When I won't go to the adventure, the adventure comes to me.

The post ww2 era bungalo that we rent was built out of cardboard and paper clips and set on a concrete slab. With the two inch thick walls, it's basically the next rung up from living in a trailer. Fifty years it's been setting on this very spot, and that attests to the infrequency of tornado producing storms in the area. Or maybe the fact that the house isn't a trailer, and the true trailer parks in town form a more powerful attraction for the freak weather.

Anyhow, we do live on a concrete slab. Which rather precludes the existence of any sort of shelter, say a basement, in case of a storm. Stay in the house? Certainly sounds like a plan if you're tired of life.

The thunder had a bizarre feeling sound, like it had been created in a laboratory apart from nature. It was to clear and pure. It almost felt like it was being played in mono as the storm rolled in off the lake last night. and with the storm came the usual rain, though there was a definite lack of wind. Strange, since the storms just seem to bulldoze their way through with strong gusts leading the front.

No matter, I was enjoying the fact that the air was finally cooling down enough to start to think about sleeping. The hot, humid, summer nights keep me awake well past when I'd like to be asleep and I was wrestling with that.

And then the sirens kicked in.

I got up and turned on my laptop while looking for clothing to put on. Fucking Ubuntu took forever to boot and the sirens just kept on blaring. This is one of those few occasions that I actually wished we had television, so that we could check the weather channel to get live updates. No, all we have to rely on is the internet.

Now, supposedly the emergency broadcast station was built for events such as this. You know, the emergency broadccast station that is preceded by those really loud and annoying beeps. the one where they inform you that this was only a test, but had something wild actually happened, then the wailing would be followed by some helpful advice and information. Yeah, that emergency broadcast station. The one that's sposed to pop up when storms hit! The one that was glaringly absent from the airwaves during that last storm. I know, I scanned through the dial. No interruptions, just the same talk and music.

Is our deficit so deep that the government was forced to scrap the emergency broadcast system?

Anyhow, Evil packed up the cats, I grabbed the essentials, my keys, wallet, ipod, phone and laptop(laptop was first, I wasn't about to leave behind to the delicate touch of mother nature, five years worth of hard work), and we headed to party with Josh and Stacey - for our friends are smart and reside in a house with an actual basement. Bonus, they only live about half a mile away.

We jumped into my old Lumina and made tracks.

The storm was insane. There wasn't much wind, and it was barely raining at all. But the lightning was intense. Bolts were staggering through the sky fast enough to keep up with my adrenaline fueled heart. They fell in every direction, but I don't recall too much thunder. In the fifteen or twenty years that I've lived in this state, I've never seen anything like that before.

The Goths welcomed us into their home and then herded us down into the computer room in the basement where they took turns trying to compel their cats into the relative safety of pet carrier boxes. Tell you what, cats do not like to be compelled into small boxes. Now for the count, four adult humans and five cats all packed together in a room that was about six feet wide and seven long. Mind you, this room wasn't empty, it was well furnished, and comfortable for say two. On the upside here, our friends use this room not only for their computing needs, but also as an armory for thier sword collection. So in case the apocalypse came, we'd be prepared with the best that the world of stainless steel decorative pieces has to offer. Huzzah!

So there was sat as Josh and Stacey took turns cranking the radio as we listened to the country station - the only station in town that preempted their programming to give us the sad huddled masses information about what was happening out there. Thanks country station, though I usually think your music sucks, you did come through in a pinch. While we listened we cracked jokes about our inevitable doom and enjoyed some gallows humor. Really, what else can you do while hiding in a small room in your friends' basement? Well, there are a few other options that come to mind, but none of them seem appropriate for the circumstances.

I doubt that any of my companions would appreciate the sentiment of "If I'm gonna go, I'm not wearing any clothes." Nor would the folks when they got the call from the police. so the pants stayed on. This time.

After about an hour of huddling, and making Sparta jokes(the funnel cloud was seen heading for Sparta Michigan, thus the 300 references), we were given the all clear. Evil and I packed the cats, the laptop, and headed back to the house in what turned out to be a rather anti-climatic experience. Oh well. So it goes.

Steampunkery commence!

Conventions. I seem to be repeating myself here, a lot. Conventions are a re-occurring theme here abouts. And to be honest, this is a half-assed adventure blog. Gator-wrestling is likely to be out of my realm of experience. As is fighting ninjas/pirates/nazis in the analog world. Well maybe pirates. Fucking pirates, they infest Rennfaires. And the internet. Cheap rum-loving bastards. I'm also not likely to take part in political protests - I don't think a few dozen or even a few hundred angry people waving signs does too much good in our polarized nation. Really, I'll just stay home and bitch/debate online, it gets just as much accomplished (zip).

The adventures tend to lead me somewhere off in time to imaginary places. For the comic cons, we visit the fantasy parallel worlds where super-heros walk the land, and pretty girls dress up in spandex to tease the nerds. Right on. I'm a creepy old perv! Lead the way man!

Next is the on the list is the Renaissance festival. That Disney world of make-believe where everyone pretends to visit Europe of the 1500s. Don't ask me why they grill Maize and smoke Turkey Drumsticks as the common fare for the event. Neither of those were introduced to Europe until well into the 1600s at the earliest. None of that needs explaining at a theme park though, we like our fantasy. And who wants facts to get in the way of a good story? Certainly not I.

What else could be left?

Steampunkery, that's what!

Imagine a world where Electricity, the basis of our modern lives and all of our technological marvels (Refrigerators, televisions, computers and the internet) was never actually invented. Imagine a world where we still use steam to power our world, and where human creativity took steam power to the very limits conceivable by our 20/20 rear-vision. Set it all in the early 1900s where people still appear in Victorian style dress, or better, as cowboys. Airships rule the skies. People use the queen's proper English. All around you can hear people engaged in what they imagine proper turn of the 20^th century conversation as they delve deeper into their characters. Is an image starting to form yet? Good.

According to the Wikipedia The Steampunk movement/genre started to gain hold in the late 1980s and early 1990s. So it's a fairly new experience and relatively unknown to the world at large. In face, the World Steam Expo in Detroit was a first time event. That's not to say that there aren't other Steam Expos, and ones that have been around for years. It is to say, that this is the first time World Steam had appeared. World Steam doesn't yet stack up against some of the other Geek Conventions in which I've attended, at least in sheer size, with hundreds instead of thousands of attendees over the course of the weekend.

I went, for the same reason I always go. To be a slack-jawed gawking Yokel. My path in life seems to be that of a spectator and chronicler. This seems to be a side-effect, or perhaps a contributing factor to my love of History. Which is again why I'm attracted by Rennfaires and the Steampunk lifestyle. Of all the different Geek pageantry I've seen, to be honest I would be most likely to actually put together a Steam-punk outfit to join in the cosplay. I really enjoy the visual aesthetic. And who doesn't want to wear leather and goggles?

I can understand the draw of this Era. Teddy Roosevelt was president. Air Ships and the dawning of our modern world. Britain was at the zenith of it's power and America was a rising star in the world. Humanity seemed to be on the cusp of enlightenment as the secrets of the universe began to open up and we seemed to be the masters of our destiny.

Of course this is rather a rosy painting of the past, as most nostalgically fueled genres. Racism was deeply embedded in our culture, even up to the greatest and most empathic minds of the day. Also, with steam-power the widespread burning of fossil fuels and wood, leading to dreadful black smoke filled skies that we're finally just starting to get away from. With no electricity driven refrigeration food storage was less than reliable. Finally, there was a general lack of medical technology. Did someone out there say anti-biotics? I sure did. all in all, I'd rather live in the present or future.

In fact, this was the first event ever that I've been able to wear a kilt(mostly because it was the first time I've had a kilt – else I would had donned it for Michigan Renn last year). A side-thought, that kilt is the most wonderfully comfortable garment that I've ever owned. I wish I hadn't waited so long.

We were supposed to meet the Fat Man for this, but he backed out due to illness, leaving our group short of any real drive or goals. The Fat Man was the one who happened across the WSE, and was the driving force to see some of the exhibits and acts that the convention had lined up. He wanted to attend at least one of the concerts. So it was up to Evil, myself and The Goths. Sadly my camera died and I didn't get too many pictures this time around. Not even of the rest of my party. Sad day indeed. There were so many pretty girls and great costumes in attendance. A good thing Girls of the Con was around to capture some of them where I generally failed.

Compared to other cons, this one was rather expensive. $30 for a day pass. Also, there was so much less to see, just one largish room with merchants and a couple of acts, as well as smaller rooms with various panels. But then, it is the first year, and the convention is aimed at a smaller core audience. On top of that the attendees were vastly more dedicated. Being a core group, about 90% or more of the people were participating in some level of costumery – be it lame like myself and my manskirt, or quite advanced and intricate like the dude dressed as Steam-Fett.

One thing I noticed about the Steam Con was a higher level, for lack of a better word, purity. Normally in the larger events there are people of all shades of geekdom in presence. Mostly that means cosplayers. You have the pirates and Weeaboo-monkies and Starwars nerds. Trekkies, and Goths and Superheros. All mixed together seemingly at random as the boundaries between the different aspects of geek culture slowly fade away and people get together

For the Steampunk convention, everyone seemed to be on one of two pages, folks who got in the spirit and came in a Victorian style costume, the vast majority, and tourists who wore their street clothes. I was stuck somewhere between page one and two while the Goths went all out with a fantastic costumes. Evil went as a nerd girl, not really dressed as anything, but not in her normal street clothes either. She didn't really seem to drawn any looks or comment. Really, in this sort of crowd, standing out is difficult and the costume needs to be either exceptional and imaginative, or extremely bold or revealing.

There were the usual oddities. Corsets were heavily in favor. As well as women who didn't seem to know when to say when. I am of course referring to the girls who wear corsets so tight that their breasts are forced to try and eject themselves from the garment. Though this is amusing, it falls short of being sexy, while looking quite uncomfortable in the process. This would be a prime example of a failed costume.

The best costumes really looked as if their owners put a lot of time/money/energy/thought into them. Big surprise right? But there were some spectacular and well assembled outfits on the floor. Eureka, this is why I paid my thirty dollars and drove 3 hours on a Sunday! And I thank these people for all their hard work and dedication to their hobby, and sharing the results with the rest of us.

That is another aspect of the Steam con. Maybe I'm biased, as I tend to pay more attention to the female half of the species, but I think that women actually seemed to out-number men here. At Rennfest it seemed to be an equal split, and at the comic con, I would guess 85/15 in favor (or not) of the men.

The downside of This adventure was that the one event I actually attended was less than thrilling. I went to the Air Captain's Job Fair – For captains looking for people to add to their crews. It started around a half-hour late. To top that off, of the eight expected booths, only four captains showed up, making the event rather a flop. The volunteers involved were a little overly self-important and attendance was lackluster. I was hoping for an actual panel where the captains got up and presented information and answered questions. I guess this is more to my preference, since I wasn't channeling the spirit of 1900 and had no idea what sorts of questions I should ask. Maybe I should have done my homework first. No, not me. Instead I stood around in my beloved kilt and watched the goings on for a few, like a nerd-voyeur, before meeting back up with my crew.

We skipped the one Concert that sounded interesting.(disappointing because the clips I listened to sounded good) We went and got nutrition instead. PF Changs again(the last time was for the Fat Man's 30th). There we made a nuisance of ourselves as our group slowly grew from four people to seven. Food-wise nothing special, just a vaguely Asian themed chain restaurant. Tasty, but the sauces have that bottled taste and texture to them. The portions are large. We stayed for about two and a half hours, wowing our waitress with our costumery. We suggested that she hit the convention later on after her shift ended, since she had an interest in Victorian era dress.

After chatting a bit, we put together a conceptual airship crew of our own out of our regular adventuring group:

Josh(One of the Goths) as Captain. This is a bad idea as he tends to get us killed, but he also gets to take the lead due to our general apathy.

Evil – Brutal First Mate. Anyone so named should be in charge of raids and miscellaneous brutality. They can have like a Mal/Zoe dynamic going where Josh gets us into trouble and Evil kills people.

Stacey (Goth Number two) as the Lead Engineer. She has mad hand skillz. That's right, skills with a Zee.

Dora as The Mad Scientist.

The Fat Man as Neelix from Star Trek Voyager (Cook/Morale Officer/Ambassador(He's a chatty bitch)).

Dutch as the master of Arms. He wins by default here since he's easily the most physically fit member of the group. And he tends to have road rage issues. Plus, though he does most of our driving(he has the nicest car) if you combine him with the Fat Man, they tend to get lost. Which leave me.

I get to be helmsman and navigator. If you're still thinking Firefly, forget it. I'm not overly witty, and Evil is my sister.

So this is what I learned from the con, which turns out to be nothing really. It was a good trip.