Octopi, The Fabulous, by the World's Funniest Animal Documentary Producer

Post by Ramon Leon Del Mar.

Monsters Invade Traditional Blue Willow China Kickstarter!

You have to see this to believe just how great this could get, at least for those like us that actually use Blue Willow China for things, like receiving guests, having tea, holidays, backdrop for photo and film etc. etc.

Imagine grandma's face when at the end of her lovely Thanksgiving meal she is face to face with the Great Kraken, Leviathon, even Cuthulu???   OK, so maybe we put out these dishes for friends with steady heartbeats, well... and the vampires with or without heartbeats of course, rather than grandma, but this is so cool!

If he makes a set with giant octopi, we will definitely be buying them, maybe a full set!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/159974695/calamityware-dinner-plate-3

Craft Beer Festival at a Nudist Resort - How Great is That?

Post by Ramon Leon Del Mar.

Happy Easter From the super Killer Rabid Easter Bunny! Sort of.

Post by Ramon Leon Del Mar.

Creatures of the Night Event Sponsored by Kali's Hourglass at local Goth/Steam Dance Club

Yes that's right... Kali's Hourglass is at it again, but this time with fangs bared!   Some of the photos from this event were so macabre there was serious concern whether Facebook would permit the simulated Vampiric violence to be broadcast on their rather prudish site, so the full photo set from the performance art photo shoot with Ramon and Radha will be found only on this blog site!

When they weren't biting each other out on the patio for photographers  ...they were inside dancing their asses off!







Ramon privately admitted later that "laying across Radha's lap allowing her to ravage me for the cameras was definitely the most fun job I have ever had!"  Unfortunately the photographer hasn't delivered those shots yet.  Yea... OK they were still dressed, but the look in the eyes during that set says it all.  A very private moment made rather public.

It was a great event with Vampires, Werewolves, Witches, and Warlocks all having a great time and entertaining and socializing with other guests.  While only a few of the attendees were elaborately dressed, many of that club's regulars could be stark naked and still meet the above descriptions...literally!
(Hmmm...... maybe that's an idea for the next event???)

https://www.facebook.com/events/398797090243135/

click here for: more photos from the event

Happy Halloween!

How Do You Dress a Steampunk Dog???

Steampunk dog (via http://www.faistapart.ca)

 I am a dog lover and I usually spend most of my time about finding new dog fashion to make my dogs super cool dudes. I recently found out about a new dog fashion – the steampunk dog! This article also explores what steam punk is, and how to dress…

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Dragonball Z League at Anime Fest!

Fantasy Sports League goes Anime at Anime Fest!!! Dragonball Z League, the most popular program for the internet gamers channel TGN, will be presenting their innovative approach at AnimeFest at 6 pm Friday in P2 and Monday 11 am in P6. This presentation will not only explain the league, but actually allow some of the most avid fans in the audience to customize their own team and pit them against the other side of the room during the presentation.   

This extraordinary online game system, comprised of both man/woman and machine, staffed primarily by volunteers, allows anime fans to custom modify/train the characters from the Dragon Ball Z universe and compete in an international sports league with regulation tag team combat matches that makes the characters of that anime universe real like never before! If you are near Dallas and you like anime or fantasy sports leagues, this is an event not to be missed!!!

Whether you enjoy being an active part of forging a winning team out of something less, making a good team great, or just sitting back and watching the action, this may be just what you have been waiting for.  For those who like to bet on their favorite teams, this league has something for you as well, though it limits such betting to entertainment purposes only at this time for legal reasons, but don't think that reduces fan enjoyment of placing a wager on the under dog and watching them pound the favorites into dust!  

Instead a few players against others, this league allows hundreds, (about 200 at present) and possibly thousands in the future (spectators of the live stream game topped 3000 last week, to directly contribute to making their favorite team of Dragonball Z team into a fighting force that their opponents never saw coming!  Try to get out to this great event and learn what you've been missing.

Poo Poo Platter: Drag Queen Theater par excellence in Austin

While down in Austin promoting a band, this blogger found himself face to face with one of the best delivered and funniest Drag Queen Comedy shows ever.  At Elysium there is a monthly event that dubs itself  “Poo Poo Platter”  While I was a little uncertain if this was where we wanted to spend Friday night in a town as vast and varied as Austin, the club owner, John, at Elysium, talked into taking a look.  They bill the event as follows:  “For our May installation, the girls of PooPoo Platter are giving the stage to five of the baddest bitches in Austin for our first ever Sequin De Mayo Chola Pageant!”   This blogger loves theater of any type, so it seemed worth a look.

While I am not particularly experienced at comparing “Drag Show” events, comparing an amateur/semi-pro stage event involving theater and comedy is hardly new to me, so I simply applied the same standards I would assessing any other event.  Did they appear to dress up for the event?  Are you kidding, these are "drag queens" baby, and they did not disappoint!  The glitter eyeshadow and eyeliner alone could probably have been seen from space if it was an outdoor event, to say nothing of one pair of earrings that looked like they might have weighed as much as their wearer.  Did they present a stage act that appeared adequately rehearsed?  Actually they get very high marks in this category.  While some seemed partly improved, the comedy seemed pretty well written and rehearsed as well as the talent show events in this spoof of a beauty pageant  and delivery of lines from contestants and judges had enough attitude to put American Idol to shame!

Now for the most important question for this type of event:  Were they funny?  Let me just say that comedy is such a dangerous and slippery slope that it is almost impossible to make people laugh without offending anyone.  On the other hand,  directly causing pain to someone so others can laugh at them, seems to be the most common, yet in my opinion, the very lowest form of humor.  That is definitely not what they presented.  Strange humor, satires of corruption, and humor that spoofs or makes fun of one’s own cultural group are the two that seem to take a higher road and still can be really funny if well delivered.  These girls, both the "Drag Queens" and the judges as well, were utterly hilarious using all three with excellent effect!

The contest poked fun at most aspects of a beauty pageant that involved some of the inherently ridiculous aspects such as objectification, arbitrary standards, corruption, and other general nonsense.  They also made fun of themselves, Drag Queen behaviors in general, Latinas (since four of the contestants were Latinas), one "white girl" by the name of "Puta Blanca" (you can guess who she was poking fun at) and three sarcastic, corrupt, and airhead type judges.  There were other aspects that were surprising such as a few rather credible bits of character acting, surprisingly impressive and theatrical makeup work, and one dance and burlesque by one contestant that was one of the finest, and actually one of the sexiest, burlesque routines I have seen.  Did she win the contest?  Of course not as that would suggest beauty pageants aren't fixed or corrupt, and we cant have that now can we?  In fact, the winner’s talent show involved a sexy dance culminating in slinking on all fours off the stage onto the judges table and French kissing one of the judges for a rather extended period, or at least until the laughter started dying down.  When the judge caught her breathe, she said “I know I told you I’d help you win if you made out with me, but I didn't mean here while everyone was watching!”

This blogger will include, naturally, a photo of the cast.  If you are in Austin for one of these “girl’s” shows, I must say that I very highly recommend it!

A few words from the director about the show

Steampunk Literary Review #2 via Steampunk Chronicle

  This looks to be a very funny, informative, and thoroughly entertaining read!

Steampunk Literary Review #2

Review of "Airship Pirates" FRP Game via Steampunk Chronicle

A Review of Abney Park's new Steampunk Airship Pirate fantasy role playing game (old school table top style-yea!!!)

I'm British via The Steampunk Workshop

Jake Von Slatt presents a brief, but interesting article about Professor Elemental's latest album on The Steampunk Workshop


I'm British

Online Steampunk Holiday Shopping via Steampunk Tribune

The Steampunk Tribune has an excellent article about the best places to do online holiday shopping for that special Steampunk, Lady, Steampunk gentleman, or event eh all around Steampunk Rogues in your life.    (""You could use a few more scoundrels in your life")

The-best-26-online-stores-for-steampunk

Planned Undersea Hotel in Dubai!

OK, so is this futuristic or what?  Cyberpunk Heaven!!!  Dubai has really outdone themselves this time with fantasy hotels that look like UFO spacepads with under sea guest rooms!

Planned Undersea Hotel

World's Largest Goth Festival via La Carmina & Huffington Post

You have to see this!  It's just a taste, an appetizer really, but it will get you interested enough for more articles about our dark cousins, the Goth Culture.  No, they are not Steampunk, but the blend of the two cultures is where "SteamGoth comes from, and it would be ridiculous to say they aren't a rebellious "Punk" style culture.  Besides the fashions are wonderfully interesting!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/la-carmina/worlds-largest-goth-festival_b_1588296.html?utm_hp_ref=tw

Underwater Machine, UFO, Building or just a WTF?

I can't even fully explain this one.  It looks like the millennium Falcon, and is about the same size, but at the bottom of the Baltic Ocean, made of organic material, and appears to have used fire rings (you know like "Campfire girls type) on the top surface.  go figure!  I guess I and my crew must be shooting down really strange vehicles at some point in the future, but while traveling through some past century.  At least that would be the narcissistic interpretation, because of course, just like in the movie Forest Gump, great events  must naturally all be about us somehow.  OK, back to the real world and real science now!

http://blastr.com/2012/06/sunken-millennium-falcon.php

One Eyed Doll's Kim Doing Backbend Guitar at Yulecon

Kimberly Freeman Get's Down!  

Photo of the Day!

Ok, so this picture needs no introduction other than to say that I was privileged to be there and take this shot and that it was at Yulecon 2010.  Note the guitar cord trailing.  This was in the middle of a live performance and, yes, she was really playing at that moment while balanced with one foot on one tiny armrest and the other on a different one!  The people gathered around had been gawking and dancing, but this rather stopped any other thoughts than "OMG, where's my camera!"

Reviewing the Steampunk Worlds Fair 2012

Even the Fair Patrons Brought Real Ingenuity to the Event This Year!

I have been attempting to put together a full on site report for the Steampunk World's Fair 2012, but realistically, this will have to be a series of articles as it is just too vast an event to cover otherwise.  The event was fun, boisterous, spontaneous, and very interactive, but it was so vast in scope, with so many interesting activities, panels, and performances going on simultaneously that half a dozen people could have gone to this entire event and rarely attended any of the same attractions.  The five stages were going almost non-stop with burlesque, comedy, and a wide assortment of bands and other types of performers.  Panels were going almost non-stop in both hotels on topics ranging from DIY workshops and readings by authors to the truth behind Lovecraftian fiction!

This Steampunk Patron is armed with a Starburner Standard model 42, "Enforcer." created by Kim Hutsell

There was even a family friendly Midway in a large courtyard by day with food, entertainment, and a few games.  At night this turned into a more adult oriented Canivale Obscura dominated by fire spinning and various types of cabaret performers.  Prof. Mark Donnely was out there the whole weekend giving fascinating instruction on many styles of combat ranging from Baritsu and stick fighting to the use of highland Claymores.  There you could get pretty good quality fast food (including veggie burgers!) and sit at tables, or even better, in the cool shade under the trees, while the outdoor entertainment continued around you.  This was one of my favorite spots and was sometimes even quiet enough to conduct interviews in that setting with lovely music in the background.

Hard working "Vamps" at the Biting Booth!!!  (No flash used because... well you know!)

The Goblin Market Friday night had such interesting aspects that I will be writing a separate article about it from an insider's perspective, but I will introduce my readers briefly to this fascinating and unique aspect of the event in this review as well.  The highlights included a “Biting Booth” in which two lovely young “Vamps” offered to bite their customers on the neck as hard or soft as they liked, for a price of course!  They alternatively offered their services wielding a riding crop instead.  Another booth offered spankings, (with hand or paddle) from two lovely young women portraying clockwork dolls!

The Spanking Booth!!!

Many other booths in the Goblin Market offered fortune telling (by someone with surprisingly uncanny ability), strange wares, demonstrations of strange science, and selling things as odd as unicorn horns or even the dreams of madmen for those who cared to partake.  A variety of performers from around the country, such as the Red Fork Emperor and Dr. Grimm, entertained, but really the highlight of the evening, for that crowd at least, was the burlesque show!  Psyche Chimere, of Psyche Corporation even made an appearance dancing beautifully on one of the tables at the back while other entertainments continued on the stage.

Psyche Chimere of Psyche Corporation dancing at the Goblin Market

I also was able to hear, meet, and interview The Clockwork Dolls, Platform One, Strange Artifact, and Frenchy and the Punk, so I am working putting together those interviews as separate articles, but that will link back to the series on the SPWF 2012.   Some of the other bands I was privileged to hear perform included the  Hellblinki Sextet, Emperor Norton's Stationary Marching Band, This Way to the Egress, The Extraordinary Contraptions, Victor Sierra , Voltaire, Psyche Corporation, Eli August, and Igor’s Egg, but there were many more besides.  There was simply not enough time to see and hear, much less interview them all.  I was also spending some quiet time just talking with my friends in Victor Sierra and Psyche Corporation, so I will share some of that (with their permission of course) at a later date as well.

Strange Artifact's Mary and Yuki with Kraky and Adm. Ramon at the Midway

Other aspects unique to this event included “Vendors Row” where an entire hallway of the hotel was dedicated to vendors selling a great variety of wares and supplies to make steam punk items, directly out of their hotel rooms converted into a long row of boutiques.   There were also  more typical vending areas, but there were so many small to mid sized vending rooms that I had trouble even locating all of them, much less seeing everything they had to offer.   As a writer, the most interesting for me was actually meeting the staff of Steampunk Magazine, who are now accepting submissions again and moving back into full production, but I was also able to meet writers, as well as craftsmen, vendors, and artists, from all walks and genres and spend as much time as I wished truly learning about them and their favorite forms of art.

Not only is Heather Hutsell a Steampunk author, but she makes lovely garments from recycled parachutes!

The highlight of the event was probably the performance by Voltairre Saturday night!  He was funny, dark, twisted, and incredibly entertaining.  In short, I found Voltairre to be all he was reputed to be and incredibly fun!  In fact, the band opening right before him, this way to the Egress, was pretty fun as well.  If you were in a bad mood for any reason on the way in, it was almost impossible to stay that way around so many people having so much fun, simply blowing off steam, stress, and anything other remaining inside them leaving only a sense of pure fun!

Voltaire

The dance after wards was just as great with surprisingly excellent dance music!  Unfortunately where I am from in the Southwest Steampunk is new enough as a full on convention that we are still needing to convince the Djs that Anime Convention dance music (mostly rave style) is simply not what our dancers want.  The dance DJ played a very interesting mix of Darkwave, New Wave Electronica, strange & fun items (like Rocky Horror and Repo), and an assortment of high quality dance items pulled from a variety of bands that are well known, but have only a few such excellent selections for dance.  In other words, we have extraordinary good DJs who really watched the crowd and responded very well to them.  The best DJs are measured by how well they do this by shifting the music to whatever keeps the crowd happy and dancing.  (as opposed to some who are too focused on showing off their latest re-mix tracks regardless of crowd reactions to them)

Aelus Kristof von Stadberg guitarist of the Extraordinary Contraptions

Overall, the event was every bit as friendly and inclusive as advertised!  People were made to feel at ease and accepted regardless of culture, appearance, gender bending, or sexual orientation.  In fact, some people paid special attention to anything unusual, but I saw only positive reactions regardless of how unusual things got even late and after many libations.  I found myself at 3 am sitting with another press rep (from MTV) explaining the Steampunk Culture, convention scene, and genre in general and having a lot of fun doing it.

Hatton Cross Steampunk's David Lee

I think the only flaw I could find (aside from last minute posting of the schedule and the sound equipment not working for one of the shows), was that the event was so vast and had so much excellent talent and fascinating things to see and people to talk to that it would have to continue non-stop for several weeks before I could be satisfied I had truly sampled most of what they had to offer.  I recommend looking at the schedule carefully before going, but not working too hard to follow whatever plan you set as rushing about too much with too rigid a schedule will cause you to miss the finest, but often unexpected flowers along the way.

American Tea Dueling

Thanks to Bednall Photography

I was first introduced to English Tea Dueling (not to be confused with American Tea Dueling-you know how us penal colony types like to create anarchy and all! lol) by some new friends of mine, the members of the band BB Blackdog.  they explaiend the practice and demonstrated, taught, and refereed a competition at the new Texas Steampunk and paranormal convention (put on by the Steampunk Illumination Society) called The Nightmare Machine.  At our competition, to see who could keep a stiff upper lip the best, a young slip of a girl, Autumn Moran (about 11 years old) defeated one of the biggest and burliest men in the organization, thus proving this is indeed a way to demonstrate courage and steadiness of nerve and hand rather than brawn.

Here is an article by Americans that explains the American version via that excellent new periodical
The Steampunk Chronicle:

A brief Introduction to American Tea Dueling

Kraky the Air Kraken Goes to Japan as Goodwill Ambassador!

Mary and 130JET for the Japanese Steampunk band Strange Artifact with Adm. Ramon and Kraky

Kraky, the super mutated, hyperintelligent, telepathic air kraken from the Steam Sail Ship Kali's Hourglass will be traveling to Japan to live with the Steampunk Band, Strange Artifact.  Kraky will live and work there as the new "Goodwill Ambassador" to the new Steampunk community  forming just now in that wondrous country!

When Mary, the singer and songwriter for Strange Artifact, saw Kraky, it was love at first sight!  Well ... she thought he was incredibly cute anyway and held him throughout the interview while Adm. Ramon Leon del Mar explored with them the crafting of their music, their lyrics, and even their steampunk leather goods and garments.  Mary asked if it would be possible to find another miniature super mutated air kraken like Kraky, so the Admiral used his magical telepathic fairy box to contact Vice Adm. Narasimhan.   She said she would contact the Time Travel Police, who had specially mutated this form of air kraken as special undercover spies, saboteurs, and telepathic interrogators.   

While the Time Travel Police agreed to provide another such mutated Air Kraken for the steampunk community in Japan, there would be a small delay while they calibrated the time vortex to get back to our current century and ship one out to our planet.  Unfortunately Strange Artifact would be back in Japan by then.

Naturally showing up yesterday instead of tomorrow was no problem for the Time Travel Police (confused yet?) , but in the end, it seems Kraky had developed a fondness for Mary's highly creative mind and offered to go himself to help support the efforts in Japan to build a Steampunk Community in their homeland.  Kraky said he will find a way to report back to us on their progress, as well as the escapades of the sensational new Steampunk band Strange Artifact, as he travels with them on the road in Japan!

League of Steam-Gnome Attack!

Once again, another bit of excellent Steampunk Drama, theater, and humor all rolled into one from the twisted minds of the League of Steam!!!

http://www.steampunktribune.com/2012/05/adventures-of-league-of-steam-bitter.html