I have to ask..

[Keno]

What is with the ninjas?  Last faire I went to started with one then somehow multiplied like rabbits.. and they were working at the faire..  Now I know back in the day there could of been ninjas but come on with the black outfit.. as I remember that they are suppose to blend in not stand out..

Please answer this for me cause it has been annoying me since the faire ended in september..

[Captain Cornelius Howard Duckman]

A lot of people use faire as an excuse to get out whatever costumes they can't wear elsewhere, like Klingons, or stormtroopers.

[DragonWing]

   Here is what I found. 

http://asianhistory.about.com/od/warsinasia/p/NinjaProfile.htm

It seems that they started around 600 - 900 AD
Hope this helps.

[SirRichardBear]

Yes the black suites are a movie invention originally they were spies and scouts and indeed were trained to blend in.  Hard to spy on people when you stick out like a sore thumb.  I know a couple of Ninjutsu instructors and they all hate the black suite Hollywood treatment of their art.

[Anna Iram]

I saw my first ninja last season at FLARF. I agree they do stick out more than blend in. They certainly don't blend in with the general Tudor theme of that faire, but faire seems to have become much more about adding to the tapestry in a *BIG* way rather than a more subtle and quiet one, and strickly ren one, as in the past. Watching them play still made me laugh.

[Noble Dreg]

I have to admit I am rapidly losing my "tolerance" for Ninjas, Stormtroopers, Star Fleet, Superheroes, Furies, S&M, Victoria Secret Pirate wenches, etc.  Last year I was "lucky" enough to see a guy in a "Holly Hobbie/Cabbage Patch" girlie outfit complete with matching doll being led with a leash and collar by his Goth Mistress...There is a line, some push it, others step all over it.

Sure, big tent, room for all, entertaining...er, no.  At least try to find garb that ties in with the general theme of the Faire you are attending.  Fantasy folk/Fae as written about during the time period are generally welcomed...Coming as "Hellboy" could be considered rude by some.  At least try people!

I think the "fair experience" is becoming diluted and slowly turning into a Comic-Con.  Sure things change and I am free to move on...Or I can defend that which I enjoy.  I will never be "snarky" to any fair visitor, but I will not inter-act with those who do not respect what most Ren-Fairs are about.

Big exception...TRF on Halloween!

[Welsh Wench]

I have to admit I am rapidly losing my "tolerance" for Ninjas, Stormtroopers, Star Fleet, Superheroes, Furies, S&M, Victoria Secret Pirate wenches, etc.

As long as no one knows what lies beneath.... 

[Noble Dreg]

Oh, I think we know!   

[Anna Iram]

I think it's been a slow progression over the years. My brother can tell you of a time at my home faire...back in the early 80's when it began...where you'd never find a Coca Cola logo or any company logo on site. Eveything sold had to be packaged in plain paper and tied with twine. Never would you see a plastic shopping bag or anything other than handmade crafts for sale. Now it's everywhere. I've seen vendors chatting on phones and smoking, and at some faires, you have to run the gauntlet of 21st century merchants outside the gate wanting to sell airtime and water softners and all sorts of other things. So, for me it's no big deal what someone wears inside. I don't expect to find a "real" village on the inside. Fortunatly our casts do a bang up job of keeping the illusion going, regardless of the timewarps.

[Lady L]

I was shocked a few years ago, when MNRF allowed an ATV dealer to set up right outside front gate. That really ruins the illusion we try so hard to create AND it's allowed by management!
If someone was in the market for purchasing an ATV, are they going to a ren faire to buy it?

[angusmacinnes]

Now that seems strange to even me.  Why would you want to do that.  I would think he would have better luck at the gun show than at a ren faire.

[Anna Iram]

We had the Spam Mobile outside BARF one year. (appropriate maybe to some...Spam...BARF....) Not very authentic , but it made me laugh and Spam has (oddly) become part of the ren culture. Who'd have thought!? Besides...I happen to like spam.


As taken from the Monty Python Spam sketch.....

"Well, what you got? Well, there's egg and bacon, egg sausage and bacon, egg and Spam, egg bacon and Spam, egg bacon sausage and Spam, Spam bacon sausage and Spam, Spam egg Spam Spam bacon and Spam, Spam sausage Spam Spam Spam bacon Spam tomato and Spam, Spam Spam Spam egg and Spam, Spam Spam Spam Spam Spam Spam baked beans Spam Spam Spam (Vikings sing) or Lobster Thermidor au Crevettes with a mornay sauce served in a Provencale manner with shallots and aubergines garnished with truffle pate, brandy and with a fried egg on top and Spam..."

[angusmacinnes]

I like spam but you would think they would be pushing it at like ww2 re enactments not ren faire. LOL

[Noble Dreg]

...appropriate maybe to some...Spam...BARF

LOL!

I admit, I like it too!

[Keno]

Well most of the faires I have seen are still pure without all the troopers, comic cons, and so on.  So maybe I'm alittle upset at seeing the ninjas cause that opens a door for more out of age costumes..  I think our management is still trying hard to keep the faire from turing into a circus.