Ren Faire Fun

[qos]

I spent today with pathdancer and rocket_jockey, who took me with them to a Fantasy & Renaissance Faire. I was in the SCA for many years, but had never been to a Ren Faire before, and I've been looking forward to this for a couple of weeks.

Despite having a trunk full of SCA garb, I don't have anything that both fits my current body and is appropriate for the Faire. I had reconciled myself to mundane clothes when the Goddaughter volunteered to help me. Within 20 minutes I found myself in a black corseted top and a black peasanty skirt with multiple slits, which showed off the henna dragon on my right shin (which I had done at a party last night). I don't think I've ever been out in public showing as much cleavage as I did today, but it was fun (and not extreme at all by the standards of the faire!).

It would have been a worthwhile trip just for the fun of spending time with pathdancer and rocket_jockey, and being in the environment of the Faire, but the highlight of the day was watching Heather Alexander perform.

I first became aware of Heather through a recording of "March of Cambreadth" performed while she was a member of Phoenyx. It's a song about going to war to protect one's home and lands, and the last line of every stanza is "How many of them can we make die?" It's a very bloodthirsty song. I had no idea that this is one of her most popular songs, and she ended her set with it today, inviting everyone in the audience to join in that last line each time. After listening to this song for several years, it was a real kick to actually see her perform it and shout/sing along with that line.

My major purchase today was a pottery skull and crossbones mug, which also displays the words, "'Tis all about the booty".

It was very hot today, and most of the site was treeless, so I'm feeling a bit crispy now (although I did remember to slather sunblock on my not-usually-exposed surfaces before I left and I'm nowhere near as pink as I might have been). I'm very much looking forward to a shower, but first all four of the kids in the house have to have their Sunday evening baths. So I'm doing LJ, listening to the Heather CD I bought, and enjoying the coolness of my basement.

Comments

[queenofhalves]

i'm listening to audio clips from her site now and liking what i hear...

[qos.livejournal.com]

I got home at least 30 minutes sooner than you did!

It sounds like you had a wonderful time.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_storyteller_/]

I miss Faire.

I used to work the northern faire here in California. I was one of the "Lord Mayor's Players" my main job was very similar to that of the fools but I wore regular peasant garb. We had three gigs that we did at opening, midday, and close. The rest of the time I was left to gigs of my own design. The goal of the players was to promote the festival atmosphere of the Faire by drawing guests out of the mundane world and into the world of the Faire.
My opening gig was to entertain and great the crowd before the gates opened. I usually did this by donning a wooden carved wolf mask and being a debaucherous wolfman. Every once and a while I would be giging a couple of young tarts when one of the other Faire workers (usually someone working as a soilder or a guardsman) would come and chase me off.

I had a number of other Gigs, and I very much enjoyed working faire. I was actually paid well for my work and I have always wanted to go back and work again. Nowdays I can't even find time to attend a faire, let alone commit 10-12 weekends to working one.

Re: It sounds like you had a wonderful time.

[qos.livejournal.com]

promote the festival atmosphere of the Faire by drawing guests out of the mundane world and into the world of the Faire.

I enjoyed that aspect a lot. It used to be my favorite part of going to SCA events: the shift in mental gears out of the mundane world and into "someplace else." It was like a weekend in Disneyland, mentally.

Ren Faire is different, of course, because of the presence of mundanes on the site, but there were still so many merchants, players and guests in garb and in personna that it was enough to promote that shift for me. I kept wishing I had better garb. . .

Re: It sounds like you had a wonderful time.

[rocket-jockey.livejournal.com]

Would you like some links to costume purveyors for the Pirate Queen set?

Re: It sounds like you had a wonderful time.

[qos.livejournal.com]

Sure - although I don't have the budget to get anything, nor really the reason, since I don't intend on spending a lot of time doing Ren Faires.

Hmmm. . . perhaps I could bargain/barter with your Lady Wife for some appropriate preening-and-pillaging garb for when the spirit does strike me?

Re: It sounds like you had a wonderful time.

[rocket-jockey.livejournal.com]

I don't doubt that she could or would be willing: the added advantage is that, as a silk pusher, you can get as much silk at a reasonable price as you can afford from her and have things like silk chemises and the like.

Considering what I spent on the doublet, I think I should talk to her, myself, for a couple more silk kilt shirts.

[rocket-jockey.livejournal.com]

clea-vage! clea-vage! clea-vage!

Thanks for joining us! And I agree with pathdancer - you sure type fast!

[toesontheground.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a fun day!