Steampunk Granny loves her Penny...Penny Dreadful, That Is!

                                                            

       

Last year I had the pleasure of writing the weekly reviews for Biff Bam Pop on Showtime's newest horror show, Penny Dreadful. The show is pure joy for anyone who loves Steampunk or Victorian fashion and horror stories.
  
                                                     

It is a horror show for sure, but it is also a delicious and sensual offering of characters right out of 19th century British fiction. Last season featured characters like Dorian Gray, Mina Harker from Dracula, Victor Frankenstein and his monster and even a Wild West werewolf. Eva Green as Vanessa Ives is the main force tying all these wonderfully horrid characters together.

There is nothing better than walking down the dark streets of Victorian London and finding your worst nightmare waiting in the shadows for you to pass by.

If you missed season one, you can check our my reviews on Biff Bam Pop. Season two begins on May 3rd and I do hope to see you there my little pennies.

The Knick Season 1 Episode 2: Mr. Paris Shoes

                                                                         
                                                                 

There is a new show on Cinemax and I posted a review of season 1 episode 1 last week. This is one great show and all my friends who are into Steampunk will especially enjoy the period sets and clothing. Think of the show as Penny Dreadful meets Nurse Jackie. It’s that good.

 On episode 2, poor Dr. Edwards (Andre Holland is forced into using a cluttered hospital basement as his office. This shocks Cornelia Robertson (Juliet Rylance), who is stand up righteous over women’s rights and the rights of minorities, but her hands are tied because the other doctors at the Knickerbocker Hospital are as bigoted as you can get.

                                                                                  

While the ever resourceful Dr. Edwards miraculously changes the dingy basement into a clinic to treat black patients, who are discouraged from using the white’s only hospital, Dr. Thackery (Clive Owen) and his fellow surgical comrades experience a horrible event due to improper installation of electrical wires causing a surgical patient to catch fire and an operating nurse to get electrocuted. The incident may have been caused by Herman Barrow (Jeremy Bobb) pocketing some of the money to get the work done right. Barrow is also in debt to a loan shark named Bunkie (Danny Hoch), who doesn’t take kindly to anyone being late with their payments.

                                                                              

We get an in depth look at Thackery’s drug routine which have him spending great deal of time and money at a local establishment in China Town. Thackery later questions Nurse Elkins (Eve Hewson) on her loyalty and her silence about an embarrassing incident.

                                                                                

Jealous over Dr. Edwards knowing how to do a complicated procedure for which he wrote an article in a French medical journal, Doctors Gallinger (Eric Johnson) and Chickering (Michael Angarano) have ambulance driver and bully Cleary (Chris Sullivan) break into a library in order for them to steal the journal.

                                                                                 

Later that night, Barrow loses a tooth thanks to Bunkie, Dr. Edwards stands up to a bully at his dilapidated boarding house, and Cleary catches Sister Harriet (Cara Seymour) wearing street clothing and entering a tenement. What is the good sister doing there? Sister Harriet is helping poor mothers to eliminate an extra mouth to fee. Will Cleary rat out the good sister? Tune in next Friday at 10 p.m. on Cinemax to find out.

Under Glass, A Victorian Obsession

                                                                  

Calling all lovers of science! The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University is hosting a free event featuring Author John Whitenight on Tuesday, October 8th at 6:30 p.m. The event will take place at the Academy of Natural Sciences on 1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia, PA 19103

 

 

                                                                      

 

 

 

Spend an evening at The Academy of Natural Sciences with author John Whitenight as he explores the role that natural history played in the everyday lives of people from the 19th Century. During that era an obsession developed with the natural world which has never been surpassed. Mr. Whitenight will be sharing images and information from his book, Under Glass, A Victorian Obsession, which is a comprehensive study of the incredible array of objects that were created and presented under glass. Included will be botanical arrangements made from wax and sea shells as well as domes and cases filled with beautiful birds of every description. The focus will be on how the Victorians not only embraced natural history but included it in their home décor.

 

                                                                          

 

John Whitenight was born over 50 years ago in a small upstate Pennsylvania town. By the time he was five years old he had developed an avid interest in art. This continued into his teenage years when he decided he would explore this talent further and ultimately share it with others by pursuing an Art Education degree. Upon graduation he began his art teaching career in a senior high school where he remained for the next 30 years eventually becoming the chairperson of the department. During this period he also acquired a Masters equivalence in decorative arts-related studies in Philadelphia where he now resides.

                                                                          

Always a collector of Victoriana, one fateful day in 1973 friends gave him a small glass dome containing three canaries. The following decades have been rich with the study of the why and wherefore of these lovely domed items. Currently, the author’s collection contains over 175 domed displays ranging in height from four inches to some over a meter in height.

http://www.ansp.org/Visit/Events/Details/?eid=3610&iid=12123


I'm sending a shout out to all my Steampunk friends; this is a lecture that would interest you. To all my Facebook, Twitter and Google friends, check out the Academy of Natural Sciences' site for the listing of all their family friendly events. Tell them Steampunk Granny sent you.