Free Steampunk Ambiance: Industrial Revolution

My first attempt at mixing sound effects, initially done for something to listen to while writing, but you may use it however you want.

Steampunk Cities: Lewiston-Auburn, Maine

These twin cities, though not really thriving tourist destinations, have a distintive place in my memory as the inspiration for the setting of a steampunk story/book/thing that I've spent the past few years working on. From within a few days of when I first knew steampunk by name, I've thought of the cities of Auburn and Lewiston, with their mill-lined canals and victorian architecture, as a definitive steampunk locale. There's also a spectacular hot air balloon festival every year. Unfortuanately, I missed it on this particular visit, but from previous years' experience, I must say that the sight of a fleet of balloons over an industrial skyline is one of the most steampunk things I have seen in my life.






The city, as viewed from the river.

The Lewiston-Auburn Musuem, which housed a small collection of industrial artifacts. A bit dissapointing after the Charles River Museum, but it contained some things of interest.

Some architecture, as viewed from the museum.

The hot air balloon festival of a previous year.

The city skyline

I'm Back!

            Imagine, if you will, the dieselpunk Land of Cars. Its main industry is auto production, so factories are everywhere, the society is divided between executives and workers, and everything is owned by either General Motors or Ford.

            However, the Land of Cars has recently had a strange apocalypse in which the majority of its population has mysteriously disappeared, leaving behind houses, possessions, and, of course, cars. The remaining people now live amidst the abandonment and decay.

            What we have left is modern day Detroit, Michigan, where I spent the last week volunteering with  Cass Community Social Services.While I could—and probably will—write on for days about all the stuff I did and people I met there, I’ll start with something fairly simple: this statue I found in a park by the riverfront. Doesn't it look like it just landed from outer space?

Green + Wired Smart Home

            After a recent trip to Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry, I’ve returned with all manner of potential blog material, so this may turn into the Museum of Science and Industry Blog for a little while.

            At first glance, green and steampunk might not go together. I mean, really, belching smokestacks, massive factories, and air filled with London-esque smog? But on the other hand, the modern steampunk lifestyle—self-sufficiency, upcycling, and frugality—might be a bit more eco-friendly.

            While the museum’s Smart Home exhibit might be a bit too plain and modernist to fit the look, it certainly has some steamy details. First off: the gardens. Personally I think that growing one’s own food is about as DIY as it gets, and the gardens surrounding the house are filled with fruits, vegetables, and herbs, some around the house, some literally growing on the walls, and some in hydroponics systems.

            Inside, it includes cutting-edge technology, like automated window shades, a smart telescope, and bathroom mirrors that surf the web (in case you’re really addicted to Facebook?). Most of it, being digital, would be better categorized as cyberpunk, but a little genre mixing is fine by me.

            The real steam comes in the furniture, most of which is from reclaimed industrial or vintage pieces. Old filing cabinets and all manner of old knickknacks and so forth sit inside with the postmodern architecture. Sadly, I couldn’t get any interior pictures, but you could find some at the official site.

            In other announcements, I’ll be gone for the next week or so and probably won’t have internet access, but I’ll be sure to post about my travels when I get back.