Very Cool Things, cont: Steampunkery
There are enough of these to warrant a collected post of their own, beyond related items I mentioned in the past couple of posts.

I want these, very much. I shall disassemble them and mod the holy crumpets out of them, resulting in a wonderful - and fully functional - confection of leather, brass and fantasy. The mad scientist who lives toward the back of my skull is cackling already.

A lot of people get wrapped up in the "punk" of "steampunk" and lose sight of the fact that the term's relationship to punk is indirect and tenuous. In short, blah-de-freakin-blah and get over your silly selves, O (Self-)Righteous Ones. The first Steampunk 'zine fell prey to this, and is a shadow of what it could be as a result. Witness instead The Gatehouse Gazette. Interesting, useful, and enjoyable, the Gatehouse is a lovely thing.

You have got to see this thing: a space helmet for the intrepid Victorian adventurer! Aside from a lot more images of the whole thing and wonderful detail shots, there's a link in there to a forum thread that describes and shows the making of the helmet from start to finish.

Along those lines, be sure to also check out the Steampunk and Steampunk Gear Flickr groups.

Oh, I nearly forgot! Is it possible for something to be grim and lovely at the same time? I think so, but then, I'm a pretty much considered a weirdo. I submit this animated piece as evidence that the two aren't as disparate as generally held: