Another Insight Into the Mind of Steampunks - From A. E. Flint

Once again Ms. Flint gives incredible insight into the minds of serious "Steampunks" everywhere.  While there is no statement that can possibly sum up the mind set, opinions, and beliefs of such a diverse group, this article does the best job I have seen in describing what makes the most serious among us Steampunks, Dieselpunks, and Clockpunks really tick.

"Why Steam Needs Punk"

Night Class Episodes 2 & 3

Well we finally got the second episode of Night Class, titled Friend or Food, wrapped!  It should be edited and ready for televising on UNTTV soon in Denton, Texas.  As I am harder to schedule than the other actors and actresses, we also filmed the intro and extro for the next episode titled: Fantasy Planet Online!  Both of these went much smoother than the first episode due to greater experience on the part of the film crew, and a somewhat less obsessive need to perfectly duplicate every word exactly as written.  While I am very dedicated to memorization and duplication of a script as written, I am also a very dedicated "method actor", so I use light trance self hypnosis to get as far into character as possible, while still staying responsive to stage directions.  This produces excellent results in some areas, as indicated by one of the camera men looking at the director, visibly shivering, and just saying "creepy" after filming my closing monologue after episode 3.  On the other hand, this makes it more difficult for me to reproduce scripts that call for a character that is a meticulous, albeit eccentric, college professor to speak using horrific grammar, run on sentences, fragmentary sentences, and repeatedly begin sentences with a conjunction, or to use sentences that read like "Yoda Speak" or "Texan speak" for that matter even though I grew up around both.  I just can't see an angry, resentful, somewhat sadistic professor, that looks for every opportunity to criticize, use sarcasm, or belittle others, setting himself up so much for the same treatment when surrounded daily by high level academics who would just love to correct everyone's grammar.   My subconscious rebels against it.  I never question a direction regardless.  I just do it over.  This time though, the director simply told me to stick to the minor grammatical corrections my subconscious kept inserting, so that it was consistent.  It never affected the dialogue content, so that worked well and we got two episodes of intros and extros filmed in about 2 hours which is about 3 times as fast as last time. (You see all the gory details of that fascinating, but grueling film session in a previous post under the title Night Class)  The heck of it is, I still haven't seen all of the first episode myself.  I was promised a copy as part of my compensation for coming to this film session, but we all forgot about it once I got there.  Ah well.  I have the director scheduled to trade filming some interviews of Kali's Hourglass and others about the Nickel Children film and promotions for it we have been doing, so I'll get it from him then.  I also managed to convince him to film some of our performance and others at All-con 2011 as well as being the official videographer/producer at the Difference Engine Steampunk Conventions we are promoting and performing in.  See you later!

Arizona Blogger Tries to Foist Her Fashion Sense On Wild West Con Goers

The following is my own comment on an online version of  The Phoenix New Times culture blog called Jackalope Ranch.  The article is titled:

Seven Overdone Steampunk Fashions at the Wild Wild West Con 

By Niki D'Andrea, Mon., Mar. 7 2011 @ 2:38PM

Comments (90)

Categories: Don't Wear That, Fashion
You can see the full article on their web site at:
http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/jackalope/2011/03/wild_wild_west_con_eight_overd.php
(note that there were over 90 comments on their site within a few days and they were almost all angry and very critical of the content, delivery, and intentions of the article's writer) 

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HERE IS MY RESPONSE TO THE ARTICLE:


I will not quote any of the actual article, but suffice to say that, while Ms. D'Andrea does shed some interesting light on what the average outside observer likes, dislikes, or thinks is just ... well ... to use her words "overdone" at this or any "Steampunk" event, her approach seems to be more based on trying to fit the blog category which is actually labeled, believe it or not, "Don't wear that fashion", than attempting to offer any sort of useful feedback that could possibly be expected to be received in a positive way.   It almost reads as though she feels pressured to find things to "trash" as though that is what she feels she is being paid to do.  Note that, she also praises many things as well, but the level of items she praises, while they are indeed the best of our work, are generally items created by acknowledged professional craftsmen and entertainers (I personally know some of these people and recognize their work) rather than giving serious feedback on the do-it-yourself efforts of new members of our community.  That would be rather like saying if you can't afford to buy "Gucci" or to design and create your own fashions at that level, then don't ever leave your home.

While I recognize that taking an objective look at what outsiders, with apparently very limited knowledge or understanding of the real underlying motivations and agendas of the Steampunk sub-culture and social movement is extremely valuable, especially to steampunk designers like myself, it is not helpful to them or to yourself to go out of your way to trash ... well ... anything that a person actually tries to do themselves.  In the age of international corporations trying to grind the populace of the world down into mindless little zombie workers that have no original thoughts, skills, or interests other than loyal service to their masters, the "Steampunk" movement encourages people to reject typical fashion aesthetics, including those of the "Victorian era", and develop themselves as a person by re-awakening any trace of craft skills they previously had and any form of original creative thoughts they might possess, then develop them (often through trial and error, but also through classes and education), not just to impress other people, but more importantly, to make them feel alive again!  We are much more interested in valiant efforts to do something themselves, than we are in what any fashion critic has to say about anything.  As such, if that part of the equation is lost in the blog or review, then you missed the point of the event entirely.

On the other hand, a comparison can be drawn here between, say, the Aztec Conchero/Mexica dancing my wife and I have been a part of, where the real goal is to not only revive and share the wisdom and traditions of the past, but to fight the good fight against intolerance and prejudicial destruction or oppression of those ideas.  Part of that fight is studying and learning what outsiders and newcomers find most attractive int hat culture, as whatever attracts them and holds their interest, entertains them, or garners their respect, will make the outsiders much more receptive to the underlying message of respect for the ancient wisdom and ancient ways.  The "Steampunk" movement really is a social movement to re-awaken artistry and original thought as well as to use that to effect change on what is truly becoming a dystopian and very deteriorated world destroyed by greed and the desire to grind everything down into mediocrity.  As such, we need objective and third party observations in order for, at least those working regularly in the arts and entertainments areas as "Steampunk Performers" like myself, to help us consider more effective ways to reach people outside our community better as well as those within.

I would suggest; however, that Ms. D'Andrea consider refraining from use of terms or phrases that tend to make someone feel embarrassed, rather than proud, to have others see their first efforts at the do-it-yourself crafts that we so strongly encourage, or you will quickly find yourself, and any that pretend to be in our own community with those attitudes, rapidly pushed out and ostracized by serious "Steampunks" that will not tolerate such behaviors toward those courageous enough to try to learn and grow in such a public way.

Clockwork Wonderland Article Makes Headlines on Convention Fans

Clockwork Wonderland Article Makes Headlines on Convention Fans

The article got to print very late due to many other projects I was involved with, producing performance art for other venues, and because we were so busy working the film screening room and promoting Nickel Children, that I needed assistance to gather sufficient information to write this article including mention of many wonderful acts that I was not able to see myself and had to interview or obtain information from others to write about them.

I would like to extend a special vote of thanks to some of the Steampunk Illumination Society members that worked so hard to set up and take down what was needed to make this event successful.  The ones that I saw working extraordinarily hard with little thanks or notice were James and Stephanie Moran, Brian Elliot (and Karen), Rob (from the SIS group), Larry Ameytt, and Audelia Flint.  Thank you for everything you gave to this project!!!

here's the link:  http://conventionfansblog.com/2011/03/08/marquis-of-vaudville%E2%80%99s-clockwork-wonderland-2011/

Steam Powered Belly dance in Brazil!

Below is our attempt to translate into English a wonderful article by the people at Steampunk, an excellent steampunk blog from Brazil.  It is discussing the emergence of movement and dance as a form of Steampunk as a direct result of Steampunk developing as a musical genre.  It focuses primarily on Tribal Fusion Belly dance, but discusses possible fusion of many styles into that subgenre in ways that create something entirely new alltogether.  See below [items in brackets like these were added by this editor as teh translating program was unable to fully translate, but I should mention that my Portuguese is not that great either, so I am making my best guess in a few areas based on the parts I could clearly make out]

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Steampunk culture has spread in various artistic manifestations, leaving the literary and movie niche, and now moving into music and therefore into dance as a result. But different than you might think, the last has nothing to do with the dances that were favored by the Victorian nobility, in halls of gaudy chandeliers and diamond covered candlesticks. No. The biggest and best known of all expressions was eventually found in belly dance in a style called Tribal Fusion.

Tribal was [apparently] established in the years 1970 through 1980, the United States, by Carolena Nericcio, director and lead dancer of the "Fat Chance Belly Dance Group", a leading representative of the style today. Carolena fused classical and traditional elements belly dance with other types of dance, like the Egyptian and folklore styles, and also added new positions, styles, and postures, with arms higher and [something about feet/legs more closely held or possibly sliding against the floor]. The garments have also changed, giving tattoos, flowers, shells, and other more natural and primitive elements [a primary place in costuming] in this style. Carolena called this new style of belly dance the "American Tribal Style", now often known as ATS. The ATS is now essentially a dance group, which gives the characteristic of "tribe" - hence the use of the word "tribal" - and [is often] based on dance improvisation. Some steps are characteristic and the lead dancer often comes out in front [then gives signs to the others] indicating the dance, or the actual movement she will do next, so that the whole group [will be] able to imitate [and follow her movements in a synchronized fashion].

However, over the years with the spread of ATS and other types of dance began to [be] incorporated [into] Tribal. The essential rules of style began to be changed, making the dance more personal and more [expressive] of the personality of the dancer. What was created, then was a  new version of the ATS, known as Tribal Fusion. This style is more popular than the original style developed by Carolena, as it is being seen as more comprehensive [and flexible/adaptable in style and scope]. Although they still maintain much of the original positions, the Tribal Fusion can add in and blend to virtually all types of dance, the most common being hip hop, break dance, Indian dance, flamenco dances, and even cabaret. The songs chosen are varied and there are some used from electronic music, World music fusion, hip hop, trip hop, and even Gothic Heavy Metal. Circus music, vintage, and other types can also be used in this genre.  It all depends on who is creating the dance and choreography.

Because of this, it was very easy for SteamPunk [music] to also manifest in Tribal [Fusion belly dance performances]. In addition to the bands whose influences are essentially [the definitive representations of] the movement, such as Abney Park, Clockwork Quartet, Unextraordinary Gentleman, [Vernian Process], and Dr. Steel, other bands, including those with metallic sounds, reminiscent in some ways to listening to old movies, are also chosen, as is the case of Beats Antique. The clothes as well, across the Tribal Fusion movement, [depend] on your taste, but most fans of the genre will find a way to merge the influences of Victorian, Steampunk, and [Steampunk] accessories into the form of [belly] dance costumes, which should [still] have good mobility and of course show the belly.

In Brazil, the ATS and Tribal Fusion are recent developments. The first workshops and first teachers of the style here, appeared only in 2007. In July 2009 came the first international meeting of Tribal Fusion of Brazil, in Sao Caetano do Sul, and in October the same year, the first event back to the dance of Sao Paulo. Nevertheless, the style is growing every day, and gaining more dancers, who [may or may not have been] involved in  classic belly dance. With this, and also with the growth of the SteamPunk movement in the country [Brazil], [who knows, perhaps soon] we will have national dancers that are {inspired and/or] powered by steam, eh?

[The original article in Portuguese in linked below:]
http://www.steampunk.com.br/2010/03/15/steampunk-a-danca-e-o-movimento/

Steampunk Belly Dance Exchange of Ideas

I am re-posting a fascinating exchange of ideas about whether there can or cannot be true "Steampunk Belly Dance" or any other dance style or music for that matter.  
Each comment below was written in response to the article titled:

Not So Steampunk Belly Dance

by Jasmine June Cabanaw

posted February 26, 2011

published in an online Belly Dance Journal called Gilded Serpent

  Each comment is labeled at the end with the name of the contributor of the comment along with the link to my own response followed by a link to the original article.  The article itself comes last in what I am presenting to you as I think the dialogue about the topic is more important than the inflammatory (and probably unintentional) choice of wording in the original article that was published in an online Belly Dance Journal called Gilded Serpent.  Take a look and try to keep an open mind to all sides of this discussion.  I selected the comments that I thought were most worth reading, but there are many more under the original article.

 thanks,
Ramon
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All comments previously copied to this site were removed per insistence of the editor of the Gilded Serpent online magazine Lynette Harris as she pointed out, quite correctly, that neither the authors of the comments nor the magazine/e-zine where they were posted gave permission to re-post them.  I advised that my oversight was due to an urgent desire to soothe and put out the firestorm of resentment toward the author Ms. Cabinaw and the magazine Gilded Serpent that a link-share on facebook  had set off.  As pressing the share button marked facebook, (done by a number of people in my own community-though I was not one of them) which is all that was required to start this firestorm, is not considered "Stealing" information, and that no content from the article, other than a brief quote of a few lines (it was impossible not to take it totally out of context with less and would thus do more harm than good) ever occurred regarding the article, I believe the editor may be over reacting a bit in sending me an e-mail suggessting I am "stealing content", but I agree that the comments about the article (the calmest and most well spoken ones) that I copied to clarify and resolve the conflict, should be deleted from re-posting to my personal blog site.

What actually caused the original problem was the posting of the original article by Ms. Cabinaw on the Gilded Serpent site which used phrasing, apparently unintentionally, that was very insulting to another allied community, namely the Steampunk sub-culture.  Reviewing content of articles for such possible problems prior to posting them is the venue of the magazine editor.  I was simply trying to suppress a problem that others created which appeared to be causing a very destructive rift between the belly dance community and sub-culture, which I dearly love (and the magazine which appears to be a good one) and my own community of "Steampunks".  My influence was needed to put a stop to it before it got out of hand, so I acted, albeit a little rashly in copying some of the better written comments (from the comment portion only) without consent.  They are now deleted from my personal blog site and remain so.  Any interested in reading them should go to the original article site on Gilded Serpent.

Thanks,

Ramon Fagan

For my own response to this article and discussion and for a link to the original article that started the controversy (at the end of my response-sorry, but the unexplained version of the original makes some of our community so angry that they might stop thinking with an open mind and simply see red after reading it, so I put it at the end of my own carefully considered response-): see below

http://artofsteampunk.blogspot.com/2011/03/response-to-article-stating-that-belly.html 

Response to an Article Stating That Belly Dance Cannot be Steampunk

I had posted a copy here of my own comment below that was written in response to the article titled:

Not So Steampunk Belly Dance

by Jasmine June Cabanaw

posted February 26, 2011

published in an online Belly Dance Journal called Gilded Serpent

Due to the confusion of definition of the word "reposted", confusion as to who was reposting things, and different veery strong opinions about etiquette regarding handling of someone's comment, (even my own apparently) that has been posted on another site, I am electing to avoid the whole headache by simply deleting my copy of my own comment here as well.  Feel free to see it and what it was in response to in the article this was in response to at the link below:http://www.gildedserpent.com/cms/2011/02/26/jasmine-june-steampunk-belly-dance/

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Ms Cabinaw later clarified that she was only intending to suggest that when belly dancers wear steampunk attire as a costume, then it should not shift the label of the dance purely because someone is wearing a costume that day.  I totally agree with that.  She apologized for the unintentional suggestion that steampunk amounted to nothing more than a costume and the statement that she didn't believe there was such a thing as steampunk music or dance without fully investigating that.  She stands by her assertion, which I consider reasonable, that if a form of bellydance is going to call itself by a new name it should present at least the level of actual change in dance forms that were developed by ATF and/or Tribal Fusion before doing so.  That also seems very reasonable.

In fact, after further discussion she actually asked about collaborating on a more in depth article with myself to ensure that both sides of the issue were appropriately explored and treated respectfully.  I agreed.  I also advised that I am a very ardent devotee of the incredibly beautiful and traditional art of belly dance, and that I am very concerned with ensuring that how we "label" belly dance calsses and programs in panels and events that I am already scheduled to give and evaluate panelists for, be handled approriately, so as to correctly describe the level of Steampunk influence, whether costuming, music, actual new movements or what, in the programming that is presented.  I think this is actually in everyone's best interests.

  thanks