Friday, May 10, 2013

Airship Crimson Steamers

Norman's Medieval Fair & OU Nightly video!

Final exams are ending this week bringing a great spring semester to a close! In addition to the fabulous leather goggles class featured in our March blog, ACS made the student cable & YouTube channel and relished steampunk craftsmen from across the U.S. featured at Norman's Med Fair.  We've been busy this spring!

Probably the largest outdoor fair in the state of Oklahoma, April's Med Fair brought handmade items from New Mexico, California, and Minnesota in addition to local artisans.  The event is strategically planned on OU's Mom's Weekend.  

My favorite item at the fair was a straw top hat, as seen on this lovely vendor.  Her partner wore a black one, also made of straw.  How smart!  They are stylish, not sweaty, and of course, fun to decorate.  Sadly, no one at the fair was selling a straw top hat, though.  There were many other hats made of leather, felt, etc.  Lovely corsets were a-plenty!  Hope you enjoy the photos! FIREFLY ALERT: <3 'I aim to misbehave!' <3 pin!

The weekend of Med Fair the south side of campus also hosted baseball games and gymnastics finals, in addition to the OKC Bridal Show at the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History.  It was the place to pick up new steampunk accessories, listen to great music and enjoy strawberries Newport! Don't miss this event in 2014! http://www.medievalfair.org/


We're on YouTube!

Steampunk bubble gun by Cordelia Moon Tea of OctopodiCon!
Crimson Steamers member Nate Pipkin, President Shai Fenwick, and I literally bumped into OU student news reporters at the theater department's costume sale.  The reporters hadn't heard of 'steampunk' and asked for a video shoot!  Shai and I met them at Goodwill at 9am Saturday, then brought them over for DYI time.  Current Sooner, Leslie Keller-Kenton, and OU alums met for a quick cos-play!  Hope you enjoy our 15 seconds of fame!
Steampunk: Old World Meets Technology

Published on Feb 22, 2013
Two different time periods are brought together in this new trend called steampunk.

Mixing old world fashion with technology and science fiction touches, steampunk is a unique style that is catching on quickly. Especially because of how easy it is to put together the look. Leah [Keller-Kenton] McGaha, a recent OU graduate, says that "you can find most of what you need raiding your own closet, raiding a friend's closet, visiting a thrift store or visiting a hardware shop, or even going to a large chain store."

Members love transforming pieces of clothing into costumes for this fun and unique style. Find a local steampunk group, figure out a character and costume, and you could be the newest member in this growing trend.

We are looking forward to SOONERCON & hanging out with Tim Powers in late June!  SOONERCON is June 28th to 30th - here's a link for more information.  http://www.soonercon.com/


More soon!
Dalynda Marie

Tuesday, May 7, 2013


You might be a nerd if...

Home decor only a fan will appreciate.

I'm sharing a couple real pictures from our little house in Norman, Oklahoma.  We like to have friends over & it is always fun to see the fan-friends smirk when they notice our hidden fandom.  The images are significant in science fiction, diesel punk, etc.  I'll give you a few clues to see if you geek-squeak, like Mrs. PerkyShai does at most things shiny. [8:{

First is the easy one to get your warmed up...  Here is a tapestry; the scene is Lake Como in Italy.  Got it?

CLUE:
This is the spot where a doomed couple first kissed.  [Hum, maybe this is a good reason to move it out of my bedroom? Sigh!]

Did you guess it yet? Need another hint? The couple were secretly married in this spot.  At this point, the groom had a mechanical hand! Yep, this is not really Italy, it is Naboo! Queen/Senator Amidala's lake house patio!  She married Anakin Skywalker here!  Good job!  Was it too easy?

Okay, this one is tougher because it is from a new 2012 fandom.  Good luck!

My new favorite piece of art in the house is from Nepal.  My wonderful little brother visited this beautiful country and hiked in the Himalayas.  As a gift, he brought us a painting from the monks.  These are called Buddhist thangka paintings.  This becoming blue figure features fire & babies heads!

Is this familiar? CLUE: My daughter's favorite monk lives on in this diesel punk anime...

This deity is also the face of Ginormous Madman one of the organizations behind the awarding-winning show Legend of Korra, who according to their Wikipedia page, "is strongly influenced by Japanese animation, has been a critical and commercial success. It obtained the highest audience total for an animated series in the U.S. in 2012, and it was praised by reviewers for its high production values and for addressing difficult sociopolitical issues such as social unrest and terrorism. It was initially conceived as a miniseries of 12 episodes, but it is now set to run for 52 episodes separated into four "books," each of which tells a separate story." We are eagerly awaiting the second season which was originally slated to begin in March of this year.

As a parent, I can highly recommend the Korra first season; strong female characters, excellent steam or diesel punk animation, and the writers included political parallels to the 'Patriot Act' hidden in a story about equality and freedom.

I hope you have hidden fandom in your home; if you'd like to share, please comment below with links to your images and treasures.

Kindest regards,
Dalynda Marie
 
References:

Lake Como & Star Wars:
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Lake_Como

Buddist Thangka paintings:
http://www.buddhanet.net/thangkas.htm

Ginormous Madman of Nickelodeon:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Legend_of_Korra