This update is just a teaser to a bigger thing that is coming up. It ties in rather nicely with a point I made several blog posts ago concerning Steampunk and education.

My good friend Bonsart Bokel of Radio Retrofuture, who is providing me with a lot of input lately, has pointed my attention towards a debate that has been going on in the science/teaching world, especially in the USA for a while.

In short it is about this:

Should the focus on STEM subjects in school (i.e. Science, Technology, Enineering, Mathematics) be extended by an A for Art, thus, turning STEM into STEAM (Hurray!).

Opinions are not only devided on the matter, as is basically always the case on the ætherweb, there are some rather nasty flame wars going on.
Accusations of Patriarchical Dominace™ and Feminazi Activism™ in various stages of colourful language being flung left and right at the dark end of the conversation.

Since I am rather interested in matters of education, I decided to look into the matter and will present my findings later. As you can probably tell, I also have an opinion on the matter which is different from Bonsart’s from what I gathered but since I am still in the process of collecting material, I will not voice anything just yet.

Well look at this:
Bristol is getting a Steampunk-themed cocktailbar, hopefully.
In order for The Clockwork Rose to actually bloom, blossom and grow, the people behind this most commendable of projects need the support of the community and have started a fundraising site, here.

They describe their endeavour thusly:

Jump into a fantastical past! Furnished with copper pipes, exposed brickwork and illuminated by a warm diffused light, The Clockwork Rose will look like it has jumped straight from the pages of a Jules Verne or H.G. Wells novel.

With numerous retro-futuristic touches The Clockwork Rose will be the only bar of its kind in the UK, with each fantastical element blurring the line between fiction and reality and transporting visitors to an unbelievable steampunk fantasy.

The Clockwork Rose will be based in central Bristol, a vibrant, dynamic city boasting a mix of internationally-acclaimed cultural institutions, world-class festivals and events and a diverse mix of shops and markets. It is the goal of The Clockwork Rose to create a unique identity offering a one-of-a-kind atmosphere with signature cocktails and showcasing local beers, ciders and spirits.

We are looking to raise £20,000 (a large amount but this is a big project). Your pledges will go towards the decor and initial startup costs as well as helping us to realise our vision. If all goes to plan we should be opening at the beginning of summer.

We look forward to serving you in the future,
Cheers.

And have also produced this little moving picture to aid their cause:

All ladies and gentlemen of the steampunk persuasion enjoy a fine place to spent their time, alas, classy establishments of the fitting kind are rare, so let’s all stand together and help this one become reality!

Hilde Heyvaert, one of my best and oldest friends in the Steampunk scene, has published a most excellent article/rant over at The Gatehouse.
With her permission, I am cross-posting it here, because it beautifully captures another one of those weird attitudes you find in our scene.
Some people really have a desperate need to be more true than you are, and to them, and the Steampunk Gestapo, I dedicate this artice:

On Alter Egos

People often come up with things to do, or be, at conventions, gatherings and events etc. This ranges from simple things like dressing up in your favourite geek attire, to cosplaying to inventing a steampunk persona to be for that day (or to keep within a steampunk group). Who hasn’t felt it would be a great idea to be a mad scientist, adventurer, aristocrat, sky pirate or whatever else the scene has to offer after all?

Now you can do two things: you dress up in the style you like, make the persona and still be yourself. You’re all dressed up and you say, “today I’ll be e.g. a mad scientist!” But you still use your own name, and that’s fine. You’re going to an event, you’ve dressed up, you intent to have a great time and that’s what matters.

Or you can go all out and invent a name for your persona, and that’s absolutely fine too!

Now what is not fine, is the lack of respect I keep on seeing for people that do X or Y. I myself have chosen not to take on a persona, a character, an alter ego if you please. I have been in a LARP group for over 11 years and frankly I’m fed up by being someone else, that point of my life has passed. And the beauty of steampunk is that I can STILL make up personas and yet stay myself! That’s awesome, and there’s nothing wrong with it! Just like there is NOTHING wrong with choosing to make a character for yourself with its own history and its own name.

Steampunk allows for both options so I fail to understand why so many steampunks can’t just accept that someone else has chosen the other one and agree to disagree. In my local group, Artifakt, I am the only one without an alter ego and no one will hold that against me. Just like I won’t hold it against them that they did choose one. In The Steampunk Objective my husband and I are the only ones without one, same story. And THAT ladies and gentlemen, is how it should be.

Having, or not having, a full on alter ego doesn’t make someone a better or worthier steampunk.

The only thing I want to really press upon is: you do not HAVE to have an alter ego to be a steampunk. Regardless of what the majority may claim, it is ok to be yourself. Just like it is ok to be someone else.

Do whatever feels right to you, whichever choice you make, and respect that others will go for the other option for whatever reason. It’s ok to say “you don’t have to” or explain (or defend, which you may very well have to do) your choice, it’s not ok to enforce it on others.

And just so you know: I do not have an alter ego either, and in case a certain someone who has decided to be my personal troll comes around and asks: If I do not have an alter ego, what’s the deal with „Traveler“, that’s not your real name (or similar beside the point stuff). Please click here for alter ego and click here for pen name.

OK, it is good if we all send get-well-soon wishes to Malala who is currently treated in the UK, but it is even better if we pick up her torch and see to it that girls in Pakistan get an education.
This is the reason why I created the Steampunks for Malala Yousafzai fundraiser.
Find out more about it here:

For centuries, self-declared monster hunters have gone out into the dark forests and remorselessly slaughtered members of one of the rarest species on the planet:

Werewolves

Few people have ever wasted a thought on the fact that some of those beautiful, powerful and magnificent creatures they slew had families of their own. More often than not, the death of an adult werewolf meant certain doom for their puppies.
Until now! The valiant Doctor Baxter has built an orphanage for werewolf puppies and now you can help! Visit Werepups today and give a little furry bundle of fun and energy a good and loving home.
You can only win! Not only do you help an endangered species, you also get a loving and devoted child and you wil never ever, EVER, again have any trouble with door-to-door sales persons!
Besides, who could resist a little cutie like this one?

Well, it took some time but summer has hit. Now it is rather on the warm side outside, in other terms: It is cocktail weather.

Under most circumstances, my cocktail of choice is the White Russian, which, coincidentally, has nothing to do with my political stance. If you did not get the joke, look it up yourselves. Hint: Not all Russians were red after 1917.
But enough history for today, this gentleman will explain to you, how a White Russian, and a Black Russian, are mixed:

Be an individual, ask your own questions, do your own projects, inflict them on the world! Allow the word to engage you in return! To be inactive would mean to waste a chance to leave a mark. You do not have to be a professional, you can also be highly skilled as an amateur! Do it! The Steampunk in you wants you to do it.