A Thought On Steampunk
September 2nd, 2007 | brainjuice
Is it possible that steampunk is making a comeback as acquiescence to the notion that our more recent apparently plausible models of the future will never come to reality?
September 2nd, 2007 | brainjuice
Is it possible that steampunk is making a comeback as acquiescence to the notion that our more recent apparently plausible models of the future will never come to reality?
WARREN ELLIS is the award-winning creator of graphic novels such as FELL
, MINISTRY OF SPACE
, PLANETARY
, and TRANSMETROPOLITAN
, and the author of “underground classic” CROOKED LITTLE VEIN
.
Kieron Gillen - 09 Feb 10
The whole run of Plan B magazine has been released as a single 670Mb PDF. That’s 46 issues of some of the finest music writing of the decade. And a lot of posturing pretentiousness too. It’s like two of my favourite things for the price of one. Or none, as it’s a free PDF.
If you’ve any interest in music in the 00s, or music full stop, this is a great thing to just have on file. You’ll discover a new band every time you browse it.
Hell, it’s even worth getting if you’re one of the games journalist sorts. For the first 10-20 issues or so, I was doing games stuff for it. And Quinns and Mathew Kumar too, who I bullied into contributing. Very much written for the non-gamer about games which get pretty much no coverage, we had fun trying to decode the concept of Outsider Games.
Whole thing here. Go gets!
Coilhouse - 08 Feb 10

Back around the time of Issue 03, we launched the Small Business Advertising Program to create affordable ad space for indie companies in the print version of Coilhouse. By the time Issue 04 rolled around, the number of advertisers had grown significantly – by this time, we had record labels, jewelry and clothing designers, sculptors, other magazines, web hosts, toy makers and graphic designers advertising in our pages. Click here to see them all. With editorial duties taking up more and more of our time as the weeks go by, the moment has come for us to seek help with the advertising side of running the magazine. We’re looking to hire an Ad Manager for our Small Business Advertising Program, starting with Coilhouse Magazine #05… and possibly subsequent issues.
Full details after the jump!
Read the rest of Coilhouse is Hiring! Apply Here.
Post tags: Coilhouse
jwz - 08 Feb 10
Check the appropriate box. Do you or your organization directly or indirectly advocate, advise, teach or practice the duty or necessity of controlling, seizing or overthrowing the government of the United States, the state of South Carolina or any political division thereof?
[ ] YES [ ] NOIf yes, please outline the fundamental beliefs. If applicable, attach a copy of the bylaws or minutes of meetings from the last year.
Open The Future - 08 Feb 10
For those folks who are interested, here's the Slideshare version of the presentation I gave last week at the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute annual meeting. I was asked to talk about foresight thinking, as the event theme was "The Big One of 2056: What Went Right?" a look at a fictional 7.8 quake in the SF region that was handled as well as they could imagine possible.
My goal was to offer a bit of reassurance to the audience that there is some real utility to thinking about the future, and to spell out (in a cursory way) the kinds of big picture issues they should keep in mind while looking ahead forty-six years.
By and large, it was a successful talk. The post-talk questions were engaged, with little push-back, and I'm told that the overall response from the audience was quite positive.
The talk was video recorded, and I'm told will eventually be available to the public. I'll link when that happens.
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[...] Warren Ellis asks an intriguing question: Is it possible that steampunk is making a comeback as acquiescence to the notion that our more recent apparently plausible models of the future will never come to reality? [...]
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[...] Mr. Ellis was wondering, wheather steampunk was making a comeback as acquiescence to the notion that our more recent apparently plausible models of the future will never come to reality? I don’t know, but sometimes I think it follows in the same vein as the alternate history stuff. You know, what if the germans had won WWII and some such. To put it roughly and not entirely fair, it’s just another form of defeatism! The future is not what I was promised, so I’m gonna sit in this corner here and sulk in some imagined past – boohu. Of course, I realize there is some fine work published in the field, but times are different from when Philip K. Dick wrote “The man in the high castle”. Considering the way the world has swung during the last couple of years, this is a reaction – nothing more. [...]
[...] warrenellis.com » Blog Archive » A Thought On Steampunk (tags: steampunk warrenellis) [...]
[...] there has been an accelerating interest in steampunk seems clear. As Warren Ellis mused: Is it possible that steampunk is making a comeback as acquiescence to the notion that our more [...]
[...] Warren Ellis on the current fascination with steampunk. Is it possible that steampunk is making a comeback as acquiescence to the notion that our more recent apparently plausible models of the future will never come to reality? [...]