Reminiscing past visions of the future

I know I'm a geek. Visions of the future have always intrigued me. I was a sucker for EPCOT and its futuristic vibe. On the flip side, the past has an almost equal fascination for me. Not surprisingly, therefore, I have especially been drawn to the future as envisioned by those from the past. Jules Verne pops to mind (Journey to the Center of the Earth , Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea ), as do H.G. Wells (The Time Machine, The War of the Worlds, The Invisible Man, The First Men in the Moon), Mary Shelley (Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus) and others. I loved the section at the end of Popular Science magazine where there used to be a section where they highlighted an old edition looked at the predictions back then. And the short story "The Gernsback Continuum" by William Gibson provided a fascinating look into an alternate future that never happened.

Through my recent dive into steampunk culture, I've begun to explore more of this past-sees-future concept and ran across a fantastic site called Paleo-future. Their tag line is "A look into the future that never was". Grabbed my interest immediately. I could get lost all day there, getting a glimpse of where previous generations thought we'd be today. I highly recommend checking it out. This entry had special resonance for me because I remember reading a book about technology around this time (1978) that featured C-3P0 and R2-D2. I used to fantasize about installing one of those room-sized computers in our families living room!

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17th place isn't too bad, right?

The wait is over. The celebrity judge for the Reasonably Clever Steampunk in 50 Pieces or Less contest (none other than Mr. Jake von Slatt of The Steampunk Workshop) has revealed the fruits of his deliberation. I actually had hopes of a high-place finish early on (silly, I know), but as the entries poured in, some of which were awesome, I despaired of taking a prize. Still, I did finish 17th out of around 90 (mine's entry #14), so that's pretty good. Especially for a first attempt.

Congratulations to the winners! There were some terrific entries. Here's my personal favorite, both from a design standpoint and from the fantastic backstory that accompanies it.


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Now I've gone and done it

Not only have I actually put together a LEGO MOC, photographed it, and published it, but I submitted it for a contest. Click on the picture over there to see the details. All the entries are posted here. Or you can skip right to my submission. The contest is being judged by Jake von Slatt of The Steampunk Workshop. I recall seeing his amazing Steampunk Keyboard Mod a while ago. This guy is totally steampunk.

Anyway, here's a taste:


On another tangent, while being inspired by this contest, I decided to get all geeky and start researching steampunk and actual steam engines. Facscinating stuff. If I ever get to build my Puddle Duck Racer, it would be really cool to add a steam engine like this.