BLACK STEAM

Well, I was out of town for half of May, venturing east in search of adventure. After visiting Toronto and meeting some of the members of their own steampunk community (Which is quite active) I am feeling more motivated....However, with my current work schedule (6 days a week. Yup) I am finding it difficult to have time. *sigh*
I will admit, I am jealous of the events that get put on there. It would please me to no end if Vancouver had a steampunk cabaret night like the one that was held while I was out there, or the upcoming steampunk kink event being put on by Sub-Space after the Steam On Queen day event. And it saddens me that I just don't make enough revenue to host events like that. But most people don't understand how much work, time, and money goes in to stuff like that.

Someday, soon.

But in the meantime, we can have tea, and make soap.

I'm quite bad at this blogging thing. As is evident. However the calendar has been updated and I am working on several blogs, a new write-up for the front page, video blogs with Nina...So there will be something. Many things. Soon.

Looking for steampunk literature? Here is a list of recommended novels, short stories and comics that you may find appealing.

This list will be added to as time marches onwards.

The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers

The Difference Engine by Bruce Sterling and William Gibson

Anything by Jules Verne, H.G. Wells, Mark Twain, Bram Stoker, and Mary Shelley.

Homunculus by James Blaylock

Boneshaker and Dreadnaught by Cherie Priest

Thomas Riley by Nick Valentino

The Nomads Of The Time Streams by Michael Moorcock

Steampunk by Ann & Jeff VanderMeer

The Court of the Air by Stephen Hunt

The Kingdom Beyond the Waves by Stephen Hunt

The Rise of the Iron Moon by Stephen Hunt

The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen (comic) by Alan Moore

Infernal Devices by K W Jeter

Worlds of the Imperium by Keith Laumer

Queen Victoria's Bomb by Ronald W. Clark

Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld

Clockwork Heart by Dru Pagliassotti

The Alchemy of Stone by Ekaterina Sedia

His Dark Materials (The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, the Amber Spyglass) by Philip Pullman

Soulless by Gail Carriger

Affinity Bridge by George Mann

Whitechapel Gods by S.M. Peters

Extraordinary Engines by Nick Gevers, Ed.

Thunderer by Felix Gilman

Gears of the City by Felix Gilman

FreakAngels (comic) by Warren Ellis

Steampunk Prime edited by Mike Ashley

The Girl In The Steel Corset by Kady Cross

Solomon Spring by Michelle Black

The Hunchback Assignments and The Dark Deeps by Aurthur Slade

Sherlock Holmes novels by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

I am sure that most people will tell you, that when it comes to the aesthetics of the steampunk sub-culture, goggles are iconic. Well Black Steam will be collaborating with The Creative Geek Society and having a goggle craft session! Gather up your craft gear and join us on February 20th.

There are many amazing goggles that can be procured online, but in the spirit of the DIY ideals of steampunk, here are some tutrials for making your own goggles.

http://mtani.deviantart.com/art/Steampunk-Goggles-Tutorial-105778289?q=boost%3Apopular+steampunk+goggles&qo=4

http://raegar.deviantart.com/art/Steampunk-Goggles-168441815?q=boost%3Apopular+steampunk+goggles&qo=8

http://fenris-the-red-wolf.deviantart.com/art/Steampunk-Goggles-A-Tutorial-91226763

http://www.instructables.com/id/Modifying-Welding-Goggles-into-a-Steam-inspired-lo/#step1

http://singularphotography.com/Goggles/

http://www.threadbanger.com/episode/iST_20080826

And this last one is more or less trying to sell materials but as you scroll down it leads to videos and other handy links and suggestions.

http://www.squidoo.com/diy-steampunk-goggles

We hope to see you there, and what kind of fantastic things you can create!

Eternally,

Phoenix Black

A new year has arrived! I am hoping all your celebrations were joyful and left you all relatively in one piece.

To kick off the new year, a challenge has been made! The weapon? Literature! That's right, books and novels. The challenge is set from Jan. 1, 2011 to Dec. 31, 2011 to read at least 10 steampunk books. More details are in the hi-lighted link below.

Full Steam Ahead! Steampunk Reading Challenege

I will be participating and posting reviews of the books on this blog. We have a suggested reading list on our home page and there are dozens more throughout the internet if you do google searches or check the websites listed in our links section.

Now.....GET TO READING!

Eternally Yours,

Phoenix Black

After reading The Difference Engine, written by William Gibbson and Bruce Sterling (two authors of the cyberpunk genre), I decided to look into the facts behind their fiction. In the novel, a computing machine created by Charles Babbage in the early 1800's, changed the technology of the victorian era. This machine did exist, however it failed to function durring the inventors lifetime.

CHARLES BABBAGE - December 26, 1791 to October 18, 1871

Charles Babbage was born and baptized in London, England, and thanks to his fathers money, was able to receive proper instruction from several schools and private tutors, and it was his time at Holmwood Academy that spurred his love for mathematics.

Then in 1812, he, along with several friends and colleagues (including John Herschel and George Peacock) formed The Analitical Society as a response to being disappointed by the level of mathematics at Cambridge.

The first Difference Engine was designed to replace the people who calculated numeric tables, as Babbage saw that the current way of calculating had it's share of errors. This machine, using the method of finite differences, could calculate polynomials and mathematical tables. Due to manufacturing limitations at the time, this machine was never fully completed, and Charles Babbage went on to design a second version, which did not get built until just a few decades ago. But soon after the failures of these two designs, he went on to design and tinker with The Analytical Engine until his death in 1871. This machine was designed to be programmed using punch cards, and was also intended to employ several features subsequently used in modern computers, including sequential control, branching, and looping.

A fellow mathematician, Ada Lovelace, had understood Babbages designs and created a program for his machine to calculate bernoulli numbers.

The designs managed to live on, though. Charles had several children and his youngest, Henry Prevost Babbage ( 1824–1918 ) created six different Difference Engines based on his fathers designs. These were sent to Harvard, and later discovered by Howard H. Aiken.

The London Science Museum has, using Babbages designs, built a working engine, which can be seen in a small video on the computer history website.

http://www.computerhistory.org/babbage

Yours Eternally,

Phoenix Black

Ah goggles. An essential piece to any steampunk, though some might argue, "a mindless fashion accessory". And while many wear them without knowing the full reasons why goggles are so essential, they really are handy to have. Functional as well as fashionable. Any inventor, tinkerer, chemist, mad scientist, mechanic and metal worker can tell you just how important they are in any lab or workshop for protecting the eyes from chemicals, blowtorches, explosions and flying bits of wood or metal. And of course no adventurer and aviator would be caught outside without some form of eye protection from the sun and wind and rain. Or if they end up in a dessert, good for those pesky sandstorms. That's right, Lusian. The goggles DO have a purpose.

The Inuit used to make "goggles" from curved antlers that had a slot carved out to allow light and vision but kept out most of the glare from the sun and snow. Throughout history in Europe, glass of varying magnitudes and shapes (convexed or concaved) were used to read text and small print, or glass bowls with water inside. Flat planes of smokey quartz were used in China in the 12th century as sunglasses, though they held no magnifying or corrective qualities, they blocked out solar glare.

Earlier on, lenses were held in place by hand or by pressure on the bridge of the nose. Eventually the frames were kept on by a ribbon that was slipped over the head. The modern style of glasses, held by temples passing over the ears, was developed in 1727 by the British optician Edward Scarlett.

Goggle lenses however, are now made with various types of plastic materials or resin as they can be made for a wider variety of purposes. They can be made with UV filters, to be shatter resistant, scratch resistant, polarized and in a variety of colours. Nylon is also used as it can bend without breaking, to a certain degree.

Ideal materials for frames these days are metals such as titanium or brass which are both strong and light in weight. Many for sport and recreation will be made of a polycarbonate plastic, and have leather or nylon straps.

There are a great deal of goggles to be found just by doing a google search, but this site has some amazing machined goggles available.

Yours Eternally,

-Phoenix Black