First, the presentation. Second, turn the crank. Third, scary fuzzy Cthulhu pops out!

Now, how about some costumes?

Yep, Loads of Amazing Costumes!

Unfortunately, we didn’t get many pictures of the phenomenon that shows the difference of our usual west coast from the east coast. Out west we have a lot of wild west outfits and pirate cross-over. On the east coast, they have a lot of fairy cross-over. We saw an incredible number of costumes with wings, many of them with real feathers. And really wide wings were the hot ticket, apparently.

Gloriously creative and hilarious gadgets? Check. By the way, Key City Steampunk Festival is heavily maker-oriented. It’s a good place to get makery ideas.

Sure We Know What All of These Are

We even saw some familiar faces. It was wonderful to see Katie Radebaugh (and her dad, whom we met for the first time). We miss Katie’s warm presence out west. You east coast steampunks should count yourselves lucky to have her…for now. We’re going to be wanting her back.

Drake, Katie’s Dad, Katie, and Sparky

Half of The Eternal Frontier, Professor Adam Smasher, was there. We’re hoping to see the two of them together again soon because their first-rate shenanigators, our kind of people.

In Red is Professor Adam Smasher

Hutsell? Check. Wait, what? Yep, apparently you can’t hardly go to a steampunk convention without a Hutsell. This one is Heather; she’s an author too.

Heather Hutsell showing Off the Books She Authored

We also entertained and vended as usual and made a few new fans. Because we traveled, we didn’t have our full booth set up. But we had a really good spot right near registration and made good use of it. We even had someone come by and do a dramatic reading of the introduction to London, Where It All Began. She was quite good.

Drake Attempts Both Passive and Active Customer Engagement

We were too tired at the end of each day to go to the concerts, but there was busking in the halls and we bumped into Frenchy and the Punk.

Okay, That’s Actually Drake Pretending

Entry characterizations: Convention, Authored by Morse

The Calm Before the Storm

Of course we went to the Starburner Galactic Courier Service meetup and awards. In addition to old friends, someone there was enjoying his very first Comic Con.

Steampunks in the Sun

We did a fun little “Steampunks at the Beach” cosplay where Drake tried to catch Sparky with a butterfly net because she was so scantily clad. Hey! It was hot and a good excuse for Drake to wear shorts and Sparky to wear her favorite Dia de los Muertos swimsuit.

Knees? Shocking!

Old friends abounded. Thomas Willeford was showing off his new bird-watching goggles.

Apparently Thomas Willeford Doesn’t Care for Birds

And what would Comic Con be without costumes? The first pic is of our friend Colleen Rodriguez as Batwoman, a role she was born to cosplay (in a costume she made). The second pic is of Dude Vader, and this year he was on the front page of one of the Comic Con daily newsprint updates. Congrats, Dude!

Oh, the Cosplay!

This one takes Sparky back because Princess Leia was her first cosplay.

Pew! Pew! Pew!

One of the funnest panels we saw was the League of Extraordinary Scientists and Engineers. They answered questions about what they’d like to see in fiction and how real life for scientists and engineers is different than fiction.

I Wear Gloves at Work

We’re already making plans for next year!

Entry characterizations: Authored by Morse, Convention

On the Road Again

June can be tricky in Perris because it can be hot, but we were lucky to get beautiful weather for the ensuing shenanigans. Some of the usual suspects were there including Christopher and Bethany Hoage (talking about trains…imagine that), Dyno Staats, Becky Albrecht (The Victorian Bat), Evie Betz (The Lemon Pirate) and Dr. Solar.

The Usual Suspects

Okay, not to be those nerds, but Dyno gave us a new story we loving call “1 in 9.” He did a trick for each of us individually at the end of which he asked “what’s the chance of that?” Right, so we’re both mathematicians and computer scientists. First he asked Sparky who did the math in her head (using combinatorics) without pause. She arrived at 1 in 9 and suggested he ask Drake to check her math. He’d already done the trick for Drake, but he dashed off to ask the same question. Drake did the calculation more intuitively and arrived at the same answer, the speed of which impressed Dyno. Yeah, that kind of nerds.

We did a little straight reading.

Drake Tells it Like it is

Of course, it was mostly about hanging with friends.

Friends Rock

Thanks to Colleen Kelly Burks for the sweet pic with her husband, Randy.

No bloop would be complete without a smattering of random sightings.

#randomactsofsteampunk

Of course we sold our books out of the Wyng’d Lyon booth. Just across the sidewalk was a small caboose we used for Theatre of the Historically Improbable™. Thanks to Carol Silver for these inventive pics.

Have Caboose Will Shenanigate

Sadly, we hear that this will be the last time for Iron Horse. We’re sorry to see it go.

So Many Things to Do

Although the fellow in the last picture may have had a few too many shenanigans. And speaking of shenanigans, one can always count on Murray Willett to take them to a new level. This is him dancing to “An Octopus’ Garden” during the Saturday night concert, the Orpheus Ball. The band knocking out the tune is The Eternal Frontier.

It’s Murray; What Can We Say?

It’s always fun to see Dyno Staats, and his incredible magic…er, science tricks.

Something Might Go Horribly Wrong

We had the pleasure of Cynthia Diamond and Kelly Varner returning for our Hot Potato School of Writing™ game show where a steampunk story is created in real time. These two “ladies” are notorious Hot Potato repeat offenders. It made for a lively and “colorful” competition.

Something Might Go Horribly Wrong Here as Well

We also had a particularly off-the-hook session of Theatre of Historically Improbable™.

The Company is Running Amok

We know we do this every bloop, but it wouldn’t be a con without the costumes. Ohhh, the costumes!

So Many Lovely Costumes (and Maybe a Couple of Creepy Ones Too)

The fellow in the gold shirt bought a couple of sticks of (fake) dynamite from us to complete his ensemble; look closely.

But the highlight, as always, was the installation by the Starburner Galactic Courier Service - the Cornu-Chi, a steampunk reimagining of an X-wing. Just when we think their installations can’t get more detailed and visionary, they outdo themselves again.

Cornu-Chi

We made some new friends. The Eternal Frontier, one of the musical guests, came by our booth and serenaded us on the last day. These guys are a lot of fun!

The Eternal Frontier

No, really, breaking down is not this scary. Maybe Sparky’s just distressed that Gaslight Gathering is over for another year. Not to worry, even if Wyng’d Lyon makes your Victorian swimsuit, you’re not obliged to help her tear down.

Breaking Down is Hard to Do

We had a great time!

Entry characterizations: Convention, Authored by Morse

Dark & Stormy Morning

Fortunately, they were safe in their climate-controlled wheeled conveyance pod. But further dangers awaited them, including…

Crimes Against Tea!

But enough about the scary stuff! There are several features of Wild Wild West Con that we really love. First, there’s the art show. Aaaah, look at the lovely contraptions!

Art Show

Second, there’s the display of whimsically amazing conveyances. Sparky even got to ride one!

Amazing Conveyances!

Because we vend in the barn, sharing a space with David Lee Summers, …

Happily in our Usual Vending Spot

…eventually, all the amazing costumes walk by. So, we snapped some snaps!

Where Do All These Ideas Come From?

But the best part of Wild Wild West Con is the enthusiasm with which the attendees participate, particularly in Theatre of the Historically Improbable™ and Hot Potato School of Writing™. Thanks to Carol Silver for all the pics of our sock puppet shenanigans.

What is Tim Silver About to Do to Sparky’s Ear?

As we careen off into the sunset after another successful Wild Wild West Con, we ask…

The Wildest Ride in the West

...will you meet us there next year?

Entry characterizations: Convention, Authored by Morse