Chimney Sucker Regalia
I went to my first Steampunk Convention yesterday with Lance. It was quite the experience. A little disappointing overall, but I definitely had some awesome moments.
I've always enjoyed the steampunk genre, but I'd never really known what steampunk was until recently. I don't even know how best to describe it. Crazy madd inventors from the Victorian era. Frankenstein. Neo-gothic. Firefly meets the Borg? Best just to google the term for pics. It's not a very popular fashion statement - yet. But I love it. I think it's awesome to get all dressed up with crazy gadgets and goggles and top hats.
So the convention was held at the Hilton in Emeryville. Bad location. No parking whatsoever. In truth, the whole convention was poorly planned from start to finish. Maybe the planning committee had underestimated how many people were going to show up, or maybe they just didn't have the budget. But for $30 a ticket, they could have done something way better. So besides the parking problem, the execution of the show was confusing. From the moment you walked in, there were no signs or staff to tell you where to go. They were quick to take your money, but they could have at least given you a leaflet telling you that the main show is on the 14th floor, or that the tea room was on the 12th floor. I mean, the Hilton is a fucking huge hotel! Lance and I had to ask strangers what the fuck was going on and most of them didn't even know where they were going. The fact that there were different events taking place on different floors was another example of poor planning. And that's just with the floorplan.
Lance and I plowed through the entire convention in about an hour. A record speed and not a great one to boast. There wasn't much to see. They had a "museum" on the top floor, but it had only 4 steampunk creations that weren't costumes. But I will admit, they were cool to look at. I saw a time machine (can't be steampunk without a time machine), a steampunk guitar, some laser guns, and a weird device that made some cool lights shoot out. There were a couple of talks for Q & A about steampunk stuff, but they were all boring. The 12th floor had the tea party room which was literally a hotel room converted into a mini lounge were some nice ladies served you tea and cookies. Later on another guest opened up their hotel room and started selling surplus costume stuff. Lance and I battled our way in to snatch up a couple of pieces. A single hotel room is no place to sell clothes. But that was all for the 12th floor. The main hall on the ground floor was where all the goodies were being sold. It too was very small, and cramped. I saw some amazing things that I really wanted to buy, but then I realized that I could easily make half the shit there - and that kinda killed the dragon hunger in me.
Outside in the parking lot was probably the best part of the whole shebang. The bigger inventions were on display (and taking up way too many precious parking spots). One in particular was this giant snail on wheels. It was made entirely of rod iron. The thing was huge. And Lance and I, and our friend Rachel, got the privilege to crawl around in it. It even shot out fire from the antenaes. Later the three of us also got to ride around on a mini train around the parking lot. But I think my favorite was the Trilobite on wheels. That thing was cute and fun.
And that was the Steampunk convention, not including the hotel bar where Lance and I spent most of our time. Thank god they had a bar! I really wanted it to be bigger and more epic, but oh well. Steampunk is a growing trend, and I can only hope that next year will be better.
I've always enjoyed the steampunk genre, but I'd never really known what steampunk was until recently. I don't even know how best to describe it. Crazy madd inventors from the Victorian era. Frankenstein. Neo-gothic. Firefly meets the Borg? Best just to google the term for pics. It's not a very popular fashion statement - yet. But I love it. I think it's awesome to get all dressed up with crazy gadgets and goggles and top hats.
So the convention was held at the Hilton in Emeryville. Bad location. No parking whatsoever. In truth, the whole convention was poorly planned from start to finish. Maybe the planning committee had underestimated how many people were going to show up, or maybe they just didn't have the budget. But for $30 a ticket, they could have done something way better. So besides the parking problem, the execution of the show was confusing. From the moment you walked in, there were no signs or staff to tell you where to go. They were quick to take your money, but they could have at least given you a leaflet telling you that the main show is on the 14th floor, or that the tea room was on the 12th floor. I mean, the Hilton is a fucking huge hotel! Lance and I had to ask strangers what the fuck was going on and most of them didn't even know where they were going. The fact that there were different events taking place on different floors was another example of poor planning. And that's just with the floorplan.
Lance and I plowed through the entire convention in about an hour. A record speed and not a great one to boast. There wasn't much to see. They had a "museum" on the top floor, but it had only 4 steampunk creations that weren't costumes. But I will admit, they were cool to look at. I saw a time machine (can't be steampunk without a time machine), a steampunk guitar, some laser guns, and a weird device that made some cool lights shoot out. There were a couple of talks for Q & A about steampunk stuff, but they were all boring. The 12th floor had the tea party room which was literally a hotel room converted into a mini lounge were some nice ladies served you tea and cookies. Later on another guest opened up their hotel room and started selling surplus costume stuff. Lance and I battled our way in to snatch up a couple of pieces. A single hotel room is no place to sell clothes. But that was all for the 12th floor. The main hall on the ground floor was where all the goodies were being sold. It too was very small, and cramped. I saw some amazing things that I really wanted to buy, but then I realized that I could easily make half the shit there - and that kinda killed the dragon hunger in me.
Outside in the parking lot was probably the best part of the whole shebang. The bigger inventions were on display (and taking up way too many precious parking spots). One in particular was this giant snail on wheels. It was made entirely of rod iron. The thing was huge. And Lance and I, and our friend Rachel, got the privilege to crawl around in it. It even shot out fire from the antenaes. Later the three of us also got to ride around on a mini train around the parking lot. But I think my favorite was the Trilobite on wheels. That thing was cute and fun.
And that was the Steampunk convention, not including the hotel bar where Lance and I spent most of our time. Thank god they had a bar! I really wanted it to be bigger and more epic, but oh well. Steampunk is a growing trend, and I can only hope that next year will be better.