Steampunk

Vintage Tomorrows is an hour long documentary on the steampunk movement, and I must say, it is quite impressive. I admit, I was half expecting it to be a poorly filmed work of amateur film making, painfully narrow in its coverage, or some obvious attempt to capitalize on the steampunk movement. To my very pleasant surprise, Vintage Tomorrows is nothing of the sort.  The documentary itself is indisputably professional, the subject matter is quite broad, and the individuals they interviewed were exactly the people they needed to interview. Allow me to name off just a few people featured in the documentary: William Gibson, Bruce Sterling, Cherie Priest, China Miéville, Phil and Kaja Foglio (Girl Genius), Cory Doctorow, Kevin Steil, and musical appearances by Abney Park and Unwoman. Sold already? I thought so!

Vintage Tomorrows covers not only the costuming and literary aspects of steampunk, but also the strong maker community as well. The documentary further explores many of the social and philosophical aspects of the steampunk movement, combined with several refreshing discussions on the subject of retro-futurism.

Anyway, the documentary is certainly worth watching. It is currently available on Netflix streaming (that’s where I saw it), and it appears to be available on Amazon, iTunes, and other places as well. You can find out more at vintagetomorrows.com, and be sure to watch the trailer below!

Universal Studios Orlando has opened a steampunk chocolate factory, called the Toothsome Chocolate Emporium! How cool is that? You can see a bunch of pictures over on the Journey Through Style blog, and check out the news story on the WESH Orland. Apparently, it’s not just a chocolate factory, as it also features a full restaurant, and since its on the Universal CityWalk, you can get in without even needing the theme park tickets.

Famed violinist Lindsey Stirling tears it up in this new (and for lack of a better descriptor) post-apocalyptic steampunk violin music video. This is like something straight out of a Mad Max film, with the added bonus of being an absolutely fantastic song. She has other steampunkesque music videos too, such as Roundtable Rival, as well as a great pirate themed shanty called Master of Tides.

To go along with my steampunk speakers, I have now put up my Instructables tutorial for putting together a nice little steampunk audio amplifier. This is the amplifier which I have mounted on the hutch over my desk, through which I play all music an audio from my PC. This is a bit more involved that the steampunk speakers, but if you feel up to the challenge, feel free to give it go!

Take a look at this cool steampunk Tesla watch from ThinkGeek. And it’s actually affordable. I’m not sure if the vacuum tubes really do anything other than light up, but it’s a nice effect. My only fear would be loosing the key used to actually wind the watch…

I wanted a pair of steampunk speakers as part of my ongoing project to steampunk-up my home office. Here are the steampunk speakers I ended up creating, which are mounted on the hutch above my desk. Do you like them? Well, you can have them! You just need to build them for yourself.

The article is over on Instructables.com, and has already been Featured by the Instructables editors!