Of wives and wooing

This weekend was special in a few ways. It marked the probably last weekend of Angela as the Baker's Wife and Rachel as the Queen. I'm not sure how to properly articulate my feelings on these matters as I was pleased with both of them in both roles and am sad and happy simultaneously to see the shift happening.

I look very much forward to finding my way back into the dynamic that Rachel and I had as I have gotten used to Angela and the way we ran together. I'm excited to see what a full faire day will be like with Rachel. I wonder if we'll end up naming cookies and giggling about the back story of the Bakers. I look forward to re-learning a marriage.

Someone this weekend pointed out that being cast like this was actually not unlike an arranged marriage. The parties have very little input into their chosen spouse so it is only through exploring the marriage itself you learn about each other. I feel very fortunate to have been married off to such wonderful women. I should be so lucky in real life.

Incidentally, as a side note, it was interesting to note that my own family contains Bakers. The name chosen for the Baker's wife is Johanna which is strikingly similar to JoAnn, my Grandmother. More surprising though is that my character got named Peter. My Great Grandfather was Pete. Anyway, I only noticed it this weekend so I thought I would share.

This weekend also marked my return to the T-walk. There was a T-walk the weekend before but in the morning and it was more of a "roguing" since it was less parade and more aimed. The photos looked amazing and I'm sure the lady of honour was tickled pink. Also, due to it's timing I didn't get to go. So I've decided it is my job to keep it alive. On Saturday I had one announced and we had a pretty good turnout. Good enough,in fact, that I plan to reprise the walk both days next week. With a group like this we can have a really crack squad by the end of the season. Jim Estrella, Arne Parrott, and Meredith formed the original quartet. By the way, having a lady on t-walk was great and Meredith is pretty much the perfect woman for the job. As we moved about though we picked up some fantastic additions. Best of all was running into Mary Kebabick. We kept snagging people to add to the line at that juncture including Willem, the Turnip Farmer (one of the inspirations for Bernard). It was very special to get to compliment Mary like that. I hope she enjoyed it as much as we did.

Aside from that Bernard was pretty low key this weekend. I need to work on making him a little more exciting because at this point he's pretty much just a hit and run character. This weeks homework, therefore, expand upon that. On the upside, Bernard is much better for playing with others than Frobisher was. Frobisher didn't work well with other characters in many contexts. Bernard, on the other hand, is open, giving and based almost entirely on the needs or reactions of others. Frobie was big and funny but Bernard is genuine.

In other news, I made an appointment to get contacts on Wednesday. I'm interested to find out what a faire day actually looks like. I haven't seen one since my first year.In other news

Now, in a more generally interesting vein I've been doing some reading of late and I thought I'd share my thoughts.

Magic Kingdom: Sold by Terry Brooks.
What started off as a cute novel turned out to be a very clever and thoughtful approach to the responsibilities of royalty and the universality of fantasy kingdoms. The main character gives up his normal life as a rich lawyer to become king of a fantasy kingdom. What he does not know going into the transaction is that all is not as magical as it might have been advertised. The people of the kingdom no longer recognize the rule of their king even though they are magically tied to the office. the story lays out his quest to synergise the return of their allegiance with the removal of his biggest problems: among them a witch, a dragon and the loss of the king's traditional (enchanted) protector. His lawyer skills allow him to asses the situation and of course, bring out a happy ending.

What makes it particularly interesting are the parts of the books where the reader is presented with the psychology of the character. He is dealing with the loss of his wife and his trepidation in jumping into this kingdom feet first. The conflict of the requirements of his new position and the desires he had coming in is well written nd compelling. It also makes the character all the more sympathetic. Without this element the book might have been just another sword and sorcery, Conneticut Yankee in King Artur's Court, style book. Instead it became a compelling look into the mental faculties of the character and what it takes to be what one must be to fulfill a promise.

I reccomend it.

I'm currently in the middle of The Long Dark Teatime of the Soul by Douglas Adams, The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro and The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester. I'll keep you all updated on them as I finish them. They've all been very good so far.

"Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog" was fantastic. Joss Whedon did his magic once again and created a touching story in an otherwise comedic scenario. In the world of superheroes and villains Dr. Horrible starts as an amateur. Through the progression of the brief story we learn that he got into the racket in an attempt to affect social change. He sees corruption in the system and pain in humanity and wants to rule the world so he can change that. He also wants to find love with the girl of his dreams, whom he met in the laundromat. The story is sweet but I'm uncertain how much I liked the third act. Acts one and two did a brilliant job of establishing the characters and the conflict between them as well as making Dr. Horrible a compelling and sympathetic character. In Act three though I feel like Whedon dropped the ball. It was good and a satisfying ending, just not up to the level of acts one and two.

Faire, non-faire and the in between.

So, I only have a little time to write up the entry that should have gone up on Monday. Forgive any lacking that you may, therefore, perceive. I encourage you to supplement my account with your own additions.

The weekend was a cavalcade of awesome. That is, if you except the rain related injuries which marred the whole weekend. Amie from the fight cast and Jeremy from KK both managed to damage themselves in the early hours of Saturday. Jeremy slipped on the KK stage and managed to hurt a tendon in his lag which is bad. Compared to Amie though he got off easy. There are a few things that one tries to avoid in the average life. leaping unsupported from a great height without some kind of mat below is one of those actions. Unfortunately, due to the rain, the ropes used for the rope stunts were very wet so when stunt call began and Amie leaped from the balcony of the Cheshire Chase her descent was unexpectedly quick. Usually the friction of the rope would slow her descent and allow her to gracefully arrive on the stage. instead she simply fell holding onto a useless rope and arrived on the stage with no way for the spotters to save her.

Therefore, what was otherwise a great weekend was a bit darkened by concern for damaged friends.

The show has gotten tighter and tighter with every run. What was once a 23 minute production is now about 15 minutes long. The fight scenes are really sticking and the flow of the lines has been corrected now that I've picked up my, usually languorous, pace. I cannot say enough how much I love working with Angela and Char on this production. There was also a wonderful experience for both Angela and myself last weekend as children redeemed themselves by being both adorable and complimentary. A little boy told me how much he enjoyed the performance and then went on to tell me how I must be a great baker. After the final show of the weekend Angela was called back onto the stage where an adoring mass waited for her with flowers from the verge of the stage and compliments. The best among them being "you're pretty". I don't like kids, but I'm coming to the conclusion I like entertaining them.

Bernard had a great weekend as well. Though I need to work on getting out on the street more I did get to have a bunch of fun with Bernard. Among the usual Bernardisms (prostration upon the street, looking for goats and telling women they are pretty) were a slow motion chase with Molly O'Reilly, a run in with a drunk patron woman's bum and, to top it all off, he found Geraldine. I managed to borrow a goat from the petting zoo (surprisingly easy, actually) and for about an hour and a half in the late hours of Sunday I had a Geraldine to carry about and present to the Queen. Geraldine, as it happens, is a young goat of a few months, still nursing and, despite my descriptions up to now, black and white. She is also the cutest thing on four legs. Her real name is Nala and she was the perfect accent to Bernard's character. I got to walk around being pleased about my goat and everyone flocked around to see her and pet her. Good times.

As for non-faire activities; yesterday I held the first session of my D&D game which went well and tonight I'm going to watch the final performance of Neil Arsenty's show at second city, "Big City, Small World".

I also recently had the pleasure of viewing "Death at a Funeral" which was a riot. Absolutely amazing performances all around and unpredictably outlandish at all points. The compounding series of events is cringeworthy and awkward but also fully hilarious.

The tip top of the non faire activities has to be my recent excursion to Medieval Times with Shane and Derrick to see Carrie who is a wench there. I refuse to comment on the lack of historical accuracy which rode rampant over the joust pitch. History was not the point. It was a fun show to watch full of well done fights and dramatic music. I've never seen so many sword sparks in one evening, what's more the actually very talented combatants seem to have performed tirelessly throughout the night. Kudos to them. I did enjoy that there is no silverware at Medieval Times, there is, however, Pepsi. This was followed by one of the most amusing car rides I have ever taken part in. Thank you Carrie. We did not die but we definitely should have.

Today's Gem of the internet- Watch it before it goes away. Here is Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog. Acts one and two are out now. Three comes out this weekend and they all disappear on Sunday. so you have a narrow window to catch them.

http://drhorrible.com/

you can also buy them on iTunes. Like I did. Sigh. That's right. Mr. Whedon finally forced my hand. I had to have it and the only way to get it was to incline my head slightly to the evil of Apple. You win this round Mr. Jobs. I'll just put it on my...iPod.

I'm disappointed in me. Apple is creeping in on me. Next I'll have a Macbook Air and an iPhone. items I hate with all of my self.

Queries and Nerding

I have a few questions for you, my readers.

Firstly- are you enjoying the current flavour of the blog/ do you have any requests or comments? Anything I can do to make the blog more readable is something I would like to be able to do.

Secondly- Have you had an opportunity to check out the new D&D 4.0 books? I am trying to decide whether or not it would be a good idea to pick them up for my upcoming game. Does the system look as good to you? Will gameplay be as rich? Are the books printed poorly?

Lastly- Do you live in Chicagoland? Do you want to be in on a weekly game?

Any resemblance between this and an actual blog makes me very happy.

So, it turns out that after a while you can do my job without a whole lot of thought. I get lots of time to do other small tasks while on hold, leaving voice mails and listening to the phone ring. today I spent that time writing game plot for the game I may be running soon. I also tried to think of things I'd been meaning to blog about. The result of that list is as follows.

Kung Fu Panda- While I would not have otherwise thought to look for or view a "fat guy feel-good" movie I was pleased to walk out of the cinema and realise that I had been watching just that. Kung Fu Panda was a clever, cute and well put together film. I was pleasantly surprised to find myself laughing at times so hard that it hurt. The premise was good, the film well unified and the storytelling well done. I am almost sad to say that I have not seen a film for adults as well made for some time.

In amongst the rollicking humour of the film flowed a couple of story lines which were, in fact, quite touching. A couple of the characters had really compelling stories. Jack Black's character, Po the panda was actually a very compelling depiction of a self conscious (fat) guy whose insecurities drive him to dream big and hope small. The development he undergoes through the course of the story was very touching, honest and well written. Also quite compelling was the story of the Kung Fu master challenged with training Po. His desperate attempts to overcome himself and the mistakes of his past have changed him and his return to the equal footing of a master is also remarkably rendered. That being said there are also lots of really simple jokes and funny sight gags. Greatest among them being Po's father who is a goose. This is never mentioned or explained.

Wanted- If you're looking for a movie which is fun to watch and entertaining Wanted is a good one. There are plenty of cool action scenes and unbelievable special effects tricks. The premise is interesting the plot's conclusion, while predictable, is well done. I quite enjoyed it.

"Baby Daddy" as an example of Ebonics on the forefront of grammatical innovation.

Last on the list of things to get to is this. I am sure many of my readers will be familiar with the colloquial phrase "baby daddy". Which refers in most usages to a man who has fathered a child which he neither supports nor raises. The item which has piqued my interest on this subject is the grammatical difference between this colloquialism and the traditionally correct "baby's daddy". The notable difference here is the removal of the possessive form from the phrase. The "'s" which denotes the baby's ownership of the male parent has been omitted to make this common phrase. What makes this interesting instead of just annoying as most Ebonic colloquial shifts tend to be is that it has, in fact, made the wording more correct for its usage and I believe it to have happened accidentally. I have seen, so far, no evidence to the contrary.

If you think about it this phrase has made for a more precise phrase to describe a male parent to which a child has no claim. He is not the baby's father, he is the "baby daddy".

Todays gem- Urban dictionary has an entry for "baby daddy". Here it is. Be warned, Urban dictionary is not for the squeamish.
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=baby+daddy

-Thank you, that will be all.-

Updates on England, real and imagined

I've got one or two things to say. So gather round the chairs, couches or throw pillows on the floor because it's probably going to bit a bit of a story.

Before I forget, I learned a few things in the last hour. The first of them is that Wil Wheaton, The guy who played Wesley Crusher in TNG had a twitter. I then found out that he did the voice of "Aqualad" on TV. I then went on to find out who "Aqualad" is. It turns out he may be the saddest of the sad people in a world which does not exist. I had thought Aquaman had a hard lot what with getting the scrapings from the bottom of the super power bucket. Let us be honest, having the power to talk to marine animals is not that cool. When it comes with the caveat that you cannot actually spend and great amount of time on dry land it becomes even more like someone stuck a target on your back, handed you a squirt gun and then kicked you into an open field full of sharpshooters and ninjas. you get to be special but not in the way one generally wishes to be. So when I say that "Aqualad" gets a harder lot I want you to understand what I mean. He has the same powers as Aquaman (wah-wah) with a shorter land to water ratio (wah-wah). He then goes on to gain much cooler powers before becoming a super cripple with amnesia. It's so bad that Aquaman's autistic (yeah, that's right) archenemy takes pity on Aqualad (now "Tempest" in adulthood) and doesn't put him out of his crappily powered misery.

This one is for you Aqualad, I am so sorry you had to be super.

That being said the real world has sustained a few developments. Bad news first. I will not be in York come this autumn. Instead I will be spending the next few months in the US of A trying to support myself, find some theatre to do and learn thing or two about Latin or textile conservation (maybe both).so for those of you who like to flip to the back of the book that's probably what the next few chapters will be about. Oh, and to ruin any suspense, Harry dies, twice, kinda.

All in all it's not a terrible thing. I have been continually in school for the past seventeen years. I'm not very good at maths but I know that out of 22 that represents a fairly high percentage. No matter how hard schooling tried to stop me from learning it I have found that in the real world the finest lessons are learned though mistakes and turnings one never meant to make. I've learned that sometimes you have to take a plunge when you aren't ready. Above all, though, I know that my future will continue to be there for me, even if I screw it up. Maybe I'll find love, maybe I won't. Maybe I'll be able to support myself, maybe I won't. Maybe I'll be around for all of those wondrous occasions you've been planning, maybe I'll have gone. All I know is that if I try my hardest and go in the direction of what seems right I'll come out okay in the end.

- Faire Update -

Yep, it's that time again.
Friday, for those of you disinclined to notice, was the fourth of July. the day on which we commemorate the independence of our country by yielding to our basest instincts. We cook on an open fire and go to shamelessly watch things blow up with no context or story to sully the pure joy of a colourful fiery conflagration.

I had the day off, which I guess is a good reason to celebrate. So I was free to entertain Rachel (who had some time to kill before we drove up tot he faire site). It was really nice to have a chance to just sit and enjoy a cup of tea and talk about England, theatre and life in general. Too much these days I'm too busy to have a personal moment of quiet with someone. I enjoyed it immensely. Thank you, Rachel.

This was then followed by a gathering to put meat into a box full of fire (the most manly activity this side of mammoth hunting in my opinion) and watch things explode (see above).

It was fantastic. I want to say that among other things this years has been marked by a wider, more active social circle. Where once my time was devoted almost solely to St. George I now have opportunities to hang out with people from a variety of casts along the full spectrum of responsibility. It's so good to have the opportunity to hang out with such vital and enthusiastic people. Kenosha's fireworks were lovely, as was the company.

Bernard
The day started off with my one-time-only performance in the opening gate scenario. The part I had has since been cut for time, which is just as well, but I got to be a part of opening on opening day which no one can take from me.

Bernard turned out to be a hoot. I had told all of the first years not to worry if they didn't have tonr bits, that the best bits happen without any warning, but in a private part of my mind I worried about my own ability to pull it out when the time came. When the time came though, it turns out I had been right all along. Bernard was intuitive. I'll be honest, the majority of my time as Bernard is spent face down in a silly reverance. It's kinda become the analog to Frobisher's one man parade. I can do it with anyone regardless of dress gender, station and relative attentiveness. I bank a lot on just being sweet which is a nice change from the brash and sonorous nature of Frobisher. Bernard draws a patron in and tells them sweetly and simply exactly what he means and what he wants. Exploring the range of that kind of interaction and learning to expand it is going to be a load of fun.

Devil and The Baker's Wife
The Devil and the Baker's Wife has been widely acclaimed as being "adorable" and "quite funny actually". The quick changes are still a bit sticky but not too horrible. I'm going to have to run the Devil transformation a few times next week on my own time. I'm just not getting the physicality I want to open which kills it for the rest of the show. Angela and Char are doing a fantastic job and I'm really enjoying the dynamic we've built. The show is eating more of my street time than I might have otherwise have wanted but it's totally worth it for the joy of doing a show like this.

The Bakers have taken to giving out cookies on the ship in Kids Kingdom between 2:30 and 3:00 since our afternoon shows are so close together and changing costumes would be impractical. So if you're looking to meet the Bakers that is the time. I don't know if we will continue to stay on the ship once Rachel come back from the regency but I have a feeling that half hour will remain as Baker time.


The thing I really must say is that I have been exceptionally impressed by several of our newest cast members. OF course the top of the list is Rachel, who has somehow managed to step boldly into the role of HMQ without a sigle failing I can perceive. She has really made the role her own and brought a vibrance and beauty to the role which I cannot really quantify. What's more from behind her in the mid day spectacular I could fell her roguish smile from behind her. Her Elizabeth has all the sass and mirth that one could hope for. I'm certainly going to have to come visit the glade this weekend.

Also particularly impressive have been the scads of new fighters. more than ever before they have made themselves a presence upon the street. Perhaps I'm simply noticing it more now that I too am on the street more but it seems to me that Stevens Point and Columbia have been exceptionally blessed by these talented individuals. sitting pretty at the top of the heap is Amie who pulled out all of the stops and ran circuits around the site after the fighting was done for the day. She is merely standing slightly forward though of a formidable line. Each and every one of them was in the street being awesome and I had the pleasure of seeing most of the fighters in their element being wonderful. They all kicked me at the end of the day too. That was pretty great. Though I wish I had been more with the movement. I don't feel like I telegraphed the reactions well at all.

My only regret is that with the exception of Arnie for about three minutes I didn't interact with most of the other street cast members and, as such, cannot comment truthfully on the awesomeness which I'm sure was manifesting all over the place.

Now for icing on the cake time. Among the scads of people I saw over the weekend, not to be forgotten is Mike Meyer! He came all the way from Florida! That was a surprise. I only regret that I didn't get to see him in the street. We found each other at the Phoenix after for a joyful reunion.

+ Having a codpiece randomly in my backpack for two weeks finally paid off.
+ I seem to be surrounded by pretty people all the time.
+ I finally got my fix of lemon egg soup.
+ I finally got a fix of patron interaction.

- I need to work on my recipe for "gollum" juice. It was a bit too weak to be terribly effective.
- There seems to be a shortage of Gatorade and V8 in my life.
- I spent buttloads of money!

Today's Gem of the Internet-
I don't know if you've noticed but I can be a bit self conscious about whether or not I'm understanding social mores. As such something about the misanthropic and self conscious nature of the work of Lev Yilmaz has charmed me. The thoughts placed here are far more awkward than I have ever been, that is comforting.
Check out his site here.
http://www.ingredientx.com/

I couldn't find one which was meaningful and indicative of my present situation and emotional state so don't read too far into this one. It's been a few months since I had to do this and I didn't date the woman in question so the things to not think about were far less interesting and... just watch the film.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PSdjixBTNE

The Fairer Season.

So, I don't know if I've made it clear but I work at a Renaissance Faire. This may come as a shock to newer readers and people who got here via a google search for underwater basket weaving, women's red underpants, how to fix the blue screen of death or why is the sky blue. (Did I put those tings there to try to attract misdirected googlers? I'll let you be the judge.) Why might that be unclear you ask. Well, it occurred to me that I've barely mentioned faire at all this season. This is a travesty because really as far as my life goes I have nothing that makes me as happy as the time I spend at Bristol. I learn more from each BAPA session I sit in on than I did in whole semesters with Rod. I fall more madly in love at Bristol, I feel more drastically elated at Bristol and I yearn when I am away from Bristol more than anywhere else.

That being said you may now prepare for the blog to focus on the escapades of myself and my brilliant castmates and almost completely ignore the events between Monday and Friday for the rest of the season. If the past years of blogging have been any indication anyway.

From here on out you may assume the following events have taken place.
Monday, I sleep in and get to work sometime around 11:30.
Tuesday, I wake up as early as I can. (The goal is 5:30. Hasn't happened yet)
Wednesday, see Tuesday.
Thursday, see Wednesday.
Friday, see Thursday but they let me out early so I get extra time to prep for Faire.

You may safely assume I will have made a smattering of sales here and there exceptional sales will no doubt warrant some mention. It will likely appear on the twitter.

And So It Begins...

The rehearsals for Devil and the Baker's wife have been going steadily up. The show looks better every time and so far we've managed to make it a pretty good show. I think it's going to be really quite adorable. We've worked out most of the kinks, we're off book and the show gets funnier with every run. I'm looking forward to seeing the little changes that will now inevitably fall in here and there. I 'm also looking forward to finally having a devil transformation which actually works.

So, I'm The Devil, The Baker and The Devil's Messenger in that show. Needless to say I'm a little excited about it. Ever since I first started going to the Ohio faire I've wanted to do a show like this one. The Swordsmen were (okay, kinda still are) my idols and the Mud Show (www.moremud.com) guys dedication continues to amaze me.

So when I say that my street character is eating my brain more I want you to understand how odd that seems. I have fallen completely in love with Bernard. I really enjoy the simplicity of the interactions I can have with him. It removes the pressure of being clever. Bernard is not clever. Any cleverness that comes out of me while I'm being Bernard will actually have to come out as a mistake. I love it. Bernard's humour is more about being simple. He's the person who knows less about Renaissance England than the patron by virtue of only ever having been in Renaissance Pocklington until just now.

I'm also super excited about the rest of the street cast. We are, by and large, the lowest and most despised kind of people you could eer hope to love. peasants like myself and Odiferious Thunderbottom, criminals like Jasper Trustworthy and Maggie Pie. We have three witches, the Normyl Sisters, who are a cartload of funny. The closest thing we have to legitimacy is a free lance spy and the sisters Chatterly. The only legitimately employed one being our sole remaining town crier. We also have some hookers and who doesn't like hookers.

Today's Gem of the internet- More Poetry



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHmgK4fiNFs

-It's all for you-