Monthly Archives: February 2012

Steampunk-Style Camera from Lomography

Lomography, a bastion of analog photography in our digital world, has introduced a new steampunk-style version of their La Sardina camera and it is a beauty. Dubbed the Belle Starr, it sports “an oxidized metal body and ornate decorations”. It does seem like they were trying for a Old West theme, but the era is the same and modern camera with that look satisfies the retrofuturism nicely. And, like all Lomography cameras, it uses real film, which is retro as well.

The Belle Starr also features a giant flash that comes with different color filters, an 89° wide angle lens, a rewind option for simple multiple exposures, and easy support for long exposures. At $199, it is more than some popular digital cameras, but none of them look nearly as pretty.

Steampunk Novel up for 2011 Nebula

It’s Nebula short list time again, and for the third straight year there is a Steampunk novel in the running. This year the contender is Mechanique: A Tale of the Circus Tresaulti by Genevieve Valentine, which tells the story of a mechanical traveling circus in danger of being torn apart from the outside and from within.

I can’t make any useful predictions about her chances as this year I have yet to read any of the nominees, but she does face some solid players. Jack McDevitt has been nominated in the novel category nine(!) times, winning once. China Miéville has been nominated for best novel twice, losing to powerful works by Neil Gaiman and Paolo Bacigalupi. Jo Walton has also been nominated before and hers was one of the novels McDevitt beat out in 2006. N.K. Jemison was nominated for the novel Nebula just last year (against Miéville and McDevitt). Kameron Hurley has never been to the Nebula ballot before but her novel has already won the 2011 Golden Tentacle Kitschie Award. Stiff competition, but we stand by our Steampunk colleague and wish Valentine the best of luck.

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Steampunk comes to Monster High

The mainstreaming of steampunk continues.

Monster High, Mattel’s horror-movie-inspired doll line, has a new character with a distinctly steampunk nature. Her name is Robecca Steam and she the robot/daughter of a unnamed and presumed dead mad scientist. Her profile is available at the Monster High wikia, but here are some highlights:

• Her catchphrase is “a riveting personality.”
• She is apparently always late due to internal clockwork problems.
• She has a pet mechanical penguin named Captain Penny.
• Her favorite class is metal shop and her favorite color is copper.

I will admit to being pretty out of the Monster High loop, but 6-8 year olds might be the youngest demographic I’ve seen steampunk marketed to yet. And if we capture their imaginations when they are young, they might well stay with us as they grow up.

Charles Dickens Gets a Google Doodle

Today is Charles Dickens’s 200th birthday and Google has a special doodle for him. Most people don’t really think of Charles Dickens when they think of Steampunk, which is too bad. Sure, he didn’t write about time machines or atomic submarines, but his works provide a rich view into 19th century London life, and inform the Victorian part of the Steampunk aesthetic like nothing else.

If you haven’t read any Dickens, maybe it’s time you did. Most of it is available free for the Kindle or the Nook.