Newest articles on The Sacramento Press tagged as "science fiction"

Science fiction gets steamy

2011-07-04T03:00:09Z

What happens when you mix the aesthetic appeal of 1800s Victorian England, scientifically advanced, steam- and gear-powered inventions and the type of alternate historical realities explored in popular culture through movies like “Wild Wild West”?

You get steampunk: an inventive, rule-bending subgenre of science fiction that has found a growing niche in Sacramento.

The term steampunk stemmed from literature like H.G. Well’s “The Time Machine,” published in 1895, and Jules Verne’s 1870 novel 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, according to members of the Sacramento Steampunk Society.These early steampunk works, which feature elements of time travel, whimsically inventive, steam-powered inventions and Victorian-inspired costuming a la Captain Nemo, explore the limits of human potential while offering alternatives to the documented course of history.

Steampunks engage in “cosplay,” or costume play, and often craft their own handmade, theoretically steam-powered gadgets.

The fashion for this genre includes floor-length bell-shaped skirts, petticoats and bodices for women, and calf-length coats, vests, low-collared linen shirts, trousers and top hats for men.

Both sexes sport pilot goggles, steam-powered guns and hand-soldered jewelry crafted from clock gears, watch parts and vintage hardware.

Denise Farinsky recently attended a Second Saturday steampunk event at the Brick Alley Gallery dressed as a “steampunk fairy,” complete with movable wings made from coat hangers and nylon, a revolver laser gun, goggles and a precariously perched black ostrich-plume hat.

Farinsky constructed her outfit from things she found in her closet, accessories from Evangeline’s in Old Sacramento and steampunk jewelry purchased from artists on Etsy. She received a handmade “mechanical steam spider” from another artist at the event, which completed her ensemble.

Farinsky said she has always been intrigued by steampunk elements in fiction by Jules Verne and movies like “Hellboy,” “Back to the Future Part III” and “The Young Sherlock Holmes” but never know that there was a name for it until her cousin clued her in to the genre of steampunk.

Aside from dressing the part, Farinsky participates in the movement through her original, steampunk-themed watercolor paintings, the most recent of which, titled “Night Vision,” depicts a Victorian woman with cascading ringlet curls, sporting a wristwatch-adorned top hat and an elaborately embroidered gear-themed eye patch.

Steampunk for Farinsky is a way of re-imagining present-day technology through a Victorian lens.

“I try to imagine what it would have been like for a Victorian to invent the computer, laser gun, iPhone, etc. using steam technology,” she said.Society member Andy Pischalnikoff, a state worker who also teaches classes in new media, said the all-ages Sacramento steampunk group meets about once a month to show off their costuming, share knowledge, craft steampunk props and socialize.

Pischalnikoff cited the work of horror writer H.P. Lovecraft as a popular theme of costume groups, noting that Lovecraft’s monsters in particular serve as wells of inspiration for the steampunk crowd.

Drawn to the artistic side of steampunk, Pischalnikoff has been photographing Steampunk-popular events like Burning Man, a seven-day festival in the Nevada desert, for six years.

He said he heard about Steampunk through social networking, but that he and his wife, who is a professional costumer, had been dressing for the Dickens Fair, a Victorian costume party held in the Bay Area, for years, making the jump to steampunk fashion an easy one.

Pischalnikoff said the current recession has brought the Sacramento Steampunk Society closer, as hard times make it more important than ever to be industrious and resourceful.Recently, the League of Copper Villains, a Sacramento group with interest in several genres of cosplay, including steampunk, held an event where participants had the opportunity to apply the steampunk aesthetic to old Nerf and squirt guns, first priming them black and then “weathering” them with paint in steampunk-appropriate colors like brass, copper and gold.

Pischalnikoff said a “trademark” of the group is that all of its scheduled events are either free or very affordable, ensuring that cost is never a deterrent.

Sacramento artist and society member Jacob Jerde has applied steampunk ideals to the art of model-building, inventing and sketching steam-powered vehicles and then hand-crafting their miniature replicas.

Jerde, who has been working with models since he was 8 years old, said that each vehicle he creates has a story behind it, like the steam-powered motorbike he dreamt up, which is able to traverse land, sea and air and is the primary mode of transportation for a bounty hunter on a mission to subvert evil forces.Aside from designing steam-powered transportation, Jerde also participates in steampunk cosplay, which, for him, is a chance to tap into his imagination in a limitless way.

“It is basically a civilized way of being a kid again,” he said.

Jerde said the “punk” in steampunk comes from the type of do-it-yourself, no-rules attitude that punks of the 1970s championed. He said creating an alternate reality, where things like a steam-powered motorcycle are possible, is an effort in “rebelling from the norm.”

“I want to have my own identity, to wear what I want, when I want,” Jerde said.

Jerde’s mission is to bring steampunk model-building, an art that he says only a few in the area practice, to the gallery sphere, a move he thinks would be well received.

“People gravitate toward the romance of steampunk,” he said.

Costumed characters promote California Museum's 'Out of this World' exhibit

2009-10-01T03:49:15Z

Halloween came to Sacramento early Wednesday morning as a group of six local science fiction lovers marched downtown dressed in Klingon, Death Star Trooper and Sith Lord costumes. Dozens of children and sci-fi fans flocked to take photographs and speak with the costumed characters.

Others gawked, laughed and one child even cried as they meandered from the California Museum down K Street and past the Capitol to Cesar Chavez Plaza.

The march was organized to promote The California Museum's new sci-fi exhibit "Out of this World: Extraordinary Costumes from Film and Television," which will run from Oct. 3 to Jan. 10. It will feature more than 50 props and costumes from some of Hollywood's most memorable sci-fi films.

Among some of the exhibit's main attractions are the Darth Vader robe and cape from Star Wars, the leather jacket worn by Harrison Ford in Indiana Jones and the hat worn by the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz.

Besides viewing these items, visitors will also learn how clothing designers and artists came up with ideas for the costumes and props, according to Ashley Robinson, the California Museum's communications manager.

Mark Lin, normally a business analyst in Elk Grove, was dressed as a death star trooper from Star Wars. He and another costumed storm trooper represent part of a group called the 501st Legion, a group of friends who dress up as villains from the Star Wars movies, Lin said.

Besides comic book and sci-fi conventions, the 501st Legion attends the Rose Parade and even visits children at Shriner's Hospital and the Salvation Army. Lin mentioned that he is looking forward to some of the older sci-fi costumes at the upcoming exhibit, especially the jumpsuit, proton pack and utility belt from Ghostbusters.

Three other costumed sci-fi fans were part of a Sacramento Klingon Assault Group (KAG) called "Ikvnomhegh," which means "swift death," said Chris Mumma, a KAG officer. Mumma wore a Klingon warrior costume from Star Trek complete with a plastic "bat'leth" or "sword of honor."

KAG "Ikvnomhegh" member Julio Alcala was also dressed as a Klingon, but in a plainer costume from the original Star Trek series. He mentioned that sometimes locals must travel as far as Los Angeles, San Diego and Las Vegas to attend sci-fi or comic conventions.

After displaying an uncanny vocal impression of a Wookie from Star Wars, Alcala added that he was looking forward viewing the black leather jacket that Arnold Schwarzenneger wore in The Terminator at the exhibit.

Another KAG members, Von Bean, dressed as a female Sith Lord from Star Wars. Unlike others, she sewed the costume herself, she said.

David Mello, not affiliated with any costume group, dressed up as Fourth Who, which he explained was the fourth incarnation of Dr. Who from the BBC series "Dr. Who." Recently back from San Diego's Comic-Con, Mello blogs about movies under the pen name Impaler General.

Mello said he is excited about the variety at the Out of this World exhibit. "Even if one person is a drawn to a [specific] genre, they will look at others," he said.

"[By] putting sci-fi costumes in the same gallery space as the Lincoln exhibit, the museum will be able to reach people with different interests," Robinson added. Besides being for sci-fi fans, it's also for people who love movies or costume design in general, she said.

California Museum members will get a sneak preview of the exhibit this Thursday at 6 p.m. during a members-only preview reception. In addition to being able to party in the Star Wars cantina and eat from a table based on the monkey brains scene from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, the gatherers will also participate in a costume competition.

Prizes include a round-trip ticket from United Airlines, a resort package from Le Rivage and Scott's Seafood Grill and Bar and four tickets to see "Star Wars: In Concert" which takes place Oct. 9 and 10 at Arco Arena. Non-members can attend the preview by signing up at the door, calling (916)-653-1752 or visiting Californiamuseum.org/membership.

The California Museum is located at 1020 O St.

Review: District 9

2009-08-22T19:04:17Z

District 9
Directed by Neill Blomkamp

By Tony Sheppard
Capitol Weekly

Sitting at the Number 1 spot in this week’s box office rankings and modestly masquerading as a relatively low-budget creature feature, “District 9” is brought to you in a hands-off way by producer Peter Jackson (the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy).

I say masquerading, as it’s really quite an insightful commentary on politics and international power-brokering, both past and current. The story has aliens arriving over Johannesburg, complete with their clearly superior technology and weaponry but also with a broken spaceship and apparently no intergalactic towing service. This results in two outcomes – a giant refugee camp for the stranded “prawns, “as they become known, and a great desire to crack the potentially lucrative mystery of their guns, which don’t operate in human hands. The film unfolds in the style of a news story or reality TV show, as we watch a mid-level manager undertake the manipulative relocation of 1.8 million refugees from their longstanding slum environment to a new purpose-built tent city.

But what is most noteworthy is the effective way that the film reflects our treatment of not just refugees, but people who we deem unworthy of integration. Being set in South Africa, it’s impossible to watch the movie and not think of Apartheid. But it also looks like a cross between Gaza and any number of shanty towns worldwide, with a trapped population driven to desperation in the face of a complete lack of opportunity. It’s also uncomfortably believable to watch the policing of this fictional environment being performed not by the quasi-UN-type organization depicted, but by a multi-national company of mercenaries and arms manufacturing who clearly have a greater vested interest in the hidden arsenal than in the well-being of the prawns.

Like the best of the genre, this is science fiction against a backdrop of our political and social vulnerabilities and shortcomings. The aliens and their city-sized cosmic-utility-vehicle may be hard to believe, but the humans and their actions are all too real. “District 9” is the best sci-fi of the year, with more thought-provoking content than four years at Starfleet Academy—and without all the financial aid.