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snoggedI know it's the middle of the week now, but I wanted to make sure I talked about my weekend at Teslacon. It was amazing and crazy and exhausting and wonderful. :P
On Friday, I went to work, drove home, packed and changed my outfit, and then headed to the Madison Marriott West for Teslacon where I met up with my friend Meg (dressed up like a steampunk Captain America) and her friend, Kayla (who had been "attacked" by a dinosaur earlier that day during her presentation so she had ace bandages wrapped around her arm and head).
Teslacon is a steampunk convention that has been going on in Madison for a few years now, but this was my first time there. Apparently, the organizers buy out the entire hotel so it's a completely immersive experience (costumes are mandatory. Even the hotel employees dress up). The theme of the event was "Journey to the Center of the Earth" and there were baby triceratops in the lobby of the hotel. They were so cute. They reacted to your touch and made baby growling and sneezing noises. Apparently, Playskool makes them and Nick and I found one on eBay for $400. Believe me when I say we were tempted to get one.
Once I was registered, and Meg had had about 40 pictures taken of her, we got in line for Opening Ceremonies. My friend, Jayne, who's on the PACT board with me joined us in line at that point. We listened to the Opening Ceremonies, which included our official journey to the center of the earth (this was done as a movie, but there were actors on stage narrating the main storyline.) After opening ceremonies, we went to the hotel restaurant for dinner. I had a grilled cheese sandwich with creamy tomato bisque. It was so good! After dinner, we went to the fashion show. We missed a pretty decent chunk of it, but still got to see the gorgeous costumes. The models all looked like they belonged in Panem (Hunger Games reference). We were pretty tired after that so Meg, Jayne, and I headed to her apartment for sleeping.
On Saturday, Jayne and I headed over to Teslacon right away and attended the SWARM rally. SWARM stands for Society for War Against the Royal Masses and it's basically the bad guys (Nick teased me for this and pointed out that I clearly have a thing for evil armies, i.e. Dark Cloud, Death Eaters, and now SWARM.) Anyway, we got to do the minion salute and take an oath where we were required to hold our left hand up to our forehead and hold our right legs in the air while saying "Oh. Wot. Ta. Gu. Sy. Am." Seven times fast. So it basically it sounded like we were saying "Oh, what a goose I am." They played a game of "Who Wants to Be Minion-Aire." Participants were selected based on their stories of evil. I was not selected which was a bummer, but I was excited that the 10 year old girl who persuaded her siblings to give up their Halloween candy got selected and also won the game show.
After that, Dr. Proctocus decided we were all idiots because we left him on the moon last year and walked out of the rally. From there, the "alpha" minions decided we needed to form our own faction: SMARM "Society for Minions and Anarchists who are Really Mad."
Personally, I continued to ally with SWARM and not SMARM, but it all very entertaining and SMARM continued as a storyline for the rest of the weekend. We attended some other presentations, including "VTech: Victorian Technology," "Queer Steampunk" and "Our Lady Spies." I had a fish sandwich for lunch and crab mac and cheese for dinner. After dinner was the Official Teslacon Ball. I did not know there was a ball so I just wore my outfit from earlier. Jayne and I stayed for a while and then we left to go the "Thee Bluebeard" show. "Thee Bluebeard" is a friend of mine from Bristol and he put on an awesome show. Then, we went to the Steerage dance (think Rose and Jack on the Titanic, partying and going nuts.) It was a ton of fun. I stepped out of the hall for a minute to find a restroom. This turned out to be a great idea because I ran into a girl who works for DVR in Beloit (We're on the training grant committee together). I also ran into Doctor Proctocus and got to have my picture taken with him! FANGIRL SQUEE! He is a truly dashing scoundrel. The photos turned out a bit yellow and a bit blurry though, due to the hotel's yellow lighting and not using flash.
On Sunday, Jayne had to leave for work so I ended up leaving for Teslacon early (Meg overslept and said she'd meet me there.) I attended part of a presentation on "Making Costumes out of Unusual Materials," but left early because they weren't talking about costumes as much as they were talking about props (i.e. building your steampunk gun out of PVC pipe.)
Then, I wandered around the vendor hall. I got to talk to my friend, Keith, who I haven't seen in about a decade. We used to run in the same circles at Bristol back in the day, but like me, he just doesn't get there as often as he used to. I also got to pick up a book called "Hook and Jill," which is essentially Peter Pan for adults. The author had read a few pages from the book at the "Thee Bluebeard" show and it sounded incredible.
Steampunk Deadpool.
I attended another presentation called "Where Do We Go From Here." It was presented by the Newcastle sisters and recapped what had gone on in the main storyline that weekend. Then we got in line for closing ceremonies. As I was walking in that direction, I was gifted with a plush heart that says: "I mustache you to be my Valentine." Thee Bluebeard was cleaning out his trunk and apparently wanted to get rid of that so it was presented to me. I thought it was sweet.
Kayla, Margaret, Meg, and I pose with Thee Bluebeard's heart.
Closing ceremonies were fun. They closed out the plot and left Dr. Proctocus at the mercy of a T-Rex. :/ I hope he'll be back next year! Then, they discussed all the people who helped with the event and shared their plans for the coming years. Next year's theme is "The Wild Weird West, featuring a Night Circus." The year after that will be "Battle of Britain: Resurrection of SWARM" and for 2017, they're doing "Murder on the Orient Express."
I already bought my ticket for next year and I can't wait!
Other photos that I couldn't find a spot for:
T-Rex
Steampunk Iron Man and Steampunk Glowing Lady
On Friday, I went to work, drove home, packed and changed my outfit, and then headed to the Madison Marriott West for Teslacon where I met up with my friend Meg (dressed up like a steampunk Captain America) and her friend, Kayla (who had been "attacked" by a dinosaur earlier that day during her presentation so she had ace bandages wrapped around her arm and head).
Teslacon is a steampunk convention that has been going on in Madison for a few years now, but this was my first time there. Apparently, the organizers buy out the entire hotel so it's a completely immersive experience (costumes are mandatory. Even the hotel employees dress up). The theme of the event was "Journey to the Center of the Earth" and there were baby triceratops in the lobby of the hotel. They were so cute. They reacted to your touch and made baby growling and sneezing noises. Apparently, Playskool makes them and Nick and I found one on eBay for $400. Believe me when I say we were tempted to get one.
Once I was registered, and Meg had had about 40 pictures taken of her, we got in line for Opening Ceremonies. My friend, Jayne, who's on the PACT board with me joined us in line at that point. We listened to the Opening Ceremonies, which included our official journey to the center of the earth (this was done as a movie, but there were actors on stage narrating the main storyline.) After opening ceremonies, we went to the hotel restaurant for dinner. I had a grilled cheese sandwich with creamy tomato bisque. It was so good! After dinner, we went to the fashion show. We missed a pretty decent chunk of it, but still got to see the gorgeous costumes. The models all looked like they belonged in Panem (Hunger Games reference). We were pretty tired after that so Meg, Jayne, and I headed to her apartment for sleeping.
On Saturday, Jayne and I headed over to Teslacon right away and attended the SWARM rally. SWARM stands for Society for War Against the Royal Masses and it's basically the bad guys (Nick teased me for this and pointed out that I clearly have a thing for evil armies, i.e. Dark Cloud, Death Eaters, and now SWARM.) Anyway, we got to do the minion salute and take an oath where we were required to hold our left hand up to our forehead and hold our right legs in the air while saying "Oh. Wot. Ta. Gu. Sy. Am." Seven times fast. So it basically it sounded like we were saying "Oh, what a goose I am." They played a game of "Who Wants to Be Minion-Aire." Participants were selected based on their stories of evil. I was not selected which was a bummer, but I was excited that the 10 year old girl who persuaded her siblings to give up their Halloween candy got selected and also won the game show.
After that, Dr. Proctocus decided we were all idiots because we left him on the moon last year and walked out of the rally. From there, the "alpha" minions decided we needed to form our own faction: SMARM "Society for Minions and Anarchists who are Really Mad."
Personally, I continued to ally with SWARM and not SMARM, but it all very entertaining and SMARM continued as a storyline for the rest of the weekend. We attended some other presentations, including "VTech: Victorian Technology," "Queer Steampunk" and "Our Lady Spies." I had a fish sandwich for lunch and crab mac and cheese for dinner. After dinner was the Official Teslacon Ball. I did not know there was a ball so I just wore my outfit from earlier. Jayne and I stayed for a while and then we left to go the "Thee Bluebeard" show. "Thee Bluebeard" is a friend of mine from Bristol and he put on an awesome show. Then, we went to the Steerage dance (think Rose and Jack on the Titanic, partying and going nuts.) It was a ton of fun. I stepped out of the hall for a minute to find a restroom. This turned out to be a great idea because I ran into a girl who works for DVR in Beloit (We're on the training grant committee together). I also ran into Doctor Proctocus and got to have my picture taken with him! FANGIRL SQUEE! He is a truly dashing scoundrel. The photos turned out a bit yellow and a bit blurry though, due to the hotel's yellow lighting and not using flash.
On Sunday, Jayne had to leave for work so I ended up leaving for Teslacon early (Meg overslept and said she'd meet me there.) I attended part of a presentation on "Making Costumes out of Unusual Materials," but left early because they weren't talking about costumes as much as they were talking about props (i.e. building your steampunk gun out of PVC pipe.)
Then, I wandered around the vendor hall. I got to talk to my friend, Keith, who I haven't seen in about a decade. We used to run in the same circles at Bristol back in the day, but like me, he just doesn't get there as often as he used to. I also got to pick up a book called "Hook and Jill," which is essentially Peter Pan for adults. The author had read a few pages from the book at the "Thee Bluebeard" show and it sounded incredible.
Steampunk Deadpool.
I attended another presentation called "Where Do We Go From Here." It was presented by the Newcastle sisters and recapped what had gone on in the main storyline that weekend. Then we got in line for closing ceremonies. As I was walking in that direction, I was gifted with a plush heart that says: "I mustache you to be my Valentine." Thee Bluebeard was cleaning out his trunk and apparently wanted to get rid of that so it was presented to me. I thought it was sweet.
Kayla, Margaret, Meg, and I pose with Thee Bluebeard's heart.
Closing ceremonies were fun. They closed out the plot and left Dr. Proctocus at the mercy of a T-Rex. :/ I hope he'll be back next year! Then, they discussed all the people who helped with the event and shared their plans for the coming years. Next year's theme is "The Wild Weird West, featuring a Night Circus." The year after that will be "Battle of Britain: Resurrection of SWARM" and for 2017, they're doing "Murder on the Orient Express."
I already bought my ticket for next year and I can't wait!
Other photos that I couldn't find a spot for:
T-Rex
Steampunk Iron Man and Steampunk Glowing Lady
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no subject
on 2014-11-13 04:07 am (UTC)Gabrielle
no subject
on 2014-11-13 12:55 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2014-11-13 12:55 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2014-11-13 05:40 pm (UTC)Sounds like a pretty shiny weekend for you, too. :)
You looked wonderful. {{hugs}}
no subject
on 2014-11-14 01:45 am (UTC)Thank you!
no subject
on 2014-11-14 01:00 am (UTC)Let us know how the book is. I looked it up and it does sound interesting.
no subject
on 2014-11-14 01:49 am (UTC)I will do that!
no subject
on 2014-11-16 01:06 pm (UTC)And fabulous pics. :)
no subject
on 2014-11-16 02:57 pm (UTC)Thank you!