Category Archives: Thoughts

Steampunk Revolution?

Posted on by
Reply

“We’ve got a steampunk revolution

We’re tired of all your so-called evolution

We’ve darted back to 1886

Don’t ask us why; that’s how we get our kicks”

Steampunk Revolution – Abney Park

I have admired Steampunk from afar for a while now. I’ve enjoyed the costumes, the machines, the music, and the creativity. I’ve read a few steampunk books. I ran one of the many steampunk role-playing games a long time ago. In fact, I recently discovered Professor Elemental’s steampunk-flavored hip hop. But in the end, I really don’t get it.

Was the age of steam really that great? I refer, of course, to the Victorian era. (And I hate to break it two you, but most of our electric power is still generated via steam. It is just heated by more sources than coal.) 

Don’t get me wrong. The Victorian era was an era of discovery and adventure. The world was still a big place then. It took a long time to travel from country to country. Ships and trains ruled the day. Much of the world was still unexplored.

What is steampunk trying to capture or recapture? 

Is it the romance of the Victorian era or the adventure or the discoveries? Or is it just a DIY movement with cool fashions? Or is it to satisfy a deep need in some of us to explore that modern life can’t satisfy?

I thought about putting together a costume and going to a steampunk event or two, but I would just be a poser. (I could see myself getting into a steampunk role-playing game, but I’m not sure I’m qualified to run one.) So I guess I will have to content myself with listening to Abney Park and Professor Elemental and admiring steampunk creations in pictures and videos.

A Circus Every Saturday Night

Posted on by
Reply

“Ladies and gentleman, welcome to the circus at the end of the world! Tonight, for your pleasure, we will laugh, and cry, and dance, and sing, but don’t worry! None of it means a thing!”

The Circus At the End of the World – Abney Park

I sit in my living room in my comfy chair watching Revenge Of The Creature (1955) as I write this. Am I watching TCM or FXM? Nope. I’m watching Svengoolie.

So what is Svengoolie? Svengoolie is a horror host. More specifically, he is a character on a TV show that shows classic (and not so classic) horror and science fiction movies. The show, of the same name, is currently aired nationally on MeTV and locally in the Chicago area

What is a horror host? Well, a horror host is a TV personality that hosts horror movies. They usually introduce the film then break-in before or after the commercial breaks and give you info on the film or make fun of it or both. Other examples of horror hosts are Elvira and Joe Bob Briggs.

I’ve loved horror hosts and classic horror films since I was a child. I watched many classic horror and science fiction films on the Vegas Vampire’s show growing up. I still love horror hosts and the classics of horror and science fiction. Hence watching Svengoolie every week.

I could type all night about classic horror films and horror hosts, but instead, I’ll point you at good sources for information on the topic horror hosts:

And finally, I’ll leave you with the Trailer for American Scary:

Wars And Rumors Of Wars

Posted on by
Reply

“Get ready to draw the rockets of peace

There’s a showdown tonight on the bright milky way

Ambush the bad men, blow him right out of the east

We’ll be singin’, “yi yippy ky, whoopee ky yippy I aye”

Big Guns – Daniel Amos

I grew up in the shadow of the cold war. I was a hawk as a child. Fed on the glory and heroics of movies like Von Ryan’s Express, The Bridge at Remagen, and Where Eagles Dare. I believed that evil could be vanquished with the appropriate application of violence. Just like we used to eliminate Hitler and Nazi Germany.

I believed the propaganda of the day. The USSR was the enemy. The communists were evil. And evil must be defeated. If that involved the use of American blood and treasure then so be it.

I was a fool.

Since that time, I have grown up. I served in the Navy during the first Gulf War. (I didn’t join for the glory of it. I joined for the education. Honestly, if I had wanted glory I would have joined one of the ground forces such as the Army or the Marines.) I got closer to the reality of war. I realized that when you go to war it has a cost both human and financial. I began to see the effects. People killed. Soldiers destroyed. Physically. Mentally. Emotionally.

Sure, I still believe that everyone who chooses to serve their country in the Military is a hero. Especially those that give their lives or limbs for their country’s cause. It’s the causes and the people who determine them that I no longer have faith in.

I no longer believe that a suitable application of violence can solve evil.

Part of this is the result of my Christian faith. Part of this is the result of seeing evil march on despite the wars waged against it.

Now don’t get me wrong. I am not a fool. I understand the need to use violence in the form of self-defense and the defense of others. What I don’t believe in is the idea of a “just war”. 

There is no justice in war. 

People die. Both soldiers and sailors and the innocent.

Is evil defeated? No. At best it is displaced.

Defeat one evil and another will take its place. It is like a hydra. Cut off one head and two will take its place.

We defeated Hitler and the Nazis. A true evil. Unfortunately, we allowed the evil of Stalin to continue and even thrive for a time. Then we defeated the USSR through economic violence. Now they are superseded by communist China. Not to mention North Korea and all the terrorists out there. Where does it end?

It doesn’t. At least not until Jesus returns.

But that brings me to today. The drumbeat of war echoes through the halls of the American government. We are posed to use violence, both economic and physical, to defend Ukraine from Russia. But should we? 

Should we spend American treasure and spill American blood to defend this eastern European country? Is it true that Putin, the President of Russia, wants to recreate the USSR? Do we have diplomatic obligations to Ukraine? Or are we being sold a “bill of goods” by our leaders?

I don’t know the answers to those questions. But I am against war in general and until someone can make a case for me on how this is self-defense in some way, I can’t support direct action in support of Ukraine.