Lofty Ideas

For those that weren't part of the conversation the other day, here are some of the balloon references I was talking about. I particularly like the one with all the sails but don't think it's practical for playa use.

Workshop Update

So I thought that some of you who hadn't made it out to the workshop in a while might like to see how far we've come. Above is a picture of the cockpit from the navigator's side. Lots of gleaming gauges and a calliope for musical enjoyment. Below is a picture of the passenger compartment. I threw in some pillows to help visualize the final effect. Looking comfy.
And here is the Perambulator in full view. As you can see we got lots of the bodywork on and are moving towards more of the detail work. I managed to get one of the forward wings attached last night. I think the effect is good and it will look quite cool covered in aluminum can bottoms.

Burning Man Biz

There's a cool little article about the business side of Burning Man via Laughing Squid.

Note that Chicken John's pickup truck runs on wood pellets. He's working on making it so that it can run on coffee grounds.

Proof of Work

What an impressive day of work we had yesterday. The whole gang was there and much was accomplished on the Perambulator. What you don't see in these pictures is the fabulous barbecue and swim party that followed.
Now get back to work!

You Glow Girl!

This company makes crazy glowing furry clothing. Glowing AND furry? Sounds to me like two great things that go great together. ("Hey you got your chocolate in my peanut butter!") I have no idea how it works but it looks great for night time costumes.

Steampunk found in Nashville

Ok, so it's not the most monumental of finds - and there's no photo of it because it was in a dark country bar, but I saw the coolest steampunk noisemaker.

It was a square bellows that sat flat on top of a shelf. There was a cord so the bartender could squeeze the bellows from below. And when the bartender pulled, the bellows, instead of simply blowing air, blew the air through train whistles that stuck up out of the top bellows flap.

Duuuuuuuuuude.....

I have no idea where to find such a thing, but any thoughts on how we can make it for the perambulator?

I've Got the Power

The Solano Flea market has granted us (with a $10 donation) our Perambulator power supply. Think Flux Capacitor. It's 12v (instead of 1.21 gigawatts) so it should be a snap to install. And it should look mesmerizing at night. Doc Brown would be proud.

Paradise by the Dashboard Light

Update from the workshop- The Navigator Station and Captain's Command are taking shape. Details include Calliope keyboard, the weather station and a few big beautiful gauges. There's still a long way to go but progress is good. We need more gauges.

More Steam Inspiration

There's an abundance!

Uniflow Steam Engine video

Clock Works (if you missed it at BMan 2005) photos

Kinetic Steam Works group's website

Neverwas Runabout Steam Engine

Shade Structure Ideas Redux

I think the idea of a tensile shade structure for the main living area is worth the time and effort needed to be spent on r&d because it would enable a large tall area with only one pole. But I think we might benefit from a more tried and true shade structure for the sleeping area. We've all seen them used before. There is some question of their ability to withstand heavy winds. But the parts are easily replaced with metal conduit if a repair is needed. Two of them would give us 400 square feet of tent space (20x20). Not bad for $120 plus tax.
UPDATE- I purchased two of these yesterday! They're nicer than I thought.

Gauges, Gears, Iron Airships! Oh my!

The Amazing Leslie and I found a little Australian movie on Brassgoggles. It's called The Mysterious Geographical Explorations of Jasper Morello. (It can be Netflixed here.) Done mostly in silhouettes. It is amazing. With so many airships that I was still drooling over the previous one when a new one would appear. Steampunktastic! Along with gauges and dirigibles, I find myself now infatuated with wrought-iron railings and other iron work. Here is the first 9:37. UPDATE-I now have my own complete copy I can lend.

Along these lines it occurs to me that we're going to need a lot more gauges and valves. Let's keep our eyes open for cheap stuff (or free) especially at garage sales and fleas markets.

Dorkbots do SteamPunk in Oakland on Wednesday

Steam engines, something from last year's burn and the steampunk treehouse presented at 21 Grand.

Not So Modern Mechanix

You'll lose hours on this website that has full scans of pages from Modern Mechanix magazine. Not all of it is steampunky, but what odd modern inventery!

Check out categories like "Impractical" and "Useless Tech."

Eccentric Genius

A "gentleman inventor" makes inspiring inventions with steamy names.