Gregordyne

In honor of my favorite holiday, Halloween, I thought I'd grouse a bit about the quality of the material out there in Mediatopia.

It's not exactly a secret that I love all things creepy, eerie, and spooky.  But what does creepy mean?  I have a few things that I consider to be indications of exceedingly poor or lazy attempts...

•  Jump scares or "screamers" (links that take you to a video or page with sudden loud noise). If whatever it is provokes the exact same reaction that some idiot suddenly cutting me off in traffic does (before the subsequent road rage hits), it's not actually very spooky, it is a startle reaction.  It's the ghostly equivalent of some schmuck hiding behind a bush dressed in a lame sheet.
•  Blood-n-guts.  I don't have an issue with body horror (deformity, wrong proportions, anomalous anatomy) per se, but what I call "Innards Horror" is more gross than creepy.  Seeing innocent teenagers chopped up by puritanical (and immortal) serial killers is, by this point, more of a pathetically overused joke than scary.  As for zombies, I think they are also overused, but they can still be effective if done properly.  (Hint: It isn't the "rotting corpse" part that's spooky, it's the motion and sound.  Back in the day, Quake's zombies were damn effective because of the sound they made.  Half-life's zombies, too, especially in Ravenholm.)

Much of what passes for horror in Hollywood fails at one -- or more often both -- of these.  They are ingredients, not the entire meal, and best used sparingly (extremely sparingly, at this point).

On the web, I take issue with the "Brix" images.  The images themselves are often successfully creepy (when they aren't obvious photoshops, and when some idiot hasn't gotten it into their head that a screamer would be oh-so clever and original).  But since the pictures often come embedded in image macro frames with more or less the Exact. Same. Caption. Every. Single. Time. they actually lose effectiveness if you see more than one per year.  It'd be one thing in the caption was, you know, interesting or funny in any way.  But it's not.  It's vulgar hyperbole.

If you can restrain yourself on that sort of thing, you are a lot closer to what I consider spooky.  Good horror should cause cognitive dissonance.  Things start out fine, and the viewer gets a gradually increasing sense of dread as normality runs off the rails.  Spookiness.  Eerieness.

We arrived at 4:15 or so. Though I was wearing a jacket and hat in the sun, it wasn't too bad. We made it inside the lobby in about 15 minutes.

Within a half hour we'd entered the actual room. We meandered around the turns for a while, roughly a third of the way through. It dawned on me that, while I'd been using my phone and the borrowed camera (which I originally though I'd left at home, there was not sufficient mass in my pockets to account for these things AND my wallet. Which contained my ID. Which was necessary for getting a badge. Oops. Today's lesson, make sure that you don't leave things behind when rapidly changing outfits.

Stuck around in line just to have something to do. Halfway through, it occurred to me, we all have smartphones ... They take photocopies of photo ids ... Maybe they'll take a photo OF a photo ID! Cue the epic quest to get someone with a cameraphone to where I left my ID, take a picture of it, then successfully receive it in a room with 2000 other geeks with data capable phones in one room, before reaching the end of the line. Exacerbated by the file being 3 megs.

But ultimately, technology, wombatzoner's brother saved the day and me from spending several hours in line tomorrow for a second time.

Pretty much just the video here...

Today marks the official start of my preparations for Dragon*Con 2009. People who know me well know I actually started making plans while I was still there last year, and preparing almost as soon as I got home.  And I started seriously gearing up a week or three ago.  Seriously ... but unofficially.  But now, it's official.

( Read more... )

Since I'm currently in the library grabbing new books, here's a list of what I've recently read:

* Charles de Lint, The Onion Girl and Spirits in the Wired

* Fred Saberhagen, Berserker Star (and halfway through Berserker Prime)

I'm currently grabbing more de Lint, Jim Butcher, and Tim Powers to go with the remaining books that I have checked out.

I read fairly quickly (I accomplished the reading mentioned earlier in about four day) so I expect to get through all that in two weeks or so.

I'm sure most people see it as a nuisance, but if there's one thing almost guaranteed to make me happy and bouncy, it's walking out the door and finding that the world has enshrouded itself in misty white, as I did this morning. I'm not entirely sure why.

Perhaps it is because it blurs the hard edges of the world, making it soft and friendly.

Perhaps it is because the world shrinks, transforming from a vast, impersonal place with clearly defined edges, beyond which all the important stuff takes place ... to a space roughly a mile or two in diameter, if that, which fades out along the edges. That makes it ... comfier, I suppose. More intimate.

Or perhaps it's the aura of mystery that fog gives everything in sight. When the world is mysterious, the world is interesting.

Maybe it's because it brings a promise of adventure. Normally, the horizon is far away, out of reach, almost out of sight. In foggy weather the edge of the world can be mere yards away, almost in your grasp, and you never know what amazing thing might turn up just a little further ahead.

Or maybe it's simply because I'm a painter, and atmospheric and lighting phenomena are appealing in an artistic sense.

Whatever it is, it makes me happy.

(Heavy snow or a lot of accumulated snow has a similar effect.)

Playing with the Spore Creature Creator trial.

Made some critters.

( See the menagerie... )

I don't really intend to buy the game anymore, thanks to the utter stupidity that is the DRM it comes burdened by, but the demo is fine.

I have voted.

Have you? (assuming that you are a U.S. American)

Our neighbors are having a yard sale.  I wandered over and had a look, and came back with:

•  A brown vest
•  Two pocket watches which may or may not work (either way is good)
•  Two light meters
•  A pair of sort-of steamy glasses
•  A shirt
•  A pair of metal dice with bag (not so steamy, but certainly gamery)

Total cost?  $3.50

There's also another jacket and an old film camera I might go back for.
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Anyway, it's proof that steampunk gear can be found closer than you might think ... Even right next door.

Gadgeteer.  Shouldn't be terribly surprising to anyone.  (Especially if they'd seen me staring at a clock movement to watch it work for about 15 minutes straight, just before taking the test.)

You are the Gadgeteer, the embodiment of steampunk technology. Ironically, many of the things that most define your style are probably too large to easily carry about, but given the opportunity you would prefer to be seen surrounded by boiler engines, gear-driven calculators, and incredible automata. Of all the steampunk fashion styles, you place the greatest emphasis on technological accessories, and you are the most likely to create elaborate gadgets that are as much a part of your outfit as your clothes. You probably have goggles, but unlike most people you consider them to be for more than decoration. Whereas most people might look odd carrying a satchel of tools around, for you they may well be essential. Above all, you remind everyone that what sets the genre apart from Victoriana is simply the level of technology.

Detailed results

Take the test

Awhile back, I mentioned the Steampunk panel at Dragon*Con, and specifically the description by Stephen Segal (one of the panelists) of why Steampunk is taking off as a subculture.

He's now written an article describing the various reasons he gave, plus a few additional ones.  (However, the way he told the first one was much funnier in person.)

Yes, yet more pics of my steampunk gun builds.

This time I have pictures of the almost-completed Mini-Gatling and Maverick Ether.  The Super Soaker is also pictured, but isn't anywhere near complete.

( Image: Mini-Gatling, Stand, and Super Soaker )

( Image: Mini-Gatling )

( Image: Maverick Ether )

Episode XXVII: Yet more updates on the guns and a new, not-a-gun project.

The exterior of Gun #1 (The Joystick) is nearly complete. Bought some brown paint to patch up the wood texturing. Bought some clear gloss to give it some shine. The second button is also on. The barrels require more attention.  Need to get electronics.

( Image... )

Gun #2 (The Nerf Maverick) continues apace. I have modded, painted, and reassembled the cylinder, and it awaits weathering. The additional flat black helped cover more of the gun's body. I've started on the woodgrain for the handle. Separate parts like the trigger, cylinder release button, and muzzle ring have been painted. The slide is probably 98% done, aside from being reassembled.

( Image... )

Gun #3 (The Super Soaker) has been primered. I am still debating how to paint it. I think that the hoses will be metallic (originally black).

( Image... )

The non-gun project is my dice container.  When I visited the nearby goodwill, I picked up a small brass-plated keepsake box.  Whatever interior it used to have was removed, so it's just an empty metal box.  I am going to add some padding to it, using some blue-ish felt material I got from Mom. 

Just to show off my utter lack of sewing skills (I know approximately one and a half stitches), I will also attempt to embroider a design into the padding.

( Images... )

Steampunks tend to be do-it-yourselfers. We're all artists, craftsmen, mad scientists, and eccentric engineers at heart, even if our creations bear more resemblance to theatrical costumes and props than they do to Frankenstein's monster. And it's so very hard to find a well-cared for, yet affordable Sub-etheric Ray Emanator, especially one with the patented Targeting-Engine attachment that looks ever so smashing with a pair of brass goggles.

A lot of Steampunks, as a result, sew.

A few posts back, I mentioned that one of the things that led to my current fascination with Steampunk is that my parents used to own some antique furniture. Specifically, I mentioned an old foot-powered sewing machine my mother had when I was growing up. It turns out, she still has it. Now I have pictures!

The information I have: It is a non-motorized Singer sewing machine that probably was purchased sometime between 1940 (last publication date in the manual) and 1954 (when my mother learned to sew on it as a child). The initial publication date for the manual was circa 1911, so this machine's design probably is at least that old. I didn't see a model number on the machine itself, but I forgot to check when I located the manual. Judging by Singer Through the Ages, I was going to guess that it was a model 66 or a model 99 (the former was released in 1908. The latter, a smaller version of the same machine, was released in 1911. But this isn't really all that small of a machine.) However, the identification page at Sandman Collectibles leads me to believe it is actually a model 127 or 128.  I didn't measure the size of the bed (which is the identifying difference between them, but I'd guess it's the larger size, the 127.
 

( See the Photographic Evidence )

 
I think that all sewing Steampunks need something like this.  Judging by a quick scan of Ebay, they can be had pretty cheap as long as you don't want the stand with it (shipping is a killer, either way).

(Edited to add further model information.)

Here is a picture of the gun in better light, with the now-primed barrels in position (the chrome was a bit TOO shiny, and brass would really have been better anyway, so I'm painting them).  With the barrels in this position, a light inside the body would shine out onto them.

( Image: the gun )
I then began to work on some of the external details.  I painted and metalicized the trigger (not shown).  Then I dremeled off the joystick's keycap-esque handle, then painted the top of the stick gold, as I know you can see down into the gun through the joystick hole.  After that dried a bit, I sanded the end and epoxied on my new handle ... it's a button for jeans or some similar sewing project, with a soldier's cross (star) and antique brass.

The next picture shows the epoxy I used (plastic welder), the painted joystick unit with the button in place, and the old square handle (it's upside down).

( Image: I can make things! )

Here it is installed in the gun.  I also did a little more work on the "wood" pattern of the gun's grip and trigger.

( Image: Click the link, you know you want to! )
That's all for now.  I'm off to get some material and possibly some more paint (almost out of primer and flat black, and I've not even started on the third gun's painting yet.

Yes, I said "gun mods", plural.

At work I decided to go to Wal-mart, and they had a Maverick in stock this time. So I bought it. Once I got home, I tore it all down and cleaned it (for some reason, the thing had a suprising amount of oil or some such lubricant on it, which was leaking out onto the barrels).

Then I sanded off the logos and warnings, and did a small bit of engraving of my own.  This is going to be the Maverick Ether.  Then I primed it and started giving the main body a coat of black. I actually thought it was looking pretty good with just the black and primer, but of course that wasn't the plan.

( Image: Maverick getting painted )
Meanwhile, back to the first gun, I put on some more coats of matte black.  Unfortunately, it is really humid here right now, and I suspect that (plus dust) is what is causing my paint job to look "fuzzy".  (also, the black isn't attached to the primer very well; rub it the wrong way and it comes right off.  This makes finishing (below) much harder than it needs to be.

After letting the black dry, I started putting on the layers of paint for the wood look (I decided to make the grip and body with that rather than metal.  (Unfortunately, the texture of the surface is all wrong for wood.)  In the process, I realized that my masking tape for the grip inserts was starting to come loose.  I took them off and gave the handles a coat of black. 

I decided to try my hand at using rub'n'buff to make the gun more metallic . Apart from the issues with the black paint and the surface texture, it seems to have turned out pretty well.  Actually, this surface + pewter coloring kinda looks like soem sort of cast iron to me.

( See Images )

And on top of those two projects, my housemate gave me a water-bazooka to use as a base for modding as well.

At any rate, that's all for now; and it's time for bed.  I've been up for 30+ hours, and I've nodded off while writing this about ten times.

Edit: This post is picture heavy behind the cuts.

While my ultimate aim is to create a wholly original sidearm, part of the problem with that is that I need more parts than I have available at the moment, or can obtain on my present budget. Wombatzoner suggested rifle stocks, for example.

I've seen a number of nice steampunk mods of the Nerf Maverick recently. Also a mod of a squirt gun that looked familiar. This got me in the mood to start with a basic mod before jumping in with both feet on the full-fledged wood gun.

I don't own a maverick, and wal-mart was out of them, and I wasn't fond of the guns they had (except maybe a gun that I think forms the base of robert_from_ap's gun). I did own the squirt gun, but can't find it. What to do?

I was looking at one of my old PC joysticks, the kind that looks like a jet fighter stick, when it occurred to me that I already had the perfect base for a steampunk gun.

Several years ago, I randomly came across this weird joystick in some store. For years I've used it with my mad scientist costume. It was shaped like a multi-barrelled pistol, chrome, with a side button, a trigger, and the joystick where the pistol's hammer would be. A bit peculiar for a joystick, but a perfect steampunk gun, with a bit of paint and a few additions.

( Image: The original gun. )

My project began with the dismantling of the gun. It was held together with several screws. I took a pic of the innards for later reference. Then I removed all the guts and set them aside. I won't need the main circuit, but the switches for the trigger and side button are fairly simple to wire for things like lights or motors. I could replace the joystick with some sort of knob, but I think I'll just keep it (though I will likely give it a new cap).

( Image: Innards. )

I was pleased to discover that the barrels were a separate assembly. This means I could motorize the barrels to rotate if I wanted to. I'm also considering reversing them, which would mean I could put lighting inside the body of the gun to shine out alone the barrels.

Then I proceeded to sand off the "Made in China" and other lettering on the right side of the gun, as well as some of the flashing along the center seam.  I used a sanding sponge (superfine) for this rather than paper because it was handy.  I also took the opportunity to sand off some of the chrome, because I'm not sure if the primer will stick to it (and frankly, it's not on all that very securely to begin with).  Unfortunately, it'd be nearly impossible to remove all of the chrome without some sort of stripper or small-scale sandblaster or something.  Don't have any of that, so I just shrug and cross my fingers.

I masked off the little textured parts of the handle, because I think those'll look pretty nice if left chrome, and painting them could turn out badly because of all the little crevices. I hope the tape doesn't pull off the chrome there.

I'm also not painting the barrels, at least not until I see how it looks.  The chrome is a far better metallic than I could ever manage with spray paint, and if I allow the barrels to rotate, paint will get rubbed off anyway.

( Image: Masked and prepared )
Then I proceeded to primer the main body.  I actually sort of messed up on this; I should have done the inside first (the nose where the barrels sit, especially, are exposed.  Ah well.  I went back and did them later.

( Image: Primering )
I wish that my airbrush was currently working (The hose is busted) because that would make the crevices much easier to paint.  Ah well.  In any case, I applied a few light coats of primer over a few hours.  Then I started putting on light coats of flat black.  It is at this point that I bemoan my lack of a proper painting booth, as little bits of dust or something began to collect on the gun while it was drying.  Time for the tweezers.

Later, while I was waiting on the primer on the inside of the gun to dry, it rained.  Feh.  I had to bring the gun into the garage (it was getting dark anyway) and dry it a bit with a space heater before applying more black to the outside.  Doesn't seem to have hurt anything, but it was annoying.  Mostly because it ruined my little cardboard sheet that I was using as a shield/carrying tray.  Ah well.

( Image: With the black paint )
So that's all for now.  I have to work shortly, so it will be left to dry until tomorrow.  I may post later with some info about what I plan to do to it.

I'm pretty sure I know the origins of my love of Steampunk, and it actually predates the term.
When I was a kid back in the dim and misty, the era when bellbottoms, porn mustaches, and other fearsome things dominated the Earth, we didn't have much in the way of media entertainment. No cable, few video tapes, only three networks plus PBS, and those would shut down overnight to the accompaniment of the national anthem.
I had of course inherited/absorbed much of my father's and grandfather's love of cars and other machinery (though all the actual skill was destined to go into computers). One of our big vacation spots was Gatlinburg for the annual street rod show, and the other was Florida, often Orlando (for Disney World, and eventually, Epcot).
Also, my parents owned a Victrola as well as an old pedal-powered sewing machine. My grandparents, who lived around the corner, had a grandfather clock in their house for as long as I can remember.
Set against that general background, the earliest steampunk media influences that I recall are Chitty-Chitty Bang-Bang (in retrospect, this probably also explains my later love of Transformers and M.A.S.K.), Disney's 20000 leagues film (and the ride was also a favorite), and George Pal's Time Machine. I was too young to read the books of any of these when I first encountered them, though of course I eventually did.
I suppose one might be tempted to add War of the Worlds, though my first version of that was George Pal's fifties SF version, and the most steampunk things in that are the heat ray arms and electronic eye probes of the machines.
At any rate, these fanned the fires of a love of old technology, and set the stage for my fascination with brass and wood, crystal and clockwork.

Anyone that knows me very well is probably aware that I have for a long time had a place in my heart for Steampunk, from stories like The Difference Engine and Mainspring, to the visual style.

At Dragon*Con, I added fashion and music to the mix.  I wasn't even aware there was Steampunk music prior to the con, but then I checked out the Steampunk panel and there I discovered Abney Park.  I went to their concert and bought their latest CD, so I'm catching up rapidly.

I'd seen some signs of Steampunk fashion at Origins (though honestly, its sublety there probably had more to do with the lack of costumes in general than anything else), and it was all over Dragon*Con.  As I mentioned in earlier posts, it's become something of a subculture in its own right.  There are Steampunk Nightclubs and Steampunk festivals. 

I've been aware of Datamancer's and Jake Von Slatt's work for some time now, and for years now I've considered Second Life's quasi-Steampunk virtual nation-state of Caledon to be my metaversal home, so I really should have seen this coming.  It was only a matter of time.

At any rate, after coming back from the con, I promptly went out to the nearest thrift store and bought ... a lot of stuff.  Much of it was steampunk oriented.  Some of it is pictured below, some (especially the clothes) is not.

( Avast ye scurvy images )

My haul included an actual pith helmet!  Why they had a pith helmet, I am not sure.

The two candleholders in front of the clock are likely going to wind up as the business end of steampunk guns.  The brass box is my new dice "bag".  The plastic bag contains a bunch of brass cabinet door knobs that may be used for detailing.

We are loaded up and pulling out of the driveway as I type. Going to be a long drive, but then, it always is.

I have pics, but they must wait until after I get them to my desktop. I will also finally post about the other days; it has been too busy until now.