Colorado Chrononauts’ League

Posted By compass rose on July 20, 2010

if you’ve stopped by the aethersite in recent days, o traveller, you may have been brought up short by an alarming notice that the site has been compromised, is an attack site, or something of that nature.

this is a function of google’s badware-monitoring crawlers reacting to malware spreading through the vast and myriad interconnections of links which make up the Tubes en masse.

the site is not hosting malware, it is not compromised, and your diligent correspondent has had google remove this advisory as of Jul. 20 an. 2010.

if you continue to be blocked by the notice, first try refreshing the page from scratch by holding down Ctrl and pressing F5. if that doesn’t work, please let your hostess know: chrononautique at paranoire dot net.

thank you!

Category: non-anachropunk-related | No Comments »
Tags: Add new tag, site update

Posted By compass rose on June 3, 2010

For some time now, Your Observer has been seeing some of the most stunning kinetic jewelry ever beheld by her sadly jaded orbs gracing the necks, ears, and wrists of local gadabouts here in the glorious Queen City. And being – let’s be charitable, and call it inquisitive – she decided to seek out the fount of this display of wonders and request a little more information.

Your Correspondent managed to find her at a trunk show in the spanky new EZE-MOP Shopping District, at Peppermint, quo vadis, wherein her wares are purveyed, in addition to many other places (see article end).

Thus, your correspondent is pleased to present to you, O Doughty Reader, a most charming and talented artist local to our fair city.

The Gold Bug

Design Philosophy:

High quality, handmade, original designs that are cool yet affordable.

My philosophy is that you can make high quality, unique jewelry that people don’t have to get a second mortgage to afford.

I use nothing but the best quality parts, in fact, all of my stampings are made from vintage molds and are manufactured right here in the U.S.A!  The pieces are solid brass, and are either oxidized brass finish or antiqued silver plated.

Some of my most popular pieces use kinetic watch movements to bring the pieces to life!

History:

I didn’t start off making cool steampunk jewelry for a living.  In fact I had more pedestrian beginnings.  After receiving a degree in
design, I worked for retailers such as Neiman Marcus and Bed, Bath and Beyond, buying, merchandising and even managing my own stores.
A couple of years ago, I decided to give my hobby the attention it deserved, and started doing it full time.

With designs as eclectic as my personality, I use pieces with skulls, Victorian era notions, bugs, and all types of gadgets.
In my younger years I would have been amazed to see people from all ages and walks of life enjoying my eccentric styles, I just love it!

The Gold Bug by TheGoldBug on Etsy.

The Gold Bug can be found at Peppermint Boutique and Pandora Jewelry, Denver, as well as on the Aethernets at TheGoldBug.etsy.com, and will be found vending at Steamcon II: Weird Weird West.

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Tags: aethertubes nodes of interest, Colorado Territories Artisans, Denver, mechanica, Objets Fascinées, Sartorial Splendor

Posted By compass rose on May 4, 2010

The Great Steampunk Debate 2010 .

quoth Captain Van De Kamp, o minervals:

Wanting an intellectual discussion on what makes steampunk what it is, and how it deals with many of today’s issues? Join the Great Steampunk Debate, a two month long online event hosted by many of the brightest minds of the steampunk subculture.

or, as per their own informatique,

The Great Steampunk Debate has been organised by those involved in the creation and maintenance of many of steampunk’s magazines, websites, groups and communities for the purposes of exploring steampunk ideology [...] you will find discussion on ideology, beliefs, politics, ethics, and how all of these things intersect with steampunk (if they, in fact, intersect at all). What you will not find here is a place to argue, flame, or make personal attacks against people. These things are divisive to our community, and one of the main aims of this debate is to encourage us all to explore our differences, and then set them aside in recognition of the fact that we are all one community.

In recent years steampunk has become increasingly divided and fragmentary, and this could threaten the integrity of our community, if we let it. None of us here want to see that happen, and as such we feel as though it is important for people to have a welcoming, neutral space in which we can discuss our differences, and move beyond them.

as per the orientation thread.

your humble correspondent would like to take this opportunity to encourage everyone to stay not on the order of your going, but go at once and register yourself at the very least to participate in their polls and support one of our beloved local captains.

ever your watchful correspondent;

miss r. gallowglass.

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Tags: action bulletin, aethertubes nodes of interest, Anachrotech Love, General Steampunk, Nota Bene, scholarly discourse

Posted By compass rose on May 4, 2010

MindFood: Can Hollywood Do Retrofuturism?.

When Jonah Hex was first announced, I got pretty excited for the project. I’m not much of a comics guy — and I know zilch about the character of Jonah Hex — but the idea of a badass, revenge-craving gunslinger in the 1800s sounded pretty promising to me. When Josh Brolin became quite vocal about wanting the role, my interest soared (it was already high when Thomas Jane was pushing for the gig). Then, aside from the odd casting announcement every now and then, the only other news that came out concerning the film was word that Crank creators Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor had left the project as directors under the ever-ambiguous guise of “creative differences” (though their script would still be used). And that’s never a good sign when you’re dealing with what is intended to be a summer hit for a studio as big as Warner Bros.

Then the trailer for the film hit and … few of my fears were abated. It looks like Wild Wild West. A slightly cooler, grittier version, maybe, but any comparison to Wild Wild West is hardly a compliment. Now, I’m not ready to dismiss the film outright. I think Brolin owns that trailer. Plus, I’m always glad to see John Malkovich and Lance Reddick in anything; hell, even Megan Fox looks like she’s actually having some fun with her role. But man does its action look a little too juvenile for its own good. I’m all for fake stuff, be it horse-mounted Gatling guns, mini-crossbow rockets or Megan Fox, but it all looks as goofy as just about every other failed Hollywood stab at retrofuturism.

more from Peter Hall at Hollywood.com >>

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Posted By compass rose on May 2, 2010

MAY

Deathwish’s Dark Carnival. Friday, May 14

a mostly-industrio-pop-lite dance party for 1990′s holdovers, held monthly at one of Denver’s premiere gay bars, this night features a different theme each time- which is rarely reflected by its patrons or the musical selection, but hey, it’s 18+ and the drinks are strong. just don’t run afoul of their security thugs.

In Heavens Lounge BLACKCELL and WIRETRAP will be performing live along with DJ Mudwulf.

In addition to the decor of this month’s Dark Carnival theme there will be fire spinners, a tarot card reader, visuals by Aleph.Null and much more but we don’t want to give everything away. Everybody is encouraged to dress up !!

Ages 18+
No cover before 9:30. $5 after that.

$2 wells and $2 draft Bud Light ALL NIGHT !!! $3 Jager until 11pm. Tracks
3500 Walnut Street
Denver, CO 8020

www.tracksdenver.com
www.myspace.com/deathwishnight

Time Traveling Episodes: A Medieval Lark. Saturday, MAY 15

The Colorado Steampunks have been asked to perform (of a sort) at the First annual Rock Rest Medieval Carnival.
In exchange for dressing up in all our finery, declaring ourselves members of the Colorado Steampunks, and staging random street performances of whatever sort we deem fit, we shall be given free passage into the realm of the wild gypsies and fae folk of times gone and past.

Please do RSVP early if you plan to come, as I would like to give the festival’s coordinator a heads up. This will be a costume-mandatory event, and we don’t really know what to expect (other than several groups of entertainers, including Castle Wall and stilt walkers) since this is a first year faire.

JUNE

TimeTraveling Episodes: Back to the Dark Ages

Join Us as we travel back in time to the Dark Ages and study the beauty and brilliance of Medieval Times! We shall of course enjoy a day of frivolity and finery, displaying our wondrous costumes for all to see!

Take note especially of the Castle Wall troupe–live steel combatants and performers including the Captain (Kylara)  herself and a few other scoundrels from the infamous Mórríghan crew!

Tickets are $15 at the door, or $12 if you purchase in advance online. Check out their website: http://www.medievalworld.us/cmf/mrender.php

Remember to wear your Steamy Garb, as the strangeness of the future may scare off any bad spirits or evil wenches we encounter!

I suggest meeting at the gate at 10, and expect to see many entertaining shows throughout the day, as well as enjoy local brewers’ wares.

JULY

Traveling Through Time: A Renaissance Adventure

Join us for a day of wondrous time traveling as we explore the world and times of Da Vinci, the father of inventions that propelled our Steam-powered world!

It will be Wine Weekend, so remember to bring a change of spats if you want to participate in the grape stomp! Tickets are $19, or save $2 if you buy them ahead of time at King Soopers.

The gates open at 10, but if you want to get good parking and be there for the gate show, I recommend being there at 9:30. We and others of like-mind shall bring picnic foods, and otherwise wander the fairegrounds reveling in inventions of ages bygone and past!
Do come in Steamy garb, as we wish to look our futuristic best to inspire our past!

650 W. Perry Park Ave, Larkspur, CO

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Posted By compass rose on March 17, 2010

Being a concise and salient scholarly discourse upon the depredations of the Airborne Menace over the span of Anno 2009, and a brief history. By Professor Tristan Eldritch, Edwardian sleuth, occultist, and amateur draftman in the school of Beardsley.

2012 Diaries: The Coming of the Air Kraken. (A Short Story.).

A precise history of the coming of the kraken is at this point an impossible undertaking, for they surely existed in small numbers in our upper atmosphere for some period of time prior to anybody openly acknowledging their presence. Once the sightings began to occur from the ground, they were discussed for a long time before the general intelligence was compelled to acknowledge the reality of their existence. Many have noted the particularly high degree of strangeness which characterised the decades preceding the arrival of these unprecedented creatures. The global economy was for many years in a kind of terminal free-fall, and the Great Powers, little more than puppets to a vast complex of vested interests, merely dug deeper and deeper into a potentially catastrophic pit of abstract bail-outs and debts. Meanwhile, the ecology of the earth, ravaged for centuries by man’s ill-considered rapacity, was now responding in kind: floods, tsunamis, earthquakes, and natural disasters of all kinds increased in frequency and ferocity. The extreme fluctuations of the climate remained a perpetual concern.

How could one live in such times, and not feel some kind of cosmic apprehension? Even the most sedate and rational of souls were subject to private forebodings. Meanwhile, those individuals with an extra sensitivity to imaginary or highly theoretical symbolic orders implicit in the drift of history went into a paroxysm of prophesy and cosmic fervour. Channelers and mediums of higher entities and intelligences issued grim warnings, and promised the eleventh hour intervention of evolved and ethereal beings. Maverick historians and archaeologists pondered the architecture of ancient monuments, like medieval exegetes poring over the myriad significances of the Sacred Text. A new vogue emerged for the resuscitation and elaboration of ancient prophesy, particularly those contained in the cyclical cosmology of the Hopi Indians and the baroque calendars of the Mayans. As in all times of such tumultuous upheaval, the skies were alive with riddles and harbingers, and it seemed that scarcely a week went by without some Miracle of Fatima or Cross of Constantine appearing in the heavens, to provide colour interlude to the mainstream news medias, and fodder for the many connoisseurs of strangeness huddled about the internet.

Among those stories, one has been of particular interest to the historian of the air kraken. In January of 2009, a 290 foot wind-turbine was mysteriously mangled near Louth, Lincolnshire in England. Local man John Harrison claimed to have witnessed an object in the sky on the night of the mysterious vandalism, which he described as akin to a massive air-borne octopus. Was Harrison the first person to witness an air kraken, and Lincolnshire the site of a very early and tentative examination of our planet? The case remains controversial. It is however worth noting that many of those who subscribe to the theory of terrestrial origin for the air kraken believe that this species has existed as an oceanic creature on our planet for centuries, and is the original source for perhaps the greatest mythical sea beast to haunt the early days of sea navigation….

entire commentary available for your perusal here: 2012 diaries.

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Tags: action bulletin, aethertubes nodes of interest, General Steampunk, Randoma, scholarly discourse

Posted By compass rose on March 17, 2010

Please, intrepid readers, stay not on the order of your going, but go at once and read this important safety bulletin from the prudence-minded folks at Wings of Steam.

it cannot be overstated that these creatures, while beautiful and fascinating, are an undoubted danger to large and small aerocraft alike.

this mating season is naturally an excellent time to observe these monstrous aerofauna. remember, however, that while the luftgaz you may harvest from them may be nonpareil, they’re not named the Scourge of the Skies for no reason. use caution!

more information from one Sir Arthur Conan Doyle:

The Horror of the Heights.

ecology of the aeromollusca species:

their prey, the common european aeroplankton:

BE SAFE! stay AWAY from large congregations of aeroplankton; they are common feeding grounds.

enjoy, good luck, and happy hunting!

your concerned correspondent;

C.R.G.

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Tags: General Steampunk, Nota Bene

Posted By compass rose on March 16, 2010

Your Correspondent, in the course of her many duties, runs into many anomalies in and fascinating flotsam of the time-stream vagaries.

For example, on a jaunt with a certain group of autovelocipede enthusiasts this past week-end, she ran into this group of dislocated chrononauts:

but being, clearly, a dauntless bunch, they seem unfazed at being cast up on the shores of a strange century.

i am told more of them and their accoutrements may be viewed at the Wings Over the Rockies Museum: http://www.wingsmuseum.org .

Denver, Colorado, 48th annual St. Patrick’s day parade.

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Tags: Denver, Images, Sartorial Splendor

Posted By compass rose on March 16, 2010

Colorado artist Aaron Ristau crafts the most splendid dieselpunk, pulp-inspired, and steampunk-inspired sculptures:

do visit his gallery today for droolworthy contraptulations.

Defying Obsolescence | Aaron Ristau.

Category: Anachropunk | 1 Comment »
Tags: aethertubes nodes of interest, Anachrotech Love, Central Colorado, Colorado Territories Artisans, General Steampunk, Objets Fascinées, Randoma

Posted By compass rose on March 16, 2010

Steampunk Tales. a Colorado-based publishing company.

quoth the founder:

available on iPhone, Kindle, all mobile platforms and as a .pdf digital download. Original steampunk fiction each month by award winning authors for only $1.99 per issue!

do enjoy a little local diversion, if you crave literature lately.

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Tags: aethertubes nodes of interest, Colorado Springs, local works and workers, Randoma