This week's featured teapot racer "Bruiser" was built and operated by Rocky Sawyer and competed in the Royal Renninger Races at Renninger's Steampunk Industrial Show in Mount Dora, Florida on Oct. 15, 2016.
The workmanship on this racer was stunning!
So shiny!
This was not "Bruiser's" first race. It had premiered earlier this year at Ancient City Con in Jacksonville, Florida.
Bribing the judges with custom-made judge's badges:
This large, armored teapot racer may look heavy, but it drove very well through the obstacle course. It steered through the candlestick slalom with no trouble at all and, even through it had some trouble on the Ramp of Doom, it did not require any manual assistance.
Rocky received extra points for the quality of his bribe and showmanship.
"Bruiser" completed the course in 1 minute, fifty-five seconds. SaveSave
We had a good turn-out for day two of Splendid Teapot Racing at the Big River Steampunk Festival in Hannibal, Missouri, but a lot of the credit for that goes to the Porter Family. This family of four each built and raced their own teapot racer and each member of the family had a unique vision for their vehicle.
Mom, Crystal Porter raced "Grandma's Tea Party". This cute little tea party on wheels, with its pompom topped antenna, struggled a little on the ramps, but completed the course in 1 minute and 22 seconds.
It required manual assistance twice, but Crystal attempted to earn back those points through complimenting the judges. Looking at the score sheets, flattery seems to have worked on both judges.
Dad, Matt Porter raced "Grandpa Tea Pot". This entry had everything you'd want to see in a Splendid Teapot Race, style, spills, speed, and suspense.
Matt making an audience member laugh before the race.
He completed the race in only 1 minute, 7 seconds.
Teenage daughter, Madelyn Porter raced "Cinderella's Escape". Cinderella managed to escape the obstacle course in 1 minute, 42 seconds, but she met with many difficulties along the way and required a few kicks in the bumper to keep going.
Teenage son, Alex Porter raced Morning Tea. This little chicken teapot was wide awake as it raced through the course.
I have an apology to make to Alex Porter. Something went wrong with my camera when I tried to record his race. It shut off after taking a one-second video. What I managed not to capture was an amazing 52-second course completion with all the hazards successfully negotiated and not a single manual assist. This was the fastest teapot racer of the day.
Yesterday was our first time attending the North Florida Fair and Blaze's first time attending a county fair anywhere. He really enjoyed himself until after dark, when all the flashing lights started causing trouble for him.
I had spent so much of my childhood at our local fairgrounds, that it bothered me that Blaze had never been, but I'm from Norther Illinois and November has always stuck me as the wrong time to be having a fair. November is when you save money for Christmas gifts and plan Thanksgiving dinner.
In Florida, though, November has the perfect weather for a fair and most of my fond childhood memories of county fairs were covered by this one.
Livestock:
Lots of deep fried food vendors:
Colorful sideshows that I never entered:
4-H displays:
A small circus:
There were also several science activities for children:
"Choose the form of the destroyer!"
For Blaze, the destroyer of our good time was a combination of a spinning teacup ride and lots of flashy lights. He was blind in his right eye for about 10 minutes and then the migraine started.
This week's featured teapot racer is Sir Groot, built and raced by Lori Knott.
Lori has a wonderful sense of whimsy. Her previous teapot racer had a Minion theme, but unfortunately, became our example of why glass teapots are not a good idea, especially when racing on a paved street. The Minion survived its terrible accident and returned in Groot's adorable balloon support vehicle.
Another clever addition to Sir Groot's accessories was the leather remote control holster.
Baby Groot sat proudly in his copper teapot and bravely completed the obstacle course in 2 minutes, 50 seconds, despite the rain which started coming down in buckets just as the racer approached the Tunnel of Terror and the finish line.
Sir Groot had some steering issues and tipped over more than once, but that also made it fun to watch. There is more excitement and suspense when everyone is wondering if the racer will finish the race or run over the judges' feet.
A toast! To a fun steampunk Halloween, with wonderful people, and excellent live music!
It is easy to overlook The Junction on Monroe. It is a former feed store that, from the outside, doesn't look like it's changed much over the years, but once you step inside the door, you are transported to a night club with a great performance space. It's a lot like I imagine a high-end speakeasy would have been.
Now that I'm thinking about it, The Junction on Monroe would be the perfect setting for a 1920s Speakeasy themed party.
Last night, we went there for the first time, for their steampunk Halloween show.
Since Halloween was on a Monday this year, there were not big crowds, but that was all right. We all milled about in the bar, talking before the show and it had the feeling of a party at a friend's house. I met people I had only known from online interactions and some new people. Everyone was friendly and welcoming!
As with any steampunk gathering, there was plenty of costuming creativity to admire (I apologize for the quality of the pictures).
The Dormouse (above) won the costume contest.
DH wore his War Doctor (Dr. Who) costume and I went as steampunk Miss Frizzle, but we didn't take any pictures of each other.
Before the show began, there was a steampunk trivia contest. We were split into groups of three to compete and my group, The Steamy Sisters, won.
The Show opened with two numbers by bellydancer, Sapphire Sultana.
Then Clockwork Knotwork performed.
Their mixture of old time, celtic, bluegrass, and original music kept toes tapping and hands clapping.
It was a high energy show with some very unusual instruments.
I gave DH the VIP tickets for this show as part of his birthday gift (mostly because I wanted to go, which he says he saw right through) and I had to laugh as we were shown our table right in front of the stage, the only reserved table.
The Earl Grey was the old veteran racer at the Big River Steampunk Festival's Splendid Teapot Races. It had traveled a long way to get to Hannibal, Missouri and had experienced a pretty adventurous year before arriving there.
As far as we know, Earl Grey was the first teapot racer to be built in Florida, although several others quickly followed.
This pirate themed teapot racer was built by Lisa Rooney and Aidan Harwood and raced by Aidan. Its tiny crew consists of Captain Green, his daughter Jasmine, Mr. Brewer, and Mr. Baker.
It won the Grand-Champion trophy at its first two races at Renninger's Steampunk Industrial Show in Mount Dora, Florida, but has not done as well in subsequent races.
It is possible that damage was done to the suspension while the Earl Grey was having this dirt track experience. It did look majestic as it went off that jump and sailed through the air, landing upright, though (repeatedly).
It was already not preforming at its peak, when it competed in New Jersey at the Steampunk World's Fair.
In Hannibal, the Earl Grey did get quite a workout. Aidan used it to demonstrate teapot racing to people passing the registration table and competed in the races both Saturday and Sunday.
As you can see in this picture, even before the races, it had started tilting dramatically to the right.
By race time, it had become hard to steer.
Even good judges' bribes can't erase all sins, but Aidan tried:
On the second day of racing, Aidan won the coveted "Most Dastardly Driver" medal for most entertaining cheat.
At least for now, the Earl Grey has retired. Aidan has come up with a new idea for a teapot racer and he and his mother are in the early stages of planning their next build.
