Mmm... Smells Like Christmas

With this year's rather disappointing lack of snow in my region, I've been looking for seasonal idea's to make up for it's lacking--in steampunk style, of course, since I'm crazy and obsessed. After a bit of derping around  on the aetherwebs, I've found these insanely simple instructions for these Victorian-ish clementine and clove pomanders on (of all embarrassingly un-steampunk places) Good Housekeeping's website.

Steampunk Cafe

The exterior

Not too long ago, I was wandering the city of Milwaukee in search of cool-looking old buildings, (What do you mean that's weird? Doesn't everyone do that? No?) when I discovered Alterra Coffee, and upon entering just about died from joy.

BEHOLD THE MACHINE! Erm, the sewage-pumping machine, that is.

The atmosphere of the place was incredible, all bricks and pipes and machines. Housed in an old Victorian pump house, this place oozed pure steampunk. By pump house, by the way, I'm not referring to a little shack that pumps toilet water. I mean that there's a giant machine that used to suck dirty water from the Milwaukee river and replace it with lake water. Though no longer functioning, the machine is still there for the purpose of looking awesome.
The bad news is that it's a small building in a fairly central location with good food and atmosphere--so parking and finding a seat is a nightmare. You have no idea how many times I've tried to go here only to find a line of cars battling over parking spaces.

An interior photo

Tesla Con Pics are Up!

Finally, I've attained photographic evidence of my voyage to the moon! I'm afraid these pictures don't quite do justice to the experience, but I'm not sure what would... Maybe you could listen to some dramatic music while looking at these pictures. Or maybe I should actually do my job and write about it.

The Violet Ray Cure (Depicted above and below), a device from the early 20th century believed to cure just about everything. In exchange for trying it out, customers at this vendor could get a dollar off any item, so I braved the scary-looking lighting bolts coming out of the end. Sadly, it failed to cure my head cold, but I got a good deal on a button with a picture of Nikola Tesla on it. 

Some of the many sharply-dressed crew members aboard the HMS Silverstar. 

Upon our arrival to the moon, we soon discovered that we were not alone. Fortunately, the Selenites were not only peaceful, but also rather charming and Muppet-like.

A strange sort of automaton called a Dalek. From what I've heard of such things, they have a tendency to exterminate any living thing nearby, but Alexia was brave enough to snap a picture when its back was turned. 

One of the many devices displayed at the Science Fair. Artist credit and additional information is posted on the sheet of paper in front of it. 

One can never have too many jet packs, you know. 

A vampire-hunter's crossbow, complete with a silver cross and a wooden stake. I seem to have misplaced the artist credit, so if anyone knows who made this piece of awesomeness I would be quite grateful. 

 A mechanical croquet mallet. Suitable for an all-out battle with a terrible enemy, or just a simple game of croquet on a sunny afternoon. This item is entitled The Effing Mallet by Captain Magnus Effing. 

A Victorian Christmas Feast

Since Christmas as we celebrate it today was more or less a Victorian invention, the modern steampunk has much historical inspiration to draw on. If you're a daring cook looking for something unusual for your feast this year, why not give some of these recipes a try? Be forewarned that I haven't tested any of these, so I can't give you any info on how easy they would be to cook properly.

As a bonus, here's a most amusing documentary on Victorian food, which includes a Christmas feast. Sorry about it being in parts, but I'm afraid that can't be helped.

I Like Trainz!

At this point I'm mostly just killing time while I wait for my sister, the only halfway skilled photographer between the two of us, to send the photographs she took at Tesla Con. Until then, enjoy this little collection of random crap!

So I woke up this morning thinking about trains for some odd reason, and started to wonder just what a steampunk train would be like. It's really quite embarassing to have to wonder about such a thing, considering the number of trains in my steampunk fiction, but really, why would trains, a symbol of steampower, not be so prominent in steampunk? They may not be as impressive as airships (nor as effective for piracy) but they were the primary form of transportion throughout the Victorian age. Thus, I decided to stop wondering and start putting together a gallery for your time-killing or inspirational purposes.

NOTE TO ARTISTS: Since I stole used these images without permission, which I probably shouldn't do anyways, I will not object if you want your work credited more thoroughly or even removed entirely from the site.

A more or less traditional Victorian design, plus some extra shininess. By Arrarra on Deviantart.

By Peggy Chung Robert Simmons

I couldn't find an artist to credit for this, but I found it here.

According to Wired, this is an early design sketch for a monorail.

From The Paper Wall

To the Moon!

It was an arduous journey, but, after many complications, from stubborn robots to an outer-space collision with Santa Claus, I have at long last arrived on the moon!

Ah, pardon me--I'm afraid I got Tesla Con III confused with reality. It was that immersive. Even the signs for the bathrooms were themed. Likewise, the staff remained in character throughout the event--I was at one point approached by a doctor asking if I had any symtoms of hysteria--and the attendees naturally followed suit.

The voyage itself did not start until late in the evening, but there were plenty of amusements until then. I attended a panel on Victorian music, failed dissmally at a tea duel, (remind me to post on these subjects later on) and had a lovely dinner of fish and chips. At present, due to technical issues, I cannot post any pictures, but I promise to get them up as soon as possible.

Tesla Time!

I announce with great excitement that I will be attending Tesla Con in Madison, Wisconsin next weekend. Rumor has it that an expedition to the previously unexplored surface of the moon is being planned for the event. Naturally, a curious aethernet logger such as myself simply cannot resist the call of such scientific progress.

Having sewn a dress for the event (my first made from scratch!) and gathered a notebook and pen, I am set and ready to go.

Traveling with me is a relative of mine, the scientist Alexia von Linz, who hopes that the moon may contain new species of life yet unknown to mankind. The prospect of such a discovery would be of great excitement to an aether-journalist such as myself.

Naturally, I will be posting as preparations continue, and I shall take careful notes about our extraterrestrial travels. If I fail to do so, please bombard this page with complaints.