Wookiee the Chew

One of my favourite things in the world is when someone takes an existing idea and puts a new and creative spin on it. This is why I enjoy alternative/modern versions of traditional fairytales (except when they are made into movies featuring Vanessa Hudgens *shudder*), steampunk, Jeffrey Thomas' Twisted Princess series etc.

Two other things I am insane about are children's books and science fiction.

You can only imagine my joy when geek with curves introduced me to James Hance's Wookiee the Chew drawings. For me, at least half of the joy was in recognising the direct references to the EH Shepard illustrations that I sell every day, and that I grew up with. It's pretty much exactly my brand of geeky!

Nods to classic stories of childhood aside, these are genuinely adorable little drawings and a whole lot of fun whether or not you are familiar with Winnie the Pooh. They'll cheer your day right up! Although I have now gotten myself into an internal debate over what Wookiee the Chew goes for instead of pots of honey... any suggestions?

Prints are available from James' website (where you can also check out his other awesome geek art!) and now there are even t-shirts - one of which I definitely did not spontaneously buy... You can also follow him on Twitter @JimJeroo

Steampunk Thursday #5 Steampunk Conventions

This Thursday the ever knowledgeable Amy is talking about steampunk conventions in the US over at geek with curves. If you go to any, you'd better bring back photos to share!

Darth Vader TomTom

Celebrating my return to laptop functionality by sharing a video that some of you may have seen, but that never, ever gets old for me.

Steampunk Thursday #4: Then and Now - Steampunk in Popular Culture

Steampunk has - both self-consciously and unselfconsciously - been present in literature for over 100 years now! Being, by definition, speculative fiction set in the Victorian era, the Victorians themselves naturally penned some of the best known novels/novellas with a steampunk feel.

The Time Machine by HG Wells is one of the best known examples, with Jules Verne's Journey to the Centre of the Earth and The Lost World by Arthur Conan Doyle also featuring strongly. Nothing says steampunk like a sense of adventure and occasionally some bizarre machinery!

Recent years have seen an explosion in steampunk fiction - and a lot of it is pretty awesome! China Miéville's fictional steampunk world of Bas-Lag features in three of his novels; Iron Council, The Scar and Perdido Street Station - all of which have won prestigious awards.

Moving cities have become a prevalent theme, with Philip Reeve's excellent Mortal Engines leading the charge, most recently followed by Richard Harland's Worldshaker.

Many people consider William Gibson's The Difference Engine to be the precursor to the current steampunk movement, and with good reason - it's a fantastic book!

There are innumerable other novels springing up in the genre, both straight steampunk - such as Cherie Priest's Boneshaker and The Affinity Bridge by George Mann - and others which are more borderline, such as Retribution Falls by Chris Wooding. In fact, the author himself affectionately refers to it as bucklepunk. Pirates = awesome. Pirates who raid airships = incredibly awesome.

A lot of movies in recent years have embraced the steampunk style; Wild Wild West (while considerably rubbish in almost every other regard, even though I remember the theme song 11 years later) featured quite a lot of steampunk technology and turn of the century fashion. The Prestige and Sherlock Holmes also had definite steampunk style! The latter made a conscious effort to be so; hence the various modern twists on traditional Victorian style.

Gaming is an even more fun and exciting genre that is starting to make use of steampunk elements. Bioshock is probably the most famous to have done so recently; bathyspheres and Victorian-style diving suits in the form of Big Daddys abound, and the trailer for Bioshock Infinite reveals Colombia; a city in the sky complete with airships and Victoriana galore.

I have become a little bit intrigued by Echo Bazaar; a free online game that links to your Twitter account. It essentially allows you to roleplay your way through a mysterious Victorian London - but there's definitely something amiss, which reveals itself slowly as you play your way through! It got itself straight into my good books from the start by having a non-specified option for gender, in addition to male and female. Steampunk folks is good people, I'm telling you!

Hope you enjoy playing, reading and watching your way further into the steampunk world!

Professional Geek!

The reason for the tumbleweed blowing around here lately is the fact that last week, as much to my own surprise as anyone else's, the largest comic book publisher in the UK hired me! So, a couple of weeks from now, I will officially start getting paid for being a GEEK!

I'm not going to lie, I never thought being a geek girl would pay off in the financial sense! Professional geekery; bring it ON!

The other high point to this week was that via the wonderful Cari who is visiting from San Francisco, I *finally* obtained a Her Universe Star Wars shirt! I've been lusting after these bad boys since they first hit the rails interwebs, but as they can only be ordered on a card with an American/Canadian billing address I was at a bit of a loss for a while...

Evidence of the geeky joy (please note that I don't usually have a double chin *shame*)

This shirt is a] awesome b] soft and comfy and c] also awesome. The picture might give the impression that it's not well fitted but the truth is that I ordered quite a big size because I have - shall we say - a generous bust, and I didn't want to risk it being too small. On the contrary; these shirts are definitely very well tailored.

My only problem with it is that the writing is almost completely see through, so even if you are wearing a nice bra (actually probably more so if you are) it's quite distracting for passers by. This is easily solved by wearing a white top underneath (as I am doing here) but obviously not always ideal.

Without a doubt, I will be nabbing myself some more Her Universe apparel with my new geek paycheques! Ashley has hit it on the button; comfy, wearable, nicely designed geek girl clothing is exactly what most of us are after! If you live in Europe, either try and find a friendly American like I did, or hang tight til they can handle wordwide orders. If you live in the US/Canada - what the frak are you waiting for???

Steampunk Thursday #3: Making Friends!

Good 'morrow, young folk of the internets! Sorry; I've been reading gothic novels again... how do you think people with lisps fared in the middle ages? Everything was thee, thou or thine... nightmare!

I digress!

So, if you've stayed with us this long, you're hopefully feeling a little more curious about steampunk and maybe thinking about testing the water...

Feeling a bit nervous about doing so? Can't quite afford a pair of goggles or a corset just yet? The internet remains the easiest and most convenient way to lurk and learn, or to jump right in there and get to know people. Without a doubt, Brass Goggles is the best place to do either or both! Brass Goggles is an international forum and the most interesting, friendly and funny steampunk community I've found online! There are different areas for costumes, books, movies and tv, arranging meet-ups and just plain talking nonsense! Introduce yourself and get to know some awesome gentlefolk!

In terms of costuming, there are several fantastic communities on Livejournal; the three main ones being steamy_stitches, budget_steam and steamfashion. Follow these on a regular basis and you will definitely learn a lot - members frequently post about the entire costuming process, from concept sketches right through to pictures of the finished product; which is not only inspiring, but fantastic for picking up tips and ideas.

For those of you based in the UK (don't worry; Amy's got a post in the works for US folks!), the Victorian Steampunk Society are the very able and wonderful people behind most of the major UK steampunk events. They hosted 2 panels at MCM Expo in London in May and are planning to return in the future - check out any cons you plan to attend and see whether they have a steampunk panel/stand that you can visit. The Expo panel was definitely what pulled me in; steampunk can seem intimidating from the outside but everyone was so friendly and down to earth that I couldn't help but be drawn to it...

Weekend at the Asylum is the biggest steampunk event of the year. Held in the lovely, historic city of Lincoln, the Asylum is a wonderful mishmash of workshops, live music, author and artist events, competitons, a steampunk market and, of course, an ongoing parade of incredible costumes! It's all steam, all the time and a fantastic way to meet some new people and get a feel for the steampunk lifestyle.

There are a couple of steampunk bands that frequently play around the UK - The Men That will Not Be Blamed For Nothing (clever Jack the Ripper reference, anyone?) - being a prime example - and you can keep an eye on upcoming gigs either on their Facebook page or on Brass Goggles.

Definitely let me know if I've missed out on anything, or if you have any experiences to share!

Until next time, good steamfolk and steamwonderers...

Comic books are for life... not just conventions!

Comic books and graphic novels have a lot of stigma attached - the idea that they're read by people who still live in their parents' basement without a job, that they're just about superheroes from the 80's and that they are exclusively read by boys with oversized glasses and acne still pervades.

The one that upsets me the most, I think, is the idea that graphic novels and comic books are inferior storytelling.

I openly admit to having come to comic books very late in life - in fact, only in the past 6 months! Partly due to being held back by this very same idea - that they were grossly inferior to the books that I was reading.

I will never claim that they tell the story in the same way as a book - there is and always will be a beauty in visualising an entire story and a world for yourself - but I have definitely been cured of the belief that they tell the story in a lesser way.

As a bookseller I have the good fortune of being able to see a huge range of graphic novels and my introduction to them was definitely helter skelter at best! I started out with V for Vendetta - definitely a classic - then jumped to some indie comics, back to Fables, back to indie comics again and most recently on to Brian K. Vaughan's The Runaways.

What immediately humbled me was the sophistication of the storytelling. So many people assume that when words are paired with pictures, a story becomes simple and loses some of its nuance. I completely disagree - images add an extra layer of meaning... more can be concealed within them; hidden subtleties for the reader to notice and enjoy. Graphic novels tell personal stories, political stories... they illustrate the realities of war, the pitfalls of growing up, the intimacies of relationships...

For me, at least, the comic book/graphic novel is a beautifully unique way of spinning a tale or sharing an experience. Visual imagery is so important, and using it to tell a story is both more memorable and more involving. So many of the indie comic book creators I have met come from all walks of life and their work deals with vastly differing topics ranging from depression and suicide to lost animals to fighting hordes of the undead - there is literally something for everyone, and at every possible level! Graphic novels and comic books have just as much of a range as normal books do - even more so, when you count webcomics.

My own personal mission is to try and get parents to understand that comic books and graphic novels are right up there when it comes to fantastic ways to a] get your child to read and b] help them to learn another language. I spend a lot of time with parents, trying to help them to pick something that their child will really enjoy. Many of them care so much about what their children read, and want to much to nourish a love of books and reading. Some are looking to help their child to learn English; many of whom are already at too advanced an age for the basic English readers that we sell.

I always, always take them to the graphic novels section. Be it Shakespeare or Conan Doyle or Moore or Satrapi, these works create a world that is both undaunting and enjoyable for the unseasoned reader to wander. A comic book might still get you punched in the playground, but it is less likely to do so than reading about Humphrey the hamster when you're 12.

The thought of any child being ashamed of their reading level or too scared to seek out books that they can read for fear of being laughed at just breaks my heart; which is why, for as long as I do what I do, I will champion the graphic novel to the very last.

While the average person may continue to believe that it takes a 'certain type' to create or enjoy a graphic novel, I know those of us out there doing just that are on to something special - and when I share a look with the young girl across from me on the tube reading Batman, I know that we're on the winning team.

Linky Goodness!

Rather than overwhelming your Twitter feeds with a random spew of links, I'm going to consolidate into a post! This is what happens when I forget to catch up with blogs for a few days!

Neil Jordan is set to direct Skippy Dies; I absolutely love Neil Jordan and, by all accounts, Skippy Dies is an absolutely incredible novel. Patrick Ness practically took hold of me and shook me while telling me to read it, and it's on the Booker longlist; compelling evidence on both counts!

Bear McCreary scored Step Up 3D?!?!?!!!!! Perhaps I'm just out of the loop; but this was news to me! Exciting though, as I have a not so secret weakness for dance movies... Can't say I saw this one coming! BSG to Step Up 3D? They rhyme a little, but that's where similarities end...

A fantastically well thought out post on the role of women in gaming and whether or not game designers are really catering to the right demographic.

Some amazing Star Wars cupcakes!

At last; Jar Jar Binks in a form that I find acceptable...

Some fantastic steampunk art (including pin ups - my favourite!) from Jessica van Hulle.

I've been getting more mileage out of this than is decent or appropriate, but if you'd like an irreverent and snarky take on the Twilight saga; you need look no further. Be warned; I have spat out whatever I was drinking on several occasions!

All of Chewbacca's dialogue from Star Wars!

Steampunk Thursday #2: Smelling Like Gears?

It's Steampunk Thursday again folks!

This week's post is on steampunk scents - and oily and delectable they do sound!

Head on over to Amy's blog geek with curves to find out exactly how to top off the steampunk look with the perfect scent!

Last week's post What is Steampunk? can be found here.

Hope you'll all be sticking around for the weeks to come as we pull off all the gears and goggles and find out what steampunk is really about!

Jeffrey Thomas - Twisted Princess

Let me start by highlighting that Jeffrey Thomas is an all-round FANTASTIC artist and I highly recommend that you check out his blog/portfolio if you are at all into Star Wars, Batman or general awesomeness.

Jeff and his writing partner Celeste also have an ongoing series of mini-webcomics here which I highly recommend checking out!

BUUUUUT, this post is about a particular series of pieces that Jeff did back in 2009, which promptly went viral on Tumblr and elsewhere, and justly so...

Twisted Princess re-imagines the traditional image of the Disney princess as something entirely more menacing. This appealed to me on a variety of levels; not least of which is the representation of these otherwise fairly diluted characters in a much stronger and infinitely more kick-ass form. Much of my problem with Disney lies in their creation of sickly sweet characters in the name of family entertainment. The women of Grimm's fairytales were either stupid, evil, or sharp and clever and self sufficient. Theirs is no less one-dimensional a view of women but it does allow for a slightly more realistic view of the world - there are frequently bad endings, bad things happen to good people and generally you have to work for what you get.

However, I digress... this is a truly wonderful series - including some of my favourite fairytales - and I strongly recommend you check out the entire lot. I'm a sucker for an alternative take on fairytales and this one just blew me away!

All princesses have, in their own way, the definite potential to go over the edge as far as I'm concerned... Rapunzel? Trapped in a tower... Beauty? Trapped in a castle. Raised alone by a very eccentric father. Cinderella? Abused by her family and forced to work as a slave in her own home... If you think about it, these women all have the potential to go over to the dark side (no capital letters; no suing, Mr. Lucas!!) and they were just waiting for someone to realise it! Jeffrey has created an individual story to go with each piece, which you can find over at his DeviantART.

These works all have such wonderful creative details particular to each individual's story - especially Alice and Cinderella.

What I do know for certain is that, come the day when I have my own geek pad, this and hopefully much more of Jeffrey Thomas' art will be adorning the walls!

Possets

I've always firmly believed that smelling good is the key to feeling good - in the same way that people feel better when wearing matching underwear.

So, what is perfume that isn't BPAL doing on a geek blog, you ask? I geek out over a lot of things (speaking of which, there are cupcakes in this blog's near future) and Possets represent a slightly different kind of geeky - with scents in honour of Mary Shelley, starlight and perpetual motion! Why just smell good when you can smell good with the power of science!!!

Possets are natural, oil based, hand blended perfumes that don't smell in the least bit toxic or overpowering and mix naturally with the skin better than any other product I have ever used. I started out with a sample pack - which is a fantastic and inexpensive way to test out a wide range of scents - and found some that I really liked.

Personal favourites are Pippin Pie - I adore smelling like food - and Gingerbread Whorehouse; not only a good scent but a fantastic conversation topic when people ask what you are wearing!

The Girls Love Vanilla has become my staple - I simply cannot live without it.

I have never liked store bought perfumes - I find them too strong and overwhelming and, essentially, artificial. Possets are wonderfully delicate, but will last all day without being overwhelming.

There are SO MANY scents to choose from - I recommend trying out a sample pack and finding some favourites that will remain with you for life! :)