Samurai 7

WOW!! It has been a long time!
Have you seen the anime Samurai 7? I HIGHLY recommend it as yet another great anime to add to the list of steam.

Set in a post-war dystopia, this anime has huge metal robots, huge metal cities, and 7 warriors of the past kicking major a**.

Construction Machines of the Renaissance

   I know, I know. These are renaissance machines, but i like the cogs, gears and wheels. You can imagine these powered by steam instead of horses.

City of Ember

    Although set in the future, I would put this movie on the list of steampunk. If you have not seen this movie yet then you are missing out. This movie is based on the first book of four in the Book of Ember series. There is a dystopian society that is the last humans on earth. They live in an underground shelter/city called ember that gets its electricity from a giant water wheel. The generator that converts the power is starting to fail and no one knows how to fix it. A teenage girl and boy, Lina Mayfleet and Doon Harrow,  must find a way out before the blackouts turn into perpetual darkness.
    this movie has steampunk attributes because of three main things:
1. the city is powered from a hydroelectric generator.
2. the young man, Doon Harrow works in the water works part of the city. So you get to see a lot of corridors that have all the pipes of the city.
3. the society has some advanced things but they are required to be run either by plugging them into the nearest outlet or having a small generator running by the user pedaling it.
    The last point is the main one that I like. When anyone wants to use a lamp or flashlight they will plug it into an outlet because batteries don't exist because they would be long gone. An old phone answering machine is powered by pedaling a small generator. In Doon's house there is a small robot that is plugged into the wall (in the movie they don't tell what the job of this robot is). At one point there is a transport machine that is used by Doon and Lina it too runs from pedal power.

Here is a link if you are interested in watching this movie: http://viooz.co/movies/2129-city-of-ember-2008.html

Steampunk Puzzle Game

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lazy8studios.cogs

For android.

Cogs is the kind of puzzle game every Steampunk fan longs for. The puzzle action happens not in two dimensions, but rather three! The objective is to get a steam-powered contraption to start running. You will change the direction of pipes, cogs, gears, and more to esure the contraption will run correctly. Not sur of this is for you? At least try the demo! You will not regret wether you like Steampunk, puzzles, or both this is a game sure to bring you a load of fun.

Steampunk Colors

William here again! I would like t talk about the colors of steampunk.
As everyone knows Halloween is coming up and people are going to be buying or making costumes. I went to value village today and was looking at what they had. There was a costume set up that was supposed to look like steampunk; but it just looked like junk. The average person may not know this but steampunk is not about wearing all brown. Doing that makes the steampunk community just mad at you for misrepresenting. Rather it is putting a slight twist on the true fashion of the 1800's Victorian era. wearing brown is an essential part of the steampunk look, but you don't go over the top with it. which is more likely for a Victorian era gentleman to have a brown cane or a black one? black. what about top hat? black. what about gloves? black.
Don't get me wrong any of these can be brown, in fact I have both a brown and a black top hat, but too much just doesn't look right.

http://www.deviantart.com/art/S-T-E-A-M-276720398

Notice the maroon jacket and black choker. This is a pretty good example of the steampunk persona, however I don't like it when someone is wearing goggles just because they think it adds to the look. Don't were the goggles unless it makes sense for your character. Is she an inventor or engineer who needs them for magnification and/or eye protection? Does she fly a steam-powered aircraft or zeplin? these are questions you should be thinking of when you see someone with goggles on in the steampunk community.

Steampunk Flying Creations

“She has halls and she has castles, and the resonant Steam-Eagles, Follow far on the directing of her floating dove-like hand, With a thunderous vapour trailing, underneath the starry vigils, So to mark upon the blasted heaven, the measure of her land.” – Edgar Allan Poe

The idea of having a machine flying but running off of steam is an amazing concept. i love the idea of steampunk partially because of its impracticality; envisioning the wold as having extreme advancements during the victorian era is so alluring. In the case of flying machines this is embodied as blimps, steam-planes, or flying structures using steam as a propellant to keep it off the ground. I am at this moment working on some artwork of my own envisionments of these. I'll keep you up to date...

Steamboy: Steampunk at Its Finest

If you have not watched the anime Steamboy yet, how can you call yourself a steampunk enthusiast? Steamboy is the embodiment of steampunk into anime. When you see it you will realize why: there are fantastic contraptions all running off of steam and manpower, it is set in the victorian era, and the story is a very good one! Please watch it as soon as possible if you truly love steampunk.  ^_^

http://www.justanimedubbed.tv/steamboy/