masterfrederick

Well, we get to the event site and get raped up the ass for gate fee... I mean seriously. I have paid more for only ONE event EVER, and that was Courtesan Carnival last year-- and THAT event at least included food, firewood and showers in the cost!!! If you can't tell, this does not bode well for this event site... The majority of the fees were paid to the landowner. The event itself cost $9.00 including the nonmember surcharge, and the landowner's fees came to $14.00 a head. For NO shade, NO shower facilities, and lavatory facilities that were TOO FEW, TOO FAR APART, AND CLEANED TOO SELDOM. This is only the beginning of Murphy excercising his fucking law on my event from beyond the grave (He MUST be dead, I can't think of anyone allowing him to live after penning that little gem of a law...). To make matters worse, my back goes all fuckshit on me.

First night, after getting the performance area established, there is a slight snag in the plans: Logistical errors of the communications variety. See, I had last heard that some of the rest of the troupe were going to be there. I swear. I did. Honest. No, REALLY. I had even given over the larger gear I had to one of our members to bring to the event. This was done three weeks ago in preparation for the event-- and NO ONE showed. Dammit. I forgot to confirm with most of the troupe, and the person with the gear forgot to call me and tell me she couldn't make it. (She had work dropped in her lap, along with a promotion. I don't really blame her.) Bottom line: No shit, there I was, with no fuel, no safety gear, and only my four whips and fire eating torches to perform with. Luckily, Dragon Steps was there, and allowed me to perform with them Saturday night, and provided fuel for a second, shorter show up at the Tavern (The ONLY real reason to go back to that site BEFORE SOME MAJOR FUCKING IMPROVEMENTS ARE MADE.). I also FINALLY got to perform with Dame Rowan, who is basically the Northern An Tir version of yours truly as pertains to fame. WELL worth the wait, I assure you. In all, the shows went well, and I have great expectations of Dragon Steps, and can't wait to see what else they come up with in the future.

Oh, and Saturday afternoon, I got to talking to Dragon Steps' members. Great bunch of people. You'd be doing yourself a disservice not getting to know them. But that's not the point of this paragraph. The point of THIS paragraph is to ask you: Did YOU know Fire and Steel had a Co-Leader aside from me? Neither did I. But apparently this is what Dragon Steps' members were told by One Motherfucker as his way of breaking the ice: That he was co-leader of Fire and Steel, and that it split down the middle, and that he started his troupe, Carnivale De Flam (*SP?* Oh, wait, I could give a shit.) from the half that left Fire and Steel with him. All I have to say to that is that it's a pretty serious achievement, leading Fire and Steel with me WITHOUT ME KNOWING he was even a MEMBER, while at the same time hiding between SIX and NINE performers within its ranks that not one other member of Fire and Steel knew about. I informed them that they had been lied to, and to expect that kind of thing from him. I promptly brought them up to speed on all the bullshit stunts he's pulled, to include the YouTube incident. Suffice to say, they were unimpressed by his shitshod excuse for morals. They told me about his interactions with them, and surmised that he was just picking their brains for ideas to steal, as well as prop-making methods. So now they're on to him, and will watch their backs.

Saturday night after the shows were done and the gear stowed, I got changed into the outfit that I think I will henceforth always wear to fuck with Period-Nazis-- You know, the ones that pick apart everything you're wearing, just to show you that their Geek-Fu is the best? I put on: Black leather pants, a crimson red shirt with ruffle sleeves, my combat boots, my gaiters, my LEATHER captain's coat, my tri-corner hat, and my eyepatch. For good measure, I wore both sets of my talons, and carried my cane and drinking horn. Not a GODDAMN thing about the way I was dressed was period appropriate, but by the Gods, I LOOKED DAMN GOOD. I went to the tavern for a bit to hang out, and munched a bit on the roast pig leftover from the evening's feast. As I found the bowl, a Lute Player (note the capitalization-- that's deliberate. He must have thought he REALLY mattered to moi.) shoots me this icy, angry stare, looks me up and down, and slowly walks off, shaking his head. Now I'll give him this, his garb was spectacular. But you don't flip me that kind of 'Tude about my out-of-period dress and then launch into completely modern music, mauled irreparably by playing it on your fucking LUTE. I ate my fill of the pork, and caroused a while longer. As I went to leave I saw he was still there, so I got his attention, and said, "You remember about an hour ago? That ugly look and head-shake you gave me when we first locked eyes? Yeah, it's a GAME." And with a grin, I turned on my heel and swaggered out of the tavern. I almost couldn't keep from laughing until I got outside.

Unfortunately, Lorelai had to leave the event at THREE IN THE FUCKING MORNING for a MANDATORY meeting IN THE FUCKING MIDDLE OF HER VACATION. I got my wife for ONE event this year, and this shit happens? She got Jack Shit for sleep, went to the meeting, spent two hours fighting sleep, for pretty much NOTHING ACCOMPLISHED. So she gets off from the meeting, drives all the way the fuck back to the site, we pack out and head home. Bed time came at about 4:00 PM for Lorelai, and about 6:00 pm for me.

The event had its ups and downs, and while I'd like to think it was more to the positive than the negative, I think I'll be skipping Autumn War from here on out.