Steampunk Harlequin Hypnosis Show

The Steampunk theme of this show caught my monocle one day while I was cruising Facebook. Being an active member of the Vancouverites for Steampunk community, I'm always open to new adventures.

After perusing the Harlequin Hypnosis show website I chose their showing at the Inlet Theatre, Port Moody.

We donned our Steampunk gear and headed out for an evening of adventure.

I wasn't quite sure what to expect. About one third of the crowd were dressed in steampunk finery. There were gadgets and trinkets to buy. The theatre itself is in a fine civic building. We enjoyed viewing the 2013 photo of town council dressed in 1903 finery and all the vintage photos of the town.

The show was due to start. The story revolves around Katie, a little girl who is upset at being left with her governess, while her older sister gets to go on high adventures with their Dad. Katie suddenly goes missing, leaving the Captain, Navigator, Deck Hand and their minions to search for her.

Volunteers from the audience were chosen to be "hypnotized". Captain Rob, the lead hypnotist, put the minions to sleep. When they were required to perform their duties, they were awoken and made to do all sorts of crazy things. 

Much hilarity ensued. While they were counselled that they wouldn't have to do anything embarrassing, I beg to differ. Rob was kissed by one young lady. Some minions fought over the attentions of others. At one point Captain Rob's cat went missing. This had to be the funniest part of the show for me as the minions raced all over the theatre searching for kitty.

After visiting a lighthouse and an island full of hungry cannibals the crew realized that they had gotten sidetracked over exactly where Katie was.

The mystery was solved. Katie had been messing with the entire crew and she was in fact, not really missing. The whole spectacle had been a waste of time.

The minions were allowed to go home.

While we enjoyed the show, I wouldn't have minded a bit more back story and less audience participation. Some of the minions departed the stage early, as they were wearing out after an hour under hypnosis. How this can be accomplished I'll leave to the crew, whether through special effects or more acting from the hypnotists.

As the show played out it came to the point where I didn't really care where Katie was, but rather, where was that darn cat?

Vancouver Fan Expo 2014

Vancouver Fan Expo will be doing its third year run in downtown Vancouver on April 18th to 20th, 2014.

We are excited to meet many of the guests, from Bruce Boxleitner to Bruce Campbell! Robert Englund, Michael Rosenbaum, Charisma Carptener, Giancarlo Esposito, Ray Park, Karl Urban and Stephen Amell are also on the guest list with more RRSPs on the way.

A group of Vancouver Crafty Geeks from Nerd HQ decided to get together and buy a table for the Artists Alley. We are all very excited, and after our contract was approved, we have been hurriedly making nerdy crafts to sell on the table. 

There will be various knick knacks, small crocheted animals, needlepoint pictures, and geeky crocheted dolls. Also save up your cash for the TARDISes. That's right, there will be many limited edition Doctor Who items up for sale. From ornaments, to decorations to soap, there will be plenty of items to make you happy.

Fan Expo opens Friday night at 4 pm and runs until 9 pm. On Saturday the hours run 10-7 pm and on Sunday10 to 5 pm. 

No Pants Subway 2014 - International No Pants Day!

Did you participate in the International No Pants Day while on the train today? 

Just what is this event? No, it's not the promo for Shades of Grey, this is a silly flash mobbing for really no reason at all. In cities across the world, at an appointed time, hundreds of subway riders remove their pants and enjoy their train rides. 

Many photos and silliness ensued this morning. Generally the rules dictate that you're not supposed to talk to your fellow subway riders, but somehow, removing your pants leads to breaking the ice. After all, you're not the only one sitting there without pants on, so are all your fellow train riders!

This event is held twice a year, and started shortly after a New York resident skipped his morning cuppa, forgot to finish dressing, and then ending up riding the subway to work without pants. He reported that instead of being shamed - he was wearing undies after all - his fellow riders giggled and smiled. He continued the event as a yearly tradition with his friends.

Today, the No Pants Ride is organized by Improv Everywhere. There is a set code of conduct. Participants are to pretend they do not know each other and a code of decorum must be followed. If questioned, a participant must answer that they "forgot to put their pants on this morning".

I don't know about you, but this event could SHORTly be UNDIEmined by the No Tops day!

Confederacy of Steam Vs Zombies Now Available for Purchase!

Earlier this year Marion Margaret Press send out a call for submissions for their new Confederacy of Steam Vs Zombies anthology in the fall. I recalled that I had a Steampunk story in my folder that hadn't found a home yet. Since the guidelines said there had to be zombies, I decided to rewrite my story to fit the theme.

My short story is entitled, "Zombies Against the Confederacy of Steam" and is set in Victorian times with strong female characters. I decided to tell my story from the view of the zombies. I won't say any more than that, so as not to spoil the reading for my fans.

You can buy a digital copy for a mere $2.99 here on Smashwords. Next month the printed version should be available for purchase and I'll post further details on that date.

There will also be second Steampunk Air Ship anthology next year, and I do plan on sending a submission in. I don't have anything ready at the moment, so I'll need to write up something fantastic.

If you're tired of reading Cherie Priest or Gail Carrigar, please give this anthology a go, and thank you in advance for your support.

Steampunk Kitty Poem by Mel Dawn

Writing Wellness

I packed it in and quit my day job! What was once a fantastic job providing support to clients turned into a nightmare. About a year ago, after I wrote my novel for the 3-Day Novel Challenge, I made my decision that I would transition into a full-time writer. I'd give my writing career a chance, or shut up and ship out. 

I meticulously did my monthly budget, cut back on expenses, cancelled all subscriptions, made extra cash when I could.

Unfortunately, life had other plans for me. About halfway through the year, my job turned upside down. The workload quadrupled and my job morphed into something unrecognizable. This was not the career that I had originally been hired to do, nor the one I had accepted when I signed the contract. 

Colleagues become stressed out and people went on sick leave. I had more of a support network at my disposal than they did but I wasn't coping much better.

After the one-hundredth day of coming home in tears, I decided enough was enough. It was time for me to leave and do what I wanted. If I never tried, I would never know. Life is short; my own mother barely lived two decades past the age I am now. Did I want to die being unhappy, or did I want to do what I loved?

If I need to get back to a regular-paying job, than I can take one that supports my first career. 

I haven't been off for a month yet, but have been getting into the writing groove. I have a schedule set up four days a week. I know I cannot work for eight hours solid a day, and I know I need breaks, so those are scheduled in. 

What I didn't realize was that for my four working days, that I wouldn't be writing continuously during my allotted times. 

I've spent a great deal of time searching out new markets to write for. I've had to document submission guidelines and make notes, so I can find a market I wish to submit to in the future. I need to tie together markets with my short stories. Today, I became confused when I had three drafts of different short stories in my folder, but no idea where I had intended to submit them to. I had to make up a submission form to keep track of everything. I have folders on my computer set up with different dates, and more folders coming. 

Editing also takes up the greatest amount of time. I've added edit numbers to all my submissions, so I know if they are draft two or draft seven. 

I remembered short stories I wrote years ago and perhaps could find homes for them. I had to dig to the back of my closet to find the disks as those stories were no longer on my computer. 

Some days it's great doing a little of this and a little of that, but tomorrow I'm gearing up to only write brand new stories. This may give me a sense of accomplishment.

I'm hoping that by the beginning of next week I'll have some of my stories submitted for publication.

I'm sure as the weeks pass by, I'll gain more insights into my writing day, and figure out exactly what works for me. 

Is there a Doctor in the Soap, errr TARDIS?

Here's a cute soap bar I made last year. I remember I spent a few hours handcrafting my very own TARDIS, but made out of soap, not wood.

I bought a large block of $16 soap for 50% off, plus blue colouring, and a rectangular mold, which also happened to be blue.

I melted the soap in the microwave, then poured it into the mold.

I let it sit for about an hour then popped it out.

I did one more pouring to a shallow depth and let set.

When I was ready to assemble, I grabbed the toothpicks and sliced, diced and chopped until I had a reasonable assemblage of a time machine.

I melted a bit more soap, added red and cut out a light for the top.

Now that my TARDIS is in the past, I’m not certain I would do the assembly method again. Perhaps I will make my own TARDIS mold and pour directly into it.

See the photo above of my wonderful TARDIS! What ever happened to it? Turns out I needed soap in the bathroom one day so I cut it down into blocks and used it all up. In the future I'll be on the lookout for an actual TARDIS mold that will contain more detail.