Milwaukee Throws Spectacular Victorian Ball Tomorrow Night

Aug
25
LadyNoLucky
No Comments

Milwaukee's Victorian Ball

Tomorrow night in an Old linen factory/fallout shelter, Steampunks from all over the Midwest (including a contingent from Steampunk Chicago) will be attending The Steampunk Victorian Ball, hosted by The Dead Man’s Carnival. Can you imagine a better place for a group of Steampunks to gather together and celebrate and watch great performances?

Speaking of performers, they are vast and spectacular in number, including The Absinthe Minded Professors Steam Stories by Joshua Safford accompanied by fantastic fiddle playing of Michi Riger, Tony and his Hot Box of Dreams and Aesthetics By Chris Dunn of Bedlam theater from Minneapolis, Erik Bang! Electric Medicine Man Routine, Water Street Bridge: an Americana, Balkan, Celtic Garage Band, and Gypsy Geoff – Vaudevillian Mastermind of Object Manipulation.

The event begins at 9 pm and the shows run til midnight (afterwards, may the drinking begin for the 21+ crowd), a jam packed night filled with fantastic performances (many of which I’ve seen in person, and are well worth the drive to see again), and the cost is $13, unless you are dressed in your Steampunk finery, in which case, the price drops to $10.  The locale for the event is at 906 S. Barclay: just one block south of National Ave. and one block east of 1st. Milwaukee.

Continue reading Milwaukee Throws Spectacular Victorian Ball Tomorrow Night…

Third Bioshock Installment Fully Embraces the Steampunk Aesthetic

Aug
16
Lord Baron Joseph C.R. Vourteque IV
1 Comment

I just got wind of this moments ago, so unfortunately I have little information – but what I do see is that the third Bioshock game, Bioshock Infinite, will take the immensely popular, beautifully produced and wonderfully written franchise in an entirely new direction.

The last games were hailed for their intense steampunk style; though it could also be classified as dieselpunk or atomic-punk due to the series taking place in the 1950s.  The third installment, set in an alternative 1912, embraces the  Victorian/gilded age style of steampunk, and it does so to the extreme.  No longer are you underwater but now up in the sky in a floating city.  And according to the trailer – flailing about desperately…

According to the Official Website the synopsis of this third game is also an entirely new narrative completely removed from the Rapture mythos.

BioShock Infinite is a first-person shooter currently in development at Irrational Games, the studio behind the original BioShock (which sold over 4 million units worldwide). Set in 1912, BioShock Infinite introduces an entirely new narrative and gameplay experience that lifts players out of the familiar confines of Rapture and rockets them to Columbia, an immense city in the sky.

Continue reading Third Bioshock Installment Fully Embraces the Steampunk Aesthetic…

Time Traveler’s Day at Bristol Renaissance Fair – Aug 15

Aug
11
LadyNoLucky
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Steampunks Unite!

Come up to Bristol Renaissance Faire and wear your best Steampunk attire to explore Elizabethan England! Gates open at 10 am, and closes at 7 pm.

It will be a great day to get out and salute Her Royal Majesty, Queen Elizabeth, compare the airship pirates with the sea-faring pirates, and hobnob with rogues, wenches, fairies, and many other fantastic sights and sounds at the faire.  Come to the Queen’s court, enter the fairy glade, watch the dancers dance the Maypole, see the fantastic adventures of Robin Hood and his merry gang as he battles the bad guys.  Experience the adventure, all while looking fabulous in your steampunk gear.

Newly added: Only for one day, The Absinthe Minded Professors will be performing! This act was booked especially for us! Read all about them at: http://www.ravenstory.com/clockwork.html

Continue reading Time Traveler’s Day at Bristol Renaissance Fair – Aug 15…

Incredible Steampunked Musical Device Debuting Tonight at Gypsy Nomads Concert!

Aug
06
Lord Baron Joseph C.R. Vourteque IV
7 Comments

Want to hear and see something extraordinary and decadent tonight, Friday, August 6th for the low price of only $5?  Then bring yourselves, dressed to the nines (or tens!), to Darkroom in Chicago at 2210 West Chicago Avenue and experience not only the sights and sounds of  THE GYPSY NOMADS and the elegant and sensual dancing of MAE THE BELLY DANCER but also experience the fine creation of the Extra-Ordinary Aural Fusionoscope & Amplification Machine operated by our most esteemed and qualified steampunk DJ’s (including myself!).

Please RSVP to our Facebook Event:  ”Gypsies & Steam”!

Update:

Picked up by the BoingBoing!

Yes, our contraption qualifies as a There I fixed it!

Advanced Technology Blog!

So to begin the journey:  roughly six to eight months ago (or perhaps longer?),  I was enjoying some lychee royale champagne when my good friend Heaven Malone approached me.  We got onto the subject of Steampunk, inventing and all that fun stuff when he mentioned, “You know Lord Baron (okay, so he actually just called me Joe), you should make a Steampunk DJ set up.”

For those of you who do not know, I have actually made a living at various points in my life as a DJ.  Thus, fusing DJing and Steampunkery seemed not only natural, but warranted.  Therefore,  I set out to create a Steampunk DJ rig, and sadly, failed.  The truth was that I did not really have the tools, knowledge or, well, the skill to undertake something like this on my own.

Enter the good inventor Evad.  With the help of this fine and extraordinarily talented individual, the two of us designed and have successfully built the machine that I had first dreamed of.  Thusly, my always good and possibly wantonly dressed and always finely coiffed personage – I present to you:

THE (extra-ordinary) AURAL FUSIONOSCOPE & AMPLIFICATION MACHINE!!

Continue reading Incredible Steampunked Musical Device Debuting Tonight at Gypsy Nomads Concert!…

Taxidermy: An Introduction via the Modern Artisans

Jul
30
The Lady KL Kenzie
No Comments

For months now, I have been promising the readers of Steampunk Chicago a post on taxidermy. Doing my own independent study on the subject, I found myself overwhelmed with history, techniques, artists, ethics and hundreds of amazing pieces of work.

During the early summer, I became the owner of my first piece: a simple yet stately pheasant who was dubbed “Lexington Featherbottom”.

It was an interesting car ride home.

As I go further and deeper into my research, I find myself more and more fascinated by viewpoints and results of each  individual taxidermist’s work. I am coming to the conclusion that just trying to do a single article would not do the field any justice, so instead I will do so as a continuing series.

To begin with simply, below are some sites of known artisans who work in the medium of taxidermy. Their work, while objectionable to some, is captivating enough to many, including this once vegan, now vegetarian, animal welfarist.

Continue reading Taxidermy: An Introduction via the Modern Artisans…

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