Episode #55: While My Guitar Gently Leaks (RT 2016 Retrospective)

Two writers.

One convention.

Madness in Vegas!

The plane had barely time to get properly cleaned by the ground crew before Pip and Tee started what was to be a week in Sin City. Sure they brought busy work in case there were any slow points…but thanks to Piper J. and Matthew J. Drake, that didn’t happen. Strap yourself in—it’s a retrospective of RT 2016 on The Shared Desk!

00:00 —  Introduction

• Tee is no Sammy Hagar.
• We were meeting up with Piper J. Drake and Matthew J. Drake!

02:15 — While My Guitar Gently Leaks… (An RT 2016 Retrospective)

• RT Booklovers Convention in 2016 — a brand, new experience!
• Arriving in Vegas early…
  • Tee rallies against the jetlag, and he and Matthew hit the Strip
  • Piper J Drake invites us to her “Rocker-Stripper Hangout” at the Elara.
  • We were teaching alongside Linnea Sinclair, Damon Suede, and Stacey Kade at the RT Pre-Boot Camp
  • Workshops a plenty for two days straight!
  • Even Tee picked up a few new things during the workshop!
  • A nice way to ease into the 2016 RT Convention…
• Pip compares convention centers between 2015 and 2016.
• Day One…and thanks to a purchase from the Miracle Mile, Pip and Tee enter the convention LIKE MOTHERF–ING ROCKSTARS!!!
• “Vegas, baby!” — a phrase we used often.
• Our first panel — “Steampunk: The Diverse Punk”
  • Addressing the 800-pound gorilla about diversity
  • How Tee felt being the “odd man out”
  • A quick tangent on peels and Nalini Singh
  • And we were off and running…
• Pip Ballantine, always making new friends from Oz.
• How an update to an app turned our “007 in a Corset: Spies & Steampunk” into The Tee & Pip Show.
• Readers Entertainment Magazine loved us. I mean, they loved us!
• We hooked up with  Starla Huchton eventually and it became a mini-Smoky Writers Reunion!
• Later in the day, we hit the Social Media Fair…and we identify as the O.P.s (Original Podcasters) still rolling out the audio!
• Jumping back to Damon Suede’s Cinema Craptastique and a treatment of Abduction. The horror, the horror……
• Cirque du Punk
  • Pip meets Hope McCurdy, the embodiment of the Iron Lily.
  • Amazing circus performers!
  • Cyberpunked deejay FTW!
  • And here’s Pip, Starla, and PJ as the punked up RGB Scale…
    
• So why was Tee getting attention during the day?
  
• The Intergalactic Bar & Grille, hosted by Linnea and PJ. So — much — fun!
• This was a healthy-sized collection…and an exclusive!
• What an awesome experience! Really felt welcome!
• Linnea must have liked me as she trusted me with her Mad Libs…
  
• The RT Book Fair of 2016 — 600 authors, and a WHOLE LOT OF PEOPLE!!!
  
  
• Ended the RT experience with a trip to Mandalay Bay’s Red Square.
  
• The difference between infused vodka and straight vodka: delight versus rubbing alcohol.
• The hard lesson of Vegas: EVERYONE IS TRYING TO UPSELL YOU!!!
• And everyone is an enabler in Vegas. (Oooooh, Steve!!!)
• But seriously, we loved Hash House a Go-Go!
• Catching up with Rachel!
  • She’s working the Jersey Boys.
  • Off-the-Strip sushi…nom.
  • A really good beer place…that we can’t remember. (Help, Rachel!)
  • The Return to Frankie’s Tiki’s Room!!!
    
• Was it worth it? Oh hell yes!

45:54 — The Loot Crate Lookie-loo! 

• A new segment for the show…
• We are newbies to LootCrate, and we LOVE it! So far…
  • February — The Dead Box
  • March — Versus
  • And now, April….
• April’s LootCrate
  • The Labyrinth tee shirt
  • A drinking horn from Vikings
  • Harry Potter Horcrux socks
  • A d20 ice mold
  • A d20 lapel pin
  • Uncharted 4 poster
• What’s in your box?
• What should you do with the stuff you don’t like? (Free giveaways!)

51:48 — Listener Mailbox

• Two shows in a row! Keep it up, everyone!!!
  • A quick update from Hugh O’Donnell and his “Warboy” drive from Tennessee to New York.
  • Doc Coleman asks about the decision process when picking and choosing conventions.
• Keep the voicemail coming in at 703.791.1701 or drop us an email, Subject line — FOR THE SHARED DESK!

1:01:48 — Wrapping up

• A jam packed show…because “Vegas, baby!”
• Where Tee and Pip are heading next…
  • 2016 Steampunk World Fair
  • 2016 Motor City SteamCon
  • Steampunk unLimited
  • The Maryland Renaissance Festival
  • …and how about this? A Steampunk Museum in Hershey, PA!
• Got thoughts or comments on this show? We have voicemail — 703.791.1701
• Now, off to Westeros….

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Find us on Twitter at either Tee’s or Pip’s account,
on Tee, or the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences on Periscope
leave us a voicemail or question for the show at 703.791.1701,
or leave us a comment here at the blog.

Enjoy the ride
and we’ll catch you later.