RenFaire Weekend!

[autographedcat]

We had a fun weekend, overall. Saturday, we returned to the glam stylings of the Georgia Renaissance Festival for a second weekend, thanks in no small part to comp tickets slipped us by tarkrai, who is working the Faire this year as a street performer. We’d heard enough about his act that we wanted to make sure we caught it.

We got to the festival grounds just in time for the opening of the Gate at 10:30, and promptly wandered to the back of the village, intending to work our way forwards this time to see the bits we hadn’t seen a couple of weeks ago. About 20 minutes later, we touched base with thatcrazycajun, singing_phoenix, and SP’s mother, who we had arranged to meet and spend the day with. We caught up with them in time to catch most of a magic show featuring a clever illusionist and an amazing contortionist. We then wandered back up and around, stopping in the shops and admiring the various folks in costume. Sadly, this weekend was a much more typical Georgia summer day than our unseasonably cool trip two weeks ago. We eventually decided to sit for a while, stopping to catch the Tortuga Twins show, which is always good for a laugh, and then sat through to see the Lost Boys. This is the first chance we’d had to see the Lost Boys since three-quarters of their lineup changed. Their show was still a lot of fun, with a mix of old and new songs, and we decided that they were still good, just different.

Once the Lost Boys wrapped up, we picked up a copy of their newest CD, and wandered back down the dusty lanes, where we happened to run into tarkrai, in his guise as gallamor the bard. I immediately tasked him with singing a song for kitanzi, which turned out to be quite amusing. She refused to tell him her name, so he dubbed her Cassandra and sang of how she and her consort, the Dread Pirate Roberts #42 (me), and her crew were here to take over the Faire. And of course, I got a lot of pictures. (After being scolded for the lack of kitanzi photos in the last set, I should note that there are kitanzi photos in this set. Still none of me, alas, as I was holding the camera, unless singing_phoenix got some she’d like to share with me. Photos of gallamor start on Page 8, for those impatient to see that sequence. *grin*)

We then retired to the Tea Room for a light lunch, and then wandered about a bit more, and finally picked up an earlier purchase we had made, a gift for friends that we’ll deliver later in the summer, and headed for the luxury of air conditioning and home. Being exhausted, we attempted to order in Chinese, but the restaurants phone was out, so we went down the street to eat there, instead.

Sunday was mostly a relaxed day. We watched the latest Doctor Who serial, The Age of Steel, which was marvelous. Or at least, I thought it was. I’m a member of a lot of different discussion groups for shows I enjoy, from Doctor Who to CSI to House, and I sometimes wonder if I just have low standards for entertainment, or at the very least such different expectations that i’m not compatible with the greater FanMind, that I’m no longer fit to discuss things with these groups. I will watch something, find it totally enjoyable, then go online and see post after post about how “That was just awful and I hated it!” I can’t even find the common context with those folks to really have a discussion with them, so I mostly end up skimming over the commentary and not really reading it. And I feel a...loss to myself, because the whole point, for me, of watching TV and movies is to be able to discuss it with other intelligent people who share my interests. I fear I’m growing old. Or maybe the discussion groups are just growing young. Either way, I find it puzzling.

The rest of the day was spent playing City of Villains and waiting for the apartment complex to send someone to fix the AC, which was underpowered again. I finally impressed them that something was wrong with it more than just needing to recharge it. The guy who came was new, and said that we might need an entirely new unit, and certainly needed a new thermostat. He did get it back to cooling the house properly (before, it woudln’t get below about 80F/27C no matter what you did, which wasn’t a problem until the last few days when the weather warmed back up) and promised to be back within the next day or two to replace the thermostat. So we made Thai chicken and watched the finale of CSI:Vegas (No-spoiler review: Wow) before heading for bed.

All in all, a fun weekend, full of friends and festivals and good food and all the joys of life. I could enjoy a lifetime of such days.

Comments

[porpentine.livejournal.com]

Well, if it helps much, I thought The Age of Steel was pretty damn marvelous too. I expected a bit that happened at the very end (which I won't mention in case I spoil someone else on accident), but it was expected because it made logical sense and not because I found the episode "predictable". Well, as predictable as a series can be after you've been watching it for most of your life in one form or another, but what can you do?

[autographedcat.livejournal.com]

Reaction to RotC/AoS has been fairly mixed, and I can deal with that, really. I think it's what *I* see as an....overall immature tone in a great number of the posters. I think I'm just not used to dealing with *shippers* in DW Fandom. It never really came up before. :)

It's not just DW though. There was a predictable outroar about a little twist in the ending of the CSI:Vegas finale, which was tedious after about, oh, 3 iterations.

I *love* the icon. :)

[katyhh.livejournal.com]

thanks for the piccies ;-)

[autographedcat.livejournal.com]

Jumped straight to page 8, did you? ;) *hugs*

[stevieannie.livejournal.com]

Can I just say how pretty Kitanzi looks in the picture with Gallamor where she is just laughing unreservedly?

Beautiful.

Lovely picture, lovely lady.

[autographedcat.livejournal.com]

Thank you for saying so. When I tell her, she suggests that I'm biased and refuses to believe me. :)

[ericcoleman]

We have that same conversation in my house ... I tell cryndalae that indeed I am biased, and she is also beautiful ...

[joyeuse13.livejournal.com]

Which page is that on? I didn't have time to look through all of them. (Rob, in a word, triage!)

[autographedcat.livejournal.com]

It's on page 8. I'm guessing that Annie is referring to this photo, particularly:

http://www.autographedcat.com/gallery/renfaire0506/IMG_1808

The photos staring on page 8 and going almost to the end are gallamor and kitanzi. After that encounter, the battery on my camera started to complain it was low, so I stopped taking photos.

[kitanzi.livejournal.com]

Awww, shucks! *blush*

[allisona.livejournal.com]

Love the photos :).

Yeah, I can identify with your feelings about message boards for Tv shows/movies. I tend to gravitate toward such boards for shows I like, too, but I tend to find that many people are more cynical than me. Case in point: I really liked the third episode of the new DW season- thought it was moving and raised some good questions about the Doctor and his companions- but then I went to read some reviews and so many of them were negative that it just depressed me and made me consider that maybe I should just -stay away- from reviews. I remember going through the same thing with ninth Doctor episodes, too. Maybe it's just the difference between casually liking a show and being really invested and knowledgeable about it. With DW I just enjoy watching- don't have enough background to be truly concerned about smaller details. With other series, movies or books, I might be more nitpicky (or I might not...).

[autographedcat.livejournal.com]

Well, I don't think that's it. I'm a huge fan of Doctor Who dating back to childhood. I literally cried when I finally got to see "Rose" last year.

I dunno. It's just a weird disconnect I feel betwen me and these various communities that I can't quite put my finger on. It's like we're not even watching the same show.

[devinsong.livejournal.com]

What do you look for in a show? I've noticed a similar effect (though online, I've drifted into a group of folks with similar tastes who all seem to be about my age- funny, eh?)

I've been following DW, and while I'm enjoying it, I have this nagging feeling that the Doctor should be more enigmatic. And commercial breaks in the middle-that's just weird! It gives the show a different rhythm. Not bad, just different.

[autographedcat.livejournal.com]

What do you look for in a show? I've noticed a similar effect (though online, I've drifted into a group of folks with similar tastes who all seem to be about my age- funny, eh?)

Well, primarily, I look for something interesting and intelligent that gives me something to talk about later. (Or during...TiVo is marvelous for that). But I do tend to take things pretty much as they present them, and rarely get so invested in how I think things *ought* to be that I'm distressed if the show's producers go in a different direction.

Doctor Who seems to have been a fairly polorizing example, because the show does have forty years of backstory, and forty years of fans, and each of those fans has a huge investment in what they thing the show is and ought to be.

I've been following DW, and while I'm enjoying it, I have this nagging feeling that the Doctor should be more enigmatic. And commercial breaks in the middle-that's just weird! It gives the show a different rhythm. Not bad, just different.

Each Doctor is a bit different, and I really enjoyed Eccleston's wounded Doctor, with his hard edges and survivor's guilt. I agree about the commercials and it's too bad that that's how they're geting shown here. Me, I download them off the Internet as they're shown in Britain, so I'm not watching them with commercials most of the time, unless I just happen to get into the mood to watch the Sci-Fi broadcast.

[umbran.livejournal.com]

...I sometimes wonder if I just have low standards for entertainment, or at the very least such different expectations that i’m not compatible with the greater FanMind...

Hey, I figure I'm lucky enough to find shows that my Lady and I can both enjoy and discuss. Seeing eye-to-eye becomes so much more difficult as the audience you want to work with gets larger...

[autographedcat.livejournal.com]

Well, that's certainly true. kitanzi and I don't actually watch a lot of TV, but most of what we watch is stuff we both enjoy, so I'm quite lucky in that regard.

[sdorn.livejournal.com]

The rest of the day was spent playing City of Villains and waiting for the apartment complex to send someone to fix the AC, which was underpowered again.

I'd suggest eating some Wheaties to fix you up properly. Don't want you underpowered or...

<span style="voice:Emily Litella">Never mind.</span>

[autographedcat.livejournal.com]

*laugh* That actually took me a moment. :)

The official abbreviation of my handle is ACat. I forget who started that, but it's caught on to the point that I actually answer to it in realspace now. :)

[callibr8]

Great pix! I agree, for me the most interesting stuff starts on Page 8... and "Pretty in Pink" definitely applies, though in one photo kitanzi looks nearly as pink as her top... not sure if it's from laughter, heat of the day, or both. :)

[autographedcat.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I went ahead and pointed the page where gallamor is because I know people reading this journal know him and would want to see those. I did get some nice shots of some of the other stuff, though. I was particularly happy with some of the Lost Boys photos.

Kit got a nice sunburn, though fortunately not a painful one. It was well up into the 80s and mostly cloudless, though there was a good breeze for part of the day. We were definately sapped by the time we left, around 3pm.

[kitanzi.livejournal.com]

*blush* again!

I did get a rather startling sunburn, but I got it moisturized soon as I got home and it's healing well with little itching. With luck, I won't even peel much.

[folkmew.livejournal.com]

Cool pix, scrawny belly dancer but still kind of cute, who is the gorgeous blonde chick in the pink!? Woo hoo! ;-) Looks like fun!

You can talk about TV shows with me anytime - however I'll have to catch up to you. My Netflix queue is LONG at this point and West Wing season 6 is next on the queue. (House is actually but I *really* want to see Season 6).

[autographedcat.livejournal.com]

The thing about the belly dancer is one of those "Ok in a photo, but when she moves, wow!" things. I didn't get any video, alas, but it makes a huge difference.

I've never actually watched the West Wing. I think I'd find it depressing, to be honest.

Truth is, I really *don't* watcha lot of TV, compared to most. Right now, the shows we tend to make a point of watching are:

1. Doctor Who (via downloads)
2. CSI:Vegas
3. CSI:New York
4. How I Met Your Mother
5. House (which we haven't actually watched since the Olympics)
6. Mythbusters

We watch random stuff like The Daily Show, Cheap Seats, and Monk as the mood strikes us. I've recently gotten kitanzi hooked on the Jeremy Brett Sherlock Holmes adaptations, but I've mostly not been watching them with her. We pick up odd documentaries and stuff that we run across, espcially if they have to do with music or sex. And that's about it.

We have yet to watch many of the shows that our friends have beenr ecommending, such as Veronica Mars or Supernatural. Never got into the West Wing, as I said above. Don't watch most of the good cartoon shows that have abounded lately. Sometimes, I think it's sad, because i know there's quality TV going on that we're not watching, but, on the other hand, who has *time*?

[folkmew.livejournal.com]

Oh I heartily endorse the Jeremy Brett Sherlock Holmes as well.

In a similar vein are the Brother Cadfael mysteries that PBS did starting Derk Jacobi, and the Lord Peter Whimsey mysteries they did.

I also find fluffy but fun the Jeeves and Wooster. I want a Jeeves of my own. Ed has taken to saying "Very good M'aam." and "Yes M'aam" a lot in a Jeeves deadpan dry tone. Heh.

We got really hooked on West Wing thanks to Mike and Gwen. There are some KILLER speeches in the first few seasons (Aaron Sorkin can write!) and it really makes you feel like you have a much better sense for how hard many (not all but many) people in politics actually work. I like the characters. I wish I could really vote for Bartlett. :-(

[autographedcat.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, the Cadfael and Wimsey stuff is marvelous. It occured to me to recommend the Holmes stuff to kitanzi because she'd gotten hooked on the Nero Wolfe series that's currently rerunning on A&E Biography, and I figured it was a good lead in. We were watching some of the Inspector Morse ones a few months ago, but I don't they're showing right now.

Jeeves and Wooster are brilliant. Trackign some of that down as we speak, so I can show it to Kit.

I wish I could really vote for Bartlett. :-(

Yeah, that's what I meant when I said I think it'd be too depressing. :/

[folkmew.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's what I meant when I said I think it'd be too depressing. :/

Yeah, I can see that but somehow it ends up being uplifting in spite of itself to me. I guess because there are enough truly good and hard working characters. It makes me realize that if I believe that "people are usually good at heart" that means by extension that "politicians are usually good at heart". And, after pondering this, I even think it is most likely true. I suspect that a lot of politicians are hard working people having to do an incredibly difficult juggling act between their conscience, the wishes of their consituents, and other pressure.

Thank god I'm not one!!!

[msminlr.livejournal.com]

My first thought on viewing IMG 1625 was, "I wonder if SunBlock is Period?"

Was the lady with the parasol Stevie's official accomplice?

[autographedcat.livejournal.com]

Not really, but the words "Renfaire" and "period authenticity" don't really go well together anyway. I consider RenFaire to be "historical fantasy".

(I horrifed the guy manning the elf-ears booth. He was, of course, well in character as an elf, with ears of his own, and calling to passerby to become elves themselves. So I wandered up to the stand and eyed his wares. "Care for some elf-ears, m'lord?" he said. "Maybe," I replied, deadpan. "What flavour are they?" The look on his face was priceless)

The lady with the parasol was, I believe, another faire performer, but not specifically Steve's partner. She just happened to be there when we approached him.