Industrial-styled Lamp Made From Old Books

This picture isn't mine. Please don't sue me. 

I'm not sure I could bring myself to destroy a stack of books like this, even for the sake of art, but I have to admit that this tutorial looks pretty cool and remarkably easy.

Assorted Pictures

 I needed a quick post, since my life has been boring lately, so I found some old pictures that I'd meant to post but never got around to. Locations: 1: A mansion in the Minneapolis area. 2-5: The Museum of Science and Industry 6-7: A museum in Portland, Maine

Homemade Soda Recipie

While people today normally associate sodas with the mass-produced cans of mysterious God-only-knows-what that we buy in grocery stores, its history goes back much farther, to the Victorian Era drugstores and soda fountains. Rather than being purchased from large corporations, sodas of that era were mixed from soda syrup and seltzer water. In the attitude of steampunk, I'll post this surprisingly easy recipe for making your own syrup at home.

Flavoring can be achieved using either fresh sources--fruits, herbal tea, and ginger all work quite well--or by using extracts such as vanilla or orange.

1. Fill a saucepan with water. The amount of water you add will amount to about half the volume the finished syrup.

2. (Optional) If using fresh flavoring, put whatever fruit or herb you're using in the water and boil it until the water becomes thoroughly colored from the flavoring.

3. Add in sugar to make the total proportions 1/2 sugar and 1/2 water. Heat this mixture, stirring constantly, until the sugar is completely dissolved.

4. If using an extract flavoring, add a few drops of flavoring.

5. If desired, add a little bit of food coloring to the syrup.

6. Unless you intend to use all of the syrup right away, add a little cream of tartar to keep it from hardening.

7. Mix together about one part syrup to three parts seltzer water. Enjoy.

A large number of flavoring ideas can be found at this site.

Book Review: The Orphan of Awkward Falls

I've decided to add book reviews to this blog occasionally, since I've just read a really good book and I can't think of anything else to write. This is my first one, so it's probably going to be really awkward. The Orphan of Awkward Falls, by Keith Graves, isn't strictly steampunk, since it takes place in the modern day, but it does feature a robotic butler, a murderous insane asylum escapee, and a plethora of mad scientists. 

The Plot: After moving to the small town of Awkward Falls, twelve-year-old Josephine Cravitz expects her      life there to be dull--until she meets her next door neighbor, Thaddeus Hibble. Thaddeus is a brilliant but reclusive tween who enjoys performing bizarre experiments  in the basement of his decaying mansion. Upon discovering that Thaddeus in the intended victim of a mad cannibal, Josephine is determined to keep him safe--even if it means risking her own life in the process. 

The Good Stuff: It was mostly the title that made this book leap off the shelf at me. I mean, really, can you think of a better title than "The Orphan of Awkward Falls"? A good title is often a sign of a creative author, and this one does not dissapoint. While it features a whole slew of Gothic archetypes--mad scientists, boy geniuses, cloning, decaying mansions, etc.--the clever and lightly satirical details of these things make them feel as fresh and unpredictable as they are familiar.  

The blending of humor and horror was fantastic. Quirky characters and dark humor provide spectacular comic relief throughout the story. Some of the horror elements might have been done a little too well, considering that this is a children's book. While kids in their late preteens to early teens should be able to handle it, there are numerous gory scenes that could frighten some younger children. 

The Bad Stuff: The pacing in this book is downright weird. Nearly all of the mysteries are solved about halfway through, while the next hundred pages or so are filled in with well-written but too-long action scenes. I like fast-paced writing, but this early climax made me feel as though I'd been cheated out of time with the plot and characters. 

As much as I loved the characters, the portrayal of their personalities sometimes felt a bit forced. Some of the dialogue was exaggeratedly slangy, and just came out sounding goofy. The narrator would often state things about the characters that had already been shown through action. For example, he at one point writes that Josephine is nosy and curious immediately after a scene where she is caught peeking through a neighbor's window. All these bits of info really do is damage the suspension of disbelief.

The Overall: Although the few issues with this book were fairly large, they did little to distract me from the immense fun that this book is. Even though it's a kids' book, I had great fun reading it as an adult, and I wouldn't hesitate to read more by this author. 

Afternoon Tea Recipies

If you, like myself, are not lucky enough to have any awesome little cafes withing walking distance, you'll probably have to end up baking your own food, or *gasp* going without. To prevent your next tea from turning into a disaster, I've found this fantastic list of recipes. 

Electro-Swing Music!

I stumbled upon this genre while wandering around on Youtube a while ago, and my bass-player self went into a joyous frenzy at the idea of remixed swing music. Moreover, it's based around the eclectic blending of old and new that lies at the heart of steampunk. I've posted a large and rather long mix as an intro, but if you're looking for more, Parov Stelar, Caravan Palace, and Groovejuice are all excellent electro-swing bands.

Nikola Tesla = Awesome

That is an irrefutable fact, as proven by this cartoon in the Oatmeal. Is it weird to be a fangirl of someone who's been dead for over half a century?