Salons

A Room of Her Own

Come listen to a full-time working writer share how she got published, how she makes ends meet, whether or not she lives in a garret! Everything from taxes to writing space to the philosophy of the modern-day authoress. That's right--unicorns are real, Oujia Boards work, and it is possible to build a real life as a writer.

Reading List:

A Room of One's Own, Virginia Woolf

Anything by CMV (The Orphan's Tales, The Labyrinth, The Book of Dreams, The Grass-Cutting Sword--I could also pull links to one or two online short stories, might be a good way to let people read without buying)

Writing Down the Bones, Natalie Goldberg

The Golden Notebook, Doris Lessing

The Diaries of Anais Nin

Tropic of Capricorn, Henry Miller

Born in the Pacific Northwest in 1979, Catherynne M. Valente is the author of the Orphan's Tales series, as well as The Labyrinth, Yume no Hon: The Book of Dreams, The Grass-Cutting Sword, and four books of poetry, Music of a Proto-Suicide, Apocrypha, The Descent of Inanna, and Oracles. She is the winner of the Tiptree Award, the Mythopoeic Award, the Rhysling Award, and the Million Writers Award and has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and was a finalist for the World Fantasy Award and the Spectrum Award. She currently lives in Northeastern Ohio with her partner and two dogs. Her newest novel, Palimpsest, will be released in February 2009.

Victorians and the Occult

Spiritualism, Mesmerism, Theosophy, ghost stories, sex magick, and secret societies! Come hear a brief light-hearted overview of the Victorian love-affair with all things occult, and discover how much Victorian beliefs still influence contemporary views of magic and Paganism.

Steampunk: A Primer

is intended to provide attendees with a background for approaching the growing steampunk subculture. We will be discussing some of the general themes found in steampunk writing, such as the overpowering presence of technology, the melding of modern social and technological themes (for example, computers) with a Victorian setting, and the issue of to what degree steampunk is "Victorian cyberpunk" and to what degree it is a unique genre with distinct features. Also addressed will be the issue of real-world technology during the steam age to help put this latter-day Victorian science fiction into a historical context (unbeknownst to many people the reality of steam age technology and ideas was in many ways even more incredible and bizarre than the fiction we have created for it). With that framework set up, the group will be opened to general discussion of modern steampunk as a subculture. Topics here would include that strengths, weaknesses and difficulties of forming a subculture out of a literary genre, steampunk as a visual aesthetic (here referencing both constructive artists such as Datamancer and von Slatt, and the issue of non-functioning technology or parts as decoration), the very recent flirtation with "do it yourself" and its effects upon the subculture, the intersection of steampunk and pulp, and of course the ever-popular steampunk fashion (likely to include a section on finding a reasonable compromise between the historical and the ficticious).

Suggested Reading List:

Gibson and Sterling's "The Difference Engine" is a good introduction to the literary genre

Moore's graphic novel "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" (both volumes) is an excellent source for the steampunk visual aesthetic (although of course for visuals the credit should go to the illustraitor Kevin O'Neill).

Earlier steampunk works such as Jeter's "Morlock Night" are good for seeing the genre at its formative stages

G.D. Falksen is a graduate history student pursuing two Masters degrees. He has done research on 19th century and early 20th century technology, including the development of the machine-produced pocket watch and the "modern" technologies used in the Crimean and American Civil Wars. He is also a fiction author; his work has appeared in Steampunk Magazine (the serial "An Unfortunate Engagement") and The Willows Magazine ("Sofia Athanatos" and the serial "The Strange Case of the All-Seeing Ear").

Livejournal's Steampunk Fashion Community

Steampunk / Neo – Victoria saves the world!

Is steampunk /neo-Victorian lifestyles and the memes that inspire them a response to the new Temes that threaten the human species. Could the virtues , ethics, morals, DIY attitude and human centric embrace of technology be the antibodies thrown up against the onslaught of self replicating Temes.

From the work of Susan Blackmore (see ted talk at http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/269) to the musings of Paul Saffo (http://fora.tv/2008/04/22/Paul_Saffo_on_Embracing_Uncertainty_and_Forecasting) I will attempt tomake the case that the future of our species may very well rely on the creation of sustainable steampunk/neo-victorian culture and communities.

Suggested Reading List:

Ted talks by Susan Blackmore

Fora TV Paul Saffo lecture on_Embracing_Uncertainty_and_Forecasting

Neal Stephenson The Diamond Age

Wikipedia articles on memes

Kevin DiVico is a poster boy for changing careers as the decades change, from a youthful protean interest in science and genetics, to a successful technical theatre / music career in the late seventies and early eighties, then onward to Army intelligence for most of the nineties and then into Game publishing for the first half of the 2000's. Now, he sees his life come full circle melding his unique experience and interest in his new tech and education start ups. He is a long time fan of the Steam Punk Genre and the Neo Victorian resurgence and humble refers to himself as a Entrepreneur which he believes to be an old native word meaning has no money. He has been on panels from IEE workshops to goverment briefings to Dragoncon to Lunacon on a plethora of subjects which may all be attibuted to the fact that he is a New Yorker (born in the bronx) and therefore has an opinion on seemingly everything.

Spirit Photography

J.R. Pepper is a trained art historian with both a BA and an MA specializing in Surrealism. She is also a photographer who has devoted her time and skills to the preservation of 'Spirit photography' through both film and digital . Her 'spirit' photos can be seen on the "Scottish Society for Paranormal Investigation and Analysis" as well as about.com. J.R. Pepper has done lecture and panels at various conventions including New York Anime Festival and and New York Comic and has had articles published on pinkraygun.com. She hopes to have her photographs culminate in a book.

Reading List:

" The Perfect Medium: Photography and the Occult" by Clement Cheroux, Pierre Apraxine, Andreas Fischer, and Denis Canguilhem

Faces of the Living Dead: The Belief in Spirit Photography by Martyn Jolly

http://www.photographymuseum.com/seance.html

http://www.prairieghosts.com/ph_history.html

The Victorian Sideshow

A discussion of the sideshows and freakshows that were at their peak during the Victorian era, their enduring appeal and how they have influenced popular culture today. The history of the sideshow will be examined, as well the difference between "freak" and "geek" stunts, how "pickled punks" were created, and profiles of some of the more noteworthy Victorian freakshow performers from the Elephant Man to Tom Thumb. The salon will include demonstrations of classic freakshow acts, including contortion and the human pincushion.

Suggested Reading:

Jay's Journal of Anomalies by Ricky Jay

Learned Pigs and Fireproof Women by Ricky Jay

Circus of the Scars by Jan T. Gregor and Tim Crindland

American Sideshow by Marc Hartzman

http://www.showhistory.com/

Bios:

Jared Axelrod has been a student of circus culture and perform of sideshow stunts since he founded the Industrial Strength Freakshow in 2001. He has performed with the Lulu Tech Circus, The Zoo Crew Freak Show and his solo shows "Follow The Destructions" and "Bloody Sunset." He has willingly stapled paper to his forehead, been tied to and escaped from a variety of furniture, stabbed needles into his arms and face, eaten a mouthful of live crickets, juggled a bizarre array of objects, and been shocked by a two-foot bolt of lightning. He swears he will never swallow live crickets again, though.

J.R. Blackwell has been a circus performer since 2001 under the stage name "the Plastic Elastic Kitty", where she was a founding member of the Industrial Strength Freak Show. She specializes in contortion, bed of nails and fire-eating. She has performed with The Zoo Crew Freak Show and her solo show "Freak Show" was featured in the Philadelphia Fringe Festival. She is currently performing with the Hellcat Girls Burlesque.

Philosophical Toys in the Parlour: Automata, Zoetropes and Stereoscopes

Discuss the history and background of animated "philosophical toys" as Victorian parlor entertainments. The salon will cover ways to reproduce these using commonly available materials, cover supply sources for specialty items and allow participants to look at constructed examples.

Background: In her childhood, Mary Dotson's grandmother would entertain her by disassembling small appliances while telling stories about her own 19th century childhood. Mary's inability to discern when her grandmother was making up stories led her to more studious efforts to understand the past as an undergraduate history major. She frequently provides presentations to school and museum groups, both as an instructor and as a re-enactor.