Women in the Fight
Life put up some fantastic WWII pictures about the better half and their part in the war, and we can’t help but share them!
http://www.life.com/image/2628526/in-gallery/23030/wwii-women-in-the-fight
Which ones are your favorite? I for one want a pair of those gunner’s sunglasses immediately.
Dieselpunk sightings: Arisia SF Con 2009
*Update: Improbcat is the photographer, not the person pictured below. Sorry for the confusion.
I just happened to stumble upon Flickr user Improbcat’s great dieselpunk outfit from this year’s Arisia convention and had to share it:
Improbcat at Arisia 2009
The hat, tie, headphones, and armband are excellent touches.
The contrasts are easy to see next to the steampunk costumes that are in other pictures from that set. While the crew of Steam Trek looks quite good in tassles, gold trim, and other such extravagances, the military look in dieselpunk style takes on cleaner lines, simpler uniforms, and modern neckties. This outfit cuts a very distinct 40s-era airforce or navy look with a few well-chosen accessories. It looks great as it is, but if someone else wants to try a variation on the theme: add medals, some more early electronic equipment, try a shirt with buttoned breast pockets, chevrons and other military insignia, boots, map cases and period backpacks, etc.
Improbcat: if you see this post, we’d love to see a few closeups of that armband, the equipment you have on your tie, and are those straps for a backpack? Let us know if you have any detail pictures in the comments.
A Brief Observation of 9
So I finally watched 9. I’ll admit, it disappointed. Not because I thought it was a bad movie by any stretch of the imagination, but because the film really failed to draw me into the world in a way that other animated films in the past have (I am looking squarely at you, ‘The Brave Little Toaster’).
only very minor spoilers ahead.
The Second Industrial Revolution
We shall take a closer look at some of the technological leaps that helped give birth to the Diesel age that we adore so.
Ye Not Guilty: Giant Fighting Robots & Diesel?
My previous post dug around the video-game realm, and in it, I tried to suggest that despite not nailing the aesthetic in the same way that games like Bioshock and the Wolfenstein series do, Final Fantasy VII had skirted the line into Dieselpunk with its depictions of technology and military power.[incidentally, for those of you interested in Bioshock or Wolfenstein, the Gatehouse discusses them both briefly but effectively here.]
Because I find myself so drawn to Dieselpunk as a result of its particular visual nature – something I think comes through very clearly in my posts thus far – I have some time discussing subjects which I believe help to flesh out that nature. Today, I am going to make an attempt at the same argument, but in a new medium.
The medium is Anime. The subject is the Big-O. And I would suppose I would be remiss if I didn’t begin properly: ‘It’s Showtime.’
Community roundup: pulp, cars, and ephemera
It’ll be at least a few days before we get another substantial post up, but in the meantime, here are a few bits from around the web that are definitely worth a look:
- Ratmmjess of Slouching Towards Bethlehem recently put up a huge post covering the “zeppelin pulps,” a subgenre of 1930s pulp stories that focus on zeppelins. He’s got other pulp-related posts on the blog as well.
- Here is a small collection of 1939 sales brochures for cars from Auto Union (brochures in German).
- Megan-swing’s blog is full of WW2-era art, ephemera, ads, and what-have-you (site in Cyrillic).
For Want of a Nail…
World War II films are easy targets for discussion for us here, but I would much rather continue the dialogue on how certain stories such as those in Valkyrie and Inglourious Basterds set up the potential for alternate timelines that inherently welcome factors of dieselpunk into their folds. WARNING: Spoilers! Not on a grand scale, but enough to diminish enjoying these movies for the first time.
Final Fantasy VII. The best Dieselpunk RPG ever made. Almost
Released in 1997, Final Fantasy VII has long been heralded as one of the most entertaining games of the series, as well as representing a fundamental change in the way the American audience perceived Japanese role playing games – games which previously found only niche acceptance in the US.
I firmly believe that FFVII is the greatest Dieselpunk role-playing game ever made. Almost.
The state of dieselpunk DIY
To be generous, the dieselpunk DIY scene is, well, nascent.
Compared to the steampunk scene, the goths, etc., we haven’t got a whole lot. What we do have, however, is pretty high-quality. I’ve collected everything I’ve found below in hopes of inspiring the makers, modders, and crafters among us.
Why I Love Dieselpunk: Dark City
Still in the throes of infatuation for it a decade later, I take a closer look at one of my favorite movies: Dark City.
