Well, folks, Dragon's Mist Defender's Tourney happened last weekend, and there's lots to tell. The event is one of the few sanctioned events I like, as it's rather laid back compared to the big Kingdom level events. Not nearly as much politicking and suchlike, and there are few if any "Period Nazis" as we call them. In fact if there were any there last weekend, I would never have known it. It was, overall, a VERY relaxing event. Here are the highlights:
We arrived a lot later than usual, about seven o'clock Friday evening, and began setting up. It was harder than usual, not only because of the time, but because I had little help as Lorelai volunteered to help with parking direction. Not that big a deal, really. I had people more than willing to kidnap the baby while I got things done. I even had help setting up the tent from hell (imagine a dome tent that viewed from above is a giant cross 25 feet across lengthwise and 20 feet widthwise) which cannot be set up singlehandedly. I had to borrow a hammer as it will not stand without stakes, and while it took longer due to darkness, it went up just fine. I set up the baby's room and made our bed up, moved everything in, and got changed into garb by the time Lorelai got relief at the parking area. We basically spent the evening relaxing, carousing with friends and doing some minor drinking (no way in hell was I going to overdo it like Seadog Nights the weekend prior). We didn't gear up and perform Friday, as we had only been cleared to perform Saturday night with fire. High fire danger season is the biggest problem for firedancers, and despite the season, the property owner --having seen Fire and Steel perform a few times himself-- gave us permission to perform for one night. Such is our reputation for safe performance. Lorelai and I settled into our bed after the baby was well asleep, in her own personal room with a space heater outside her crib.
Morning started with a breakfast of camp hash, with the meat on the side as Lorelai's mother is a vegetarian. As the day passed, I perused the merchants and, not finding anything in particular I wanted, for myself or for Lorelai, managed not to spend any money. I did, however, spend some time watching the fighters bash at one another with rattan, entertaining enough when the fighters in question are good at it. The best was the match between the two Mongol fighters, knights in fact, both of whom were from the same household if their manner of dress was any indication.
I tried a bit of practice for the daytime show, "Weapons of Mass Distraction," but every time I got going really good, the children on site would flock over and get too close, despite my warnings they could be seriously injured. I eventually gave up, but for a bit I was ahving a really fun target practice splitting grapes with my whip.(Do not mistake me for being surgically accurate. I still miss more than I hit, but it was fun to see grape pieces fly when I hit my mark.) Time eventually came about for the show, and I headed out to stage. The show was a one-man deal, as Sithneibh tried, but did not succeed at her Sword-Swallowing act in practice. If she can't get it in practice, then it doesn't get attempted onstage. Allow me to make it clear that in no way did she let me down. She showed, she tried. That is all I ever ask. Success is just a bonus. I sent out, began my patter for the day show, and didn't stop until I had done: My large curved broadsword, my somewhat shorter ninja sword, Envy (my new whip) demonstrating trick cracks, the ribbon staff (it has three-foot streamers on the ends for a nice tracer effect in daylight) and single and double Dirk tricks. Suffice to say, it was a good show, though some of the audience as well as I felt it was nowhere near as impressive as our fire shows.
Night fell, and the rest of the troupe who could make it showed for the fire show. We all met up, gathered our gear into a pickup truck, and everyone but I headed out to stage. It's a tradition that I carry the troupe's Standard out to stage myself, sort of like a military Guidon. I announced the time of the show and told everyone onsite to follow me if they didn't know the way. I only said it once. I only HAD to say it once. I can project pretty well when I need to, and the accoustics in the valley we were in were just plain impressive. We showed up in hte middle of a wedding party, as expected. We knew there would be one going on, so it was no big deal. At first the partygoers were disappointed that we were there... To the point of being rude in comments about us and the rest of the people attending the tourney. But that ALL stopped once the show began. Let's face it, Fire and Steel is fucking IMPRESSIVE. All conversation at the wedding party stopped cold once we began. I felt a little more was going to be needed to make them feel truly welcome to watch the show, so I took my fire eating torches out and walked right up to the edge of the party. I began my usual fire eating routine, demonstrating that we do in fact put flaming objects into our mouths. I then used an unlit torch to fuel the tip of my tongue and, with the lit one, set the fuel alight, holding the flame there long enough to ignite the unlit one. Suffice to say, minds were blown. Joseph (Pronounced Yosef) the Green took a page from my book, and breathed fire right in front of them, and I later performed a "Baptism by Fire" (an act where I dance in close proximity to a volunteer with a flaming baton)around the newlywed couple. The rest of the show was pretty routine, with Illyanna delivering a STELLAR firefan set, firebreathing by all, and Lorelai joining Illyanna onstage for a palmtorch duet dance. Everything flowed, with little deadtime, and great energy throughout the show. We kept it short, as we were given an hour and fifteen minutes including setup, performance and striking the set and leaving the area. The wedding party was suddenly just the happiest people in the world that we came down for the show, and I think we left a very positive impression.
Later, after the show, there was much carousing and Bardic competition underway. Lorelai entered, and I watched for a bit before entering in the amateur division (I am not professionally trained, nor do I sing professionally). While Lorelai did not win, she still sounded fabulous. I don't quite know how, but I won in the amateur division with my rendition of Great Big Sea's "The Old Black Rum." Most sang more than once, I only did the one song. Either way, I got a beautiful pouch, in black and red and white, with a pretty stained glass-style trim in gold and every color in the rainbow.
The next day was the usual dreaded pack-out day. Everything went rather smoothly though, and we got home at a more than reasonable time, not bothering to put anything away, since we still have one event left. Blackthorne Revel comes in one week's time, and I'll be sure to tell you how it goes (HOPEFULLY not a week after it's over).
And now for the Great Misadventure:
Did you know that when you get a second degree burn, and the blisters pop, if you cover that burn with an air-tight burn dressing, that the lymph and plasma coagulate into something that looks like Jell-O? Neither did I. Interestingly enough I got a 2-inch wide by 8-inch long second degree burn Thursday night before the event-- NOT practicing or performing with fire. In fact I was not practicing or performing with ANYTHING. See here's the lowdown: Sithneibh needed pants to go with her stage garb. She came over to get them fitted and finalized. She brought with her her stepdaughter and Pixie, who didn't feel like climbing the stairs due to recent knee surgery. The two girls stayed in the car while Sithneibh came up for fitting. They got impatient, and started getting loud and boisterous. After a while I went out to the balcony to tell them to quiet down, and in order to see them over the balcony I put one hand on the railing... and rested the other forearm on the lid of the (very hot) gas barbecue. Okay, now everyone point and laugh...
Here's the pictures I took after returning from the event. NOT FOR THE SQUEAMISH. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!
We arrived a lot later than usual, about seven o'clock Friday evening, and began setting up. It was harder than usual, not only because of the time, but because I had little help as Lorelai volunteered to help with parking direction. Not that big a deal, really. I had people more than willing to kidnap the baby while I got things done. I even had help setting up the tent from hell (imagine a dome tent that viewed from above is a giant cross 25 feet across lengthwise and 20 feet widthwise) which cannot be set up singlehandedly. I had to borrow a hammer as it will not stand without stakes, and while it took longer due to darkness, it went up just fine. I set up the baby's room and made our bed up, moved everything in, and got changed into garb by the time Lorelai got relief at the parking area. We basically spent the evening relaxing, carousing with friends and doing some minor drinking (no way in hell was I going to overdo it like Seadog Nights the weekend prior). We didn't gear up and perform Friday, as we had only been cleared to perform Saturday night with fire. High fire danger season is the biggest problem for firedancers, and despite the season, the property owner --having seen Fire and Steel perform a few times himself-- gave us permission to perform for one night. Such is our reputation for safe performance. Lorelai and I settled into our bed after the baby was well asleep, in her own personal room with a space heater outside her crib.
Morning started with a breakfast of camp hash, with the meat on the side as Lorelai's mother is a vegetarian. As the day passed, I perused the merchants and, not finding anything in particular I wanted, for myself or for Lorelai, managed not to spend any money. I did, however, spend some time watching the fighters bash at one another with rattan, entertaining enough when the fighters in question are good at it. The best was the match between the two Mongol fighters, knights in fact, both of whom were from the same household if their manner of dress was any indication.
I tried a bit of practice for the daytime show, "Weapons of Mass Distraction," but every time I got going really good, the children on site would flock over and get too close, despite my warnings they could be seriously injured. I eventually gave up, but for a bit I was ahving a really fun target practice splitting grapes with my whip.(Do not mistake me for being surgically accurate. I still miss more than I hit, but it was fun to see grape pieces fly when I hit my mark.) Time eventually came about for the show, and I headed out to stage. The show was a one-man deal, as Sithneibh tried, but did not succeed at her Sword-Swallowing act in practice. If she can't get it in practice, then it doesn't get attempted onstage. Allow me to make it clear that in no way did she let me down. She showed, she tried. That is all I ever ask. Success is just a bonus. I sent out, began my patter for the day show, and didn't stop until I had done: My large curved broadsword, my somewhat shorter ninja sword, Envy (my new whip) demonstrating trick cracks, the ribbon staff (it has three-foot streamers on the ends for a nice tracer effect in daylight) and single and double Dirk tricks. Suffice to say, it was a good show, though some of the audience as well as I felt it was nowhere near as impressive as our fire shows.
Night fell, and the rest of the troupe who could make it showed for the fire show. We all met up, gathered our gear into a pickup truck, and everyone but I headed out to stage. It's a tradition that I carry the troupe's Standard out to stage myself, sort of like a military Guidon. I announced the time of the show and told everyone onsite to follow me if they didn't know the way. I only said it once. I only HAD to say it once. I can project pretty well when I need to, and the accoustics in the valley we were in were just plain impressive. We showed up in hte middle of a wedding party, as expected. We knew there would be one going on, so it was no big deal. At first the partygoers were disappointed that we were there... To the point of being rude in comments about us and the rest of the people attending the tourney. But that ALL stopped once the show began. Let's face it, Fire and Steel is fucking IMPRESSIVE. All conversation at the wedding party stopped cold once we began. I felt a little more was going to be needed to make them feel truly welcome to watch the show, so I took my fire eating torches out and walked right up to the edge of the party. I began my usual fire eating routine, demonstrating that we do in fact put flaming objects into our mouths. I then used an unlit torch to fuel the tip of my tongue and, with the lit one, set the fuel alight, holding the flame there long enough to ignite the unlit one. Suffice to say, minds were blown. Joseph (Pronounced Yosef) the Green took a page from my book, and breathed fire right in front of them, and I later performed a "Baptism by Fire" (an act where I dance in close proximity to a volunteer with a flaming baton)around the newlywed couple. The rest of the show was pretty routine, with Illyanna delivering a STELLAR firefan set, firebreathing by all, and Lorelai joining Illyanna onstage for a palmtorch duet dance. Everything flowed, with little deadtime, and great energy throughout the show. We kept it short, as we were given an hour and fifteen minutes including setup, performance and striking the set and leaving the area. The wedding party was suddenly just the happiest people in the world that we came down for the show, and I think we left a very positive impression.
Later, after the show, there was much carousing and Bardic competition underway. Lorelai entered, and I watched for a bit before entering in the amateur division (I am not professionally trained, nor do I sing professionally). While Lorelai did not win, she still sounded fabulous. I don't quite know how, but I won in the amateur division with my rendition of Great Big Sea's "The Old Black Rum." Most sang more than once, I only did the one song. Either way, I got a beautiful pouch, in black and red and white, with a pretty stained glass-style trim in gold and every color in the rainbow.
The next day was the usual dreaded pack-out day. Everything went rather smoothly though, and we got home at a more than reasonable time, not bothering to put anything away, since we still have one event left. Blackthorne Revel comes in one week's time, and I'll be sure to tell you how it goes (HOPEFULLY not a week after it's over).
And now for the Great Misadventure:
Did you know that when you get a second degree burn, and the blisters pop, if you cover that burn with an air-tight burn dressing, that the lymph and plasma coagulate into something that looks like Jell-O? Neither did I. Interestingly enough I got a 2-inch wide by 8-inch long second degree burn Thursday night before the event-- NOT practicing or performing with fire. In fact I was not practicing or performing with ANYTHING. See here's the lowdown: Sithneibh needed pants to go with her stage garb. She came over to get them fitted and finalized. She brought with her her stepdaughter and Pixie, who didn't feel like climbing the stairs due to recent knee surgery. The two girls stayed in the car while Sithneibh came up for fitting. They got impatient, and started getting loud and boisterous. After a while I went out to the balcony to tell them to quiet down, and in order to see them over the balcony I put one hand on the railing... and rested the other forearm on the lid of the (very hot) gas barbecue. Okay, now everyone point and laugh...
Here's the pictures I took after returning from the event. NOT FOR THE SQUEAMISH. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!
then
OUCH
PA ren fair tomorrow-yay-im looking forward to it
We are still trying to dry out the pavilion from the event two weekends ago...Sigh. It has been raining pretty much non-stop since then.....