strange and random happenstance

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Published by: Doubleday
Publication Date: September 13th, 2011
Format: Hardcover, 387 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy

Hector Bowen, the stage magician better known as Prospero the Enchanter, has a secret. Every night when he packs the stalls his audience has no inkling that what they are about to see is real magic. They assume that he is just adept at illusion, never thinking that it's possibly real. After one performance in New York in 1873 Hector gets a shock, finding a young girl in his dressing room. This small child is unmistakably his own and the note pinned to her coat informs him that his lover, the girl's mother, is deceased and he must take over the charge of their child. At first he thinks it will be an encumbrance until he realizes that Celia has inherited his abilities and an idea starts to form. The great game might be played once more! For more years than he can count he has been involved in an increasingly complex challenge with the enigmatic Alexander. A.H. is also magically inclined but holds different teaching beliefs and practices than Hector. The challenge is that they must each train a competitor for the challenge, the winner supposedly proving the correct method of magical learning. Hector is convinced he can win with his own flesh and blood, whereas Alexander is sure he can pick any child off the street and train them to beat Celia. Once Alexander finds Marco in an orphanage the game is afoot.

Years pass as the two competitors train apart without any inkling of when or where the challenge will commence. But then an arena is conceived. A traveling circus, Le Cirque Des Reves, will be opening in London on the night of October 13th, 1886. Marco has insinuated himself behind the scenes as the assistant to the circus's founder, Chandresh Christophe Lefèvre, while Celia gets hired as the illusionist. The challenge is to create tents of wonder and awe in a game of one-upmanship. As the competition continues, stretching on for years, it soon becomes clear that the two of them feel adrift with only each other to relate to. Over time their moves become almost love letters to each other. Yet they have no idea what the rules are or how a winner is declared as their feelings for each other grow and they desire a decision to be made by Hector and Alexander. What is clear though is that the circus has become bigger than the two of them. While Celia and Marco maintain and expand it it has also taken on a life of it's own. When Celia finally realizes what the endgame is she sees that lives are at stake and all this beauty could be lost forever. If only there was some way to cheat. Some way to preserve the arena after the competitors have quit the stage. Some way for them both to win.

When I first devoured The Night Circus after going to an Erin Morgenstern event which was a perfect day worthy of a song in Dear Evan Hansen it instantly became one of my favorite books ever. I wanted everyone I knew to read and love it which made me suggest it to my book club. Here's a good rule of thumb, if you love something to an insane degree it's perhaps not a good idea to have all your friends read and dissect it. The more you know. This was literally the first time I realized that The Night Circus is a very polarizing, divisive book, you either love it or you hate it. And boy, did most of my book club hate it. I seriously do not get it. But then again, I just read a book that one of my fellow members views as one of his favorite books and really disliked it, so I just have to take deep breaths and remember book tastes aren't universal. We all like what we like and I'm never letting anyone in my book club read Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell because I wouldn't be able to survive that betrayal. Getting down to the nitty-gritty of what most of my fellow members objected to is that they were caught up on the aesthetics of the world Erin Morgenstern built. They thought it was all about the visuals, all surface, no substance. I of course heartily disagree with this statement and am now going to illuminate why.

Yes, The Night Circus is a very visual book. There is no doubt about this. The tents, the costumes, even the food, are all described in loving detail. This visually Burton-esque world leads many to say that the book feels as if it was written for the inevitable movie adaptation. Perhaps by Tim Burton himself. Here's the thing that drivers readers and authors crazy, a book is a finished product not just something that is sitting around to be used as the basis for another art form. Yes, I love adaptations, but reading and watching are two totally different experiences. The experiences I had while reading this book could not be replicated by a movie or miniseries. I was fully immersed in this world in a way that can never be achieved by cinema, even if theaters were to bring back the disastrously kitsch idea of Smell-O-Vision. And I'm sure Erin Morgenstern wasn't sitting around going, and now lets add some more Tim Burton touches just so I can get to Hollywood! No, she was thinking, how can I make this world more immersive for my readers? How can I make it so it feels they are walking the spiraling paths of Le Cirque Des Reves with a warm cider in their hands?

In fact I think the immersive nature of the book was really ahead of it's time. Since it's publication there has been a veritable explosion in immersion events. What started out with smalls roots in LARPing (Live Action Role Playing) and Renaissance Faires has just grown and grown until every town has an escape room and conventions catering to Cosplay have exponentially expanded. It's more and more I wouldn't say acceptable, because that gives immersive events a negative connotation, but more prevalent to see people escaping into worlds of imagination than ever before. Who knows if it's a desire to leave behind the shit show that is the daily news or a way to express their creativity, but immersive events are here and they're hot and I think a lot of their popularity can be traced back to this book. The first real world experience I had with immersion was at the North American Discworld Convention, where they turned the hotel into Ankh-Morpork. For years after I was still calling certain hotel rooms names out of Discworld. But my deep dive was at TeslaCon, the Steampunk Convention held in Wisconsin every year. People created the most elaborate costumes and even personas. One year they even did The Night Circus, but in their ever scheming ways to get out of copyright, it wasn't "this" Night Circus... sure...

Moving beyond the emotive nature of the book I want to discuss a writerly technique. Throughout the book the chapters are interspersed with little experiences the viewer would have while visiting Le Cirque Des Reves. These sections are written in the second person. Here's the thing about second person, it's a very tricky POV to get right without coming off as pretentious with all the "yous." In fact when I read John Scalzi's Redshirts the codas written in first, second, and then third person drove me to really hate that book. Scalzi has since redeemed himself in my eyes, but he will never live down those codas. Never. This hatred has made me leery of anyone attempting second person and therefore I want to stand up and applaud Erin Morgenstern. You nailed it! The way you brought me and other readers into your world with just a few lines on how we would experience the world around us gave me chills. It didn't come across as pretentious in the least, it came across as a magical spell. You will feel this way when you enter the circus. You will have these experiences and marvel at the wonders. You will become a participant, not just an observer. The repeated use of "you" wasn't annoying, it created the cadence of a spell that all these years later I am still under.

And spells and magic are what it all comes down to. Going back to the argument that this book is heavy on visuals and light on plot I would counter that that is because the reader is ignorant of what has historically happened to great wizards and magicians. They often become trapped by their own skills and magical abilities. In one version of Merlin's end he is trapped in a tree. Hell, even in Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell they end up trapped in Hurtview Abbey. Therefore the book leading to the binding and trapping of our leads seems a bleak ending to some, I say it's historically significant. Of course this opinion of mine was reached after several readings of The Night Circus. The first time I read it while I felt the ending was satisfying, I didn't fully get all the layered implications and callbacks. This reading what struck me most wasn't the idea of the Merlin connection and how being trapped would be fine so long as you loved who you were trapped with but the more Shakespearean angle, we do after all have a magician named Prospero who wished his daughter had been named Miranda. The quote from Hamlet seemed to apt, "I could be bounded in a nutshell, and count myself a king of infinite space." Infinite space in something considered a trap by others... perhaps even a metaphor for this book and it's detractors?

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Dear Evan Hansen, Discworld, Erin Morgenstern, John Scalzi, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, Le Cirque Des Reves, Magic, Merlin, Redshirts, Shakespeare, Ten Years, Teslacon, The Night Circus, Tim Burton

Bookstore: Left Bank Books

Location: St. Louis, Missouri

Why I Love Them: Back in 2010 my friend Sarah was getting married in Arkansas and that meant a road trip was in order! My friend Matt is from St. Louis so on the way to and from Arkansas we stopped for a few days in his hometown. With his family obligations and going to his favorite haunts it felt a little like pulling teeth to get a bookstore on the itinerary. But I prevailed! I wasn't going to go to St. Louis and NOT visit Left Bank Books. For years I'd heard of them because some publishers view the only stop in the Midwest worth sending their authors to is St. Louis. Hello, you've heard of Chicago right? It's a FAR EASIER drive for someone from Wisconsin, in that it's not over six hours one way! But enough about my gripes, because I finally got to pass through the hallowed doors of Left Bank Books and was surprisingly a little let down. The neighborhood is cute, lots of old brick buildings and mature trees. Inside though it's smaller than I imagined, not that that's a bad thing. I just couldn't picture how they had these massive signings on site, I now realize they probably were all offsite... But more than anything it was really open and bright and didn't have much stock. No signed editions laying about, no carefully curated specialty editions of books. Instead it seemed space was desired over books, and I personally can never approve that kind of stylistic choice, especially in a bookstore! Yet my issues do not indicate that I was unable to find something special... because there was one part of the store I loved. The basement!    

Best Buy: The basement of Left Bank Books is what a bookstore should be so it's rightfully where I found my best buy. It was jammed with shelves and shelves of used, remainder, overstock, all the goodness that I love. Here was the carefully curated sections that the first floor had eschewed. Here was a place where I could spend hours. Though I didn't have hours with a family dinner looming, I was able to take advantage of it's labyrinthine structure to get "lost" for awhile. Yes. I hid. Amongst the books. On purpose. There's never a better place to get lost. Plus, on a side note, we really didn't need to hurry as the dinner prep hadn't even started by the time we arrived. I could have stayed with the books longer! But no matter how long I stayed at the store I had already found my best buy, so time was now irrelevant. As I remember it I found a first edition of George Mann's The Affinity Bridge surrounded by light as there was this large window right next to the science fiction section with a white brick ledge. But I know this can't be so, we were underground! Looking on Google Earth there's no convenient pit or egress, so where did this light come from? Perhaps it was just the book. It knew it had to be mine because I'd heard such good things about it and as it turned out in just over a year I would meet George at TeslaCon. He has easily become one of my favorite writers, and I consider him a friend. All of this goes back to that bookstore and the light from a window that couldn't have been.      

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: George Mann, Google, Left Bank Books, Midwest, Newbury and Hobbes, Road Trip, St. Louis, Support Your Brick and Mortar, Teslacon, The Affinity Bridge, Weddings, Wisconsin

 
"I would like to toast the author that brought something magical and fantastic to the comic book industry! I remember the first time I picked up a Sandman comic. It was the early 90’s, I was a teen in high school, with a growing obsession with comic books and comic book artists. Sandman was like nothing I had ever read before. Instead of panels of beefed up heroes duking it out, it was filled with stories of fantasy, and magic. There were also these beautiful insights into the character’s relationships with each other, their own personal discoveries and trials. I was hooked! Neil Gaiman, thank you for bringing that to the world." - Janice

You'd think meeting two of my favorite authors at a reading at TeslaCon would have been the highlight of that weekend, but really it was meeting Janice. Since we met all those years ago Janice continually astounds me by being quite literally the sweetest, kindest, and most generous person I have ever met and I am lucky to call her my friend. A consummate host who welcomes you into her home with open arms. As if that weren't enough she is also one of the most talented and creative people I know. From creating costumes to doing faceups to making the most amazing monsters for her company Sew Sweet Monsters. A true artist working with felt and fur.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Artist, Comics, Fantasy, Gaiman Gala, Gaiman Toast, Magic, Neil Gaiman, Sandman, Sew Sweet Monsters, Superhero, Teslacon

The Immorality Engine by George Mann
Published by: Tor
Publication Date: September 27th, 2011
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy

A certain criminal, Edwin Sykes, has turned up dead. Only after his body is found a burglary with his signature all over it is perpetrated. Is this a copycat or something more sinister? Sykes was a member of The Bastion Society, an organization that seems a little too highbrow for such a criminal lowlife. The head of the society, an Enoch Graves, gives Sir Maurice, Veronica, and Bainbridge a run around that convinces them that somehow these two crimes are connected to not only each other, but to the society. When Sykes turns up dead a second time, despite erroneously thinking perhaps this is a case of twins, the erstwhile investigators turn all their attention to the society. But soon Bainbridge is distracted by an attempt on the Queen's life, and Newbury and Hobbes take some risks that might prove their downfall. One thing though is known, that whatever happens Veronica's sister Amelia will pay the price with her life.

It has been my experience that there comes a point in a series of books that will either cement the longevity of the series and make it a viable franchise or will make you inherently know that the storyline is bound to collapse and fail miserably. This is the book in the Newbury and Hobbes series in which I just knew that this series had wings. While this in no way is throwing shade at the previous two volumes, there was just an extra something that made this book spark with the potential this series will achieve. I personally think that it all comes down to the expansion of the universe of these characters that leads one to feel that longevity is possible. What made me most excited was that the narrative isn't contained to the events in the books. What I mean is that Sir Maurice and Veronica often reference events and cases that we haven't heard about while not detracting from the narrative.

While yes, these might be out there as short stories which I haven't read yet, what I adore is that their narrative lives aren't bound by just the stories in the three volumes I have read so far and the allusions to other adventures aren't clumsily inserted making it necessary to find out if indeed you missed something or were supposed to by an anthology for the one story you wanted. I like to think of the characters I know and love in a book are having adventures when I'm not around, it makes them more realistic if you will. Many series recount all the adventures, one after the other in volume upon volume, and there's just something so restricting about this. Something contained and episodic. By lacking this restrictive container the series has so much more potential for expansion, I just thrill at what is to come!

What drew me into the book most of all, aside from that heart stopping flash-forward, was The Bastion Society. The real reason I was interested in them wasn't the megalomania of their leader Enoch Graves with his delusions of being King Arthur, oh no, but their underlying belief system? Oh yes. The Bastion Society's tenants are that great deeds should be done to keep England the England of myth and legend. By doing what needs to be done in this life, our next life shall be better. Earlier this year when I did a theme month for Lauren Willig's book That Summer, I spent a lot of time researching and reading about the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. They believed in chivalry and deeds worthy of myth. Truth in art that will withstand time and show the past for those in the present. All beliefs that are eerily similar to The Bastion Society.

Therefore I was thrilled when Newbury and Veronica were lurking around Packworth House and many of the Pre-Raphaelite paintings were strewn about the meeting house's walls. Of course none of the art was mentioned by name, but by golly, I can recognize their artwork my the meanest description there is, and there it was. There was a frisson of happiness that I saw this correlation and then George took it one step further by placing the artwork on the walls. It felt like a special in joke just for me and anyone else who might get it. Plus, the fantastical imagery thus created in my mind of, what if the Brotherhood did take up arms like The Bastion Society did... Rossetti, Hunt, and Millais on real horses, not just posing for each others paintings, I literally can not stop smirking at this idea.

Yet there was an aspect of this chivalry that I think went to far, and that is Veronica as the damsel in distress. She has never been one of those swooning women in these paintings! If anything the men are more liable to swoon. But in this book where she has finally taken center stage she seems somewhat watered down. When the time comes she is able to kick the arse and take the names that we know she has always done, but there's some underlying current that second guesses her that I just don't like. Newbury, who has always been solicitous is almost overly protective, which could be written off as his growing feelings for Veronica coupled with the mores of the day, but it just didn't sit right this time around. Veronica herself seemed to even wonder at her own abilities and this I shall not tolerate! A kick ass character can have self doubts but there's a point you reach when their acts of daring do and chivalry outweigh any possible doubts, and The Immorality Engine was weighted a little lopsidedly...

But in the final analysis, it all comes down to the fact that George is able to handle concepts and characters better then most writers out there. While reading The Immorality Engine I was reminded of a show that just aired on BBC America, Intruders, which I watched solely for John Simm. The show was about rebirth and resurrection, and the idea that there is a secret society that has found the secret to immortality, all high and mighty concepts that in the end was a hot mess with plot holes and a narrative disaster that even the best of actors couldn't act their way out of. The third volume of George's series handles similar concepts and conceits and in such a clear and profound way that at one time I literally looked up to my friend who was working on a project while I was reading (at a Steampunk Convention no less) and said, "If Intruders could have captured these concepts half as good as George did here it would have been an awesome show." Instead we are just left with the consolation of an awesome book. I know, it's such a disappointment.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Bainbridge, George Mann, Intruders, John Simm, Lauren Willig, Newbury, Newbury and Hobbes, Pre-Raphaelite, Queen Victoria, Teslacon, That Summer, The Bastion Society, The Immorality Engine, Veronica Hobbes

The Osiris Ritual by George Mann
Published by: Tor
Publication Date: August 3rd, 2010
Format: Hardcover, 319 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy

Newbury and Hobbes are not working in tandem. Sir Maurice is off on assignment for the Queen looking into the "return" of another agent, William Ashford, who may have gone rogue and who may be involved in a high profile killing of the Egyptologist Lord Winthrop, whose discovery and then death are front page news as written by Newbury's new protege, George Purefoy. Veronica meanwhile is concerned about a spate of disappearances of young women, all who visited a magician, The Mysterious Alfonso, and participated in his stage show. They are both so wrapped up in their own cases that they don't realize the danger they are putting themselves in by working separately. Soon Veronica is trapped and in danger deep under a theatre, while Sir Maurice is racing across rooftops, not even sure if he's chasing the right man. They need each other to put things right before it's too late, or before the Queen gets tetchy.

I have an inkling that while I had heard of George Mann and The Affinity Bridge it wasn't until I heard about the second book in the series, The Osiris Ritual, that I really sat up and took notice. I am more then a bit of an addict for anything Egyptian. Like my love of Victoriana, it's the darker side of Egyptology that I am drawn to. The plagues and curses brought down for desecrating the dead, hold me back. When you crave bedtime stories about King Tut's Curse and Lord Carnarvon's dog howling and dropping dead at the same moment his master died, well, it's not that much of a surprise that that person grows up to dwell on stories of mummies and devours the entire oeuvre of Elizabeth Peters.

I still occasionally have nightmares that the Rame Tep from The Young Sherlock Holmes might come for me. But this nightmare is tinged with a deliciousness, because sometimes it's a good thing to be scared by something you can't explain. Though of course I like my Egyptian thrills from a nice comfy armchair versus up close and personal, the time my parents took me to the King Tut exhibit and I spent the entire time crying in a stairwell at The Field Museum in Chicago because by father and brother had convinced me that the mummy would curse me is a case study in why books are best. Armchair traveler for life, stamp my passport please!

Therefore the opening of The Osiris Ritual is a dream come true. I got to sit in my comfy chair wrapped snugly against the cold and read about a mummy unwrapping ceremony. The erstwhile and eager reporter George Purefoy was my entre into this world, we stood in awe together, and who wouldn't want to be brought under the wing of Sir Maurice Newbury and listen to his insights? The lush opulence of Lord Winthrop's house with all his artifacts, the ton gathering around as the mysterious sarcophagus was placed on the table, sigh. If I could just sink into a book and live in the moment, I would have chosen this one.

At TeslaCon, where I met George a few years back now, there was a staged mummy unwrapping, and while it lacked the intimacy of a true unwrapping, I was surprised that it was able to still contain that frisson of excitement. Though at the unwrapping we attended there was no chance of a curse, or at least I assume so. Here reading the book, I was just holding my breath till the "curse" took effect, and to my heart's delight I didn't have long to wait. Like all good storytelling while we are given an answer to the "curse" the book was able to suspend our disbelief and make us believe in the magic of "what if?"

Though in other parts the magic faltered a little. This would be the magical pairing of Sir Maurice and Veronica. The problem here was that they were separated for most of the book. Yes, I do understand that the main reason for this was that they were pursuing different cases and that it narratively worked for them to be separated so that they were ignorant that their cases were linked and therefore drew out the suspense for us readers. But it just somehow didn't click. Newbury couldn't exactly hook arms with George Purefoy and go walking down the street to face the next foe, it wouldn't be the same.

Yes The Avengers occasionally went off and did their own thing, Emma taking one lead, Steed another, but it's never the same with them apart, and that's how it is here. I also realize that the growing attraction between the leads has to be drawn out in some way, you can't have them get together too early and then have them lose their chemistry and destroy the series a la Moonlighting. But just using the simple expedient of keeping them apart seems a bit too contrived. There are many more reasons for them to not get together, and it looks like in future this will work far better for George's storytelling then this move did.

Though this separation was just a niggling problem in a book with a lot going right for it. What I loved most, which was oddly not Egyptian, was the hunt for the two former agents for the Crown, William Ashford and Newbury's predecessor, Knox. Not only was George able to portray the depth of these characters, making the villains have just as much going for them as the hero and heroine, but the relationship between Ashford and Knox reminded me powerfully of another famous book that has influenced the Steampunk genre. I'm talking about Frankenstein.

The monster that Ashford has become is very much created as a result of Knox's actions. Therefore the two have this creature/creator relationship that mirrors Shelley's work in many interesting ways, most of which I can't say without screaming "spoilers" beforehand. Needless to say there are just so many layers and connections to itself and other great stories that this is a penny dreadful to be savoured and returned to again and again just to see what you missed last time.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Chicago, Egypt, Frankenstein, George Mann, King Tut, Mary Shelley, Newbury and Hobbes, Penny Dreadful, Queen Victoria, Teslacon, The Affinity Bridge, The Avengers, The Osiris Ritual, The Young Sherlock Holmes

As October turns to November my mind turns to Steampunk. Yes, this might seem odd, most people's thoughts turn to the holidays, Thanksgiving and sadly the ever looming Christmas, even though it's not till the end of December people. Why would this time of year bring such thoughts to my mind? Because November has an event, one might even say THE event of the year for me, TeslaCon. Next weekend will be my fourth voyage into a world of pure imagination. Yet for each year I go I always think back to my first year. That was when I met George Mann. George has become part of the ritual of the month and therefore I have been planning and plotting and alliterating to my hearts content that one November I would work my way through his oeuvre and dedicate the month to him. Well, that time has finally come! As I have been working feverishly to finish my costumes I have been spending all my spare time adventuring with Newbury and Hobbes as Bainbridge and Queen Victoria put new cases in front of them. I am living the Steampunk dream and to me that dream wouldn't be complete with George and his work. I love that he has an interconnected world where Doctor Who ties in with Newbury and Hobbes ties in with The Ghost. He has a pay off for his devoted fans but a ripping yarn for the newcomers. I hope you will join me in celebrating George this month, and if you haven't read any of his work yet, perhaps I can persuade you to pick up a volume or two.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Bainbridge, Doctor Who, George Mann, Mann Month, Newbury and Hobbes, November, Queen Victoria, Steampunk, Teslacon, The Ghost, Theme Month

What I would like to say before beginning my final Sartorial Sundays post is, that while I am slightly above the novice in costuming, being that I don't just buy off the rack and do do customization, I am still only starting. If you have ever seen the work of a true maker, then you know how much people take this lifestyle to heart. They are amazing and their work reflects that. While I too am a maker at heart, I sadly don't have the time or the skills to reach their level of awesomeness... YET! So take these posts as from a person continuing the journey into Steampunk, who will probably not be a master, but who gives a shout out to and tip of the top hat to those amazing people who are.

Ok, back to me.

So, I actually changed out to a more Victorian skirt, because I found it online and just fell in love with it. As for the basket, I actually found that at Teslacon and it was perfect. Reminds me of something a bee keeper would use... don't ask me why, but it does. Sadly, despite knitting up to the very last minute, I kid you not, it was 5AM of the day I was going to wear this costume, it still didn't fit as a wrap. The reason? Because the lady who designed this pattern is a freakin' midget. I'm not the only one to think so. My friend Amy did one of her patterns and also said it was way short on her too. Amy and I are of similar heights (I'm just shy of 5' 10") and when I tied this on, the back should still rest about your wait/tailbone, and it was seriously the middle of my back. Those who know me well enough know that even though I "finished" it for the con... it's not "finished." I will frog that last line and make this pattern work gosh darn it!

As for the underskirt I spent all that time on, I used two corset clips to layer the back so you could see it underneath, and it was also REALLY comfy to sit on, like your own ass pillow. Sadly, one of the clips died at the ball, which pissed me off, because they weren't exactly cheap, so I couldn't wear this outfit again for the con and went with costume two for the final day.

For the hat I actually made a wide band that snapped so it could be removed from the hat, therefore it didn't damage the hat and made it multi-purpose. Also, best place to store your passport to the con that they check all the time... in your hat band. I also had a lot of fun sewing on little gears and flowers to the band, and unlike the goggles I did, I didn't glue myself to any furniture.

Overall I really like how my costumes turned out and I love that I have enough stuff to mix and match now. Of course for this next year I have even more ambitious plans... it's going to be at Halloween... so I think the minimal is a Steampunk Harry Potter costume...

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Bling, Boots, Bowler, Bustle, Frogging, Knitting, Sartorial Sundays, Skirt, Sontag, Steampunk, Tea Dying, Teslacon, Victorian, Yarn

I was lucky enough to meet Paul Magrs at last years Teslacon where he was one of the three guests of honor, along with George Mann and Gail Carriger. While his books aren't overtly Steampunk per se, I would agree with his moniker of Chintz Punk, the Brenda and Effie books being about the Bride of Frankenstein running a B and B in Witby, they do contain Steampunky elements, besides just being awesome books. Also, we can not discount the fact that he has also written numerous Doctor Who books, both traditional items of paper and glue and the less traditional, audio. Doctor Who has so many elements of Steampunk, I would in fact say that it's probably the most mainstream Steampunk out there.

Needless to say, because of Teslacon, no one can say Steampunk to me now without me thinking of and then highly recommending Paul's books. Paul was happy to participate in Steampunk Summer and in fact, this silly little Q and A, of which he fully embraced the openendedness of the questions, is just a taste of what's to come... wait for it... all October will be Magrs Month! Make sure you come back! Hopefully this will whet your appetite.

Question: What is the definitive Steampunk book for you?

Answer: It has to be George Mann’s The Osiris Ritual*, which I bought on a whim when I found it in Waterstones, soon after it first came out. I knew I would adore it, and I did – and all the others in the series. Reading it was the beginning of a great friendship, too.

*George was a guest at last years Teslacon, and is participating in Steampunk Summer

Question: What drew you to this genre?

Answer: I think it would have to be Peter Cushing and Doug McClure in ‘At the Earth’s Core’ at Darlington ABC Cinema in 1976. And then ‘Talons of Weng Chiang’, the classic Doctor Who story broadcast the following year. The idea of Victoriana combined with monsters has never ceased to haunt me since then.

Question: How do you take your tea?

Answer: Sweet, spicy and milky.

Question: Must have sartorial accessory?

Answer: I’ve just found a silk and wool tweed jacket in a secondhand shop and it’s vintage Harrods. It’s wonderfully light to wear.

Question: Sartorial leaning: Street Urchin, Tinker, Explorer or Aesthete?

Answer: Aesthete on the beach.

Question: Top hat or bowler hat?

Answer: Bowler, I think. Though Panama above all.

Question: Subgenre you most identify with: Boilerpunk, Clockpunk, Dieselpunk, Gaslight Romance, Mannerspunk, Raygun Gothic or Stitchpunk?

Answer: Chintz punk.

Question: If there was one thing that could truly exist from the world of Steampunk what would it be?

Answer: Brenda’s actual B+B. When I’m in Whitby I long to be able to go round her house and sit in that attic and have a cup of spicy tea with the ladies. It’s ridiculous, but I always know that something’s missing when I’m there, and it’s visiting that attic sitting room.

Question: If there was one element in the Steampunk genre you could remove forever what would it be?

Answer: I do find guns dreary.

Question: Favorite movie or television series with Steampunk elements?

Answer: I’d have to say the single episode of ‘Evil of the Daleks’ from 1967 that still exists. Daleks menacing an antiques shop and time-travelling by using mirrors. A perfect piece of telly. Oh, and ‘At the Earth’s Core’, of course.

Question: Preferred mode of transport: celestial, aether, terra firma or aquatic?

Answer: Celestial Omnibus.

Question: Favorite Queen to have had a diamond jubilee, Victoria or Elizabeth?

Answer: Quentin Crisp.

Question: Victorian or Wild West?

Answer: Victorian

Question: Would you like an automaton butler or ladies maid, considering that it might be the first step in the robotic apocalypse?

Answer: A teasmaid would be heaven. We used to have one, but it broke. It lit up with this gentle amber glow and started hissing with steam at 7.30am. It played music and poured your tea for you.

Question: If The Doctor showed up at your door, where would you go?

Answer: Anywhere. Absolutely anywhere. It’s no use specifying a particular place. Those are the stories that go horribly wrong. Just let him twist the dial and see where it takes you, I say.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 2 comments  

Labels: Brenda and Effie, Chintz Punk, Daleks, Doctor Who, Gail Carriger, George Mann, Paul Magrs, Peter Cushing, Quentin Crisp, Teasmaid, Teslacon, Witby

Lord Hasting R. Bobbins, Steampunk Lord and organizer of Teslacon, the definitive Steampunk Convention, took time out from his busy schedule (he is planning on taking us to the moon after all) to answer a few silly steampunk questions. Sadly, if you haven't already booked passage for Teslacon, all the tickets are gone into the aether... more than three months before the event without any guests announced yet! Though, I am curious as to who those guests might be.

Question: What is the definitive Steampunk book for you?

Answer: The Osiris Ritual by George Mann*

*George was a guest at last years Teslacon, and will be participating in Steampunk Summer starting Next Week!

Question: What drew you to this genre?

Answer: A friend.

Question: How do you take your tea?

Answer: Plain - with a little sugar.

Question: Must have sartorial accessory?

Answer: My bug lapel pin.

Question: Sartorial leaning: Street Urchin, Tinker, Explorer or Aesthete?

Answer: Explorer

Question: Top hat or bowler hat?

Answer: Please-Top Hat.

Question: Subgenre you most identify with: Boilerpunk, Clockpunk, Dieselpunk, Gaslight Romance, Mannerspunk, Raygun Gothic or Stitchpunk?

Answer: Diesel/Raygun

Question: If there was one thing that could truly exist from the world of Steampunk what would it be?

Answer: Dirigibles....

Question: If there was one element in the Steampunk genre you could remove forever what would it be?

Answer: Burlesque- I think it darkens the genre.

Question: Favorite movie or television series with Steampunk elements?

Answer: Q.E.D. - from the 80's.*

*Q.E.D. is a 1982 short-lived adventure series set in Edwardian England, starring Sam Waterston as Professor Quentin Everett Deverill (Q.E.D). The Professor was a scientific detective in the mold of Sherlock Holmes, and the series had a smattering of what would later be called steampunk.

Question: Preferred mode of transport: celestial, aether, terra firma or aquatic?

Answer: Airship - all the way.

Question: Favorite Queen to have had a diamond jubilee, Victoria or Elizabeth?

Answer: Please-Vicki.

Question: Victorian or Wild West?

Answer: Again...Victorian

Question: Would you like an automaton butler or ladies maid, considering that it might be the first step in the robotic apocalypse?

Answer: Butler- but I control the punch cards.

Question: If The Doctor showed up at your door, where would you go?

Answer: I go pee...doctors never show up anymore.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Dirigible, George Mann, Lord Bobbins, QED, Queen Victoria, Steampunk, Tea, Teslacon, The Osiris Ritual

This years inspiration was a more Victorian urchin/lower classes look. While I had reveled in last year's explorer, I actually wanted something, dare I say, more girly? Again, not being one for a corset, though I promise, I will one day try, I started looking at people who might not have the nice corsets, mainly, the working class or field laborers. This actually was one of the reasons I decided to re-watch all of Lark Rise to Candleford. Not that I needed an excuse, but it is fun watching a show and claiming it's "research." Also, I thought it would be fun to bring back some of my other skill sets for this year, aka, knitting!

Here is Emma Timmins. What I love about her look is the blouse, minus the stiff collar and the earthy cream color of it with the voluminous skirts.

Here is what I have always wanted when watching period dramas! Until recently I always referred to it as the knitted wrappy thingy that farm women wear. Yeah, as you can tell, real technical. So after about an hour online once I decided I wanted to make one, I found out it's called a Sontag. It's basically a shawl that is designed to wrap around the body and then connect. The one pictured here is the pattern I plan on using. So here's hoping it doesn't take too long. But of course, I must establish my color palette before going yarn shopping, and here's hoping I might have something in the house that will work... I do have a yarn hording habit...

Now this right here is THE DRESS that always makes me associate Lark Rise with Steampunk. How much more Steampunk could Dorcas's outfit be? While, yes, in a magical ideal world, this right her would be my costume, what I am taking to use is what I call the "cloth gauntlets." Women who where working and doing menial chores, like cleaning out fireplaces, would wear these so that they wouldn't get their shirts dirty. While here it is more fashion versus function, I felt that I would incorporate that into my look.

Yet, of course, I would go knitted, same yarn as the Sontag, with a little Steampunky design.

Finally for the skirt, I wanted something a little more modern, a little more space agey, but could still be mistaken for Victorian in the right setting, so an over skirt similar in style to this one.

While, I was originally thinking a split layering, the over skirt above wouldn't work so well, but I do want the layering with a lacier underskirt, preferably tea-stained, and the over skirt a little shorter, so as to see the two layers clearly.

Next week, some sketches! Or, really, as soon as I get them up because I am two weeks behind on this post (sorry, sorry, my computer crashed and got a nasty virus and I got a new OS and had to basically rebuild my computer, but now it has more RAM, not so exciting to you, very exciting to me, and I don't have a scanner attached now and I don't have the drivers updated for my Wacom yet... chaos did ensue.)

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Dorcas Lane, Emma Timmins, Knitting, Lark Rise to Candleford, Sartorial Sundays, Sontag, Steampunk, Teslacon

So, after all that work, what would I do differently? Personally, I don't think there's much sartorially speaking that I would change, except one aesthetic and one practical. Esthetically I would pimp my glasses. You can get so many clip on lenses and gadgets and seeing as I have to wear my glasses to see and contacts are right out (the idea of something touching my eyeball freaks me out beyond belief, and I can read without glasses, so that a plus) it would up my game. But pimping my glasses would have been fun, and believe me I will be doing it this year!

The other issue was that of comfort and my goggles. So, sometime during the second day of the convention I noticed I had this horrid headache right along the crown of my head. I didn't think much of it. Headaches come with being in loud environments with tons of people. So, again, I didn't think much about it till I started to rub my head. There was a dent in my head. At this point I was not calm, I was a little freaked out, there was an unexplained dent in my head. After more investigation, there was a second dent in my head, both somewhat semicircular. It was the goggles! Once I figured out what it was every time I slide them into place on my head I could feel them boring into my skull. I asked my friend Janice if she had the same problem, to which she said a resounding yes. The last day of the con we where carrying our goggles, our heads couldn't take it anymore.

So how would I fix this goggle problem? Well, I could pad them... but I think the more logical way is to have them around your neck or as part of a hat. Because the hat takes the indents, not your head! In fact, there was a little Steampunk event I went to back in February at the Children's Museum in town and I bought myself a black costume bowler hat... not bowlery enough for me, but it would do, and I placed my goggles on it. Sure enough, no pain for me, but it even left dents on the hat! Those are some nasty goggles...

Next week I'll start the discussion of this years Teslacon costume... there might even be more than one made! So costumes perchance!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Glasses, Goggles, Sartorial Sundays, Steampunk, Teslacon

Gail Carriger has the dubious honor of being the first author to be subjected to my "Steampunk Twenty Questions" (which turned out to be fifteen, because I wanted to make sure they where quality, funny and easy to answer, authors have busy lives, Gail more than most right now.) Gail holds the honor of being the first author to not only interest me in Steampunk, but to draw me fully into the world and search out more authors. Witty, tea-driven and corset wearing, Gail is not just a great satirical writer in her Parasol Protectorate books, she is an amazing world-builder, plot weaver and storyteller, not to mention fun to have tea with. Please join me as Gail answers fifteen mainly silly, but all Steampunky, questions.

Question: What is the definitive Steampunk book for you?

Answer: The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen comic book series written by Alan Moore, illustrated by Kevin O'Neill.

*Which, in honor of Gail, a copy of this comic has been added to my Steampunk Summer Giveaway, so be sure to enter!

Question: What drew you to this genre?

Answer: I came to Steampunk first as an aesthetic movement. I’m a longtime fan of vintage clothing and Goth style; Steampunk drew me in as a cheerful melding of the two. I also love seeing recycled technology used as jewelry, and other examples of how creative the maker community has become over the past few years.

Question: How do you take your tea?

Answer: Milky but strong with no sweetener. And I have a whole blog post on how to make the perfect cuppa.

*Gail dutifully doctoring her tea at Teslacon. That's George Mann next to her, Steampunk sqwee.

Question: Must have sartorial accessory?

Answer: Cup and saucer holster.

Question: Sartorial leaning: Street Urchin, Tinker, Explorer or Aesthete?

Answer: Carriger Pigeon as defined by the Steampunk Scholar for an article in Exhibition Hall on steampunk tribes:

"Like Gail Carriger, these steampunks make their own steampunk clothing, or at the very least do their own mods to it. They are up to date on the latest fashions, and despite the TruePunk value on being counter-consumerism, find themselves in apoplectic fits before a sale at Dark Garden corsets. Speaking of corsets, Carriger Pigeons can tell you when you aren't wearing yours properly, because many of you aren't (A BT Carriger Pigeon will do this with grace. A Jeterist of TruePunk Carriger Pigeon will simply mock you from afar.)"

~ Steampunk Scholar

Of course what I want as a result of this article is little pigeons that fly around and critique people's fashion choices. And, I really need a pigeon on a hat.

*Pigeon in a Top Hat by Alice Tams

Question: Top hat or bowler hat?

Answer: Teeny tiny topper.

Question: Subgenre you most identify with: Boilerpunk, Clockpunk, Dieselpunk, Gaslight Romance, Mannerspunk, Raygun Gothic or Stitchpunk?

Answer: Teapunk!

Question: If there was one thing that could truly exist from the world of Steampunk what would it be?

Answer: A kettle that is mounted on a moving transport and utilizes the wind to boil water. Tea anywhere on the go. Closely followed by Alexia's parasol dejour ~ kind of like a swiss army knife in parasol form.

Question: If there was one element in the Steampunk genre you could remove forever what would it be?

Answer: Petty commentary and "true steampunk" snobbery.

Question: Favorite movie or television series with Steampunk elements?

Answer: The Extraordinary Adventured of Adele Blanc Sec.


Question: Preferred mode of transport: celestial, aether, terra firma or aquatic?

Answer: Aquatic. I adore the ocean.

Question: Favorite Queen to have had a diamond jubilee, Victoria or Elizabeth?

Answer: Victoria.

Question: Victorian or Wild West?

Answer: Victorian.

Question: Would you like an automaton butler or ladies maid, considering that it might be the first step in the robotic apocalypse?

Answer: Ladies maid. But I do have a Roomba so I might be already on that downward spiral. His name is Beebo and I am very very nice to him.

Question: If The Doctor showed up at your door, where would you go?

Answer: Ancient Etruria.*

*Was a region of Central Italy, located in an area that covered part of what now are Tuscany, Latium, Emilia-Romagna, and Umbria. Where the Etruscans are from.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Adele Blac-Sec, Carriger Pigeons, Etruria, Gail Carriger, Queen Victoria, Roomba, Tea, Teapunk, Teslacon, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, The Parasol Protectorate

As soon as I set to sourcing the outfit, my mind wandered over what I needed: coat, pants, shirt, shoes and accessories. Seeing as I thought, if I didn't get the right coat, the whole costume could fall apart, my first goal was the coat. There's one place that screams coats, that's Burlington Coat Factory... a plethora of coats, almost more than you could fathom, all at really really cheap prices.

Almost right away I stumbled on this beauty. Not only does it look like an old bomber jacket, and is comfy as all get out, but I love the circular rivets that run parallel to the zipper. Those little rivets add a little bit extra to the Steampunk look I was going for. Total for the coat: $42. And, as you should all know, 42 is the answer to life, the universe, and everything. It certainly was my answer for the con.

For this shirt I actually looked to my own wardrobe. At first I wanted more of a silk button up shirt in white with a vintage 40s cut, but soon came to realize that it was going to be hard to find, and secondly, I've never looked good in white, so why was I trying to force it. Therefore I quickly resorted to just a plain t-shirt. This brown one I got years and years ago at the J Crew factory store, and it had seen better days. There's quite a big hole on the lower seam which I should fix, but, whatever, for this it would be perfect. Even better, it exactly matched the jacket! Serendipitous indeed! Yet, I didn't want a giant moth on my chest, so viola....

I turned it inside out. You really couldn't see the bleed through once I was wearing it and the jacket, like you can in the picture. But having it inside out also gave me lots of grungy seams, which scream Steampunk to me.

For the pants I went to JC Penny's (this is before the ill advised JCP switchover). I had recently bought two nice pairs of dress slacks for some job interviews, and I knew they had them in lighter colors as well. So Worthington business stretch pants it was going to be. Sadly they were no longer on sale like they had been back in July. But still, $40 for a really great pair of dress pants that will also double for a convention, fabulous! Also, really really comfy! Yet lacking good pockets... to that in a minute.

For my boots I went to DSW. They really have everything at DSW, except finding my size is really hard. Ok, won't lie, I have big feet. I wear a size 10-11 in women's shoes. Yep, that's up there. The problem with shopping at any shoe store is that usually they only get in one pair of the larger sizes, so if you don't get there right away, they just won't have your size. I lucked out beyond measure the day I went! Not only do these shoes fit like a dream, quite literally being the most comfortable boats I have EVER owed, they are brown faux suede, that compliments the jacket, but the buckle is the same bronzey color of the studs on the jacket! Heaven forbid I didn't have matching metals! The boots where a little pricey at $70, but totally worth it due to my love of them.

I came quickly to the realization that I needed pockets and accessories. I hoped to accomplish both in one. I could Steampunk up my outfit with some sort of bag/pockets combination and have the functionality of full storage on my person. My friend Aaron said that he really has to do this for this coming years con because it's so logical and cool. I bought all my accessories at Ravenworks, which does all kids of costumes for all occasions. The first thing I looked at was this awesome belt. It's really really long and was just the right size and I got to have the funny of tying it (which I actually had to look up how to do online...)

But the piece de resistance was this alt kit. The belt goes through it and then it straps down your leg. Ok, it's a little inconvenient when needing to go to the bathroom, but not more than a corset! Also it had three lovely pockets, the middle and bottom one being my favorite because of the wonderful clasps. The bottom one is my real favorite though because you have to push it in and turn, so it's like a lock clasp, so cool!

Goggles where the final touch, and they had these at Ravenworks as well, and they looked far better than any I had seen online without having to mod or pimp them out. All told, my accessories cost $80... which, considering everything else was dual purpose accept these items, made this really my final outlay, cost wise.

There was ONE thing I didn't anticipate though... clocks. At the hotel where the con was held there where NO CLOCKS! Like, anywhere! Taking out my iphone felt a little ridiculous, I mean, if it looked like a Farnsworth, that's one thing, but no, it looked distinctly "iphone." Also, it was in one of my pouches down my leg, so, a hassle for a quick look. So at the con this was one of my three purchases, my three purchases being a Lord Bobbins commemorative pin, a book by George Mann and Paul Magrs, and this lovely pocket watch. I fell in love with it. NOT just because I needed it, but I wanted it. So pretty and keeping time and pocket watchy! Adore! Also, I had saved money aside to spend at the con and only bought three things, so the watch was my splurge, though it only cost the same as my pants.

Yet, there was something still needed I felt to pull it all together... next week, the illusive unifying object.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Alt Kit, Boots, Burlington Coat Factory, Convention, Goggles, J Crew, Pocket Watch, Sartorial Sundays, Steampunk, Teslacon