Announcing Duel at Dusk 2018
“Duel at Dusk” is back! This is the fourth time we are offering this event. Drake & McTrowell, along with help from the ConDor Con 2018, is making it even better than ever.
Not familiar with Duel at Dusk? It’s a steampunk parlor event with dueling. Once again, there will be four types of dueling: steampunk nerf gun dueling, tea dueling, compliment dueling, and our traditional Olympic-style foil fencing! We will also have our usual dazzling array of steampunk vendors, and much, much more.
On-line sales for Duel at Dusk 2018 have been closed. You can still buy tickets at the door!
7 P.M. to 9:30 P.M. on Saturday the 20th of January, 2018
Location: Co-located with ConCor Con
Handlery Hotel
Garden Ballroom
950 Hotel Circle North
San Diego, California 92108
You may buy tickets at the door of the event. $10 for adults (age 13 and up) and $5 for children (ages 4 through 12). If you have a FULL 3-day Membership to ConDor Con for 2018, then you may attend Duel at Dusk for free (please RSVP so we’ll have enough seating).On-line tickets may be purchased for $8 for adults and $4 for children (only available on-line until 11 PM Wednesday January 17, 2018).
So acquire your tickets, stuff your photographic apparatus into your carpet bag, take in an early dinner, and come join us on the evening of January 20th to participate and/or watch the competitors!
Long Beach Steamy Tea and Picnic
All was in readiness for a delightful picnic in El Dorado Park.
Picnic in the Park
Several very fine gentlemen were in attendance.
Picnic Gents
And what could be a better accompaniment to a picnic in the park than croquet?
Croquet
Plus, there were corgis!
Corgis Attended by their Human Servants
Alas, we had to bid adieu to all the fine steampunk trappings, including this lovely creation.
Tower of Steampunk Finery
Comic Con 2017
We’re always happy to see that Tess Fowler is up to something new, and her new project for IDW, “Black Crown,” looks to be darkly fabulous.
Black Crown
We made it to Cosplay 101 where Bob Mogg was showing off his steampunk Batman costume and providing all manner of useful advice for cosplayers novice and expert.
Cosplay 101
Sparky even spotted a Delores Umbridge in the crowd, although we confess to being more enamored with Kelly Varner’s version.
Delores Umbridge
We’ve been reading Arcana’s “Howard Lovecraft” series recently, so we really enjoyed the panel on the movie.
Howard Lovecraft
Of course, there were sightings of amazing costumes including this Groot that was at least 7’ tall.
I Am Groot
Kelly and Murray crushed this 1950s Star Trek mashup.
1950 Star Trek Mashup
This kid was having the best Comic Con of all! Her dad would hoist her up in the air every couple of minutes, sending her into squeals of delight. Sparky wants to know if she can get someone to do this for her.
Wonder Baby
Check out the Samurai droid mashup!
Samurai Droids
And what Comic Con would be complete without the Starburner Galactic Courier Service steampunk meetup and awards? Kudos to the Starburners for the ensemble cosplay with the Victorian baseball costumes.
Play Ball!
But the highlight of the meetup was when Jeb Haught surprised his long-time girlfriend, Barbara Lekes, with a marriage proposal.
She Said, “Yes”
Sparky spent quite a bit of time lending a hand in the Gaslight Gathering booth. The highlight was a chance to be in KPBS’s live stream of the fan tables on the mezzanine.
Booth Hand Sparky
We were quite literally heading for the door to leave on Sunday when we spotted Nichelle Nichols! Not to be those children of the 60s, but squee!
Nichelle_Nichols
We did find a few minutes of quiet to enjoy a romantic meal at our favorite downtown dining spot, Café Chloe. How can a girl resist a boy who orders her sparkling rosé?
Bubbly Drake
And, yes, we’ve submitted our professional registration materials for next year. Fingers crossed.
Clockwork Alchemy 2017
All the Vending
Fear not, dear reader, life in Authors’ Alley is not all commercial drudgery. The authors have their own tea service to keep up our energy.
Very Civilized
This year, for the first time, we had a contest for table decoration. We won second prize for best use of banners!
Best Use of Banners
And most everyone wanders through Authors’ Alley at some point, sharing their splendid costumes with us.
Authors’ Alley Promenade
But, of course, there was Drake & McTrowell’s “Hot Potato School of Writing™!”
Now with Actual Hot Potatoes!
Although we didn’t get pictures, we did run “There Was Once a Steampunk from Limerick™” for the second time. You can find the clever and hilarious results here.
We did manage to conserve our energies enough to make it to the evening performances for our favorite steampunk circus, Cirque Des Bêtes, and Strangely Doesburg.
Look Ma, No Hands or Head
And what Clockwork Alchemy bloop would be complete without pictures of Thena MacArthur in some magnificent costume, like this resplendent red number for the fashion show?
Lava Red Thena
Remember that Clockwork Alchemy is earlier next year: March 23 – 25th. We’ll see you there!
Gaslight Gathering 2017
Drake showed off his martial arts skills with the premiere of his tutorial on cane defense. There was much clamoring to repeat it at future events.
Take That! And That!
We premiered “There Was Once a Steampunk from Limerick™.” You can find the first batch of results on the new limerick page on our new website page Library of Limericks.
And there were old favorites. Drake & McTrowell’s “Hot Potato School of Writing™” was way off the hook this time with newbie Cindy Diamond and repeat offender Kelly Varner. Plus, it was right after the absinthe panel, so it was more colorful than usual.
Why Does the Green Fairy Make Hot Potatoes so Blue?
For “Theatre of the Historically Improbable™” we performed both “The Evil Cheesemonger” and “Green Grass, Brown Well.” We were joined by Sage & Savant and Debra Brunner, all of whom contributed a significant amount of tomfoolery to the proceedings.
Wall-to-Wall Tomfoolery
We found just a few minutes to look in on other happenings including a sighting of Dyno Staats.
Magic and Choo Choo, What’s Not to Love?
But our greatest achievement of the weekend was to cast, shoot, edit, and screen a video with a great amount of support from Dreadfully Punk and L.O.S.E.R., the video “Hiring Day.”
Watch it Here! Flaming Pineapples and Whirling Blades of Death!
Hiring Day Set
Audience Reaction
And in case you didn’t notice, we now have our own YouTube Channel!
Be there at Gaslight Gathering next year to see what other tomfoolery we concoct.
Sock Puppets!
Now you have all our announcements for Gaslight Gathering:
- Lights! Camera! Action!
- Cane Defense
- There Once Was a Steampunk from Limerick™
- Someone Say Hot Potato?™
See y’all there.
Someone Say Hot Potato?
If you’ve seen us at a convention in the last few years, you’ve probably seen our improvisational, audience-participation, writing game show, Hot Potato School of Writing™. But just because you’ve seen it once (or twice) doesn’t mean you’ve seen all there is. It’s different every time thanks to the wacky input of the audience’s “Hot Potato” plot points, the audience members who volunteer to play, and the creativity of our guest authors. We’ll be joined this time by Kelly Varner (a notorious repeat offender) and Cindy Kinnard-Diamond. Come lob a few hilarious flaming spuds with us at Gaslight Gathering the weekend of May 12 - 14.
If you missed our first three announcements about other engagingly comical things we’re doing at Gaslight Gathering, you can find them here and here and here.
There Once Was a Steampunk
If you missed our first two announcements about other engagingly comical things we’re doing at Gaslight Gathering, you can find them here and here.
Gaslight Gathering Shenani-Plans: Part Deux
Take That! And That!
Are you planning a stroll in the darker corners of London at night? We’d advise a hour-long lesson of defending yourself with your cane or umbrella! The Chief Inspector will show you how.
And if you want to see our first reveal for Gaslight Gathering, you can find it here.
WonderCon 2017
Ursula and Neptune on Saturday
Queen of Hearts and Mad Hatter on Sunday
There were several clever mashups including Nikki Pardee and Krissy Stache as steampunk Cogsworth and Lumière, respectively. Plus, they’re crossplaying both characters.
Steampunk Cogsworth and Lumière
Speaking of crossplay, there was this stunning Joker. We don’t know how she survived all day in those heels, but boy does she looking amazing doing it.
Crossplaying the Joker
Okay, so Iron Man is a pretty serious warrior, so this makes a whole bunch of sense. It’s another fine example of attention to detail.
Samurai Iron Man
But this is the one that made us laugh. Lonstermash does a canonical Wolverine most of the time, but he told us he does this for Sundays and WonderCon was pretty close to Easter.
Wolverine Bunny
Although we laughed, we also ran. Those carrots are super sharp and pointy!
Our next event is Gaslight Gathering in San Diego! Come join us for the fun!
Gaslight Gathering Shenani-Plans
Lights! Camera! Action!
In conjunction with Justin Andrew Hoke and L.O.S.E.R., we’re going to shoot, edit, and screen a video over the course of the weekend. We’ll be looking for performers on Friday for role assignment and then filming on Saturday. We’ll announce later where to find us on Friday to sign up! Keep an eye on the Gaslight Gathering program for the location of the screening of our cinematic masterpiece on Sunday.
Wild Wild West Steampunk Con 2017
Vending Shenanigans
We had some new things for sale including Kepler’s Cowboys, an anthology of space western stories about planet discovered by the Kepler Space Telescope. The book is edited by David Lee Summers and Steve Howell, the Kepler project scientist at NASA Ames Research Center. Drake has a straight up science fiction story in the anthology!
Be-Tentacled Sales Assistants
The adorable green and black octopus was custom-made for Sparky’s Cthulhu Acolyte costume by David Lee Summers’ daughter. And why was Sparky dressed thus? Because the theme of the convention this year was Cthulhu for President.
Cthulhu and His Acolyte
This particular pic is by Paul Davis who took a lot of amazing pictures at the convention. Everyone was wearing their best green and tentacles. Here’s a link to more of Paul’s pictures from the event.
With Curatio and Debra
Karina Representing
We had a prime location on the Bitter Creek Stage where the high winds made for extra interesting shenanigans during our Nerf™ gun dueling shootout. Yes, there was some attempts at Kentucky windage, not that it helped amidst the gusts.
We Got Your Nerf™ Right Here!
The wind also made holding scripts for our Theatre of the Historically Improbable™ more than a little interesting, but our company persevered. Even Nessie approved, despite the presence of her election rival, Cthulhu, on stage.
Theatre of the Historically Improbable™ in a Hurricane
Cirque des Bêtes was there and they were on fire! No, literally, they were on fire. They premiered their new nighttime fire show and it was great. If it was on fire, they could juggle, jump, or balance it.
Cirque des Bêtes on Fire
One of the other new events this year was the Steampunk Vehicle Exhibition where the contributions were both varied and magnificent. This is what steampunk is all about! Check out these crazy conveyances.
Oh, Those Steamy Machines
As Sparky rides off… well, okay, strolls off into the sunset, we say…
See you again next year, amigos!
Dispatch Detailing Duel at Dusk 2017
Ben Jagger and Bryan Bishe Mix It Up
Drake even got in the game, but without eschewing sartorial suavities.
Is That Bowler FIE Regulation?
The final bout was between Ben Jagger and Bryan Bishe. Bryan won, but it was close.
Bryan Wins! And gets a giant commemorative chocolate bar!
But, wait, there’s more. We had Madame Askew and her intern, Ian, in from Tucson for tea duelling.
So Much Tea Duelling!
The shenanigans were so off the hook that even Madame Askew struggled to contain herself.
Ze Prussian fell to the victorious Steampunk Molly, but not without an epic battle. She was rewarded with a ceramic tea holder filled with various teas!
We were also honored to have the Iron Tailor, Bob Mogg, working with us to run the steampunk Nerf™ gun dueling.
The Iron Tailor with a Loaded Nerf™ Gun. What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
Back over to Madame Askew for some compliment duelling. We’ve never see this sport in action before and we have to say we find it delightful. With her supreme graciousness, Evie prevailed against all other duelists to take home the grand prize, a copy of “Miss Manners.”
Evie Wins!
We know what you’re wondering; how did the steampunk Nerf™ gun dueling come out? The four finalists squared off in a series of duels.
Gentle Steampunks, Choose Your Weapons
In the end, Ed Pogue prevailed (despite Doc Synchronous’ signature sneakiness) and took home the big prize, a hand-painted steampunked Nerf™ gun crafted by the Iron Tailor himself.
Ed Wins!
It was a whirlwind of non-stop fun. We sure hope everyone enjoyed it as much as we did.
Until Next Year!
