Also! Many thanks to Julie, who sent in links to Brighton's Zombie Walk (called "Brighton Beach of the Dead," hee) and Brighton's White Night, which sounds absolutely fantastic. I am off to convince the other Spooky Librarian that we need to take a trip to Brighton sometime.
(This is an interrupted posting; hopefully more links will follow later today!)
Congratulations to Giada, winner of our giveaway drawing for The Half-Made World! Many thanks to everyone who participated, and fear not, there will be more giveaways (and probably more snarky videos).
You may remember Tor's Steampunk Month from last year. This year, they've revamped it into the Steampunk Fortnight, with more great articles like this timeline of steampunk music.
We'll be drawing a name out of a (top) hat tonight, and it might be yours!Last chance to enter the contest here. Watch this space for a silly video announcing the winners.
Meanwhile, it is Friday! Many thanks to everyone who sent in links.
Speaking of technology, MetaLib is a new resource from the U.S. Government, searching multiple agencies and other sources for federal information. Hooray!
I've linked to the early film footage of San Francisco before. Now, an historian has pinpointed the date -- only a few days before the 1906 earthquake hit. Yikes. (I love this sort of research. The Library of Congress's Flickr stream is another example of people finding facts by studying the tiny details.)
Blank on Blank serves as an audio archive for previously unheard interviews. Interesting crowdsourcing stuff here!
And finally, a book will be out next Tuesday, and you should buy it, and here's why.
This is the best time of year, with Halloween quickly approaching and the fall weather making any excursion fun! There are too many festivals and celebrations going on to count. If you're into corn mazes, there's a directory for finding one near you; if haunted attractions are more your style, there's a directory for that, too. There are even shows for pumpkins this weekend! (And, on an even more localized note, Carnival Noir 2010 arrives this weekend; if you go, tell Zahara the Spooky Librarians sent you.)
Whether you're looking for gory ideas or are just interested in theatre history, this propmaker's examination of the Grand Guignol's tricks is worth a read. (My favorite line: "When money became tight, the theatre would prefer to stab women rather than men, because their smaller costumes were cheaper to clean.")
Many thanks to everyone who's entered the giveaway contest so far! We'll be drawing a name from the entries this Friday, so anyone who comments on that post before then will be entered.
If you plan out being out and about for the holiday, and you are anywhere near Pittsburgh, be sure to check out The ScareHouse, which has a decidedly anachronistic tone. Dieselpunks did a great interview with Scott Simmons which goes into more detail.
Readers know I have a particular interest in the inclusive nature of Steampunk, especially toward different cultures. Multiculturalism For Steampunk is right up my alley! I'm thrilled to see more and more of these sites online.
The Circus of Brass and Bone is new, it is steampunk, and all donations go to a wonderful cause. How can you resist visiting?
In other reading news, The Wonderful Future That Never Was is...well, wonderful. It's all the Popular Mechanics goodness of yesteryear, summed up with copious illustrations.
And, if you find yourself inspired after reading all these reviews and summations of steampunk-influenced literature, your own town's history can serve as a jumping-off point for your own writing. As an example, I discovered the history of nearby Kings Mills and its cartridge factory via this article and think it deserves its own story.
Happy Friday, everyone! Later today there will be a post pointing to a book review/giveaway over at the Steampunk Librarian. (And while it is slightly steampunk, it's more than that, so I think that anyone who likes free books should go take a look once the post is live.)
And finally, this weekend also brings us the start of MLB's league championship series. Texas Ranger (and former Cincinnati Red!) Josh Hamilton is a recovering addict and he has avoided the champagne shower celebrations so far this year. So his teammates threw him a special celebration with ginger ale. The video is awesome. Go baseball.
Have a spiffy weekend, everyone! See you Monday for regularly scheduled Folderol goodness, and check back for the giveaway post later this afternoon.
Picture books, according to the New York Times, are on the way out. This seems odd. [Fun library anecdote: Once, while working in a public library, B. was asked if they had any Where's Waldo? books...on CD.] Thanks to this article, however, I really want to read Monsters Eat Whiny Children.
Tomorrow: links from others, because it'll be Friday, hooray!
The leaves are falling here and it's getting nice and spooky in time for Halloween!
On the interwebs, the spookiness is increasing, too. Shellhawk's Nest is featuring Halloween-related content all month, and the always-great Final Girl is celebrating SHOCKtober!
The Weekend of Horrors happens this weekend in lovely downtown Burbank, California! If you're not into the horror, there's a nice kid-friendly Woolly Worm Festival going on in North Carolina this weekend, too.
And finally, something cool and creepy: Solace is a video game which takes you through the stages of grief. Um...neat?
Get ready for a week of activity in steampunkland! We're going to be posting some giveaways later this week, including a review/giveaway of Felix Gilman's The Half-Made World, which hits bookstores today! As a preview, you can check out Felix's website (I particularly like how the bio page changes each time you reload). This quote from an interview serves as a nice preview, too:
What is it about speculative fiction, in general, that most appeals to you?
The strange, the grotesque, the absurd; the capacity of really strange fantastic fiction to reflect back how odd the actual world is. Also, monsters.
More on all that soon!
I am happy to report that the Victorian Drilling Machine Halloween Project has been fully funded, and hope that those of you in southern California visit the finished product and share their experiences.
The Steampunks Vs. Zombies battle is imminent! Which side are you on? (Regardless of your alignment, both factions feature some great information and links. Consider it reconnaissance, not betrayal, if you investigate.)
Victoria 2 is available for the gamers. Expand, exploit and conquer! But please restrict such behavior to the game.
And lastly, I am seriously considering the blue bumper sticker here, as this is what I say to people on a regular basis anyway. (I also highly recommend anything Wondermark from this site; there are all sorts of wonderful things there!)
What happens to personal libraries after the person dies? The Boston Globe has a story about the book collection of one writer, which makes you think. (If the Spooky Librarians were to plunge off a cliff, someone would have a whole lot of geeky/spooky/old books to handle.)
If you'd like to do some investigative journalism of your own, the new Influence Explorer shows the contribution links among politicians, companies, and "influential individuals." It's user-friendly and rather eye-opening.
It's the best time of the year -- Halloween season! Instructables has an entire Halloween category, and the always-wonderful X-Entertainment has begun their annual Halloween countdown (actually, they began it last month - they start early over there). If you're the type of person who makes their own decorations, you might look to MRX Designs for inspiration on the spooky and cobwebby; if you'd rather decorate with the work of other artists, Annie Vicar's Dolls and Skellery site is gorgeous and suitably dark for the holidays.
As cooler weather approaches, steampunk seems to be heating up. The Chicago group has noticed there are loads of events on the horizon in their area. If you're nearer to New York, Brooklyn Indie Market is throwing the third annual Steampunk Day at the DUMBO Loft October 24th. And (jumping forward in our anachronistic time era a bit here), if you have a love for Indiana Jones 1930s-era adventuring, hop over to ConGaloosh this weekend as it celebrates the now-gone but much-loved Adventurer's Club in the world of Disney.
