Steampunk Town: Baraboo, Wisconsin

While the small population and faint scent of cow droppings may indicate otherwise, the town of Baraboo, Wisconsin contains a remarkable amount of steampunk. To begin with, it's the birthplace of that great bastion of whimsy and horror--the circus. The Ringling Brothers started out in a field just outside of town. While most local circus-related attractions are geared towards the very young and the very old, circus history is certainly something worth thinking about the next time you don a striped corset and mini top hat.

But the real steampunk is housed in Dr. Evermor's Art Park, a massive collection of scrap metal sculptures designed by artists Tom and Eleanor Every. The highlight of the park is the Forevertron, a massive futuristic sculpture made from recycled industrial machinery. I even got a chance to meet one of the artists, who are often on site. Although, at Lady Eleanor's personal request, I will not violate copyright by posting pictures here, you can find a few at the official site, and, to be honest, two dimensions really can't convey the sheer scale and detail of the artwork.

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

Tire Recycling

            While I was in Detroit, my group’s duties included picking up tires from various alleyways in the city. We came back with a semi-truck full.

            As part of Cass’s Green Industries, the tires were cut into strips and woven into rubber mats, which is what I spent that afternoon doing. While, for numerous reasons, I can’t post a tutorial on how to make them, I thought this was an interesting sort of upcycling that might be of interest.

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?

Post-apocalypse Condominiums

            Poking around Discover Magazine, I came across an article on an underground, nuclear-war-proof living complex, sort of like a real-life City of Ember. It’s capable of self-sufficiency, with hydroponics farming, fish tanks, and zombie-proof defense mechanisms. Unfortunately, however, the steampunk pretty much stops there. While I appreciate the effort to make such a usually dark place pleasant, the “brand-name kitchen appliances,” and “window-like HDTV panels” would probably detract from the overall steampunkness. Nonetheless, this might be in interesting setting in a post-apocalypse tale: a world where a lucky few live in safety and luxury below the ground, while the rest of the world’s population must fend for itself.    

            Since, due to copyright issues, I was hesitant to include pictures, I’ll put in a link to the official site: http://survivalcondo.com/index.html