How do you like your Punk, Sir…? Steamed of course…

Steampunk is a unique fantasy version of 19th century Victorian England- now imbued with high tech digital devices, fantastic steam-powered machines and all manner of surreal, electro-mechanical contraptions that could only have been conjured by a mad, 21st century scientist. The “Steam” refers to steam power- as in the living, fire-breathing machines of antique locomotion. The “Punk” is the important reference to the ‘outsider’ attitude- the lone wolf artist, the DIY craftsman and the amateur engineer, who are not beholden to any contemporary style or ideology. You can bet that you won’t be seeing this kind of design in your next DWR Catalog -and that’s just the way the Steampunks want it.

Once you know where to look, Steampunk design is familiar. By reading H.G. Wells, Jules Verne or Mary Shelly or by seeing movies such as “Brazil” or “The League of Extraordinary Gentleman”, one may already have had a peek into this ingenious style. Hollywood has embraced Steampunk and often uses it as a plot foundation for it’s films (think “Wild, Wild West”). As far as Steampunk’s internet popularity is concerned, you can thank today’s young, savvy computer geeks, bloggers, gamers, authors and artists. Obviously, these creative individuals are not Luddites. They celebrate modern technology but firmly believe that the design of modern products like the ‘I-Phone’ and ‘I-Pod’ can’t possibly compete with the luxurious design of the early “Victorian Wonders” of technology.

Below are links to some of the artists on display at the show…

Amanda Scrivener
Art Donovan
Cliff Overton - Mad Uncle Cliff
Daniel Proulx
Eric Freitas
Haruo Suekichi
Ian Crichton – Herr Doktor
James Richardson Brown
Jesse Newhouse
Joey Marsocci – Dr Grymm
Kris Kuksi
Molly ‘Porkshanks’ Friedrich
Rich Nagy – Datamancer
Stephane Halleux
Thomas D Willeford
Tom Banwell
Vianney Halter

An Education…

For my birthday treat this year Sue and I went to Oxford for the weekend and stayed in a swanky hotel called the Randolph (where Morse would often drink) right in the middle of this spectacular city. I had wanted to go see the modernised Ashmolean Museum and a Steampunk exhibition.

The hotel was conveniently opposite the Ashmolean and so we spent an enjoyable few hours soaking up the culture, before moving on to have a meal in a very old down a narrow alleyway pub off the high street.

Replete we continued our education with a visit to Christ Church where we took a self guided tour around the university and saw where Lewis Carroll got inspiration for Alice in Wonderland and where some scenes from Harry Potter were filmed among the great and the good whose pictures lined the walls, and where history fair oozed out of the ground.

We wandered the streets and looked in other universities and historical buildings until we came to the Museum of the History of Science where the Steampunk exhibition was being held. We nipped in and were blown away by the artwork on display (more in a separate blog).

We had a slap-up meal at the hotel of exceptional standards and indulged ourselves in some fine wine before retiring quite contented to our sumptuous room.

More of wot I have heard…

For my birthday I bought a load more music listed below. Most of these are modern folk artists, some who have won awards for their art. A couple are more of the ‘popular’ genre (Munford & Sons being a cross-over act and Paolo Nutini being in the mainstream charts), but both have elements of folk about them. And another one is a bit more specialist – The Duckworth Lewis Method is an album entirely written about the gentleman’s game of cricket, even if you are not a fan (as I am not), there are still some cracking tunes in it.

Arc Light by Lau

The Awkward Recruit by Mawkin:Causley

Here’s the Tender Coming by The Unthanks

Sunny Side Up by Paolo Nutini

The Duckworth Lewis Method by Duckworth & Lewis

Songs from the Floodplain by Jon Boden

Sigh no More by Mumford & Sons

More of wot I have seen…

Lee Hurst - We hadn’t heard much from this comedian for several years since he left the TV show ‘They Think Its All Over’. It appears he has been running his own comedy club, The FymFygBar, where he also appears, so when we heard he was playing in Croydon we bought tickets for as and family as another Christmas present. The show was very entertaining and Jamie particularily liked the line – ‘Let’s all go to Woman-Land and play on the mood swings’.

More of wot I have seen…

fRoots at the Roundhouse – another Christmas gift was to take my uncle and a friend of his to a show at the Roundhouse that was put on by the fRoots magazine (a world roots periodical that includes many folk acts in its listings) to celebrate their 30th anniversary. The acts were many and varied with Billy Bragg toping the bill. The venue (an old steam train turning building) is absolutely spectacular though inconveniently located in north London. It was a great night out.

More of wot I have seen…

Aladdin – a pantomime at the New Wimbledon Theatre, where we took some friends and their children for a Christmas present. This show was a little different in that every few weeks they changed the leading star between Ruby Wax, Pamela Anderson, Anita Dobson, and Paul O’Grady (we saw Anita Dobson in it, and saw Brian May in the audience). A regular star was Brian Blessed (and I was over the moon when only a few minutes into the show he bellowed ‘Gordon’s Alive!’). I very much enjoy this particularly English Christmas experience.

Are you sitting comfortably…?

Late last year we decided to invest in some new sofas for our living room so we went to the Sofa Workshop store. Sue wanted a three-seater and a two-seater so that we could accommodate more people. We ended up with a large leather Robertson and a smaller fabric Browning (in a different material to the website). They were not cheap, but with the discount and the obvious quality we placed our order. They tuned up the other day and now our front room is full of seating, though we have lost our bookcase as there wasn’t room for it all.

Driving in style…

As part of my job I get a company car which is changed every few years. Just before Christmas this year I took delivery of my new bright and shiny white BMW 118d. And then it snowed for a week. In the New Year I took it to work and showed it off. And then it snowed for a week. Having been taught to drive in NZ I didn’t have much experience of driving in snow, and apparently rear wheel drive automatics are not the best at handling in this sort of weather. So it ended up parked for quite a while. But now I have been out and about we have tested it out and had it full of stuff , including a loaded roof rack, when Jamie moved.

I love it, though I think Sue is not so sure about the colour. White cars can be associated with Essex and girls in stiletto heels.

Not so clever now…

Recently we went with friends to a local pub for a quiz evening. We didn’t know what to expect, as we have not been to many, but we were greatly cheered when we got full marks in the first round and we still leading in the second. After that though we had a massive batting collapse in the music round and tumbled from first to last place. The quizmaster said he had never seen that happen in all of his years of hosting them – at least this was a first for us!

Moving house…

Jamie moved house again, still in London but now south of the river and closer to work. The girl he was flatting with bought one of those low deposit starter flats where you part buy part rent. Luckily she wanted Jamie to move with her so that he could help by paying her rent.

We moved them with the help of family and friends into the lovely brand new place, helped clean the old one, and build the furniture for the new one. Afterwards we treated them to a meal a few minutes walk away in a riverside restaurant. Oh to be young and in the middle of London – we are jealous.