Dr. Julius T. Roundbottom, Steampunk Naturalist: photos, fiction and podcasts

Posted by Cory Doctorow, October 13, 2008 1:42 PM | permalink

Jeremiah Tolbert sez, "Dr. Julius T. Roundbottom, Steampunk Naturalist is a combination photography, fiction, and podcast project. Roundbottom is a naturalist studying the faeries and other creatures that dwell within the City Park. He documents them with photographs, recordings, and stories, as well as more supernatural events, such as the Steam Wraith and the Bird Queen.

"It's a little fantasy, a little steampunk, a little clockpunk, and I hope a hell of a lot of fun. The comment community that has grown up around the site respond to the stories in their own characters, and the characters of the site have a dialog with them. The audience, through comments, influence the direction of the story, often introducing new concepts to the world building." Dr. Roundbottom: Scientist & Philosopher (Thanks, Jeremiah)

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Discussion

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#1 posted by sonipitts , October 13, 2008 5:56 PM

Hubby has been getting into the whole genre of steampunk as a look ever since, in a singular instance of sartorial serendipity while I was browsing a vintage/remake shop, we discovered the perfect hat for his "no hats look good on me" head is a top hat, preferably an old felt version. But while the majority of steampunkery seems to focus on a Wild, Wild West/sci-fi look with bulbous ray guns and bowlers, he's more of a stick-and-tweeds kinda guy.

Clicking through, however, I immediately discovered a Professor Welterschmidt character that's quite close to what hubby's been considering - right down to the naturalist "theme," since the hubster's already sort of sporadic naturalist at heart.

I can't wait to show him how handsome he's going to look once I get through with him.

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#2 posted by Tom Hale , October 13, 2008 6:48 PM

This is bound to be enjoyed by all steampunk lovers such as myself. If you aren't familiar with the subject, for the industrious or wannabe industrious, check out this site: The Steampunk Workshop . This, is what wikipedia says about Steampunk.

I've always wanted to bring this up in a steampunk discussion. Have any of you played Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura? This game screams steampunk and is a really fun game. It's open ended, in that you can play the game however you want, like Morrowind or Oblivion. If you like open ended RPGs, you'll love this game. Here's a link to the wikipedia article about the game.

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#3 posted by Pipenta , October 13, 2008 6:56 PM

This is really cool but, somehow, I just wish people realized how utterly amazing the real creatures that inhabit a city park. No faerie community could be anywhere near as amazing as an ant colony.No pixie could fly half as well as a bee (and would look no cuter than this little green halictid: http://www.bugsforthugs.com/wp-content/uploads/IMG_7140.JPG

I love fantasy, but it seems more popular than nature. If only people knew the wonders that were happening right under their feet.

But this is charming, I admit it.

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#4 posted by twobeeshawn , October 13, 2008 10:13 PM

Scrolling through the photos I recognized the haunted house immediately, it's the Avery Mansion in Ft. Collins Colorado. In the 60's my dad and some of his hippie friends rented rooms there, my pop was in the basement- they swore the place was haunted, fun to see they were right! There is a running argument in the family as to this being the place where I was actually conceived, as a third party in the conversation, I can only speculate, but regardless may have to become a member of Dr. Roundbottom's society.