Where is my Chocolate Squid?
In the F&SF community, why is steampunk so popular at present?
I realize that some folk complain that there is little or no punk in most of what is currently called steampunk, but I shall adopt a broad meaning for steampunk as well -- in this posting, I shall consider steampunk to be roughly a mid to last 19th century setting/fashion/character with anachronistic and/or fantastic elements (I realize that this lets in everything from Stoker's Dracula to Baum's Wonderful Wizard of Oz, but bear with me).
I admit that I base my impressions on my limited time at the recent Arisia; unfortunately, that weekend, I spent most of my time hopping between my Arisia sign shop duties and my regular gainful employment. Of those steampunkers with whom I talked, most claimed that they just like the style; none expressed any interest in books like The Difference Engine or comics like Girl Genius. I have observed this disjunction between appearance and attitude before in other settings, but it makes starting a conversation difficult.
In the broad sense, a steampunk current has long run through the many movie adaptations of works by Verne, Wells and Burroughs (Edgar Rice, not William S.). Indirectly perhaps, steampunk owes a debt to Vincent Price as The Master of the World, Pal's Time Machine and Peter Cushing's sojourn At the Earth's Core. I am still waiting for my chocolate-with-apricot-filling cephalopod cake.
To a certain extent, I have an inclination to buck the trend by dressing up like Python's Mr. Neutron or Durand-Durand from Barbarella.
I realize that some folk complain that there is little or no punk in most of what is currently called steampunk, but I shall adopt a broad meaning for steampunk as well -- in this posting, I shall consider steampunk to be roughly a mid to last 19th century setting/fashion/character with anachronistic and/or fantastic elements (I realize that this lets in everything from Stoker's Dracula to Baum's Wonderful Wizard of Oz, but bear with me).
I admit that I base my impressions on my limited time at the recent Arisia; unfortunately, that weekend, I spent most of my time hopping between my Arisia sign shop duties and my regular gainful employment. Of those steampunkers with whom I talked, most claimed that they just like the style; none expressed any interest in books like The Difference Engine or comics like Girl Genius. I have observed this disjunction between appearance and attitude before in other settings, but it makes starting a conversation difficult.
In the broad sense, a steampunk current has long run through the many movie adaptations of works by Verne, Wells and Burroughs (Edgar Rice, not William S.). Indirectly perhaps, steampunk owes a debt to Vincent Price as The Master of the World, Pal's Time Machine and Peter Cushing's sojourn At the Earth's Core. I am still waiting for my chocolate-with-apricot-filling cephalopod cake.
To a certain extent, I have an inclination to buck the trend by dressing up like Python's Mr. Neutron or Durand-Durand from Barbarella.