Article mentioned in previous post

I have a few thoughts regarding this article, which are located after the article. The bolded areas are the parts where my husband was quoted (and actually given credit for the information).

* * * * *

Piscataway event celebrates the Victorian era
By CHRIS JORDAN • STAFF WRITER • May 14, 2010

Grab your goggles, bustle skirts and safari jackets, jump on the next passing airship and head on over to Piscataway this weekend.

It's the Steampunk World's Fair, and it's taking place at the township's Radisson Hotel. What is Steampunk? It's a new movement which celebrates the optimism, fashion and science fiction of the Victorian era.

"I like the visual aesthetics of it,'' said (my husband), 44, of (location removed). "It harkens back to the Victorian and Edwardian styles, but it also has an understanding of science fiction when the idea of technology was a wonderful thing and it would benefit all of mankind, which kind of disappeared after World War I.''

It disappeared after 15 million were killed in World War I, thanks to all the new wonderful technology. But we digress.

The term Steampunk was first used in the late 1970s by science-fiction writer K.W. Jeter. Devotees enjoy Victorian science fiction … H.G. Wells, Jules Verne and the like … and wear the era's clothes with accessories set off by generous amounts of brass and leather along with assorted finery for the ladies.

"There are a lot of airship pirates and captains and military themes … mad scientists are big (for the guys),'' said Sarah Moody, 19, of HighlandPark. "Basically things that are sort of kooky.''
The gals wear corsets, bustle skirts and boots, along with their share of goggles, too. Moody was still deciding what to wear to the Fair when we spoke to her last month.

"I think I'm going to be a Steampunk school girl,'' said Moody, a native of Madison.

Recent movies such as "Sherlock Holmes'' and "Alice in Wonderland'' had a Steampunk air about them.

"I got involved in Steampunk a year ago, but I've been aware of aspects of it, though I never put my thumb on what was the Steampunk genre,'' (my husband) said. "For some people, the attraction is not being constantly plugged into the Internet and constantly tapping into information, but I don't see that as being a huge thing. Look at New York City in the Victorian age … they had vacuum tubes between offices for communication and they had ticker tape … it was their own version spreading information.''

(My husband) and his wife, (me), 31, will attend the Fair, which will feature music, games, vendors and Legos … Steampunks love to play with Legos … over the weekend.

Fair producer Jeff Mach of Hackensack expects more than 3,000 attendees over the weekend. He's especially keen on the world premiere of a Steampunk rock opera, "Absinthe Heroes.''

"It's a work of stunning genius,'' Mach said. "I'd like it even if I didn't write it.''

* * * * *

Now to address the issues I have with this article (and mainly Chris Jordon). There were a number of little incerpts he added that were directly from what my husband told him. This guy didn't know most of the information he gave, but then stated these items as if he did, even to the point of making it sound like he was putting down some of what my husband said. One key example is where Mr. Jordon wrote, "It disappeared after 15 million were killed in World War I, thanks to all the new wonderful technology. But we digress." He cut off my husband's quote where he actually said that the reason WW1 changed the views of technology because of how atrocious that war was, the amount of injuries and death. But by cutting off what my husband said at that point, Mr. Jordon was able to throw in that tidbit, as if it was his own... and in a manner that made my husband look naive, even though my husband is far from it (he has a Masters in History, with a primary focus on WW1 and WW2). Even the "background info" that Mr. Jordon gives, about literature, movies, and visual aesthetics aer almost word for word what my husband told him.

Also, not all steampunkers "love to play with legos", thank you very much.