Evolution of Steampunk

It is very interesting to witness the evolution of a new social movement. The steampunk kids are just discovering each other, and all sorts of social/technological/fashionable things are happening.

Katherine and I went to see Abney Park, disputably one of the first “Steampunk-style” bands, on Sunday. They played at the Edison, an amazing high class bar in downtown LA. It originally was the first electric power plant in LA. Check out both web sites:

http://www.edisondowntown.com/

http://www.abneypark.com/

BTW, Absinthe is now legal in the USA. It will mess you up. I’m still recovering from Sunday.

The Neverwas Haul and Makers Faire

DSC_0406, originally uploaded by Spaceman Spiffy.

The Maker Faire was an amazing gathering of DIY (Do It Yourself) inventors, artists, and cool people. A strong showing from the local Burning Man scene made the event look like a BM technology fair. I was on the crew of the Neverwas Haul, a fantasy Victorian house on Wheels.

 
Check out this great video on Youtube about the event.:

 

A SteamPunk Romance

My girlfriend Katherine the Great and I met back in 2002 during a Gaskell’s Ball in Oakland. Gaskell’s is a unique dance event. Imagine, if you will, three hundred people dressed in period 19th century dress, dancing to waltz, schottiche, and the polka. We chose to be different, the people at the Ball. Katherine and I danced to the “Congress of Vienna” and became good friends. Over the months she moved away and we lost touch. But we kept finding each other in the most unlikely places. At Burning Man she joined my group called “Random Acts of Ballroom Dancing” where we invaded a camp and taught them how to ballroom dance. We even got into the documentary “BEYOND BLACK ROCK”. Through a series of odd coincidences we started dating, and we have been having fun ever since.

The Congress of Vienna Waltz at Gaskells: