bang.

We started this thing to help people keep track of us, and so we could share our experiences on the road.

The road kicked me in the nuts.

It was nothing like we thought it would be. Not to say we regret it. We loved it. We still do. We miss parts of it, and we miss other parts less. We prepared for the wrong things, and then had to hit the ground running whenever we crashed. We had no time to catch a breath, and less time to deal with what people have called the "Real world."

I can't even begin to list what I learned from the trip. But there is one thing I know for certain. This "Real World" people are so fond of forcing down my throat is no more significant than anything I chose to do, or have done. My world is as real as anyone else's.
"You're livin' the dream!" was repeated to me in dozens of different tones, from adoring to criticizing to bitter. Not a one of them knew that there was nothing dreamlike about it. It was the most brutal, wonderful, damaging, and changing thing to ever happen to me. I set out for a deliberate walkabout, and wound up changing in the most unexpected and bizarre ways.
It was annoying.
The ways I wanted to change became insignificant. I suppose that tells you something about what I wanted to be...

I am saying all of this (and vaugely, I might add) because I realized this week that once I hit the road, I talked about it...but I never told anyone about it. I tried to share it, and wound up keeping a lot more to myself. I think it was suppose to be a pretentious induced Jack Kerouac sort of deal.
Instead it became a highly personal and deeply changing ride.

I wanted to share it. I wanted to show people what I was doing. I wanted to help people stop being afraid to do what they wanted and loved. I wanted to "be the change".
Instead the current took me farther from where I wanted to go than I had thought it would.

Now here I am. My life keeps getting better and worse at the same time. I don't think I'd want anything less.



To everyone who followed us, helped us, pushed us, or generally watched us from afar...there is no text big enough, no voice loud enough, and no words sincere enough for what I want to say to all of you.

Thank you. I hope I never made you regret it.


I have to go plant a garden.

See you, steampunks!
~Cap

It's over!

Steampunk Worlds Fair is over.

Thank you everyone who came out, in, up, down, left, right, whatever, to make it to SPWF and make it awesome. All we really did was put you all in a pair of hotels together, and YOU made this event. It could not have been done without you: staff, attendees, vendors, volunteers, and performers. And the hotel, the Radisson especially, was awesome to us.

So thank you. This event is truly yours.

I hope you had a good time.

In other "it's over" news, Cap and I have gone stationary from now through end of June. We'll be in CT for July, then back down to NJ for August. What happens after that, not sure.

I know we are most likely looking to sell The Icarus though. I think our days of being transient are for the moment over, but they could pick back up at any time.

Thank you everyone who has read this blog over the past year or so. I am happy to have been able to bring what little tales I did bring to you :D We lasted almost 1 full year before we had to settle for a bit. I hope in the future we can go travel for the spring, summer, and fall, and just be stationary for winter. But right now we need to build up: we need to get a new vehicle because the Icarus barely made last legs down to New Jersey and she's pretty much dead despite all of the work that has gone into her. I'm sure we'll give her a proper send off when the time comes.

~Whisper

Hell Week

ONE WEEK UNTIL WORLDS FAIR!!!!!!!!

It is crazy as hell and getting crazier. the house (hereafter referred to as MORDORK) is becoming a stopover for workers, staff members, guests, and volunteers. Things are getting done, but we are still running around like mad.

I can't wait for world's fair to be over, not because I am tired of it, but because I want to say "We did it!" and sleep for a week.

Sorry for the radio silence, by the way. Attempting to go stationary, work this event, and build ourself up...it's eating our attention. It'e becoming harder and harder to maintain this blog.

But at least for now, I can give you vague proclamations about what is going to happen at World's Fair.

Huzzar!

~Cap

http://outlandarmour.chipin.com/ Our friends and SPWF Performers The Outlanders just lost their bus, 4 personal cars, and nearly all of their costumes and props to a flood in TN! Please help out if you can! Every little bit count!



Half the funds donated will be split with the Nashville Red Cross to aid in the relief of folks who have literally lost EVERYTHING but what they could fit in a backpack. :(

All best,

~Whisper

So... Cap and I love this guy so very much....

And YOU SHOULD TOO!

Seriously, watch them all the way through. They just. get. better.

These are outtakes for an Absinthe commercial he was making.



--

And the Laudanum advertisement!! (it's slightly louder volume so turn things down first! :D )






And if this isn't enough, he'll be at Steampunk World's Fair!!!

Love you, Renfield!

Brian Vilgione has a ray gun, and he's not afraid to use it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tovT73dHH4

It won't embed...

But here's the 3rd video of 6 in the SPWF Promo videos we shot, starring Cap and Brian!

~Whisper

Updates! KamikazeCon woooo!

First: go check out the latest Steampunk World's Fair promo:



Second, after a crazy weekend including cosplayers, crossplayers, comedians, voice actors, Power Rangers, and missed flights in New Jersey, we all arrived back in New England safe and sound from an AMAZING time at KamikazeCon.

This was a small convention compared to the average New England con we attend, but man you would never have known it. The quality of cosplay was insanely good!! The staff was super professional. Wow!

And the events coordinators were wonderful too. Thank you Ojy for inviting us, and thank you to the con chair Mark for having us!

Thanks to Uncle Yo, Jia Jems, Rocieru, Sly, and the other guests who hung out with us this past weekend. And thank you to the staffers who made us feel so at home, especially Alan, Jeremy, Yuki, and Mia.

If you are in Houston, TX next year when Kamikaze is happening... don't miss it!

...and go eat at Chuy's cause it's freakin' tasty Mexican food. BEST. SALSA. EVARRR! Queso was tastilicious too.

Here's a quick run down of the weekend:

Arrived in Houston, driven around by a Maine-native!
Ate at the con chair's chinese buffet restaurant: totally decimated by the GIANT cups of soda.
Driven around to get decorations for Friday's dance- they all turned out excellent.
Went back to pass the heck out, but then got invited to go grab dinner with the other guests...
Who can pass that up!
Went to Chuy's, hung out with Jia and Rocieru and Sly, and Robert and Alan. Had amazing chips and salsa and queso.
Passed out back at the hotel.
Woke up! Ran around. Hosted two panels.
Sat at the table for only a couple hours, cause we wanted to run off and get ready for stuff.
Got some dinner, and then started pulling together the decorations for the dance.
Decorations = win
The music... we tried! But were not equipped for a ballroom/formal dance, but at least we were able to attempt to save the day. Wish we had been able to save the day :(
Went to hear the Brothers Ayers, Clarine Harp, and Samantha Harte tell hilarious uncensored con stories.
Try to find food... end up finding IHOP. Works for Lucretia, Cap, and I! General passes out back at the room instead. Night, General!
Then, we all went to bed too.
Wake up for Lucretia, to attend the panel Rocieru asked her to help out on about crossplay. Lucretia does a great job. And it was excellent hearing her and Roci and Sly talking about these things.
Then, run our media panel. I don't know why but this time I had a particularly good time at this panel.
Then... attend Jia's panel on her cosplay and Cosplay.com. She is AMAZING. Seriously, look up Jia Jems. I love that she cosplays Leloo and Jean Grey especially.
Then table it up for a little while! Before heading to the Cosplay Masquerade. Turns out, they need us to help judge. Woot!
Head off to judge the Masquerade, the four of us with Jia, Roci, Sly, and then our other new friend of the event Uncle Yo is hosting!
So, this was the first cosplay event I had attended and I have to say... sitting up front and not waiting in line is a good plan. But wow, the level of amazing cosplay outfits was insane.
While we deliberate on winners (not a hard process this time as it turns out we were all on the same page) Johnny Yong Bosh's band "Eyeshine" plays for the crowd. The second Black Ranger!! Vash the Stampede himself! So much fun!
Then he asked, ever so nicely, if he could play another song if we were done. Yeah, like we're gonna say NO to Johnny? I think not.
Then, the winners were announced, they were great. But the most Texan Master Chief stole our hearts when he won Best in Show. I think the whole audience wanted to hug that guy by the time he stepped off the stage. :D
And after....
AFTER WE PARTIED!
No, after we tried to party. But Texas blue laws say no sales of alcohol after 9pm. Le sigh.
So that's okay, we were heading to dinner anyway again at Chuy's. With Uncle Yo, Jia, Roci, Sly, and Jeremy and Harley from guest relations. Another good time had by all!
Then 'Cretia, Cap, myself, and Uncle Yo headed off to the hot tub... but the hot tub wasn't working, so we went semi-swimming. More like wading in the warm actually-in-the-building-end of the pool as opposed to the really-cold-outside-the-building end.
Then we went to sleeeep. Cause the General was off with Jia and the Brothers Ayers and we couldn't find the room. BOOO! Jia was leaving at 8am too. Sorry we missed you, Jia!
Sunday, our last day, we woke up and hung around a bit with Uncle Yo. I set up the table for about an hour, if for no other reason than to have a central meeting point (and to try to lighten the load for the return flights!)
Had to get going for the airport with Yuki and Christin. Said our goodbyes, people seemed to want to know if we were coming back next year. We shall see! We had a great time, so that much is in our favor and theirs. ^_^
Got on the plane no problem...
Got to New Jersey no problem...
But Jersey wuvs you, you understand? And the airport was hot as hell. And then they moved the gate from 20 to 25 without announcing it more than once- and definitely not during the almost two hours we were in that terminal waiting. >.<
So now we're stuck in Newark. Next flight to Manchester- where our checked luggage is off to- isnt till 8am.
But we work some things out, and Jeff Mach lets us borrow his car for the next few days. (TANK YOU, JEFF!) We were so lucky he lived like 25 minutes away from that airport.
We hit a diner first, then make the 4.5 hour drive to Boston so Lucretia won't miss work and get fired!
Finally get to the Generals and pass out for about 8 hours.
Make the drive to Manchester. Have a little trouble getting all our luggage because Lucretia is not there- at work- but finally get to take the luggage so General and I can get the few things we put in her bag out.
Haha, ten minutes later guess who shows up? Lucretia. We couldn't get in touch with her because her phone was off. But calls me from the airport.
We all meet up, make the exchanges, and then Cap and I head off to the Icarus! Which we are at now.

So... over all KamikazeCon was a win. A very much win. ^_^

See you all at I-CON 29 this weekend. Firday we have our "Angel" fan panel (we're excited: we hadnt realized Charisma Carpenter is at the event this year!!) and "Being Dreadful". Then a few other events on Saturday. Not sure we have anything on Sunday...

And then Anime Boston next weekend! We have a table in Artists Alley (#14) and hope to gather with the steampunks for photo ops with everyone at 5pm on Friday in the courtyard like last year.

Much love,

~Whisper

Spring cleaning!

On our way to Mass for a quick stopover tomorrow. We need to register the Icarus for the year, and take care of a few minor documents. Busy work all tomorrow. If it wasn't for the fact it needed to be done legally, I wouldn't be doing it. It's mostly a waste of a day, filled with waiting. Ugh.

Then we are off to Maine for the weekend. Visit a few people, pick up the rest of our stuff and situate the Icarus. Spring cleaning is always fun! A year ago I was cleaning the Icarus out in Brunswick. Only thing that seems to have changed is that now I am heading back up there with Steampunk World's Fair, Wicked, and a number of other events under my belt. Plus the fact that the Icarus has had enough work to keep it from stalling out in a crowded intersection.

We are catching showers at Matt and Carli's, before we hit the road again. Get ready for our conventions next week and the next few months. Hope to see you at some of them!

~Cap

...wherein the Captain makes a bunch of links.

Huzzah! Wicked is over! Smashing!
Though we spent most of our time trapped in the Steampunk playground, it was rather fun. Everything kept changing as to what we needed to do, what we could do, and what we had. It was all very organic, growing and shifting and changing on us. Of course, when planting a radish, you expect to grow a radish. Not a turnip. Ah well. T'was a blast nonetheless!
Plus, Project Munchausen was a success. HUGE success. Everyone loved it, and some of the best quotes of the weekend came from having Voltaire, Jeff Mach, Hugh Casey, and Daniel Greenwolf just shooting the shit together. Oh, and let's not forget the fantastic Gypsy Nomads, the band Coyote Run, and White Elephant Burlesque Society. The only three shows I got to get away for all weekend. Luckily, I chose some GREAT ones!


Now, we just have to get ready for the Big Brass Ball, I-con, and a half a dozen other Conventions over the next two months. Oi. It's going to be a looooong few months. Our work load is rocketing through the roof. We may even be making an appearance in Texas, Of all places! More news on that later.

I suppose I should come back to this later, and potentially update more on what we are planning, talk about some merch we are making, bring up some other jobs we are taking on...But I am tired, and I have a Wicked Faire after Party to attend tomorrow. *crosses fingers for scotch and rum*

This year is turning out to be a fucking AMAZING one so far! Great things are happening, and I am just going to let them.

Let's see where this wave takes us.
~Cap

From the Professor, A Wicked Poem...

Twas the Night Before Wicked and all through the Sky ship
Not a creature made sound, not even a drip.

And Whisper in her hammock and I in my bunk,
had just settled down, for we had been quiet drunk!

when up on the deck there arouse such a disturbance
The General ran off for hopeful battle in earnest!

We all arose quickly to see who dared attack!
but on our dark deck stood only Jeff Mach.

He was pleasant and plump and had a bag full of junk,
I laughed when I saw him... for I still was a tad drunk!

Come to Wicked dear Dreadfuls he said with a smile,
and we all knew right then it would take only a while,

To reach the southlands and the fabled New Jersey!
Where Cap said, it was more then possible to develop "the scurvy!"

To Wicked we go! Fear the Dreadfuls arrive!
Captain Homer-Winslow leading his, fearsome five!

There's Whisper, the General, Lucretia n' myself
and Alan of course that enchanted skull Grelf!

See you at Wicked, my dears, we shall be there indeed!
Merry Wicked to All, on this All Wicked's Eve!!

---Professor Ulysses Marvel

Thanks Professor!