The steampunk festivals are coming! If you're near Arkansas this summer, the Ravenwood Festival will be something to see. (As an aside, it's interesting to see just how goth the steampunks are becoming. It was always a component, but this festival has Voltaire as a top performer!)

Steampunk improv, on the other hand, sounds like something completely new. I wish I could just pop over and watch a performance of The Journeys of Professor Pleasant Pennywhistle and his Spatial Relocation Portal firsthand; if anyone does (or has), let me know!

'Tis the season for anthologies; Cory of Voyages Extraordinaires has an anthology available for the downloading at his excellent website.

For the tinkerers and the artists alike: it's not too late to enter the Artbots 2008 competition!

I think the iTea would make an excellent part of a steampunk party or living environment. The tea cups and table could be embellished, and the technological spiral of information that the device emits could become part of the design as well.

I also think that Wirepod would be a wonderful addition to a steampunky library or study. Some commenters think it's too much, but I think it's a great - and elegantly Victorian, especially if decorated - solution to ugly wires. Apparently this is going to be part of a Wiremore product line, but I don't think it's available just yet.

I can't believe I haven't heard of Adele Blanc-Sec until now. A feisty Victorian-era woman who fights monsters and then goes into cryonic hibernation for a few decades? Wow! Rumors are swirling about a possible movie in the works.