The Contraption 2.0

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Thu Apr 03, 2008 10:40 am

They make some powered electrical anti-rust devices for cars with anodes.
They seem to be trying to at least neutralize corrosion.
I can find no consensus that they work.
They wouldn't hurt, though.

sputnik · Post by **sputnik** » Thu Apr 03, 2008 4:31 pm

Congrats on the mention in Steampunk Magazine LeChat!

LeChatNoir · Post by **LeChatNoir** » Thu Apr 03, 2008 6:09 pm

What?!?!?

LeChatNoir · Post by **LeChatNoir** » Thu Apr 03, 2008 6:16 pm

Wow...

I just went to the bookshelf and started digging through the latest copy and came across Johnny Payphone's letter. Somehow I missed it earlier

Man...

Man...

Pretty cool!!

I gotta think on this. And I want to reread his letter and think on it... I like the points he raises.

MozyBonz · Post by **MozyBonz** » Thu Apr 03, 2008 7:03 pm

What? what? tell us! tell us!

LeChatNoir · Post by **LeChatNoir** » Thu Apr 03, 2008 7:36 pm

You can download the whole issue #4 at this link:

http://www.steampunkmagazine.com/inside/downloads

Its in the letters section, a letter sent in by Mr. Johnny Payphone. Its a pretty good letter, even without The Contraption mention!!!

HAR HARR HAAARRR!!!

sputnik · Post by **sputnik** » Fri Apr 04, 2008 4:05 am

Yeah, it's a good letter. I like his thoughts.

LeChatNoir · Post by **LeChatNoir** » Fri Apr 04, 2008 6:10 am

In all seriousnessâ€¦

As can be witnessed by my time here on Eplaya, I am a big fan of creative play. But I do agree with Payphone that it takes more than just some gold paint on a plastic gun to make something steampunk. When all it takes to describe an aesthetic is something thatâ€™s quick and cheap, then it has become something in danger of being co-opted, mass produced, and briefly digested by an impassionate mass market. The thing that keeps the soul of anything from being robbed is making sure that it takes lots of thought and hard work for it to exist. Hard work and late nights will weed out the folks who aren't passionate about something real quick.

But at the same time, I think it very important to say that I donâ€™t want to discount someone who has only a limited amount of stuff to work with or is just starting to explore any creative aesthetic. My take on it is that as long as youâ€™ve put some heart into it, then I can handle it. Iâ€™ve never considered myself â€œsteam punkâ€

LeChatNoir · Post by **LeChatNoir** » Fri Apr 04, 2008 11:35 am

Oh... and I should mention that you can get a hard copy of Steampunk Magazine issues #1-4 from this link for a very fair price.

http://www.steampunkmagazine.com/inside/purchase/

After all... downloading a magazine about steampunk stuff just seems... well... off somehow. Nothing like holding something in your hands, you know.

unjonharley · Post by **unjonharley** » Fri Apr 04, 2008 2:30 pm

Dam you guys, Now I'm going to have to punk my ride..

Hmm lets see.....fictionaly set in the 1950's.. A mix of steam punk and street punk..

This is going to make my head hurt

Dusza Beben · Post by **Dusza Beben** » Fri Apr 04, 2008 3:05 pm

LeChatNoir wrote:In all seriousnessâ€¦

I think Steampunk isnâ€™t something that can be bought. Only itâ€™s components, itâ€™s building blocks, could ever be bought. But to make it steampunk, be it a cellphone case or a titanic flywheel driven robot, it should be built.

***On the note of dress, I am going to try and put something together this year as an outfit. Last year we all wanted to have some great workwear, some sort of suit or big poofy dresses... but we all just ran out of time. I'm sure whatever emerges this year will be a mix of practical wear from today and yesteryear.

Brilliantly put Mr. Noir!

There are oodles of period photo's for victorian workers just a google search away. Punk them up as you see fit!
Here's a taste:
http://www.town.lunenburg.ns.ca/victori ... age050.jpg

DB

LeChatNoir · Post by **LeChatNoir** » Fri Apr 04, 2008 3:27 pm

Thatâ€™s a great photo, Duszaâ€¦

The guy on the left smoking a pipe is close to what Iâ€™m thinking of for the playa. But the chap in the leather apron on the right is more my day to day fair. Although I admit that I use a bandana on my head in place of the cap.

And I must correct myself from my earlier statement using the word â€œhatâ€

LeChatNoir · Post by **LeChatNoir** » Fri Apr 04, 2008 3:31 pm

unjonharley wrote:Dam you guys, Now I'm going to have to punk my ride..

Hmm lets see.....fictionaly set in the 1950's.. A mix of steam punk and street punk..

This is going to make my head hurt

Tail fins and gears...

Think steampunk stuff built with automobile parts from present day Cuba, maybe??

Heh Heh

unjonharley · Post by **unjonharley** » Fri Apr 04, 2008 3:57 pm

[quote="LeChatNoir"]Thatâ€™s a great photo, Duszaâ€¦

The guy on the left smoking a pipe is close to what Iâ€™m thinking of for the playa. But the chap in the leather apron on the right is more my day to day fair. Although I admit that I use a bandana on my head in place of the cap.

And I must correct myself from my earlier statement using the word â€œhatâ€

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Fri Apr 04, 2008 4:05 pm

[quote="LeChatNoir"]
And I must correct myself from my earlier statement using the word â€œhatâ€

Elliot · Post by **Elliot** » Fri Apr 04, 2008 4:07 pm

No need to go to Cuba. There are automotive swap meets all over this country. Check with your local car clubs and hot rod stores, or any old car buff you run into. Piles and piles of "good junk".

I bought the body for my model T street rod for... either 40 or ten bucks -- don't remember which. Maybe he was asking 40 and I got it for ten -- it's been some years.

unjonharley · Post by **unjonharley** » Fri Apr 04, 2008 4:21 pm

Elliot wrote:
No need to go to Cuba. There are automotive swap meets all over this country. Check with your local car clubs and hot rod stores, or any old car buff you run into. Piles and piles of "good junk".

I bought the body for my model T street rod for... either 40 or ten bucks -- don't remember which. Maybe he was asking 40 and I got it for ten -- it's been some years.

\\/
JUnk yard are fun.. AS much as I hate working on cars, I can not pay 90$ an hour to have it done..

The shift lever broke off in the VW van..Dealer price 127$..VW junk yard 50$..

So two old men with canes hobbal out to the "you yank it" yard..

Took about 5 min. and we had the part in hand..5$

Clean up and paint today and install in the morning..

Damn hard getting up off the ground tho

LeChatNoir · Post by **LeChatNoir** » Fri Apr 04, 2008 8:55 pm

Damn hard getting up off the ground tho

You pay for things in more ways than money, I reckon. Unfortunately, I seem to have more time to lay on the ground than I do money to pay someone else to do it for me.

fciron · Post by **fciron** » Sat Apr 05, 2008 9:11 am

Better late than never: My favorite site for old skul workin' folks is Shorpy.com A couple of recently posted favorites.

This is from 1943, believe it or not, an employee at the Chicago and North Western Railroad.

Try the Train, Dorothea Lange, 1937

LeChatNoir · Post by **LeChatNoir** » Sat Apr 05, 2008 9:16 am

Looks like they may not allow remote use of images. You can right click on one of the smaller version sof their image, save as, and then repost on photobucket or similar, though.

I love Shorpy.

fciron · Post by **fciron** » Sat Apr 05, 2008 10:21 am

I dunno, I link to Shorpy photos all the time. I can see them so it must be your fault.

I dug out my copy of Steampunk mag to review Johnny Payphone's letter. I think to some degree the whole discussion is unnecessary. A bunch of people scattered around like a particular kind of cool old stuff. A few SF writers use a similar aesthetic in their work. Somebody slaps a label on it. Thanks to the internet (dang newfangled tubes!) a lot of people who would not be exposed to nifty gears and rusty metal see some really cool stuff and they like it.

Johnny's right, a few of those people will put in the effort to learn and do some cool stuff. I include writers and illustrators, cool stuff can be ideas as well as physical objects. A lot of other people will just buy goggles on the internet and show up at sci-fi cons and goth clubs looking steampunk. I am all for fighting the crappification of modern commodities but that is a much bigger project than 'steampunk.'

I didn't get into this to be steampunk. The label steampunk was applied to a lot of the stuff that I like. That label allows me to find fellow travelers. I met LeChat over on the BrassGoggles forum, the same forum where a group of us started planning the Bomb Bay Tea Co. theme camp (approval pending.) The arrival of the label, Steampunk, does not change the things that I value or the way that I try to live my life.

It is the self-identification with the label, Steampunk, that creates the conflict. If I am steampunk then it is horrible to be identified with mass produced crap. If steampunk is an aesthetic label or a style then it can be associated with both good and bad things.

The existence of thousands of people who want to buy into the steampunk style have created the network to put a lot of creators in touch with each other. I also have no way of knowing which of those middle schoolers making goggles out of duct tape could grow out of that experience to make really cool stuff. That is the way it should be.

I think that I have found the last word on the steampunk conversation in this video.

Captain Goddammit · Post by **Captain Goddammit** » Sat Apr 05, 2008 11:20 am

LeChatNoir wrote:Looks like they may not allow remote use of images. You can right click on one of the smaller version sof their image, save as, and then repost on photobucket or similar, though.

I love Shorpy.

I don't see 'em either

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Sat Apr 05, 2008 2:52 pm

Fciron

You're the first person I've seen using crappification.
I started using it to describe the exact same thing, the needless reduction in quality of products.

MozyBonz · Post by **MozyBonz** » Sat Apr 05, 2008 4:43 pm

LeChatNoir · Post by **LeChatNoir** » Sat Apr 05, 2008 5:09 pm

AHAAA HAAA!!!

Mozy, That's great!!!

Karine says she wants a poster...

Heee Heee Heh.

lonestoner916 · Post by **lonestoner916** » Sat Apr 05, 2008 7:55 pm

Awesome Mozy!

Tiahaar · Post by **Tiahaar** » Sat Apr 05, 2008 11:00 pm

Yowsa!! dammit you know I'm a furry fetishist don't you????
furry comics at rabbitvalley.com

fciron · Post by **fciron** » Sun Apr 06, 2008 6:53 am

This thread is all kindsa inspirational. That poster rocks!

unjonharley · Post by **unjonharley** » Sun Apr 06, 2008 7:09 am

SAlem is going to have a big over that..

LeChatNoir · Post by **LeChatNoir** » Sun Apr 06, 2008 7:54 am

unjonharley wrote:SAlem is going to have a big over that..

She wants goggles now...

damn it.

Now I gotta go machine out a tiny set cat goggles. I drew the line at the flaming claw thing, though. Too many potential problems when she sleeps in the closet.

The Contraption 2.0

The Crappification of American Products