Steampunk events: what is steampunk?

by Elizabeth Seward on

You might not know what ‘steampunk’ means and maybe you have never attended steampunk events. I didn’t know what the term meant until a few months ago whilst wasting time on Etsy, only to discover that ‘steampunk‘ is a category for jewelry and other handmade things. With further research, the definition of ‘steampunk’ unveiled itself to me. Steampunk is, as Wikipedia so eloquently puts it: “a sub-genre of science-fiction, fantasy, alternate history, and speculative fiction that came into prominence during the 1980s and early 1990s. Steampunk involves a setting where steam power is still widely used (usually Victorian era Britain or “Wild West“-era United States) and one that incorporates elements of either science fiction or fantasy. Works of steampunk often feature anachronistic technology, or futuristic innovations as Victorians might have envisioned them, based on a Victorian perspective on fashion, culture, architectural style, and art. This technology includes such fictional machines as those found in the works of H. G. Wells and Jules Verne, or the contemporary authors Philip Pullman, Scott Westerfeld, and China Mieville.“The manifestation of steampunk culture is often first seen in fashion, but the rules of steampunk fashion are loose and, according to most sources, open to interpretation. Victorian-era clothing meets robotics and electronics initially comes to mind. Pair these things together to work up a mental image and perhaps, in doing so, you will find you’ve been a steampunk all along and didn’t even know it: welded-together jewelry pieces thick with metal and parts of other things (clocks, piping, tools, etc.), corsets, top hats, floor-length gowns, button-down vests, goggles, leather straps, chains, and, in general, a mix of old-style with new-style. Ring any bells? Remind you of anyone you know?

For a term that’s been around so long, it’s a wonder more people don’t know it off-hand. Once we escape from the make-believe worlds wherein steampunk notions are traditionally held, there’s an appealing reason to take notice of the steampunk subculture in everyday life, especially during our travels. Steampunk, if the aesthetic appeals to you, can help direct your travels. Below are some resources for finding steampunks and related activities to help guide your 2012 travels.

Steampunk Events

1. The Steampunk World’s Fair
May 18-20 in Pascataway, New Jersey
The purported world’s largest steampunk festival will be infiltrating Pascataway, New Jersey. With Absinthe tastings, live music, performance art, and specially-brewed teas, The Steampunk World’s Fair 2012 is bound to put on a show to remember.

2. The Anachronism NYC
Follow these guys for updates on their exciting steampunk events in NYC. Burlesque, sideshow, vaudeville, live music, fire-dancing, and art are all part of what make these events successful in New York. Their website currently promises an update on the next event at the end of February, so stay tuned.

3. Steampunk Chicago
Game nights, movie trips, parties–Steampunk Chicago organizes it all. If it’s steampunk enough and happening in Chicago, these guys are all over it.

4. Coal City Steam
The Coal City Steam website brings steampunk event listings from all over the USA together. Check out the site’s event listings for a country-wide scope on steampunk happenings.

5. Tor
Tor.com has a good events section for steampunk activities taking place in the USA and Canada (and perhaps beyond).

Give Delta’s New York LaGuardia shuttle service a try

by Jeremy Kressmann on

Those that travel frequently between New York’s LaGuardia and Chicago’s O’Hare airport know that it is among the more tedious routes to fly, particularly if you’re traveling on a legacy carrier. Older, less comfortable airplanes, tiny overhead bins packed to the gills with carry-on luggage, and heavy flight traffic are all the norm, leading to plenty of stressed-out travelers.

It’s for exactly these reasons I’ve found myself pleasantly surprised in recent months by Delta’s stellar shuttle service operating out of LaGuardia’s Marine Air Terminal. It’s a service designed to cater to frequent travelers in key markets, concentrating only on those that fly between New York to either Boston Logan, Washington Reagan or Chicago O’Hare. The smaller, out-of-the-way terminal location means much shorter security lines and less crowds, and they’ve fitted the place out with comfy leather seats, lots of power ports, and complimentary newspapers and magazines. What’s more, the carrier announced this week that Wi-Fi is now available on all shuttle flights, always a nice perk. Pair that with complimentary beer and wine in economy class and you’ll begin to feel like you’re flying up in first.

True, there are downsides to the service. Skittish fliers that don’t like small planes probably won’t like the smaller Embraer 170’s Delta uses on the route. And for anyone not traveling to Boston, Washington DC or Chicago, you’re pretty much out of luck if you wish to try this one out. Still, for travelers looking to enjoy a little extra flying comfort leaving from LaGuardia, the airport most conveniently located near Manhattan (JFK, ahem, I’m not looking at you…) give Delta Shuttle a try.

[Photo by Flickr user redlegsfan21]

Dragon Go! app adds Expedia support

by Kraig Becker on

Nuance’s popular Dragon Go! app, which is available on both iOS and Android, received a major update earlier this week that is sure to be a hit with travelers. The software, which has been accepting voice commands long before Siri graced us with her presence, now offers support for Expedia, giving us the ability to book flights and find hotels, simply by asking.

Dragon Go! has been around for a couple of years now, and over time, Nuance has continued to add new content providers to the app. With the inclusion of Expedia, travelers can now simply say things like “Show me available flights between Los Angeles and New York in April,” and the software will present a list of options that will include flight schedules and pricing. There is even a link to the Expedia’s website, allowing users to book the flight directly from their phone. The voice search options also allow travelers to search for hotels near their current location and find reviews on destination resorts as well.

Dragon Go! can do a lot more than that however, as the app also allows travelers to get weather reports on their destination, play music for the trip, and look up movie times at the local theater. It helps users find the best restaurants or shops in their area, and even shares their travel experiences on Twitter.

Best of all, the app remains completely free and is available to download in both the iOS and Android app stores.

Phone booth libraries in New York City

by Elizabeth Seward on

New York City is a petri dish wherein cool, innovative things grow–like phone booth libraries. John Locke, an architect in NYC, recently took on a literary repurposing project. Phone booths, which still ornament NYC streets, have become nostalgic landmarks in the city. More people than ever now have cell phones and, if I had to guess, fewer people than ever carry spare change in their pockets (Dollars? Quarters? If I ever need to use a pay phone, let’s hope it takes my card). While the phone booths throughout NYC are still useful (a shelter during inclement weather, a place to make out), Locke’s newest project has turned some phone booths into mini-libraries, thus making the phone booths exponentially more useful than before. Locke has outfitted these phone booth libraries with fitted shelves. Pedestrians are invited to take, borrow, or exchange books from the shelves within these booths. Which other commonly found, stationary objects do you think will be repurposed in the years to come? Will trash cans be our new food pantry drop-off bins? Will bus stops one day be on-the-go charging stations?

St. Bride’s Church in London: a place to honor fallen journalists

by Sean McLachlan on

I am not a Christian. I have read the Bible twice and have attended the services of several denominations and remain unconvinced. Despite this, any time I’m in London I go to an old church off of Fleet Street to pay my respects.

Fleet Street used to be the center of London’s journalism industry and St. Bride’s was the journalists’ church. The newspapers have since moved away to less expensive neighborhoods but St. Bride’s still maintains its connections to the journalistic profession.

At this point I would usually launch into my historical song-and-dance and tell you how St. Bride’s was designed by Sir Christopher Wren, how its steeple may have inspired the shape of wedding cakes, and how there’s a Roman building in the crypt. None of that makes me go there. I go there because to the left of the altar is a memorial to journalists killed in the line of duty. A few candles illuminate photos and cards and a list of names. Yesterday two more names were added.

Marie Colvin and Remi Ochlik were killed yesterday in the besieged city of Homs, Syria, when the house they were staying in got shelled. They were both seasoned war correspondents. Colvin had lost the use of an eye while covering the Sri Lankan civil war in 2001. Both knew the dangers and both went to Syria anyway.

I was familiar with their work because I’ve been watching the carnage in Syria closely. I spent a wonderful month there back in 1994 enjoying Arab hospitality and seeing the country’s many historic sights. I was there when the dictator’s heir apparent Bassel al-Assad died in a car crash and the nation pretended to mourn. His younger brother Bashar now rules Syria and is ruthlessly suppressing his local version of the Arab Spring.

When I visited Hama, I learned how the al-Assad family leveled the city to quash resistance there back in 1982. Once the fighting started in 2011, I feared Hama would be leveled again. I was right about the massacre and wrong about the city. It’s Homs this time, or at least it’s Homs for the moment. Syria’s dictatorship would level every city it owns in order to stay in power.I never had the honor to meet Marie Colvin and Remi Ochlik. From their work I bet they were like the war correspondents I actually have met, with a deep love of humanity and a firm commitment to the truth. It would be presumptuous of me to put my job on a level with theirs, but it has taught me the same valuable lesson–that the majority of people around the world are good. Lots of folks believe that, but I know it to be true. I’ve had it proven to me over and over again in places my friends think I’m crazy to visit. Somaliland. Kurdistan. Palestine. Iran.

And Syria. The fighting and oppression and state-sponsored terrorism that Colvin and Ochlik gave their lives to reveal to the world do not diminish my estimation of the Syrian people one iota. The majority of Syrians are good, just as the majority of all people are good. And if you disagree don’t argue with me, argue with Anne Frank, who wrote the same thing in her diary while hiding out from the Nazis.

The news is so often negative that it’s easy for us to develop a negative view of the world and its many peoples. It’s important to remember, though, that those who travel the world for a living don’t share that view. Their travels have taught them better.

So when I’m back in London next month, this agnostic is going to St. Bride’s Church, not for a dogma I don’t believe in, but for an idea I do.

Photo courtesy St. Bride’s.