The good people of Outland Armour, who are absolute legends in the steampunk world, are dealing with a huge setback from recent flood damage in Tennessee.
These guys are from Atlanta, but they were in Tennessee for the Middle Tennessee Anime Convention and fell victim to the major flooding that hit the area.
They are accepting donations to help cover the costs of their bus and lost gear. What a terrible shame! Wow, that just sucks so much! You can read about their troubles on their blog.
Good luck, Guys! We all hope you can recover from this tragedy.
As you may know, we were in Nashville, Tennessee for the Middle Tennessee Anime Convention (MTAC) this past weekend. You may also have seen Nashville in the news over the last couple of days; there have been massive floods there after 2 straight days of rain on Saturday and Sunday. Our hotel was actually cut off on all sides by 5 – 15 feet of water, and we were finally ferried out by a fleet of volunteers and Coast Guard boats early this morning.
At this time, all of our steampunk props and costumes, as well as all of our luggage are still in Nashville, some in our hotel room and some in our bus which is now flooded in the parking lot under 5 feet of water. We do not know the status of our gear inside the bus. We waded into chest deep water last night to move things to the top storage rack, as far away from the rising flood waters as possible, and we are hoping it is still safe. But, when we were ferried out this morning, authorities were telling us that they estimated the waters would continue to rise at least another 1 – 2 feet before finally coming to a stop.
Lady Windermere’s Brass Fantabulous, a satirical Steampunk series, is being released in weekly chapters on the ZBS.org. This original audio/radio Steampunk drama is set in an alternative Victorian reality where most mechanical things are steam driven, including brass and cast iron robots.
Lady Windermere is a spy. Professor Farking Foots-Foots, a scientist and inventor, has installed a recording device in the cage of Lady Windermere’s bustle. Hidden within the bows of her bustle is a lens. Whenever the Lady turns her back, she can record whatever is happening behind her.
The Dec. 14, 2009 issue of Time Magazine has a wonderful article about steampunk.
Lev Grossman does a great job explaining the concept to the uninitiated, and talks about the origins of steampunk and its rapid growth into mainstream pop-culture.
The same way punk took back music, steampunk reclaims technology for the masses. It substitutes metal gears for silicon, pneumatic tubes for 3G and wi-fi. It maximizes what was miniaturized and makes visible what was hidden. Where the iPhone is all stainless steel and high-gloss plastic, steampunk is brass and wood and leather. Steampunk isn’t mass-produced; it’s bespoke and unique, and if you don’t like it, you can tinker with it till you do.
Be sure to read this article! It’s not too long and it’s packed with steamy goodness. You can read the full article for free online at Time.com.
