EPBOT

Probably the biggest steampunk news this week is a fabulous new batch of Disney goods.
Disney has been making forays into steampunk for a while now with their Mechanical Kingdom pins and Vinylmation toys, but I think this batch of goodies is the best yet:

Now, before you get TOO excited: these are small resin ornaments, not actual ear hats. (I can almost hear your cries of disappointment from here. Ha!) Still, aren't they fabulous? I love how the back of the purple one looks like the grate on an old fashioned stove, and the attached goggles on the gold one. According to the official park blog there will be seven of these in the set, and some will even light up! Sadly they won't be out until 2013, though, so my steampunk Christmas tree will have to wait one more year. (CURSES.)

 You can grab these two new steamy pins this November, though:


There are also new Vinylmations, but to be honest, I'm not a big VM fan. Hit the link up there if you want to see 'em, though, and many thanks to all of you who sent me the link!


MechaniCards are hand-operated kinetic sculptures that can be mailed like a large greeting card. I remember seeing some of these that Shelli sent over about two years ago, but since then they've added a few more designs:

The center iris opens and closes - you can see it in action here. The assembled cards range in price from $75 to $95, or you can buy DIY kits for a few dollars less. Pricey, I know, but they're each handmade and signed by the artist, so it's more like an art piece than a fancy greeting card.

Say, ever seen a steampunk quilt?


This is Epbot reader Kelly (who lives in New Zealand, so you know she has an awesome accent) with her award-winning "Steamy Dreams" quilt. Isn't it fabulous? I love the circle of keys with the padlock in the middle - and the soft teal is so pretty with those browns and coppers!


I missed funding the Kickstarter for this amazing steampunk card deck, but I'm hoping they'll be available on the creator's website soon:







You can see more of the cards on the Kickstarter video here, and then watch the BentCastle website for purchasing news in the future. (If it ends up priced like their other card decks, it should only be about $10.)(And thanks to Mandy S. for the link!) 














And finally, gather round, because I have a fun little story to share. :D

 Remember Steampunk Boba Fett? You know, this guy?

Well, back in my Star Wars Celebration post you might recall that I said John Strangeway (aka Steampunk Boba) was "practically the patron saint of steampunk."

Boba has gotten a LOT of mileage out of that quip, to the point that complete strangers were identifying me at Dragon*Con as "the one who called John the patron saint of steampunk." Heh. And then artist Alexa Black went and made this fabulous stained-glass art print of "St. Fett", thereby ensuring Boba's head will never shrink back to regular size:


But wait, there's more!

Boba insisted on sending me a print as thanks, so I told him that he had to A) sign it, B) bless it, and C) kiss the print while wearing metallic gold lipstick. (OH YES I DID.)

So yesterday, John brings home this gigantic art tube from the post office. (Seriously, the thing was three feet long!) Then we extract a tiny 10X16 print from it, which gives us the giggles. Next we unroll the print, stare for a moment, and then burst out laughing:


Oh, and the artist Alexa is only selling a total of 10 of these prints - and for only $12! - so if you want to grab one of the remaining nine head over to her etsy store.

I hope that made you smile - and as always, if you see something steamy this week, be sure to hit me up on Facebook or Twitter!

Remember Sneakers? The caper movie with Robert Redford, Dan Aykroyd, & Sydney Poiter?


Well, here's a fun little article by the actor who played the nerdy toy developer, Stephen Tobolowsky, reminiscing about the movie shoot.

- And here's a really long article about Cheers.

- Last night was the TV debut of Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along-Blog (!!), and lots of people in and behind the show (including Felicia Day and Nathan Fillion) live-tweeted fun facts and memories along with the broadcast:
If you missed it, you can see a handy roundup of all the tweets (plus pics and relevant video clips) on the official website here.

- This article on the making of the game Limbo makes me want to go play it again. If you don't usually like video games, give it a read. I'm betting you'll be intrigued enough to try this one! (via SuperPunch) 

Oh, and that's the perfect excuse to show you some fabulous Limbo/Portal mash-up art:

The artist later went back and removed the slice of cake, which is a shame; that was my favorite part! (Yes, even though it's a lie.)

- For extreme DizGeeks only: this hour-long live show on the history of Epcot (including an interview with the original DreamFinder!) was held in the VIP lounge at the Norway pavilion. (Dudes. I didn't even know there was a VIP lounge in Norway!)

- After a bunch of recommendations for you readers, I finally tracked down some episodes of Face Off, the special effects reality competition, and AAAA! SO COOL!! 

I like that it doesn't have the usual drama and shrill arguments of most reality shows, too - or at least the episodes I've seen so far haven't. Anyway, you can watch the latest five shows for free on your computer here on Hulu. (I just wish they had more - or better yet, that Netflix would pick it up.)

- And finally, some of these "13 Brilliant Pumpkin Carving Hacks" really are brilliant. (Do you guys know what you're carving this year? I'm still deciding. :/)

Ok, I think that's enough procrastinating to get you through your Wednesday.  'Til next time!

Yesterday I went to a little tiny sci-fi convention here in Orlando. Most of the entire con was held in two mid-sized ballrooms: one a vendor/autograph room, and the other with a stage for panels and auctions. There were maybe 30 or 40 vendor tables. The celebrity autograph tables were placed unassumingly at the end of the room, so that I literally almost bumped into the table where Dwight Schultz sat.

It was awesome.

Now, you have to understand, these little conventions were my gateway into geekdom in my teen years. My mom would drop me and my friend Chris off at the hotel doors, and we'd spend the day learning about warp drive theory in tiny rooms equipped with 50 chairs and an overhead projector, or watching someone get made up as a Klingon, or playing sci-fi Trivia. Then we'd gather with everyone else in the main ballroom to see John De Lancie or Leonard Nimoy (Yes! We got Nimoy one year!), followed by a trip to the vendor room where we'd buy Bajoran earrings and bootlegged copies of Star Trek bloopers.  

In fact, I think some of those same venders were there yesterday. Except now the bootlegged copies are on DVD instead of VHS.

You see, back in MY day, whippersnappers, the whole room lined up after a panel to get the star's autograph, which was included in the price of admission. Also, no one ever looked at cameras back then. We all looked in different directions, and we LIKED IT. 

(Yes, that's me as a teenager. BEHOLD THE AWKWARD.)

(This photo was taken sometime in the early 90s, btw, and John De Lance hasn't aged a day since. It's positively unnatural.)


There's a very different atmosphere at a small convention, and for people like John who are only used to big cons like MegaCon and massive cons like Dragon*Con, it's a bit...confusing. John walked into the vendor room yesterday and actually started laughing. Then he looked around wide-eyed and asked if this was really all there was:


Meanwhile I was nose-deep in a pile of old action figures and musty-smelling Star Trek books, talking a mile a minute to my friend Julianne (a life-long Trek fan who'd tagged along) about how I had some of these trading cards at home, and I once bought a plaque like that with Q's picture on it, and ohmygosh she should totally buy a Klingon forehead.

By the time I came up for air John was playing Teeny Wings on his phone. The heathen. 

The people at small cons are different, too. They're a more laid-back bunch, and will happily yell out remarks or questions during a panel or auction, and the moderator on stage will most likely joke right back with them.


You might think the vendors would be desperate for business, but I didn't feel the slightest pressure shopping. And since there was no one else around, we even stopped to chat with several sellers for a while. I also met an awesome new (well, new to me) artist, Nathan Szerdy.

Of course, the best part of small cons is rubbing elbows with the actors - sometimes literally. When we arrived Sunday afternoon the con was winding down, so most of the celebs had no one waiting at their tables. They chatted freely with each other and anyone who wandered by. Some, like Robert Duncan McNeil, even strolled out to chat with the vendors and people in the aisles.

Even that small crowd on the right dissipated within an hour of our arrival. At the table behind them is Colin Ferguson (the Sheriff on Eureka) and Avery Brooks (Captain Sisko, DS9). On the left you can just see Dwight Schultz (Lt. Barclay on TNG & Murdock on the A Team.)

We walked right up to Colin Ferguson - who impresses me more every time I see him, he's so genuine and approachable - and talked for a bit about some mutual friends of ours. There was no pressure at all to buy an autograph, since no one else was around and Colin seems to really love just chatting with fans. He's also totally real with you, talking about personal stuff in his life pretty openly, and for every person that comes up to him he sticks out his hand and says warmly, "Hi, I'm Colin."

Our friend Julianne was excited to see Robin Curtis, who played Lt. Saavik in Search for Spock, but Julianne was really shy about approaching her. So we waited for an opening, and then I led our little trio up to the table. As we made our way over John said under his breath, "You know you're doing the talking, right, Jen?"

Now, I don't know if you guys remember my post about losing the ability for coherent speech when I meet celebs, but I used to get majorly wigged out. Like, meeting the guy in the Darth Vader suit at Disney reduced me to a shaking sweat-factory. I can't say what changed exactly, but this past year I've found I'm a bit better at it. Maybe it was the last book tour. Of course, it helps when the people you're meeting are so sweet, like Colin or Robin.

And Robin, let me say, was astoundingly sweet. I walked up with Julianne & John on either side of me, and said I was a fan of her work and just wanted to say hello. She immediately lit up with this big beautiful smile and reached for my hand, saying how kind it was of me to say, and the next thing I knew I'd gotten Julianne into the conversation and we all ended up chatting for a good ten minutes or more. (It helped that Julianne's mother went to high school with Robin.) Again, no pressure to buy the autograph; just a group of people chatting.

The convention closed out with a panel with Colin. The room was less than a third filled, and before they got started the coordinator played the Klingon parody of Gangnam Style and had everyone in the audience do the horsey dance... for the entire 4-minute video. Yes, really. It was...painful. And hilarious. Thankfully he invited anyone who wanted to record the spectacle up on stage, though, so I crowded up there with my camera. Oh, and they made Colin Ferguson dance right in the middle of the crowd, too, poor guy. He was a great sport about it, though, so if you want to revel in the nerdy hilarity, here's about two and a half minutes of it:
Colin insisted on taking more questions than they technically had time for, so he had to dash straight from this room to get in a waiting car. Since we were in the last row, though, he paused to shake my hand again and say how nice it was to finally meet us. Then he high-fived a baby in a stroller. D'awww.

And that, my friends, is why every geek should attend a small convention at least once: to soak up the crazy geeky fun in a super casual and relaxed environment. And maybe make a memory or two. Or record a room full of geeks horsey-dancing - and then post it on the internet. (Mwuah. Ha. Haaaa.)