Report from the Fair

I hardly know where to begin! My dear von Hedwig and I left our beloved and numerous offspring back on the airship with Nanny and Ulrik last weekend and attended the first Steampunk World’s Fair. We had a wonderful time! At every moment there were 3 things events we wanted to attend, and yet one of the most rewarding activities was doing nothing at all – just promenading about the buildings and grounds admiring all the other Steampunks.

What joy! Not a pair of baggy jeans or sweatpants to be seen in all the weekend. Dapper gentlemen, beautiful ladies, dapper ladies and beautiful gentlemen. And smiles! We were all delighted to be there, delighted to see each other, complimentary of one another’s sartorial and scientific efforts, and clogging the halls taking each other’s pictures non-stop. (Which Security was most gracious about, really.) I found my heart swelling with affection at the sight of my fellow Steampunks, which is, in general, not a sensation I achieve when awash with humanity.

We were inspired by our fellows’ gear, accoutrements, accessories, extraordinary facial hair, modified contraptions, hats, corsets, hats! So many Makers! ModVic Renovations! Tesla Coils! Firearms! Backpack devices! Robot arms! My dear von Hedwig locked himself in his Lab the minute we got back to the ship, as his head is so full of ideas!

We met Jake von Slatt, whose Steampunk Workshop inspired von Hedwig to take the plunge and mess about with metal. We met people we have admired over the aether and now know to be actual live humans. We met someone from our deep dark past, and his lovely and talented author wife. We met friends of friends (including Emilie Bush, author of Chenda and the Airship Brofman), imaginary friends (including folks from Brass Goggles and Silver Goggles), and made new friends (including Leanna Renee Hieber, who is intelligent and vivacious, and if her fiction is even a quarter as delightful as her conversation, I am in for a treat). We met writers and publishers and reporters.

We met Professor Elemental, and shot him with Gerhardt’s marshmallow crossbow. (He started it by telling me I had “the eyes of an angel, but the cheekbones of a murderer.”) He is even funnier in person than I expected, and my expectations were high. He is also capable of more powerful poetry than his usual hip hop hilarity, as I was lucky enough to discover at the Gaslamp Cabaret.

Speaking of the Professor, we entered the Mad Science Fair and he granted us the Honorable Mention Prize for Madness. Accolades, indeed! We were also honored by General Caled with a “Steampunk World’s Fair 2010 General Caled’s Epic Attire, Apparel and Modified Contraption, Thingamajig or Watchamacallit Competition Winner”

And the music! It wasn’t really a World’s Fair, it was a music festival with a thousand-strong Steampunk social attached. I was looking forward to Humanwine, Black Tape for a Blue Girl, Unextraordinary Gentlemen, and the Clockwork Dolls (I had tea with them; they are charming!), and of course Professor Elemental, and was not disappointed. Even more exciting for me was hearing new (to me), amazing bands like Walter Sickert and the Army of Broken Toys, What Time is it Mister Fox?, and The Emperor Norton Stationery Marching Band, which was both, and rocked the house late into the night, long after the constabulary had politely requested they withdraw. I was, unfortunately, unable to make the JM Renfield & HM show, but I must say that out of hundreds and hundreds of beautifully dressed people, these gentlemen always stood out.

In short, I can’t wait for next year, and desperately wish I could fuel up the ship and charge off to World Steam Expo and Seattle Steamcon to recreate all the fun. And remember, there’s nothing that can’t be done by a man in a top hat and an ape with a monocle!