Apparently, it's no longer enough to have some fabulous Time Lord threads and a sonic screwdriver or even your very own K9 unit. No, my friends, that just isn’t enough! We need a working TARDIS; something to shuttle us back and forth to all the amazing happenings of the Krewe du Who. Why you ask - because our schedule has busted through the calendar. Time can no longer contain all the activities in which we wish to participate!
This weekend was the perfect example. A science fiction film and costuming convention, a showing of the latest episode of the Doctor at an amazing bar, and an opportunity for ladies to become the coolest character in the history of space and time…ALL IN THE SAME WEEKEND!
AAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHH! I need a TARDIS!
Although I was unable to be in three places at once, I did a little tinkering on my Vortex Manipulator and did manage two of these events. (Of course, my Vortex Manipulator did explode right after that; so, I’m in the market for a new one. If you see one on EBay for a good price, let me know!)
The Louisiana Science Fiction Film and Costuming Festival, a small con with a big name, was held in Baton Rouge this weekend at the Embassy Suites Hotel. LaSciFi takes a different approach than most cons with hands on classes and demonstrations of the art and science of film making and costuming. It is a very young con and needs a bit of work. However, it is so incredibly fun and filled with good information for the novice costumer, that I would definitely recommend this con to those who wish to dive into the fabulous world of costuming and cosplay.
Krewe du Who made a good showing at this con. We had a table in the main hallway, next to a couple of Walking Dead cast members, right in the middle of the traffic flow! The tin dog showed up and flirted. And every room I walked into had someone wearing a fabulous blue shirt with a very sexy KdW logo on it.
I managed to get in three classes on Saturday. The first class was a found objects workshop. We took wire and ribbon and thread, broken bits of pottery, cardboard, nylon stockings, clothes hangers and all manner of odds and ends and made costume accessories from them. Some rubber tubing became a neat Cyber Punk hairpiece; an umbrella got a little steam punk treatment with metal bits and cording; and someone made a fantastic helmet out of cardboard, metal sheeting, and some very shiny tape. I made a wire cage with some wire I stripped out of an electrical cord and some thread. I’m planning to hang a very small bird pendant in the center and have a tiny bird in a cage to add to a piece of jewelry or hair accessory.
The best part of the class was that I learned how to preserve dead animals or rather bits and piece of them. So if any of my ferocious felines bring me a mousy present again, now I know how to preserve the head. Admit it, if you were doing a Goth or steam punk or witch doctor costume, you know a mouse head would come in handy! Last year, in that same class, I learned how to make easy peasy fairy wings. Although I haven’t had the need for fairy wings in the last year, I did use that same technique to make a collar for a costume. No knowledge is ever wasted.
I also took a class on foam building. It wasn’t anything like what I imagined. Instead of carving or building “up” with foam, it was a class on making molds and pouring in a liquid mix that would then through weird science become foam in the shape of your mold. While I really hate making molds, I think I’m in a place where I am just going to have to suck it up and make some body part molds of myself to get the desired base to make some of my more crazy costuming ideas happen. So, it was informative and started sparking off ideas in my head.
The last class I managed to slip in, between helping Patrick with the merchant table and being a social butterfly, was a class on chain mail. We made a very simple keychain in a Byzantine pattern, but in those few steps, I learned most of what I needed to turn that pattern into anything I wanted. Now, I have done chain mail before so I was probably ahead of the curve in that class, but the instructor was amazing. Chain mail patterns can get confusing and having tried to learn Byzantine once before and throwing away the rings in frustration, I was amazed at how easy she made it. Plus, I got a handout with pictures accompanying the instructions so I can remember everything I learned….BONUS!
There was more to this con than just classes though. On Friday night, they had a traditional Rocky Horror Picture Show viewing and even brought supplies for the audience. On Saturday evening, they had a costume contest and “promenade” which unfortunately I missed. And Saturday night, there were room parties!
Sunday, they scheduled panel discussions with costuming groups, but the Femme Doctor Poster Shoot was calling me, so Patrick and I packed up and headed back to New Orleans so I could get my picture taken.
The photo shoot was a blast! Despite my lack of sleep and food, I managed to perk up enough to make an utter fool of myself in the “jaunting” video we took. I also think I managed to give “good eyebrow” to the photographer while I was channeling the tenth doctor.
The ladies that showed up for this shoot were incredible. You could see the love that was poured into each costume made. It was so much fun to see the creative ways each one made the doctor theirs! Of course, what better way to spend a beautiful Sunday than in the park with your friends being silly and having a grand time? We even had “handlers”. Wonderful gentlemen that showed up to be our support network and hold our accessories and help the photographer set up.
Our photographer was hysterical. Before we even began my shoot, we took a moment where she gave me my instructions….”Breathe in. Channel David Tennant. Its all in the smile. Show your emotion through the eyebrows. Give me more eyebrows. Now, play with the bush. Be the Doctor near the bush. Lean, lean more. He’s a leaner.”
Then the group shots began. If you can’t tell how much fun we had just from looking at those pictures, then you must be blind!
But all good Whovian weekends must come to an end. After all the smiles and the giggles were spent, I realized there wasn’t a single part of my body that wasn’t exhausted. So, I grabbed my long-suffering husband, who was falling asleep on a park bench, said my goodbyes, and limped to our car and headed home.
Now, I sit amongst the bins of costumes that need to be laundered and neurotically check my Facebook newsfeed for pictures that have been posted so that I can go back and relive some of the awesomeness of this great weekend.
Yep, I definitely need a TARDIS!