The next in our series of Steampunk Holidays is the birthday of pioneer science fiction author Jules Verne, born February 8, 1828, in Nantes, France. Verne wrote such classics as From the Earth To the Moon, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Journey to the Center of the Earth, The Mysterious Island, and Around the […]
Clockwork Planet is a 2017 anime by Xebec based on a 2013 light novel series by Yuu Kamiya and Tsubaki Himana. This looked like a good prospect when I chanced upon it online. Sadly, there were no steam engines, airships or goggles. Its summary describes it not as steampunk but “clockpunk.” The show’s premise is […]
February 2nd is our most whimsical “holiday,” the day when the legendary groundhog’s actions are said to forecast the weather. “Six more weeks of winter” was a given in North Dakota where I grew up. Perhaps the rodent returned to his hole not because he was frightened by his shadow, but because he was freezing […]
A New Feature: Guest Posts Reviewing Arizona’s Eateries. Macaroni Grill 1-27-2018 Dear fellow foodies, I had high hopes for this one. I am probably the last person in the city to dine there. First impression: 3 out of 5 croutons. The entrance was bright, and the hostess was directly in front of us. We were […]
If the steampunk community is to have any festivals, this would be one* of them. James Watt, inventor of the first efficient steam engine, was born in Scotland on this day in 1736. If not for Watt’s genius, there would have been no “age of steam” for us to celebrate. Many people mistakenly think Watt […]
Bright is movie currently airing on Netflix, written by Max Landis and directed by David Ayer. It stars Will Smith as a policeman in an alternate world where magic is real and mythical races such as elves, orcs, and fairies exist openly in society. Practically everything else is the same as in our world. There […]
On this day in 1788, Captain Arthur Phillip led a fleet of British ships carrying convicts into Botany Bay to form the penal colony of Australia. Australians still mark this date as a national holiday, which in the Southern Hemisphere is in the middle of summer. In the 18th Century, “transportation” to the colonies was […]
