After having a really miserable Saturday (Car accident. Not my fault.), I was ready for some big time fun and Fan Expo just seemed to be the ticket for it. And, speaking of tickets, even the 40 minute wait in line couldn't dampen my spirits (although in hindsight, I will probably purchase my tickets ahead of time online next year.).
Q & A with John Barrowman
By the time we got inside, we headed to Hall G (with many thanks to the friendly staffer, who looked it up for us in his program.) to attend the Q & A with John Barrowmore of Torchwood and Dr. Who fame. I have to admit that this was probably my main reason for attending, being a huge fan of both series and we were not disappointed. Mr. Barrowman is nothing short of charming and engaging. He is a fine storyteller and has a great attitude when it comes to his fame. Listening to him is pure joy. Yes, I am gushing and, hell, I will not apologize for it. Here is a short excerpt, one of many, from YouTube:
After the Q & A wrapped up, Siri and I s-l-o-w-ly managed to make our way out and onto the Con floor as it was ever so busy. Not to complain, but maybe the organizers of this show can not make the "foodcourt" part of the Exhibitors area as it just takes up too much space and getting around it is kind of impossible (Just a suggestion for next year. That's all). But, I digress...
Some of the many t-shirts available.
Anyway, we spent some time checking out the Exhibitors area, which has anything and everything one can ask for in Sci-fi, Horror, Gaming, Anime, Comic swag, Steampunk Jewelery, medieval weapons, Latex masks, items for Cosplay etc. It's kind of overwhelming really. As I was saying to Siri, there was almost too much cool/geek chic. Where does one begin?! My favorites though were the t-shirts that were cleverly ironic: "Neville Would Have Done It In 4 Books" and some of the "Game of Thrones" ones. I ended up purchasing one of those along with a lovely hand tooled leather sketchbook from a very nice vendor from Calgary (me: Hey! Do you have a website, if I want another one? Him: No, man, we're Hippies. But, we'll be back next year!).
But, then it was time to head to our next destination: "The Steampunk Author Panel: Words Driven By Steam". Siri, I should mention is a "writer" (and I mean of stories, books, etc.), where I would never make such a claim. Realistically, I realize that if one wants to learn to write in a particular genre (or write at all), one will not learn this in a 45 minute panel. But, it probably would have helped to have had a moderator on the panel, to keep things focused and flowing. Otherwise, the panelists did have a lot of interesting ideas about what writing "Steampunk" was about in relation to their own works and recommended a great resource in the Steampunk Scholar, Mike Perschon.
Our last few hours were spent strolling the Exhibitors area that we had missed, as well as checking out some of the friendly folks in the Community booths (Toronto Steampunk Society and The Doctor Who Society of Canada, to name but a few.). There were some really great displays as well; The Frankenweenie Exhibit"; The "Back to the Future" DeLorean; Some great Daleks; Lego's Lord of the Rings Character and Superheroes.
Hey! Christopher Lloyd had to get here some way!
Gandalf, in Lego, my precious...
One of the joys I get out of going to events such as this, is the Cosplay. I had a great time looking at all the cosplayers and their brilliant efforts they put into their costumes. Most were pretty magnificent, but I have to say the one cosplayer who did the "Weeping Angel" from Doctor Who was a favorite.
Holy crap...
...Don't Blink!
FanExpo Canada is big, busy and offers a lot to do. It could probably benefit from a bigger venue (Perhaps adding the "North" part of the Convention Centre to it?). I realize this blog has only scratched the surface of all the things that were going on, but, for the short amount of time I spent there, it didn't disappoint. I look forward to attending it again next year...
Remember way back in the '80's-early 90's when vinyl picture discs were all the rage ( this was before the CD and now I've just dated myself, haven't I? Oh well...)? I received this wonderful piece of mail art from Sarah and it really took me back as I had always loved collecting them. But, of course, Sarah's is much nicer with it's very delicate pen work. Anyway, Sarah, I love the way you repurpose and recycle items in to such works of beauty and feel lucky to be the recipient of them. Thank you very much!
In yesterday's mail, I received this postcard from Carina. It made me chuckle as I always associate "kitchens" with the part of the house where life really happens. It's the reason we bought the house that we are in now. Because of the kitchen. The best part of any party always happens in the kitchen. And, so on...
Receiving this card really did make my day, Carina, so thank you for sending it to me. I really love your vintage sensibilities and your sense of humor.
But, now that we're on the subject of humor, I want to share the other card Carina sent me about a month ago ( I've been a bit behind on my blogging, and I apologize for this.):
Now, I'm not sure if I ever mentioned this, but I do have my own foreign equivalent of "Pekka", my husband, "Pete, the driver". So, this was especially funny (even "Pete" found it funny). Again, I thank you for your mail art which is always full of good humor.
I received these 2 wonderful pieces of mail yesterday afternoon.
"Smile Dogs" from Angie Cope ( and Snooky)
Angie is currently mounting a Mail Art show called "Celebrate The Dog 2012" of which there have been many wonderful mail art pieces submitted. I submitted one myself and received this very cheerful collage from Angie. How did she know I loved pugs? They always look like they're smiling. Thank you for the lovely card, Angie and good luck with your show!
"Dance, Dancer, Dancing"
Another sweet surprise that arrived in yesterday's mail was this collage postcard from Ursula Rodgers. I love the vintage yet modern feel and again the pure joy that radiates from it. But, the real surprise was the sketch on the back of the card:
It's so lovely, you really can feel the dancer's movement, like she will dance off the page at any moment. Brilliant! Thank you, Ursula, for sending me this beautiful mail art.
Yes. Truly my fault. I've left this posting for so long that I have much mail to blog about today. Not that I'm complaining. I love receiving it and sending it as it makes life that much more interesting (and I think my Postal Person finds it amusing.), but I should stop messing around and get on with it...
"Wha'??" from Thom Courcelle
Actually, "Wha??" seems to be my all around catchphrase most of the time for most things. I doubt that Thom actually knows this, which is why it was rather funny to me when I opened his mailart. The inside message actually had me in stitches; "Wake up kisses from Prince Charming are fine, but I'd rather have "GOTIJ"." "Gotij" meaning "YES!!! I have received FAB Mail Art!". And, it includes stickers. I love stickers! This mailart was "Gotij" indeed!
Every time I receive one of these "Brain Cels", I feel like I've won a lottery. I can look at them for hours. And, when I go back to look at them, I always see something new in them. Brilliant.
Two Boekies from Moan Lisa (Formally, "I'm A Superhero, I Fly And Shit")
Moan Lisa is really quite the Mailart Superhero, if you ask me. I am always amazed with some of the things he comes up with. Most people (such as myself), keep their mailart, collect it, so to speak. Not Moan Lisa. He recycles it into something new and sends it along. I love these "boekies". They are a treasure trove of fun.
"Blue Greek Tall Grass And Fabric Cutting" from Katerina Nikoltsou
There are 2 really interesting things about this mailart; one is that the piece of fabric was sent by Amy Irwen to Katerina, who included it in the piece, so it is traveling "along the mailart highway!" But, the other interesting thing is that there is this really cool subtle "grass-like" texture, which unfortunately doesn't show up in this photo. Trust me, it's there and makes this a really splendid piece.
Recycled Birthday Card #1 from Sarah Churchill
I have tons of Birthday, Christmas, Valentine's Day cards etc. squirreled away in all varieties of furniture in all corners of my house as I have some sentimental attachment to them (fool that I am); I keep vowing that I'm going to go through them and do a clean up. Then, I get this lovely mailart from Sarah and I am floored by the clever re-use of the simple birthday card. So, not only did I get a great piece of mailart, I go a reason to start tidying them up and recycling them and sending them back out into the world. Thanks for the inspiring mail art, Sarah!
Fan #37 by Lilian Mariutti
I have to admit, I'm a real fan of works with markers. I love working with markers; maybe, aside from crayons, they make me feel like a kid again. But, that's for another blog post. Anyway, I love the pop arty feel of this piece by Lilian Mariutti. Lilian, by the way, is one of our amazing Zombie Kitty Kawaii! Travels The World Correspondents and her photos/commentary can be seen starting here.
Masks Were As Common As Fish On The Market Place By Guido Vermeulen
I love trading mail with Guido. His works make me think as the titles of them are always thought provoking. And, when I get it, it usually makes me smile. Thanks, Guido.
text meraje'z saved by bil copeland
Please read. Carefully.
A Series Of Mini Graffiti 5:7 by Carina Granlund
Every time I look at this piece, I see something new. I love that. I also love the "Banksy" styled animal woodcut, which does give it that graffiti touch. Nice.
Front
Back
Mystery Message From Dean Marks
I've figured it out finally, have you?
Back
Front
A Mystery (History) of The Greytones also from Dean Marks
Two more great pieces from Dean. Both works gave me a great laugh and top one really had me thinking and looking hard at it for a quite a while; a message without a bottle. Clever. The big mystery to me is how it gets through the Canadian Postal Service in one piece, but I am glad that it does. I think it also amuses my Postal person to no end, which is why I always get my mail at a reasonable hour of the day. Thanks again, Dean.
So, the round up has come to an end for now. But, as I started writing this a few weeks ago, I am behind again. Uggghhhhh!
I have to admit there is nothing more exciting then spending an hour (or 3) lurking in a library or bookstore, but when the library becomes a bookstore (or comic book store), well, even better. This was my first visit to TCAF and there was so much to see and do, I could only experience a small part of it, which makes me eager to visit again next year.
As I went with my husband and son, the first thing was to get the boychild settled and doing something. TCAF had a great kid's area, "The Owl Area", where they could sit and relax and browse through the Library's Graphic Novel Collection or they could do drawings/crafts or learn about making comics with some excellent workshops that were running. Luckily, we arrived just in time so he could participate in "Turn your life into comics" workshop run by Raina Telgemier (creator of the Graphic Novel "Smile"). She was engaging and she encouraged the kid's to take something that could be potentially "horrible" (such as injuring your front teeth) and turn it into something funny. The kid's were engaged and worked hard on their comic pages. Brilliant!
The Boychild listening to Raina Telgemeier...
...which inspired this comic page.
So, maybe I exaggerate when I say there were "millions of comic books"; but there certainly was thousands of comic book and graphic novel fans about and artists, of course.
There was certainly a lot to see and do (check out the programming guide and you will see what I mean.). But, I have to say that one of my favorite things is having the opportunity to chat with the artists/publishers about what they do, as well as discovering new and interesting reading all under one roof.
Letterpress demo at Porcupine's Quill booth
The friendly folks from "The Devastator"
And, running into some long time artist/animator friends, such as Dan Turner (Dragon Lake Inc.) and Natalie Garceau-Turner (Flipart Studio) and being able to share your latest comic book discoveries. A very nice way to end the day, indeed.
Lou, Dan, and Nat.
Now, if you will excuse me, I have some comic books to read.
...Mailart: The Animal Kingdom Edition...
Yep. I'm really behind again on blogging my most recently acquired mailart. But, at least I've mostly caught up on sending it back out...so everything is good on that end...
Bananas from Dean Marks
Yes. I know bananas are not an animal, but monkeys eat bananas and, therefore, fit the bill as far as I'm concerned. Dean, has a group on the International Union Of Mail Artists called "Bananas" and when not torturing my "Kat", Zombie Kitty Kawaii!, must have created this "banana" inspired mailart. Dean, I owe you some "banana" mailart and will get it to you soon. Thank you for the tip about putting bananas in the refrigerator. I do, however, have one in my freezer. You could knock someone out with it.
Guinea Fowl from Sue Hobbs
Guinea Fowl are native to Africa, where this piece of mailart was sent from. They remind me a lot of the wild turkeys that wander my father-in-laws property, but smaller. This is a lovely and delicate piece of work. I really admire it's mixture of quilting and paper work. There is even a small feather from a guinea fowl within the piece. It's really rather neat.
Like A Bird On A Wire From Guido Vermeulen
"Like a bird on the wire
Like a drunk in a midnight choir
I have tried in my way to be free."
Songwriter: Leonard Cohen
Love the song. Love the piece. Thanks, Guido!
A "Steampunk" Poem And Zombie Kat Fairwell from Vizma Bruns
Of Zombie Kats and Cows
Vizma was one of our "Zombie Kat hosts" and official correspondent from Down Under. She finally sent away her charge, "Zombie Mini Kawaii!" after many hilarious misadventures. Something tells me she is missing "Mini Kawaii!" already.
Air Kraken Over The Aegean Sea from Katerina
What exactly are "Air Kraken"? Why their flying octopus, of course. After, sending Katerina an Air Kraken Day card (March 17th, in case you are wondering.), she sent me this one in return. How lucky she was to have spotted these Kraken above the Aegean Sea. It must have been quite the sight to behold!
A few weeks later, I received from Kat the "Greek Green Spring", which cheered me immensely. I heard the other day on a radio show that if you wanted to get in the mood to do something creative, one should look at the colour "green". I can't remember why or the rest of what they said on this radio program as I was in the dentists chair and got a bit too distracted by what was going on at the time. It's a lovely card in any case, Kat, so thank you.
A very nice article has been written about my other project, "Zombie Kitty Kawaii! Travels The World", so I am going
to implore you to drop everything you are doing at this very moment and
have a look:
My other blog, Zombie Kitty Kawaii! Travels The World, has been keeping me happily very busy, but I've been sadly neglecting my duties on this one. So, without any further ado:
Two From Angie:
A few weeks ago, I made a comment that if there was a television program made of my life, it would probably be called "Hipster Mom Stuck In The Suburbs And Constantly Waiting For Her Son's Bus". Truth is usually stranger then fiction. Anyway, dear Angie (and Snooky) sent me these two lovely cards. The first is a a very Steampunk Snooky helping me wait for my own bus (probably a steam powered one.). The card cheered me immensely needless to say.
Almost a week later, I received a 2nd card! This amazing "Joseph Cornell" card! He is one of my "Art Hero's", Angie, and I thank you again for such awesome cards!
A "Steamy" Card From Deb By Golly:
From By Golly Engineering comes the "Steam Machine", a vehicle after my own heart! Drive one of these and nobody will ever steal your parking spot ever again. Looking forward to seeing more of your "Steamy" creations, Deb!
From Cheryl Penn:
Not really Steampunk, but it is brown and brown, after all, is the new black. But, kidding aside, this is some kind of wonderful piece and because it's done on a film-type material it looks different every time I look at it from all angles, back and front, held up to the light, etc.which is why I'm posting 3 different photos of it. In fact, this is so lovely that the photographs cannot really do it justice. Really "Gotij", Cheryl! Thank you.
O.k. I admit, this blog was originally suppose to be all things created on my iPod Touch when I started it, using it as an electronic sketching device (wordy, huh?). It seems that this blog now has become somewhat, er, schizophrenic in nature and it's more about just be posting things that I find interesting in a quirky sort of way.
My current obsessions are the Dr. Who television series, Mail-Art, Steampunk and Cornell Boxes. No kiddding...
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