nerds will love this (and all the other xkcd comics, although one must be extremely nerdy in particular ways to get every single one).
Steampunk Cats
How can I not link to this?
Incidentally, this afternoon at 3pm you may like to sync your awesomeness with mine. I’m going to a free jazz performance at the Llewellyn Hall (no I don’t know how to spell that) at the ANU – or if you’re not in Canberra but you are in Australia, you can listen to it as part of ABC radio’s Sunday Live program, from 3pm each Sunday (the performances themselves move all around Australia’s capital cities, and April is Canberra month this year). Details here.
The League of S.T.E.A.M. (and, Hong Kong!)
If you’re a lover of steampunk, you’re probably already a fan of the League of S.T.E.A.M. series of online videos. The acting is hammy, the writing even more so, but the costumes and gadgets and silliness are all brilliant. This episode features Grant Imahara (of Mythbusters fame) as an expert who dives neatly into the “oriental gentleman” trope.
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We have now arrived safely in Hong Kong. Louisette was simply brilliant on our 9.5 hour flight – she never cried for more than thirty seconds at a time. At night, she honestly slept from 11pmish to 7amish, just like at home – having apparently glanced at a clock and made allowances for the time difference.
Hong Kong is stunning. It’s fabulously mountainous and covered in thick, flourishing trees and vines and flowering bushes. And then there are skyscrapers poking up here and there like bizarre rock formations coming out of the trees, above and below you as you drive on narrow lanes apparently welded to thin air.
“The Peak” is where all the tourists go in Hong Kong. We are staying in a diplomat’s house which is in the same area – so this is our view, including several islands (notice the skyscrapers poking out from behind a hill just to the left of the one in the middle ground). More on Hong Kong tomorrow (or possibly the next day; things will be pretty crazy)!
Felicity Banks 