2014 retrospect

2014

2014 has been a year of change for me. Together with Viktor Kandinski, I made a video on 2014 Steampunk season. (wich is here, but I was having software problems so it not in sync). But so much has happened I been involved with so many things, it kind of hard to include it all in a general video. So here is my personal recollection of this past year.

Work in progress

On the non-Steampunk related front, it has been a good year. I had a stable job and finally moveda way from my parents. My new home is coming along nicely and while there is still a lot to be done, I’m very proud of it. Thanks to my independence my social life has improved greatly and got to know a number of people I am proud to call my friends. In the short time a really got to know them we have done a great deal of things tighter and I’m sure we’ll keep doing so.

Photo by Peter Krul

Concerning Tupperware Steampunk, a lot has happened. The new website is up. I switched over to English to reach a larger audience. I also got my first sponsor, Dragons Den, and thinking of approaching more possible sponsors to cover my expanses on site-maintenance and getting better equipment.
I got to go to several events as a journalist, which for me feel as recognition for my work. 

However, I feel I should be doing more then just write a my own opinion on these gatherings, so I try to give more people a voice. That’s why a switched over to making video’s, because and makes things like that easier. I also hope to have discussion about the finer things of Steampunk, because I feel Steampunk is worth talking about. With text interviews I can only do so much. But for those who like my writing, I’ll keep doing that. I just needed new idea’s for articles. I already got one request I am working on, but I’ve my readers got any suggestions, please send them to me.

Writing

I started writing fiction again. I wrote a backgroundstory  for a new, nature-themed, Steampunk-group and started on a serie of short-stories, based on a manuscript I had been working on since 2009. So that’s in the works.
I also started with lectures/workshops on writing steampunk stories. My first was on Emporium Vernesque, was turned out to be a great success, despite the noise.

Also, my first short-story was published in a anthology, in de Schaduw van het Keezending. A free E-book that contains stories of several Dutch writers. And it’s free! So, it you don’t have it. Go get it!

Other stuff

Ya, there was other stuff I did, like contributing medieval and steampunk related stuff for a Dutch filmproduction, called Homies, wich will come out early 2015. I also worked on my own filmproject, however there have been some setbacks. Hope to have more news soon.
I also participated in a music-video ‘Survivors’ by Beyond Violet, but unfortunately my scenes were cut

Also several disappointments. The first one came when I was asked to write a background-story for a ambitious event called Epicon. A gaming convention with a large cosplay segment. It was overly ambitious from the get go. But hé. If they would make my ambition a reality, who am I to say no right. Unfortunately, the organization had to endure ‘internal conflicts’ and the whole cosplay segment got scrapped. They intended to have a winter edition instead, but that one got canceled in it’s entirety.

The other was Altfest. A grand festival in England, get got canceled, due to somebody being a real D**k. I was supposed to be a catwalk-model for the designer Alskear, but Altfest got canceled. Miraculously the organizers managed to start up a whole new event in two weeks time(!) in Whales, called Steampunk Metal Racket. Unfortunately, I couldn’t attend. But, I heard it was awesome.

My own group!

Yes! I ‘ve got my own group now. The Regiment Anachronistic Grenadiers - Tactical assault Group. Or RAGTAG for short. Initially I intended to make a small group, all dressed as uniformed bad guys. The basic idea is that all the Steampunks are dressed for adventure with an arsenal that would make most armies blush, but had no opponents to fight. I also like to work on story oriented photo’s, rather then just posing for the camera. Faceless soldiers like those of RAGTAG are ideal for that. I expected to get five people interested in such a thing, but out of nowhere people all of a sudden wanted to join and make it grow way beyond what I expected. We participated in several story oriented photo series, like I wanted, but we hope to have some more elaborate ones in the coming years.

However, the most important contribution of RAGTAG to the Dutch steampunk-scene is it’s stormcourse, mainly for children.  

  

Photo by Brainstorm Photographix

 I can’t forget the people who supported all of my projects. I tend to believe at times my work goes unnoticed, but I can’t ignore the people that supported me either financially, creatively by helping me realize my ambitions. Some of them are old friends, most of them I know for less then a year. I can’t thank you guys enough and I hope we’ll be involved in some great projects in the future. 

And of course, you, my readers. My personal blog alone has an average of 15 views a day now. That's awesome. Please keep following my websites and facebook, a dont forget to like my articles.

Have fun tonight and happy New Years!

De Draad: Visiting Macfarthingbowl's stock o'stuff

So yesterday I finally took the time to visit Tim Deutekom, owner of Macfartingbowl’s re-enactmentshop.com and uniformverhuur.be. A reënactor, collector and shopowner, who also started a rental service. His modest company supplies uniforms, props and other services to wel known theater and movie productions, like Soldaat van Oranje the Musical, In Vlaamse Velden, Blackbook, Kidnapping Freddy Heineken and the list goes on.

So once a year(-ish) Macfarthingbowl takes on a lowbudget production they find interesting and what do you know. De Draad is one of those projects. So I traveled to Ravelte (BE) were Macfarthingbowl’s stock is located to take a look around. In this case pictures speak louder then words so… Here it is. And basicly, it’s all to our disposal during the production.
Not just that. Tim also offered other services, like equipment for special effects, some stage-props and also brought forth some great idea’s.

Also, in the nearby town of Barle-Nassau there turned out to be a recreation of De Draad, that once spanned the entire Dutch-Belgian border. It doesn’t look that impressive, but it is what it is I suppose. A fenced off two meters wide no-mans land.

So, with that, our costume problem has pretty much been solved also much of the prop issues. Still there is plenty to be done.

If this sounds fun, you can follow our progress on facebook .
We are are also looking for people would like to assist with the creation of props and someone who would like to coordinate the costuming. If every goes as planned Macfarthing Bowl should have this covered but he needs to know what we need, in what size, ect.

If so, you can contact us on dedraadproductie@gmail.com

Emporium Verneseque 2014

Sorry for the wait. I wanted to do a video, but due to some technical delays that might take a while before I can edit these. But they re coming. So this is just my personal account, but a lot more will come on this event.
So what did I think of Emporium Vernesque.

IT WAS AWESOME!

Definitely one of the best events this year. Or is it? Plein der Verlichting (Square of Enlightenment) is still coming and it sounds impressive. But I’ll have a separate video on that event.
But Emporium truly is a breath of fresh air this year as it is very different from the usual fair in the Netherlands. It’s a indoor festival at, the arte deco, Luxor Live! rather than a fair or convention. It had expositions, workshops, board games, great vendors, and great fashion- and dance shows. There was also a presentation on Project Peregrine, a photo project by known photographer Ruud de Korte (2013 interview here) and the Peregrine Crew.

There was also a cinema, were all the seat were always taken. But for a complete overview of the program I will direct you to this article on Jonginarnhem.nl. Also, try this new blog, http://steampunkwereld.nl/

I never look at the program before I go anywhere, except for my own workshop. I guess I like to be surprised. Because of Emporium’s small scale we could experience the whole program regardless.

For some reason it was also easier to get in contact with people during to event. And I met a lot of great people. Like Django Steenbrink (Byteflow Studio) who offered me to make video’s for this site. Also I had a great Interview with Montague Jaques Fromage, and Elenore Blackwood. Other video’s are on Theadueling, as presented by Dale Rowles, known from BB Black Dog.

 I also held my first Workshop on 'Steampunk Character Writing'. It was a great success, despite the conditions. Had to use my laptop as a projector and scream over the music to have myself heard. But hé, it was awesome and the audience found the information useful. Hoped to do it as Dankaert Lexicons character but the setting didn't allow me wearing my monogoggle because I was standing so close to the participants.

In the future I want to do a more elaborate workshop where I can go in more detail and offer exercises. For those who are interested, let me know so I can keep you all posted.

All in all, Emporium Vernesque was a wonderful experience were allot of great things happened and were I hope to reap a lot more fruits of. It reminded me why this event inspired me to start Tupperware Steampunk in the first place and I hope it will do in the future.

Also, check out these picture made by Wen Versteeg. They're wonderfull.

Ciney Militaria

New video is up. This time, Ciney Militaria (Dutch) with a special guest. This is the best place to get old military stuff. Sorry for the poor audio quality. Something went wrong in editing.

New website been launched

The hostage crisis has finally been ended and Tupperwaresteam.nl is up again. Fitting that Emporium Vernesque is once again the subject of the first publication. Read the (Dutch) interview with organiser Dick Zwart here.

Then I am working on a simple report on Spiel, the 2014 boardgame convention. I think I'll do a video on that. ANd this week I'll be visting Ciney Militaria in Belgium. Can't wait the see that treasure of gadgets and junk. So expect something on that as well.

A rant on History, Aliens and Alternate History

I will start by apologizing for the rant. You see, I hate(!) Ancient Aliens and all institutions like  with a passion. I put them in the same category with creationism, heliocentrism and all pseudosciences like it. Actually I wanted to write something how you could have fun with these about aliens and ancient civilisations. But when you think about it, it's just to insulting and even racist to be used in stories like that.
The same could be said about Stargate which I love, but Stargate, al thou based on similair idea's, presents itself as fiction. Ancient Aliens does not. And they have gotten worse as the serie progressed on our 'alien origins' ignoring evolution and highjacking both scientific and religious texts, like the bible. Pff, never thought I would write bible and scientific in one sentence. Anyway, here's the rant.

Aliens are neat right? They speak to our imagination. Insight both horror and hope, come in an forms and sizes, silly of monstrous and often have neat gadgets to boot. Yeah, perfect to write some alternate history with aliens.
Well for alternate history with aliens you don't have to go much further than the History channel. HISTORY-channel. Someone forget to mention history is an actual science that is subjected to peer-review?

We tend to believe that there is a thin line between between the science and investigation of history and 'popular history'. Popular history being the stories and interpretation we like to hear. In many cases it is harmless, even if it is wrong. But it might inspire people to look more closely to the events of our past. It doesn't stop me from find it irratating having to correct people most of the time, but I learned to ignore some statements in conversation.

Like this titbit. THERE IS NO EVIDENCE THE MEDIEVAL PEOPLE WERE CONVINCED THE WORLD WAS FLAT!!! Yes there are some references in the bible to talk about the earth being a flat disk, flooting on water, in a snowglobe like sphere, but this is never found to be the case in medieval literature. Hell, a dutch scribe from the 14th century, Jan van Boendale, actually quotes Aristotles in his Book, Der Leken Spiegel (1325-1330) on the world being a hollow sphere about 250.000  stades... So they weren't right about everything.
This myth however was promoted by some 19th century atheists to make historical people like columbus look more awesome. A man who was a Christian himself and converted and massacred a part of the local population. Appears someone didn't know their history.
Fortunately the old assumption on the medieval world view is disappearing from the dutch school books and is being debunked on Wikipedia. There is even a article on it:

Of course that doesn't mean people don't believe it. F*** no. The 19th century presented us a whole new form of stupid that would make medieval scholars fall over. One of these is, yes, The Flat Earth Society. For those that believe Heliocentrisme is impossible is some many ways, try to include this in a Heliocentric view of the universe.

Now, as presented above, popular history is deeply ingrained into our society. Entire political parties are based on popular histories that don't even come close to what really happend or is happing right now. Yeah, Steamer pretend to live in a 'altered past' but these people modelled there politics on alternate histories. Some are actively rewriting it, like the Institute for Historical Revision, wich I won't link because these people are/or appear to be neonazi's or at best xenophobes and anti-semitics.
So, for those who want to translate Steampunk to a political movement, here are your heroes!

What do these parties and institutes have to do with the History Channel? Well, not only do these 'people' consider our past something that could changed on a whim to suit their agenda and take shortcuts to the media to escape peer review. To them history is something you can make money of. Enter Ancient Aliens.

Ancient Aliens is both insulting as it is deceitful. Not does it just cater to people looking for answers in life outside of religion. They exploit the people that do the actual research by quote-mining (taking statements out of context) interviews and articles by actual scientists. It's so abvious in their documentaries it's sickening.
Also their sentiment appears to be, 'So these structures appear to be build by non-whites with primitive tools one strange locations? Aliens must have done it!' Yeah, I would like to hear them explain how the European Cathedrals were build in simulator conditions. Surly aliens must have helped with that too? Oh, wait those were build by white people. Duh!
 I could go in detail why I call Ancient Aliens liesers and not just wrong. However,  ancientaliensdebunked.com/. has a wealth of information on this subject and a near three hour long video on it on youtube. Very interesting stuff.

All these examples above have though me one thing. People want to be convince of things they know are far fetched or simply wrong. And nothing can convince them other wise. Only they themselves can do that. All 'we' can do is present our information in a public forum like the internet. That's why atheists call the internet 'were religion comes to die'.
Whoever, the internet is so flooded with BS, actual science and discoveries are drowned or pushed aside by documentaries and websites that present sensational nonsense for money or to promote their agenda. And that is just sad.

    

Bits and Pieces 1. And Emporium Vernesque Presale!

Introducing a new segment I like to call Bit and Pieces. This is me ranting in my bedroom about movies, fairs and stuff. 
Yeah, didn't feel like writing something today. So until I get around doing some genuin video's I am trying to get used to talking to a piece of plastic. I also need a new webcam that isn't a wideangle. So if anyone has a webcam laying around he or she doesn't use and is compatible with windows 7  I am interested.

Also, For those who are going to Emporium Vernesque. Please help out and buy your tickets in advance. It would be greatly appreciated... I forgot to mention there are Goody Bags for those who do. But only for the first 100. So don't postpone for to long, or it'll be gone. You can find them here.




 

Report, Elfia Arcen 2014

Still waiting for my domainname to be released so the new site can finally be launched.

If been to Elfia with a full crew which is awesome and today I finally finished my first documentary, in Dutch. So, hurray. I'm getting better at this, but there still is a long way for me to go. 

So, please enjoy this video. Iike it. Comment on it and share it on facebook.

In other news. Tommorow I will be on set of a Dutch movie, called Homie's. It's a comedy about some friends whom got involved in a drugdeal. Appearently one of the scenes takes place on a fair like Elfia. I'll be suppyling some stuff for the backgrounds. Maybe I'll report on it later this week.

Elfia, Royal Debate: Maximus and Minerva versus Ezekiel and Fairyina

The full recording of the Royal debate of Elfia on 20-09-2014 between Maximus and Minerva versus Ezekiel and Fairyina of the Steampunk Objective. A real Nature versus Technology argument.
Did some editing on it to make it more watchable. Also the one that lead the debate was.... Well, lets say it redefines the meaning of being multi linguistic.

Thriftshops and countryfairs

This weekend I learned It not a good idea to bring to a thriftshop. I come across to many unique and practical thing for me to ignore. Recently I discovered there is an store with a great selection of second had good and before I knew it, me and a friend of mine were rearranging my livingroom yet again! But it really improved.

I went to the Historische Openlucht Museum (Historical Openair Museum?) in Arnhem. It's a great park were the moved and rebuild all kinds of historical buildings for the Netherlands from 1700 and later or so. Farmhouses, windmills, stores, trainstations and workshops. I can al be found there. You can even ride electric trams to get from one place of a park to another. It's great. There are also a lot of activities like games, Dutch crafts and the like. If you foreign and you want a good impression of Dutch history and culture I can greatly recommend to go here, but keep in mind you'' spend your entire day there because it's huge and there is allot to see.

I was kind of surprises when I arrived and see this
line in front of the museum

I went because a friend of mine was there for the weekend with her family. There were with a tractor club. Yes, a group dedicated to old tractors from 1939 to the 70's. I didn't know however this was a annual festival held by Land Leven (Country Life). A magazine on argiculture history and culture. A poplar one to apparently, because it was busy. There actually was a trafficjam in front of the museum. Fortunately I gone there on my bike. Something I use to little ever since I have a car.     


So after cycling uphill all the way I got to walk all from activity to activity. There were presentation on craft and art. I could taste different foods and off course buy stuff. Somethings were really unique and even appealed to my steampunk-ish sensibilities.
The tractors were also very enjoyable to see. Even beter. I got to drive along on one, which was awesome!

 

A tractor build in 1939

 I didn't go there with the intention to buy anything, but off course when I see something I really like (something I don't often see) I have to buy it!

So I bought this. A bandoleer-like purse designed by Marinel Hartong from Majesteit. I was looking for some this pratical for a long time and finally found something awesome. They have all kinds of leather bags, purses and the stuff like that that both look good and are practical. Incidentally it also looks good with this leather coat for our RAGTAG-project  If your intrested in their designs or would like to see more you can mail them at marinel.majesteit@xs4all.nl.

So, that was kind of a unexpected highlight.

And Next week Elfia Arcen. I'will be there on saterday to attend the royal debate. I will be there with a small film crew to record this possible historical event were an Steampunk king and queen will be elected. So, yeah, another video.

Disney legancy and Hullaboloo

The original depiction of the Nautilus by
Alphonse de Neuville and Edouard Riou

So… This isn’t according to plan. It appears my old provider was taken Tupperwaresteampunk.nl hostage and demands ransom. Now I have to wait 38 days or so until the domain has been freed and the moving to the new provider can begin in earnest. So, not only does mijndomein.nl webmaker suck. So does it’s information they give you regarding moving away. Wonderfull.

Now then, something more positive. Hullaboloo!

  

Disney has had a pronounced impact on Steampunk decades before Steampunk even became a thing. 1954's Walt Disney picture 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea has, and will be, honourably mentioned in all books on Steampunk and it's history because of it's aesthetics.

When people recall the Nautilus from Jules Verne's original book, they always picture the Disney version of this vessel, even if they haven´t seen the movie. That tells us something about this movies influence.

Walt Disney himself was a sciencenut. He had an almost Gene Roddenberry-like optimism about the future of technology and how it would effect people. So all the Disney themeparks have some ‘tomorrows-future- today’ kind of attractions, like Star Tours in Disney World or Spacemountain in Eurodisney (Paris).
That, combined with the All-American themes that can be found around these park it’s ain’t surprising some attraction, maybe without the designers realizing it, got a Steampunkish vibe to them. Or maybe they simply tried to recreate the style of 20,000 leagues under the sea.Whatever the case, Disney is important for the Steampunk culture in a sense because it was so ahead of it time.

It became kind of a tradition. In 2004 they made anothter Jule Verne adoptation of

‘Around the World in 80 Days’. But this isn't the only title that has an indirect link to Steampunk. The even delved it what we now call Dieselpunk, like withThe Rockeeter (1991) and Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001). Even the series Tailspin were kind of Dieselpunkish and included skypirates.
Rescue Rangers also had a DIY-character named Gadget (for some reason she was named Misty in the Dutch version) that had build an airship from a plastic bottle and a balloon. 

These days Disney seem to have even embraced the Steampunkish side of they’re work. There is a ´Phineas and Ferb´ episode dedicated to a Jules Vernian-past called ‘Steampunx’. This includes the song ‘A brave New World’ by none other than Professor Elemental himself… Have I ever mentioned Steampunk is considered part of the mainstream in the US? 

So, can we expect a full blown Steampunk production from Disney? … I dunno. Looked for their upcoming releases but couldn’t find any.

Therefore we ‘ll have to do with Hullabaloo.

This crowdfunded animated shortfilm is now on Indiegogo. It will be produced by James Lopez, know from Disney’s The Lion King and The Emperor’s New Groove.
So will it be good? Probably.
Will it be great? … Let’s hope so. And here is my reason why. Right know Steampunk lacks a an iconic character, like Superman is to superheroes or Indiana Jones is the adventure films. Could Hullabaloo’s Veronica Darling be this character? It better be. With 25 days left it has already exceed it’s 80,000 dollar goal with nearly 100,000. So yeah. With that much support they better make it work… No pressure James.

You want to support this project?  Like it on facebook and visit their indigogo-page. Better yet, support it!