The Noble Art of Tea Dueling
From mookychick.co.uk
Yes, you heard right, I said “tea dueling.” I just found out about this sport because a friend of mine took second place at CONvergence this past weekend in MN (Congrats Michael Sherman!). I am gutted that I had to miss it and MN Comic Con this year because of traveling, but maybe I will get to see some tea dueling at Weekend at the Asylum in September.
Basically, a duel is a game of chicken between two competitors who have dunked cookies into hot tea. Their challenge is to be the last person to get the whole cookie into their mouth before it breaks, so they try to pysch-out the competition before their biscuit ends up in their laps. Sounds like good old civilized fun. Here is a video from DragonCon 2013.
Find out more at the website for the American Society of Tea Dueling at https://www.facebook.com/americanteaduelling
Gearing up for Steam Tour: Jekyll and Hyde Dance Performance
I will publish a full itinerary soon, but right now I think I will be seeing this performance on 8/9. Maybe I will see you there?
| Category | Dance, Physical Theatre and Circus |
|---|---|
| Genres | Adaptation, Contemporary |
| Group | Headlock Theatre |
| Venue | Spotlites @ The Merchants’ Hall |
| Times | 21:30 |
| Suitability | 16+ |
| Duration | 1 hour |
Eminent scientist Dr Henry Jekyll believes he has created a new cure for depression. In a bid for his colleagues’ approval, he agrees to self-test the drug, but he soon comes face-to-face with his disturbed alter-ego, Hyde. Pulled into the violent underbelly of London, Jekyll struggles to win a war with his own psyche. Join Headlock Theatre for a physical re-telling of Robert Louis Stevenson’s gothic tale. ‘Cleverly interpreted and brutally realised’ **** (ThreeWeeks) on Tragedy of Titus.
Steampunk Sourcebook: The Statue of Liberty
The Statue of Liberty, or Liberty Enlightening the World as it is really titled, is among the most iconic landmarks our little blue and green sphere has to offer. My favorite day of my NYC vacation was the one we spent on boats going around the bay and to Liberty Island and Ellis Island. I thought I knew the whole story of this copper colossus, but I learned some great stuff during my visit.
So where did that big green lady come from?
It all started in France. Ostensibly, the statue was a way to mark the friendship between the US and France, and to acknowledge the love of liberty they shared. In reality, it was a resounding raspberry directed at the leadership in France, Napolean the Third. Nap III, as I like to call him, was actually elected to the presidency through a popular vote, but when he was told he could not run for a second term he led a coup and got himself kingafied like his dear old uncle before him. So this huge investment in time and resources was a metaphorical middle finger to Nap III and his total bulldozing of liberty as much or more than a nice gesture to the US. She is facing France directly, her unwavering gaze falling on the very people who, in the eyes of the project directors, were violating liberty the most.
The projected completion date was 1876 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of American independence, but it hit a few hiccups along the way and it was not actually erected until 10 years after the original goal date. As you can imagine, creating a statue that not only measures over 300 feet tall take a lot of engineering imagination, but this statue also had to be able to travel across the ocean and be reassembled on the other side. As an added challenge, the US was in charge of making the pedestal, so the French sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi couldn’t know exactly what to expect when he reached Liberty Island. The torch-bearing forearm of Lady Liberty made an appearance at the 1876 in Philadelpia, and was then displayed in Madison Square Garden until 1882, and the head was a part of the Paris World’s fair in 1878.
In addition to Bartholdi, whose Bartholdi Fountain can still be seen in the US Botanical Garden, such notables as Joseph Pulitzer and Gustave Eiffel also were involved in the construction. Pulitzer was integral to the fundraising effort to complete the base and got the funds by advertising the chance to get your name in the newspaper for any size contribution to the cause. At that time, newspapers were a fairly new commodity, and hundreds of thousands of people sent in their pennies to see their names in print. Eiffel was brought in to assist Bartholdi with the huge feet of engineering the skeleton for the statue, and he created a structure that not only could support the weight of the copper sheets that made up her skin, but would also allow it to expand and contract with the change in seasonal temperatures as well as sway slightly in the high winds of New York’s harbor.
There are many more statues on Liberty Island than just the lady herself. Phillip Ratner created a series of Rodin-like bronzes commemorating those men and women who contributed the most to the completion of the monument.
When the statue was finally ready for its inauguration only men were allowed to attend the ceremony. Angry ladies commissioned boats and led a protest at sea during the event. This is especially ironic given that the famous poem, The New Colossus, was written by a female poet, Emma Lazarus. It was written and donated as part of the fundraising campaign for the pedestal, and now graces the pedestal itself. But Emma herself was barred from attending.
Here is the poem:
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
I have run across one reference in Steampunk literature so far to the statue of liberty as seen by dirigible in The Girl in the Clockwork Collar (Steampunk Chronicles 2). Have you run across any in your Steampunk wanderings? Let me know so I can add them to this post.
Enjoy this gallery of the statue as it was being built, as it appears today and with some fun variations by different artists. If I am missing a credit and you know who did a particular piece, please let me know!
“Inventions” is an Eerie Echo of Doctor Moreau
Stuart Davis
Stuart Davis is not a Steampunk by a long shot, but as I was reading Doctor Moreau this song popped into my head so I had to track it down to share. It also smacks of the scientists like Sir Isaac Newton who believed that the true aim of science was to better understand god, or at least “what invented me.”
Inventions
- Listen to this song for free here!
When I work on my inventions
I use rubber bands and glue
When I work on my inventions
I cut some things in two
Take a peek
but keep it secret
Almost done with my invention
but I need a volunteer
When I work on my inventions
I have to plug my ears
But who said science
is quiet?
Put your hand inside the jar
Goddammit I’m in charge
Keep those wires in your mouth
don’t spit ‘em out
I’m inventing what will be
the thing that tells me
what invented me
I’m not nice to my inventions
when they are not nice to me
You don’t know about invention
so shut up
I guess some of my inventions
don’t want sleep and don’t want food
I love all of my inventions
Why don’t they love me?
I love all of my inventions
but they don’t love me
Do they, kittie?
Do they, kittie?
Put your hand inside the jar
Goddammit, I’m in charge
Keep those wires in your mouth
Don’t spit ‘em out
I’m inventing what will be
the thing that tells me
what invented me
What invented me?
someone tell me
what invented me
I must discover
what invented me?
So put my hand inside the jar
Flip the switch and boost the charge
Keep those wires in my mouth
Don’t let ‘em out
This discovery will be
the one that tells me
what invented me
Mechanical Menagerie: Four-legged Friends
Want to see more “mechanimals?” You can check out my galleries of Steampunkish fish, felines, birds and cephalopods, too!
Gearing up for Steam Tour: Dorian Gray Double Feature
There are two shows at Edinburgh Fringe Fest that reinterpret Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891) and I hope to see them both. In case you don’t know, Dorian (who makes an appearance in the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen) is an immortal. There is a painting of him that ages and becomes gradually more and more hideous to reflect the degradation of his soul, and if he ever looks at it the spell is broken and he will die.
Here are the descriptions of the two shows:
Victorian Vices- The Picture of Dorian Gray
London, 1859. The wealthy young man, Dorian Gray, arrives in the piteous promenades of Piccadilly and begins to model for artist Basil Hallward. He meets the incorrigible Lord Henry Wotton and makes a life changing decision, which amazes and appals friends and foes alike. He indulges in the variously sordid Victorian vices of the times, tainting his acquaintances and using his wondrous looks to turn all those he comes into contact with away from the light. Original, immersive promenade musical.
| Category | Theatre |
|---|---|
| Genres | Site-specific, Musical theatre |
| Group | Another Soup |
| Venue | theSpace on Niddry St |
| Times | 20:00 |
| Suitability | 16+ |
| Duration | 1 hour 40 minutes |
A collaboratively devised creative adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray in a high impact Berkovian style, putting a new spin on the classic tale of the pursuit of hedonism and the destruction of the human soul. Performed by six promising young actors from Dorset.
| Category | Theatre |
|---|---|
| Genres | Physical theatre, Devised |
| Group | The Egg Theatre Company |
| Venue | Greenside @ Nicolson Square |
| Date | 14-16 August |
| Time | 10:20 |
| Duration | 40 minutes |
| Suitability | 16+ |
When I get closer to Steam Tour I will post a schedule of when I intend to see which shows. Maybe I will see you there!
Hustlers, Harlots and Heroes is a Must-Have Resource for any Steampunk Author
As part of my preparation for Steam Tour I picked up a great little reference volume by historian/geek Krista A. Ball. Hustlers, Harlots and Heroes: A Steampunk and Regency Fieldguide tells the story of the untold, the people who populate your Steampunk imaginings but are rarely the focal point. She brings you the inside scoop on the maids, footmen and even your friendly neighborhood knocker-upper (think alarm clock with a stick) to offer readers and writers a window into how the 99% really lived during the Regency and Victorian eras.
Ball’s first reference book, What Kings Ate and Wizards Drank, also sounds like a lot of fun, but so far I have only read Hustlers. Both books include recipes that you will want to make at home (and some like tooth paste made from cuttlefish that you’d never EVER want to try) in addition to some great background information and delicious tidbits to add depth and interest to your own Steampunk projects.
Let me know if you have any ideas for other reference books I should read before Steam Tour starts in August! I finally got a reliable internet connect here in Greece so I hope to go back to posting more often and letting you know all the amazing Steampunkery that is to come.
Steampunk Book Review: The Iron Jackal
The Iron Jackal Cover
When I started writing For Whom The Gear Turns I thought maybe, just maybe, someday a literary agent would contact me and offer me a free book to read and review. You can imagine my surprise when after only blogging for 6 months it happened! I worried a little that this would color my view of The Iron Jackal (Book 3 of The Tales of the Ketty Jay), especially after the giddy rush I got from opening the package when it arrived. But in the end, it gave me a giddy rush all on its own.
Chris Wooding has been writing the Tales of the Ketty Jay for several years, he is all the way through Book 5 in the UK. But, it was his US agent who contacted me, and told me that they were going to start with Book 3 for the American release on June 1. I was a bit skeptical about starting in the middle of a series, but it meant being dropped into a fully formed and complex world that was a joy to explore and made me even more interested to go back and read the earlier books. There are airship pirates, complicated relationships, daemon-imbued walkie talkies and multi-faceted cultural and political systems that overlap and contradict in a very realistic way. What’s NOT to like?
This tale focuses on the captain of Ketty Jay, Frey, but the story is told through the eyes of the entire crew as they take turns enriching the story with their insights and foibles. It all starts when this rag-tag band is enlisted by Frey’s “its complicated,” Trinica the pirate queen, to steal an artifact of unknown origin and purpose off of a moving train. It reminded me a little of one of my all-time favorite episodes of Firefly, only I really doubt that Frey would ever return the goods like Malcolm Reynolds no matter what they are. In this case, the artifact turns out to be a weapon that seems both ancient and futuristic at the same time, but when Frey lets his ego get the best of him and lifts it from its case the real adventure begins. The weapon pricks his palm and leaves behind the most dreaded of pirate iconography, “the black spot.”
As scary as the Kraken is, I think the daemon that pursues the bearer of the spot in Wooding’s world is even more terrifying. The Iron Jackal is a sinister amalgamation of flesh, machine and the bearer’s darkest secrets and most painful regrets. Frey is haunted by the voice of a man he left to die and the eyes of the woman he abandoned to pursue his life of piracy. But even with his dark past, his loyal crew will stop at nothing to help their captain return the artifact to its resting place to save his life and the family they have built aboard the Ketty Jay. If only they knew where that resting place was…
I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a fun read, but doesn’t mind some moral ambiguity. Frey is by no means a “good guy” by nature, but his Archer-like humor and quest for redemption in Trinica’s eyes make him a very compelling hero. The rest of the crew also gets to be fully-formed people with loves, losses and secrets all their own, so in the end it is really an ensemble piece rather than a story just about Frey. There are some nuances of the political issues that I am sure that I have missed because of not reading the earlier books, but it still definitely holds together as a stand-alone novel and a great place to start exploring Wooding’s work.
For Whom the Gear Turns 