Just yesterday the very first EuroSteamCon ended. Marburg actually had the only “official” (read: listed) German event, but we all hope there will be more next year. The concept is fairly new to Europe where it is far more complicated to host gigantic conventions like in the USA albeit the distances are actually not as far in comparison.
Anyway, we had a nice picnic (everyone had expected the weather to be worse so nearly no-one was prepared to actually have the planned picnic, but we managed) – about fifteen Steampunks from all over Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia – and later went to the upper town for coffee and food that was not muffins.
Muffins I made. That’s spice-and-orange-plus-honey-oatmeal and cocoa-walnut-plus-honey-oatmeal.
You can have a look at everything that happened on the live blog (via Clockworker):
Sadly I only took a few pictures, and none of them are really presentable, I’m sorry.
Aaand yesterday during the meet-up I also got my copy of THIS:
This is sort of the German pendant to the Steampunk Bible – well, maybe the little sibling – written by the chief editors of the Clockworker and Daily Steampunk, respectively. It’s a nice summary of Steampunk activities, labels and backgrounds of the international and, more detailed, the German linguistic areas, and I had the honour of being one of the non-professional lectors.
I also had the honour of drawing this little fellow as an illustration of the Captain’s Steampunk boson theory. That’s so awesome, something I scribbled ended up in a real, printed book!
Did any of you attend a Steampunk convention, LARP or meet-up lately?
I really couldn’t wait for my next 10 Things I Love with this!
Forget about Tim Burton.* The Maker is a beautiful, melancholic, philosophic stop motion short film by Christopher Kezelos with the awesome, whimsical things-from-the-attic style artwork of Amanda Louise Spayd.
Here’s the official website and you can also help The Maker win at the ShortList Film Festival here.
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* No, not really, of course. But I think he’s really got some serious competition here.
All pictures and sounds in this post belong to Disney Pixar
Last Wednesday I went to the movies to watch Brave together with some friends of mine. We met up in front of the cinema shortly after 10 P.M. – the OV screens only twice a week at 11 P.M. and there was no way anyone of us would have watched it dubbed -, got our booked-in-advance tickets that wouldn’t have been necessary because the theatre was nearly empty anyway and went on to Theatre 5.
First things first as this is going to be a rather long post: The movie was great.
Here’s a teaser for all of you who haven’t seen it yet:
***
Sadly I couldn’t find a clip of the scene that I loved most (all right, the scene I loved most that wouldn’t spoil), but when you watch the movie, look for the riding archery course scene. I really want to feel like this every morning, every day of my life!
On several blogs I read people complained how Brave failed to be an important piece for the message female empowerment. Or how it was still all about being pretty, with a lot of focus on Merida’s (awesome) hair. I even read that Merida was, in behalf of self-empowered Disney princesses, a step backwards.
I think they don’t get what Brave is about: Unconditional love. Adventure. Small steps.
Merida doesn’t want to rule her clan – and therefore seemingly fails the feminist movement -, she simply doesn’t know if she wants to be married some day, ever, at all, yet, she only knows that she doesn’t want to be married now, especially to some guy she doesn’t know at all. She also wants her mother to accept her love for archery and being outdoors instead of making her the perfect princess. Is it a failure to fight for your right to be free and to be yourself before you aim for higher goals? Obviously, Merida doesn’t even think about a future in which her father isn’t king anymore and therefore needs a successor. And it is also not theme of this movie. Which is good.
And what is bad about being badass while looking good? So many women do it all the time, and most of those times it is greatly admired. But here? It’s a bad thing. The way people write about it sounds as if was the ugly little sibling of lookism. Yes, her hair is awesome. Yes, the costume dress for little girls is sold by the slogan “Look pretty and be brave, too”. Which might be a bit unfortunate. Maybe a reversal of the slogan would have done better. But after all, it’s still Disney, and there is only so much they can do. They gave us a heroic, at some point of the story even self-reflective princess, willing to undo the harm she has done by her spoiled and selfish behaviour. They gave us a princess little girls can look up to that actually does something besides looking pretty. They probably also gave us a new generation of female archers.
Usually, Disney princesses are decorative. That’s about it, that’s their main job (except Tiana, who I also find awesome. I also doubt that Merida will be added to the Disney Princess franchise at all, which I approve of.). This one isn’t. She’s fierce, she fights for her opinion, for her own character, for her choices, as unfortunate they may be in the end. She’s brave.
And seemingly, it still isn’t enough.
That last paragraph has been a little bit more involved than I had planned to, but I had to get this off my chest. I’m sorry.
There is nothing wrong with wanting to look good while you’re badass. I should know. I wear glittery nail polish under my boxing gloves.
Well, sometimes.
The other characters we meet during the film are amazing, too. There is Merida’s father Fergus, the Bear King (what a great title!), often a bit helpless when it comes to social situations, but a brave, able warrior and unifier of the kingdom, Merida’s little triplet brothers who are distilled comic relief, the heads of the other clans, MacGuffin, Dingwall and Macintosh with their respective sons, who (all of them, not only the sons) range from grumpy old man over very choleric to adorkable. And there’s Elinor.
Queen Elinor, voiced by the incomparable Emma Thompson, is Merida’s strong-willed, wise and very, very regal mother. She’s the mind to Fergus’ actions. She’s the woman who renders four clans of fighting men quiet by simply being. She’s lovely. And while she only wants the best of things for her daughter, whom she loves with all her heart, she often pushes everything aside for the sake of the paradigms of royal life. There is a scene at the very beginning of the story, when she dresses Merida for the tournament, where she pauses for a short time in her speech about the perfectness of the horribly tight dress and the duties of a princess, showing her doubts about the way she needs, she has to do things. In the opening sequence we see what an able rider she is, and that she didn’t use to be so stern and severe all the time. She has her duties, and she tries to make the best of all of it, but she can’t always do so.
My heart broke a little when she tried to save everything after the big fight with her daughter. They just pictured it so right.
***
I’m good at crying during movies, especially animated ones. I also cried during Brave, happy that nobody could see my wet eyes behind the 3D glasses. I love stories about unconditional love, I love stories about strong families and I love Scotland. There was nothing about this film that wasn’t to love.
They created these wonderful landscapes, and I fell in love with Angus, Merida’s horse, as soon as I got a first glimpse at a trailer. Everything about this movie was, and still is, just right.
Brave also was vastly inspiring in behalf of future crafting projects. I think I need that tapestry from the end, a Will-O’-The-Wisp decoration for my room and Merida’s adventure dress. And of course I’m thinking about taking up archery again, this time with regular training.
In the end I can say I loved the movie. It reminded me of The Secret of Kells a lot, maybe because the lead characters kind of look alike. I think if you liked Brave, you’d like The Secret ofKells, too, and vice versa, even though the first one has more action and the second one is a bit calmer. Anyway, it’s a great piece with beautiful visual design, a heart-wrenching, heartwarming story and a great soundtrack that I’ll be proud to add to my collection as soon as it is out on DVD.
Happy Frankenstein Friday* and welcome to the Halloween Cute Games special I promised. Cute Games used to be filed under “Intermezzo” or at least titled with it, but as Costume Quest is a larger, non-browser game, it simply counts for “Otherworlds”.
And I finished it right in time for a review before the big night!
All pictures that are not marked “screenshot” come from the official site (make sure to watch the trailer!) and belong, together with the screenshots, to Double Fine Productions. Who’ve got a great logo, too (Siamese twins in Victorian bathing suits? Epic win.).
... which of course belongs to them, too.
The PC version that I played is rather new and was launched just two weeks ago while the console version has been out for a year now. I guess the basic game play and control are a little bit easier there, but maybe I’m just not used to games without mouse use. When I played it the second time – yes, I did, as I didn’t take any screenshots earlier – I had grown to it, but I had a severe case of optimising my computer before. If your PC isn’t the latest in technology or made for gaming, you could suffer from the same problems that I had: slowed down reactions (lethal in fights) and lagging.
Without giving away any spoilers, the plot is as follows:
You are the new kid in the neat little town of Auburn Pines, and it’s Halloween, the best day of the year. While being out trick-or-treating, your twin is being kidnapped – being mistaken for a giant candy due to their embarrassing candy corn costume – by a candy-stealing monster, and you’ll be grounded FOR EVER if you return home without them.
Gladly you’ve got some spirit and an awesome costume so you can head after those candy thieves! You way will not only take you to the Autumn Haven Mall and the rural surroundings of Fall Valley, but also let you achieve what your mother told you to do and make some friends (which are just as nerdy as you).
one of my favourite dialogues during the game
Wren without a costume
The twins are Wren, the Halloween-adoring first-born, and Reynold, the candy-loving younger. I myself chose Wren to be my hero, as her stubbornness and fierceness reminded me of myself, especially in 4th grade. You start out with a transformer-like robot costume and are able to collect up to ten more during the game, and nearly all of them bear some pop culture reference.
My favourite costume from the whole game is probably the Pumpkin King (actually it’s only “pumpkin”, but the player is strongly reminded of Jack’s first appearance in Nightmare Before Christmas) or Jack O’Lantern. He even does a little jig after you win a fight.
My second favourite was a surprise for myself: My Pretty Panacea. I’m not even a fan of the robot unicorn (if you don’t know it, google it. I dislike the music so much that I don’t want to link back to it) or My Little Pony (although I guess I’m somehow growing interested, at least in modding). But its attack animation and limit break are too awesome to ignore.
below: comparison: non-fight costumes (from left to right: Wren as Pumpkin, Everett as Knight, Lucy as My Pretty Panacea)
The fights are pretty much like every other J-RPG, except this one isn’t from Japan. Of course your enemies grow with you, but there’s nothing you can’t do with awesome costumes…
yes, your enemies explode into candy
While your heroes in this game are kids and it is quite kid-friendly, it’s definitely not a game for children. I mention this because these two things are often confused. Though you don’t really kill the monsters and there is no splatter involved, most of the pop cultural hints and the nerd humor are better and more appreciated as an adolescent or adult.
All in all, Costume Quest is an awesome game. A little short, maybe, but in return at least the PC version comes with an ad-on, Grubbins on Ice, that takes place some months after Halloween (reports on that before Christmas). I’ve got no stars or grades system (and I don’t want one), so I can only recommend it to you. Enjoy!
* recurring every last Friday before Halloween. For more information, look here.
Yes, I’m jumping onto the bandwagon of saying goodbye to one of the greatest phenomenons of my childhood.
Honestly I don’t think that there’ll be another generation of children that will have this bond with JK Rowlings work – we grew up with these characters, we waited every year for a new book and after that for a new film… and now it’s over.
And even though I stopped reading after the Order of the Phoenix and stopped watching even earlier (but maybe I’ll catch up some day – but I had my reasons to stop), I consider myself a fan. I participated in Hogwarts forum RPGs, I took innumerable Sorting Hat tests, I drew fan art and wrote fan fiction. I thought about and discusses the characters’ and story’s progress and which kind of pet I’d take with me to Hogwarts and was delighted when a friend of mine compared my room to the Burrow the fist moment he saw it.
All pictures in this post belong to WB
The inspirational part of Harry Potter on fashion or style behalf is mostly thanks to the movies, and even though I didn’t like some decisions they made I love the look.
In fashion I especially loved the quidditch equipment, but also all the fancy robes. Dubledore’s below is only one example, and I think the costumers did a splendid job!
I’m glad to study at a university nicknamed “Hogwarts”, but it’d be even better if we had rooms and surroundings like this:
(All right, we've got something like Diagon Alley)
Now, enough with the nostalgia… I’m going to re-watch the movies now. ^^
And by the way, I’ve got to try this recipe for butter beer some day…
I know I haven’t posted too much this month, especially about my Christmas preparations. At the moment I’m doing the ornaments for the annual Yuletide letter to my relatives overseas in New York, and I’m planning to catch up with all the presents during the next two weeks.
Air Mail to America
But something little that I can show you right now are the advent calendars I’ve got back in Marburg (you remember, I’m still at my mother’s house).
First, there’s the (hippie-eco-tree hugger – I love it!) tea advent calendar I got from my Mum in the mail.
I didn’t have the chance to get my daily cup during the last week, but this makes me even look more forward to coming home the day after tomorrow.
The second one is some kind of “collective” advent calendar my mother also sent to me. I always had it when I lived with her, and now I use it for the whole bunch. There are four of us – Bambi, Satyr, Scoundrel (doesn’t officially live with us, but unofficially he’s a member of the household as well) and me which means there are six bags for each of us. I filled those for the boys – mostly the same stuff in different colours but with at least one specific gift in the last bag before Christmas. Sadly, I couldn’t take any pictures, but maybe I’ll be able to when I come home again.
So far I have only opened one of my bags as I’m the fourth in line and went south at December 5th. But there I found a wonderful little gnome from the Scoundrel, just like the ones that I had when I was younger.
And now I’ll leave you again to pack my bags and go for an evening stroll to see all the lighted houses with my Mum. Tomorrow at this time I’ll be in Frankfurt at my father’s house after lunch with my grandparents, a visit on the Christmas market and a short meeting with Jules. And when I’m back in Marburg on Tuesday I’ll visit the Historian to take a look at the pictures he took at the Coppelius concert. Which means: I’ll be posting soon again!
Tonight’s the Coppelius concert I’ve been looking forward to for month. I got me the new album last week and haven’t stopped listening (well, except for another song, but that’s too off-topic now).
My favourites so far are:
Diener 5er Herren (“Servant of 5 Masters”) – “The sufferings of young B.”, about the work of Coppelius’ butler Bastille.
Gumbagubanga - Nonsensical song about a witch doctor which has pretty good choral parts.
Stetig Fromm (“Always Docile”) – About a marriage gone very, very wrong.
Ade mein Lieb (the German version of The Turtle Dove) – So beautiful, I can’t even tell. It’s a great texture with wonderful voices weaving into each other…
I’m also looking forward to hear Damen (“Ladies”), Nachtwache (“Night Watch”) and Klein Zaches (“Little Zaches”), the eponymous song for Zinnober.
As always when it comes to a Coppelius concert I’m a little concerned with my outfit for tonight. I’m struggling to decide whether to go for a more simple-could-be-anywhere-from-rennaissance-to-1900s look or something nearly baroque… but I’ll get a little help from Jules. The time between picking up Tristan, another acquaintance (dare I say friend?) of mine, from the station and meeting the others at the concert we’ll spend at his house, planning outfits. We’re girls, after all (except Tristan).
But now I’ve got to iron my about ten yards of fabric and get something to eat before I leave. I’ll bring you some photos!
When I was wandering trough the upper town about two weeks ago I couldn’t resist and went into the comic shop. Said comic shop is on the mezzanine of one of the old houses up there, pretty small and stuffed to the brim with things wonderful and whimsical. And just as I thought I wouldn’t find anything today and wanted to leave, a small, nearly quadratic book catched my eye. It was Mouse Guard: Winter 1152. The sign next to the book said that it was the second volume and I’m someone who craves for continuity, so I inquired if there was a first one, too.
And so I ended up with Mouse Guard: Fall 1152 and my heart filled with love for David Petersen’s creation and creatures. The adventures of Saxon, Rand, Sadie, Kenzie and especially Lieam, the little red mouse don’t need so much words, they are heartwarming without any explanation.
Plus, here’s the official site. And right after my birthday I’m going to get Winter 1152.
I love the celtic influence in the artworks of the "historical" part.
The little grey fellow that’s scampering between the pages and that fits so awfully well for Mouse Guard once belonged to my grandmother when she was dancing in the theatre in the Pied Piper of Hamelin in a ballet.
Yesterday I finished sewing my first pair of bloomers.
I made them mainly for the Steampunk LARP that’s finally coming up in a month, but also to proceed a little bit with my attempts with Lolita. I’m awfully nervous about the con and today I’ll start sewing my real dress.
The bites are from an aspiring young opera singer named Mona, leading Lady of A Vampyre Story. That’s a point-and-click adventure concentrating on Mona’s try to escape the castle she’s hold captive in by an awful, stupid Vampire named Shrowdy. She’s accompanied by a bat named Froderick who’s never too tired to give a comment.
Mona and Froderick in the castle kitchen together with Pyewacket the Cat.
The design is really great. I’ve got to admit that this is the first thing I look for at a new game, just followed by the story. Presumeably that’s the reason why I love point-and-click so much. At some parts the game is really tricky, but it’s fun, anyway.
Tomorrow I’m going to visit Lilibeth! I’m incredibly excited, not only because I get to see her again but also ’cause he’s going to have her birthday party on Saturday. Her theme – A Midsummer Night’s Dream – will be opulent, great and lovely at the same time and you can bet that I’m going to take some pictures.
So, have a lovely time! I’m going to bed now, there is a huge load of work waiting for me tomorrow due to the con and I didn’t any packing either for my trip to Lilibeth.
Oh well, no, I didn’t manage to write something about my festival wardrobe. Which means that I’ll have to plan a little sooner next year. But there are no photos of my outfit or me in general, anyway, which results from the fact that I was the only one in our group to bring a camera. There aren’t any pictures of the bands, too, which is caused by the fact that I’m quite small compared with all those people who stood in front of me… you know what I mean.
The Veldenstein Castle festival itself was great, my personal highlights being ASP and, as always and expected, my beloved Coppelius. I got sunburned although it rained all Friday to Saturday morning and then the sky was covered with clouds and the evening was really, really chilly. The scoundrel was so nice to cook for us (we’ve got a deal that he’s to cook in spring and summer and I’m to be the kitchen fairy in autumn and winter) and hot, good food is worth a lot in cold, damp July nights.
As for my highlight bands, here’s a short summary:
ASP, being the head liner of the evening, started playing at 10 P.M. and as soon as we had found us a nice place on the green quite in the back of the festival ground but still in sight of the stage, Jules diffused into the crowd after we told him that ASP are quite electronic. ^^ Well, our place was well-chosen as we had more space than anyone right in front of the stage for dancing, and without space, dancing isn’t half as much fun… Bambi didn’t dance, though, as he’s pretty convinced that “nobody wants to see that, anyway” so he got our supply bag and wandered though the masses during the concert. I think my favourite song of the evening was Krabat, and it was really, really sweet of ASP to play a tribute to Dio at the end.
Coppelius, as my favourite band, were great as they were supposed to be. They introduced some songs from their upcoming album of which I especially liked the one about Bastille’s life as a butler. Bastille quite surprised the audience by *gasp* undressing on stage (he kept his underwear on, by the way), which didn’t have any effect on his splendid performance, though. The other gentlemen were great, too, of course, especially when the eternal conflict between Max Copella and Le Comte Caspar had some moments on stage during some songs. Even Graf Lindorf was involved, and only Sissy Voss kept his stiff upper lip. For Nobusama joined the “Undress!”-chorus for his butler… ^^ The Scoundrel had never heard them before, at least not being aware of it but he had a quite good time, too, I dare say.
When we came home last night – after a stopover in Aschaffenburg again, after which my mother kindly decided to drive us to the Frankfurt central train station as “it would have been quite a Oddyssee otherwise” (her own words) – the Scoundrel headed home for a little rest while I took a nice, hot bath with lotus bathing salt and Anne of Green Gables – The Sequel until my beloved returned to make a wonderful dinner out of the leftover from the weekend.
And now, after I told you about the past three days, I’ve got to hurry up with my breakfast as my first Breton lesson starts at 9 A.M..
