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I enjoy all Variations of Steampunk, from Clockpunk to Gaslamp Fantasy, and what could be more steampunk than H.G. Wells War of the Worlds as performed by Trek stars? You can hear it stream online for another few days yet only, so don’t wait to listen. I also thought a song might be fun to share, and Abney Park just uploaded a remastered MUCH higher quality version of Airship Pirates at the beginning of the month. The Gatehouse Gazette has a good article this week about Victorian Halloween and another on the Steampunk variations of H. P. Lovecraft, and MTV has a video you might want to check out as well.

Gareth David-Lloyd was excellent as Ianto Jones in Torchwood and Doctor Who, and I am looking forward to seeing him as Watson in next year’s Sherlock Holmes. But he has another project that launches at 9PM GMT today called Girl Number 9. Gareth isn’t the only Torchwood alumni associated with the project, since it was written by James Moran, veteran writer of episodes of Doctor Who, Torchwood, and Spooks. It is a 6-part online thriller, and the good news is it is not region locked, so everyone should be able to watch it. The rest of the episodes will be along next week, the schedule is posted on the Girl Number 9 Facebook page. They will stay online until they have the DVD with all the extra features ready for sale (they are estimating about a month), and you can learn a bit more about it in the SFX Interview.

A major Con this weekend; the World Fantasy Convention celebrates Edgar Alan Poe’s 200th birthday, and runs from the 29th of October to November 1st. Held on Halloween weekend in San Jose, California, it will as always include the World Fantasy Awards, nominees this year including Kage Baker, Neil Gaiman, Peter S. Beagle, Ellen Datlow, Ann & Jeff VanderMeer, and many more (but the ones mentioned being multiple nomination recipients). As announced in August, the World Fantasy Lifetime Achievement Award winners for 2009 are Jane Yolen and Ellen Asher (see the previous award winners listings here).

Oni-Con takes place in Huston, TX this weekend, and will probably be the single most impressive Anime con this time around. In the same town as the former ADV, the guest list at this one has to be seen to be believed. There appears to be three separate tacks of Cosplay events alone.

Saboten-Con in Phoenix, AZ, also looks to be a great place to spend Halloween weekend. Musical guests include Ketsune Robot and Toybox at this Anime con, and the rest of the guest list is just as intense. Many events, screenings, concerts, panels, and so forth. The competitions include the usual (cosplay, artistic, etc.), and a few not-so-usual, including a +18 AMV contest (yes, that means explicit) separate from the all-ages contest, and a Karaoke contest.

In Vermont, BakuretsuCon runs from October 29th to November 1st. This predominantly Anime con includes an AMV contest and the steampunk-inspired Penny Dreadfuls, as well as everything a good con should have.

In Cincinnati, SugoiCon is an Anime con that covers aspects most cons miss; I would go for the concerts alone, the guest list is amazing from both Japan and the US, and the cosplay fans have multiple events! There is a lot more going on, it should be wild.

To round out the weekend of the Anime-Con is Youmacon in Dearborn, MI. This is the 5th year for this Detroit area event, with all the usual guests and activities.

For movies this week, Gentlemen Broncos comes out Friday, fresh from the Film Festival circuit. It is more a film about a science fiction author than an SF film itself. However, if you are in Washington, DC, you might want to consider the screening of Katsuhiro Otomo’s Mushi-shi on Friday evening, a one-time event brought to you by the DC Anime Club and the Japan Information and Culture Center.

The AFI Fest runs from October 30th to November 7th, and kicks off with the world premier of the animated The Fantastic Mister Fox, followed up on the second night with Halloween Horror Films. Just because that wasn’t enough, this year the AFI Fest is Free, at least mostly.

If you thought the UK Festivals were over, that would be a no; the Screen Writers Festival started yesterday and runs through the 29th. What makes this Fest special is it includes its own Doctor Who Sessions, with a ton of panel members covering both the classic and new Doctor Who series. And yes, Steven Moffat will indeed be there along with all the others. There is also a panel of the non-TV releases (and news that Tom Baker is to return to the studio for some new 4th Doctor audio episodes for Big Finish), a panel on the new K9 series, and a special screening of Girl Number 9 before its online premiere Friday.

Ongoing festivals include the Austin Film Festival through the 29th, the 53rd BFI London Film Festival also through October 29th, and the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival through November 11th. Details can be found in my previous Festival entries.