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women in PHLEGM (poetry, history, language, english literature, ghost stories, music)

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Madam Satan, 1930

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CURRENT CULTURE QUEST: FIRST-WAVE STEAMPUNK

The steampunk we know and love today comes primarily from a mid-2000s resurgence, but what was steampunk like when K.W. Jeter first invented the term (jokingly, sarcastically) in 1987?

READING LIST

Gibson & Sterling's The Difference Engine [currently reading]

K.W. Jeter's Morlock Night [not read] and Infernal Devices [read]

James P. Blaylock's Langdon St. Ives stories [to be read]

Tim Powers's The Anubis Gates [to be read]

Paul di Filippo's The Steampunk Trilogy [begun]

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kind of following Sonic's birthday, none of these boys are normal lol

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I feel like Disney fans getting bent up about the live-action remakes just need to speedrun what every generation of theatre kid goes through: we watched Rent, Cats, Phantom, Les Mis, every Shakespeare play, all get the Hollywood treatment, and I'd estimate that barely 10% of those movies were any better than a stage proshot (hell, most were barely better than a phone-bootleg taken from the highest balcony), but you know what? We're able to move on with our lives because at least our imagined ideal of the "Real Version" still exists in our brain. The bad movies live on as memes and cautionary tales, the okay ones vanish overnight like they never happened, and the world goes on because it turns out we can listen to our favorite cast recording anytime we want.

#Canon is a collective delusion

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The origin of the term steampunk: K.W. Jeter, in response to a review of his 1987 novel Infernal Devices, making a joke about he and his two writing colleagues publishing "gonzo-historical" fiction (which is perhaps a more fitting umbrella term in hindsight: Powers's major novel The Anubis Gates is far more magic-based and doesn't even take place during Queen Victoria's reign!)

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Ceci n'est pas “Ceci n'est pas "Ceci n'est pas une pipe.".”.

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Getting all heated again over Anti-Stratfordian conspiracy theory. As far as I'm concerned, saying Shakespeare couldn't have written Shakespeare because he was "only a glover's son" or "only an actor" is like saying Bob Dylan couldn't write Dylan because he was "only a furniture salesman's son" or "only a folk singer".

#Newsflash, maybe artists can learn new things by making art and meeting other artists #Maybe they don't need to take royal falconry classes to write about war or love or faeries or wizards or sea monsters

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Honestly, there are some times when the spoiler is the whole REASON I want to experience a story. Like, what do you mean it takes an entire hour for a vampire to show up? I have to see how they pull off that kind of swerve! It's all a simulation? That's exactly the level of crazy that I want! The credits scene is HOWARD THE FUCKING DUCK? That's all you needed to tell me about this tree and raccoon movie.

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JUNE 2025 #smosh

I hope Angela's doing all right. I feel like she's wearing a weird salty energy in recent videos, and I'm wondering if Blood on the Clocktower just straight-up broke her for the month.

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11 June 2025

Rest in Peace, Brian Wilson, most famous as songwriter, arranger, and bassist for the Beach Boys.

"The Warmth of the Sun", a song about the loss of something dear, is famous for being written while Brian was mourning the passing of John F Kennedy. It feels only appropriate to play it in Brian's memory.

While the Boys will always be remembered for good time songs about surfing and driving, I will always associate them with Brian's tenderer ballads about youthful insecurities, songs like "In My Room", "Don't Worry Baby", and "Til I Die", and this song is one of his best.

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11 JUNE 2025: I wish I were more excited about the upcoming Superman movie, but I've come to realize that the trailers look kinda... last-gen? Like, I thought this was a brave new take, and I don't think we need to keep impressing Cavill/Snyderverse fans, they're either on board or they aren't, and no amount of Man of Steel washed-out Shakycam will change that.

#Sincerely, a grown man who still thinks the Fleischer cartoons are the best adaptation.

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when your stomach is really mad at you and you're not sure which one of your fourteen unhealthy lifestyle choices is causing it

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Herbert Marshall and Kay Francis in Trouble in Paradise (1932) - dir. Ernst Lubistch

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One of my favorite music/dance subcultures is Northern Soul:

Deep in the funk-punk-and-disco 70s, certain major clubs in Northern England were still dedicated to the 60s Motown oldies sound, and when it was clear that current records weren't working for them, dancers and DJs starved for content went digging for more and more obscure non-hit soul singles, often rare items imported from America. Dancers hopped up on speed would swear allegiance to specific clubs because their DJs had songs that other clubs literally could not get their hands on. Perhaps the most famous Northern Soul song is Frank Wilson's "Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)", a record that Wigan Casino somehow got a hold of despite Motown originally cancelling and destroying almost all copies.