I must say - weather was perfect. Cool - high on Saturday was 74, I think, and 64 or some similar on Sunday. Breezes, some clouds between the surprisingly bright patches of sun. I wound up wearing my Woodsy Gypsy outfit on Sunday, as the bodice for Bryn's Oh-My-Frigging-Loud outfit finally blew the boning to the point that I just need to get new and add some bias tape or something to the front and just re-do the whole thing. And given that I'm usually doing pretty well to get my laundry done by Friday, I'm doubting I'll get around to fixing it this year.
Though I'll admit, the brown one does fit a bit better anyway. The only downside is that I really can't wear the straw hat with it, and I forgot to put sunscreen on my part. Oops.
My hat-shopping quest on Saturday (I just wanted a cool hat - hadn't realized I NEEDED one at that point) came up dry. They all looked stupid on me. Ah, well. So much for that idea.
Perhaps I can dig up one of Bryn's old headscarves by next weekend....
Weekend's Highlights:
- Saturday night at Dunn Bros. Coffee in Chaska, playing with Bill the Younger’s daughter, drinking a Chocolate Nirvana (they were NOT kidding when they named that drink), sitting in the Comfiest Chair Ever, and listening to Seventh Moon. Not necessarily in that order.
- Vilification on Sunday - good show, as usual – a fair smattering of new (to me, anyway) insults that had me alternately giggling and horrified. Sometimes both. I am always impressed that they can still shock me in such artful ways.
-Taffy's Tea. Because it's just that good.
- Privy Reveling. A bunch of people presented an oversized cardboard check (for two chickens and a rock) and a toaster to a gentleman who made the One Millionth Deposit. There were trumpets, confetti (which stuck with me the rest of the day), noisemakers, and other such instruments of celebration. Quite fun, though the guy was a bit of a stick in the mud. Oh, and we got scolded by Carr for running over somebody else’s schtick. I think he was being auditioned – in any event, he was new, on stilts, and swallowing a balloon. In the area just outside the Bad Manor Privies. Which strikes me as an odd place to audition a guy. Apparently Carr thought we were funny, but said the trumpets put it a bit over the top and made everyone in the new kid’s audience turn. BJ pointed out that it was a lesson for the new kid – if you want attention, get trumpets.
- Mayor's Picnic - Celtic Not did a quick performance of "Fairy Story" - largely because that song is just fun when people are actually listening to the lyrics. And apparently it's one of the Mayor's favorites, although we didn't know that at the time. Note to self: do again next year.
- Rampaging about with BJ. Among other things, we visited the new Dungeon of Tortures or whatever they’re calling it – I am underwhelmed. It’s in a tent with fake walls made out to look like stone and little displays of manikins being tortured by various methods. There are a couple animatronic pieces reciting truly bad poetry about how they are being tortured, a number of inexplicable dragons, and signs for your edification. To me the most gruesome part of the whole thing was how all the signs used “there” when they should’ve used “their” instead. I can forgive the awful props… I’m sure this was done on an extremely limited (read: dumpster trash) budget. However, the whole their/they’re/there thing gets covered in elementary school. As Tim Wick says at VilTen, “Stop surfing the internet for porn and read a book!”
- Volley Club. Because it's been a while.
- Dregs Show, which somehow migrated toward an inordinate number of Muppets songs. I found entirely amusing… if disturbing... that one of the Dregs can apparently do the entire cast of the Muppets on his own. If anyone ever doubted that Festival is a family of freaks… there’s your proof. And I say it with love.
- Chatting with Angus & Taffy after Drum Jam. Because they are just fun.
- Shower upon returning home. Although I think that might've been more of a public service.
And now I think the curried spuds are finally cooked, and I am going to go eat them.
Doing a two-for-one update, as somehow I just got too busy (or lazy) to do one last week.
Weekend Two:
Out on Saturday, talked with a bunch of people, played randomly with patrons, and spent a goodly amount of time discussing music with Barb (Auntie Brie), which is always fun. Sang a verse of Roll Your Leg Over at the Queen's Pub Jam at the end of the day... figures, the first time I'd get called on, my vocal range would still be somewhere in the sub-basement. Ah well.
Parked on the ass-end of nowhere-near-my-usual-spot, and so spent a disproportionate amount of time trying to figure out where the hell I'd put my car. Stayed after hours for the Bad Manor gathering, which I think is going to become my steady after-hours place. Shelter from elements and some of the blood-sucking insects that populate this state is always welcome. Plus, listening to all the stories is just a blast.
I'm a sucker for a good story.
Also spent some time shopping.
Nikolai was not out, as he'd been feeling a little crappy Friday Night and woke Saturday with the creeping death. Only it wasn't so much creeping as ambushing. I spent Sunday on popsicle patrol, as it's just really damn nice to not have to get up and get yourself more drugs when you're feeling that crappy.
Weekend Three:
Labor Day Weekend, and as per tradition, blazingly hot. Out all three days. Saturday was by far the most active, probably because I wasn't tired and dying of the heat as fast. Darn corporate desk job is causing my butt to be kicked by Fest this year, and those exercise tapes I was hoping would get me in some kind of shape have not helped as much.
Of course, it's Labor Day Weekend, and I think that kicks EVERYONE'S ass.
So... entertained random patrons, caught VilTen, cheered the peasants at the end of parade, witnessed the gifting of the Ninja Cow Mask, helped form the POS group (Peasants Opposed to Sobriety), spent some time on top of the gate at the end of the day lowering my mug down on some twine and begging for cookies and kettle corn. Mixed success. Also had some kid put a shaving of hand-made soap in it. That was sort of neat. Caught the Queen's Pub Sing again. Because there's just no better way to end the day than to hear a troll sing "Istanbul". Seriously. Stayed for after-hours chattage at Bad Manor and got eaten by mosquitoes. They suddenly got vicious this weekend.
Sunday - out again, ran into Corwin, DeeDee, and family, and spent a bit of time as an honorary roadie. I don't think I would've thought of using a guitar case as a bassinette, but damn if it didn't work. Not an interesting day, as I was really bloody hot, so all the interaction I did was very low-key and standardish. Nothing memorable enough to write about.
Monday - Really, REALLY bloody hot. And dusty. Caught Vil in the blazing sun. Not sure what happened to that "partly cloudy" we were supposed to get. Spent some time in the back of the special events tent, being on-call-band for the Wine Tasting. Waffled between being needed and not being needed half a dozen times, resulting at last in not being needed. Ah, well. Played minorly on the street, but again nothing real memorable.
And now, thank the gods, I have today off to try and recover.
Hopefully we settle into a nice autumn weather pattern soon....
Attendance was predictably low, although there were reportedly a few hard-core folks waiting outside front gate in the rain as Cast Call commenced. I think we outnumbered the patrons - and that's just counting the entertainers. The patrons who'd come were willing to play and seemed to be enjoying themselves despite the weather. You figure they'd have to - they could've just as easily looked at the weather report, rolled over, gone back to sleep, and figured they had six more weekends to give it a go.
I was out solo, as the other half of Celtic Not got waylaid by work-type stuff. Yuck. So mostly I wandered about entertaining and saying hi to some folks I hadn't seen in far too long.
At around ten-thirty I wandered backstage and waited in line for an hour to get my foodbooks/comps/parking pass/contract. Waiting in line with rennies is always amusing. You always meet new and interesting people - wound up between a fellow who works at the juggling school and another fellow who... I think he was street, but I'm not sure. A good marksman and soon to retire from his job at AT&T, though. Chatted with them a bit. Of course, just catching wind of the random scraps of conversation is a stitch. ("I think it needs more latex" "By then I was completely stoned on Tigger Goo, so we went to the teacup ride" "It's like a liberal arts college - or the Hotel California.")
At some point I caught a bit of VilTen, caught a bit of a Dregs show (and bought a CD - how wrong is it that about 80% of my MN Fest music collection is on cassette??), and wandered through shops to see what was new this year in case some random patron asks where "that one booth with the thing" is. Circlets and tiaras are apparently the fad this year.
Had a ramen cup backstage (note to self: next time, bring fork). Discovered mid-afternoon the Evil Cold From The Abyss that I finally thought I'd ditched after three weeks was in fact just waiting in the wings to ambush me. And it invited the headache I've been fighting since Wednesday along to the party.
Dammit.
Note to self: wandering around soaking wet, chilled, and sleep deprived is not smart. Even if it is fun.
Wandered out to my car thinking if I napped, I might ditch enough of it that I could play some more... no such luck. Grudgingly headed home.
Probably a good thing I did. Almost got stuck in the mud on the way out - much more rain, and I might not have made it at all. And with how my head felt by the time I got home, I wouldn't have been good to drive if I'd waited another hour or two.
A temperature readout at a local bank on the way home said 58 degrees.
Planned to go back out today, but although the headache surrendered during the night, the cold didn't. And it's 61 and raining again. And my boss will not be amused if I call in for a third time this month.
Pout. I really, really miss my days of living in a trailer and not having a corporate job. Being a grown-up sucks.
And now we sing the yearly refrain of panic as I realize that once again Fest starts TOMORROW, and I can't locate all my garb bits. Or my pass. And I forgot that something needed a needle and thread to make it wear-able again. And I have no idea what I'm going to pack for food. Or how I'm going to get the mounting pile of stuff in my living room into my car. And I'm out of baby wipes. And I really should've picked up fresh sunscreen a month ago...
But in all that panic and frustration, there is excitement.
I get to play tomorrow!!!!!!!!
It doesn't matter at all how crappy my entire last month has been, because tomorrow I'll probably be stuffed in a port-o-potty with fourteen other people, giggling my ass off.
Yeah. There's a reason I don't fit in at work. And I'm glad for it.
Vilification Tennis will be performing at the Minnesota Fringe Festival - if you're anywhere in Minnesota, get your butts down to the Twin Cities and go see it. Their schedule can be found at the following links:
And, because their show is just that cool, I wrote a sonnet to help promote it. You may find this odd, but a noted fringe blogger issued a poetry challenge, and BJ forwared it to me, and I thought... hell, why not. Which should tell you how much I love these people, as I am NOT a poet.
Challenge terms are here, for those who are freaky lit people.
And, for those who are utterly sick of the copious links in this entry.... it follows as such:
And... You're Gay **
Disguised in white like brides to chapel come, These pairs to match their savage wits in game - Not love but hate will drive this hoodlum scum To vilest insults trade, and win acclaim. "Vilification Tennis will begin!" The judge declares, and lights their balls aflame. Much woe to those who take it on the chin; In service to base callings "Vill"ers wring The spunk from Yo' Mom, courting deepest sin. And thus the racket of their insults swing To necro-pedo-bestiality And every other sick and twisted thing; No holds are barred in this derang'ed spree! Not easily offended? -- YOU WILL BE!!
** the title is an obscure reference to the stupid amount of insult some people seem to be taking over an insult that could be construed as homophobic. Considering that there are also a few insults in the Vil grab-bag that slam people for BEING homophobic, I think that's just funny.
