Today is my costuming day! I've had my dress for a couple of weeks, and I need to go over the entire thing to see where I need to make repairs/improvements/deletions. Some things are worn, broken, need to be replaced. Some things, while they LOOK great and are awesome pieces, really wind up being more of an inconvenience. Rehearsals starts in 2 weeks and we're already getting our "homework" done. Character sheets, planning and picking fights, practicing dances, picking out camping spots, securing the Saturday night hangout, planning everything for the upcoming 2 months. I'm tired already.
Fortunately enough for us, our rehearsal schedule was cut back, so we have Sundays to ourselves. Our Saturday schedule will be packed full with an early morning dance call, an afternoon of improv and character classes, and evening fight call (yes, I'm fighting again this year). So much to do, I'm probably going to be dragging my filthy behind to the showers every night. I've been working on character ideas and group bits for a little over 6 months now. I'm excited to see how they play out with our group. Will our chemistry make us "the group to beat" this year? I don't know, but I am severely optimistic.
All this work, and I can't WAIT to get into it.
This is the final week before rehearsals begins. We're ready to dig in and get things done. People have already been moving trailers and tents into participants camp. Ace can't get my camp set up until NEXT weekend, so I'll be sleeping in a trailer with a friend for the next week and a half or so.
The extreme temperatures have me scared a bit, since I tend to have a severe reaction to heat and cold. I'm praying that I'll be ok.
Wish me luck, everyone. I'll report in again on Monday.
You and everyone else please stay hydrated!
pssstttt.... I heard a rumor that The Yellow Retriever is bringing karaoke back for the season. ;)
Yep... they did us a SUPER solid. Saturday nights after dancing and fighting and what not, all we want is hot food and cold beers LOL!
Be safe, WarCat! Keep us posted! :)
Go get 'em tiger! Errr... i mean, WarCat! :D ;)
*Stay well watered, woman!*
Go get them,WarCat
Weekend ONE of rehearsals is complete.
Our schedule ran from 9:30am to 7:30pm with a few breaks and an hour lunch in there somewhere LOL. First dance call was amazing, and I'm lucky that I retained the knowledge that I did. 2.5 hours of dance, then lunch in the trailer with my girls. The afternoon brought a heavy set of classes, including character and improv exercises and lots of other things. We were given our TRF handbooks, chock full of homework assignments and lesson guidelines. YAAAAAY LOLOL! The heat was INTENSE this weekend, but not nearly as bad as it could have been. I am pretty sure that I drank my weight in water and Gatorade during the course of the day. 5:30 brought on our fight call. 2 hours of fighting with some of the finest ladies on cast made me OMG epic sweaty. We made a lot of headway into some of our fights, and were practically eaten alive by mosquitoes. By the time 7:30 rolled around, I was completely exhausted and completely starving to death. I made the mistake of eating on the lean side throughout the day (cheeses and meats, as well as some fruits and crackers). The evening shower was greatly needed and appreciated, and we were blessed with newly painted participants bathrooms and new showerheads. THANK GOD cause those last ones were NASTY. Some friends of mine and I invaded the local Sonic for giant drinks and bacon double cheeseburgers. Later, we went to a couple of places but found ourselves too tired to do much of anything. Some cheap beers and a few cigarettes later, I was back in the trailer falling fast asleep while singing to my iPod with the Barbarian queen LOL!
Up this morning at 8am with the playlist blasting, Drea and I had a nice breakfast of Mediterranean salad and cheeses with crackers. At 10am, we were back on the fighting field to beat the crap out of each other for a few hours. I now have an extra fight call planned midweek so that we can make our fights perfect. Made it home with no blood shed, but a HUGE headache and a horrible soreness down deep in my bones. Everything HURTS.
Everyone will be thoroughly entertained this season, and we're busting our butts and our brains to make it so. This may be a tough job, but I'm giddy for every single day that I get to do it.
Thanks for the update, WarCat! The TRF Performance Company never fails to enhance the magic in New Market Village with (literally) the blood, sweat and tears expended during practice in the unforgiving Texas heat. We appreciate you and look forward to the spiritually uplifting escapism that results from your hard work. Please keep us posted on your future rehearsals.
Many, many thanks, WarCat, for giving us non-performers a glimpse into what you have to do to give us the show each year.
Polly PoPo
(aka Grannie)
How exciting!
I am so looking forward to seeing you in action this year at TRF Warcat.
Warcat - It's great that you are giving us a background look into all the work you and the rest of the cast puts into making our all-too-short visits so enjoyable. You will always have our most gracious "thanks!" Hats off and a deep bow.
Weekend TWO...
It's Tuesday already and I'm STILL in pain. Out to grounds on Friday evening for a fight rehearsal, then a dance rehearsal. Best friend and I decided to go grab some tiny burgers and onion rings for dinner in Magnolia. I LOVE BURGER KING SO HARD!!!!! Made it back to grounds, only to find that our Pirates were in need of some help in building their deck at the campsite. I threw back a few swigs of Jack and grabbed the paint roller. Swabbed the deck until 1am, then had some laughs with some of my close friends before heading to sleep.
Saturday morning was hot and sticky, and I was late to Dance Call. Spent most of that time chatting with other cast members and keeping tabs on when my dance was going to be announced. Lunch was called, and we made our way over to Tango Lima to have lunch with the girls. Awkward TV and a great lunch of tuna salad, pasta salad, and cheeses later, we were on our way to acting and scripting. We were paired with the Barbarians and the Puppeteers for this weekend, and WOW what fun. We used ourselves to recreate classic paintings (I was the clamshell in The Birth of Venus) and worked on getting some of our group things done. By then, it was pushing about 105 and it was INSANELY humid. I started getting a headache during our character and improv class, and was sent back to my trailer to rest up for fight call. Da'Rel, one of the Barbarians, was kind enough to walk me back and get me fed, watered, and rested. Made it out to fight call and reharsed there until 7ish, then invaded the shower. Seriously... it very easily could have been the best shower of my LIFE! We cleaned up and headed into town for BBQ and laughs, then to karaoke at one of the local watering holes. Ended the evening with a cup of sangria and the tunes softly lulling me to sleep.
Sunday brought breakfast and fight call again. Spent most of it getting hit in the head and jumped on by an elf. Someone in my group lost a fight and subsequently got his head shaved (video is on YouTube LOL). Got out of there by about 1:30, sweaty and sticky and dirty and in an overall state of EEEWWWWW! Made it home in time to fall into the bath and then into the bed. Everything was sore and I have some bruises that I don't remember getting. I'm black and blue all over and can't wait to get out there again.
Huzzah to War Cat! Fun to read about what you are going through to entertain us! Hugs! Keep up the good work!
You should call your blog posts "Fun Times with WarCat"! LOL
How about "Hit with a Brick" by WarCat... :D
Quote from: Laird Fraser of Lovatt on August 24, 2011, 09:03:45 AM
How about "Hit with a Brick" by WarCat... :D
Nah...for her it wouldn't be a brick it'd be a shoe! ;D
Quote from: LadyJessica on August 24, 2011, 10:03:15 AM
Quote from: Laird Fraser of Lovatt on August 24, 2011, 09:03:45 AM
How about "Hit with a Brick" by WarCat... :D
Nah...for her it wouldn't be a brick it'd be a shoe! ;D
A shoe with a brick in it. :o
Quote from: Zaubon on August 24, 2011, 01:26:46 PM
A shoe with a brick in it. :o
*touches nose*
I think you got me pegged, Z.
A flaming shoe with a brick in it.... :D
Even BETTER!
I am enjoying your series, WarCat. Most entertaining!
I am amazed at how much yall are getting done in the heat. I don't even want to go outside and sit! Thanks for all the hard work!
Week THREE...
So, the girls and I decided mid week that we were going to host ourselves a nifty Italian potluck. Pasta and sauces and OMG garlic as far as the eye can see. Oh, and since it was the beginning of the 2nd half of Doctor Who, Adele decided that she would make tiny cute little Dalek cuppiecakes for the event. I got started on Friday afternoon making spaghetti sauce to bring out to site for the Saturday night festivities. I got all the way out there before I noticed that I had accidentally left all of my fixins for the alfredo sauce AT HOME ON THE FREEZER. Called my girl Lauren and asked her to pick it up on her way to rehearsals on Saturday morning, so the crisis was averted. Friday night consisted of beers and Moonlight Dance, which is our play around dance rehearsal. Fast and loose, dance with who ya wanna or sit on the sidelines sippin and chattin.
Saturday morning brought a marriage of sleepy WarCat and a bowl of cereal. Our trailermate Drea texted early to let us know that she was going to the emergency clinic due to a badly pinched nerve in her back. Made it to Dance Call and managed to pull off some dances before lunch. During the break, we made soup and ate boudain at Tango Lima while gossipping about all the latest dirt. A few silly pictures and a quick rehydrating later, we were on our way to the afternoon set. Afternoon classes were interesting. We found ourselves paired with the Italians this weekend. The games were fun and interesting, and our group got to work on (and film) some of our bits. ABSOLUTE HILARITY! By that time, we were informed that the temp was hitting at around 104ish with a lower humidity. My friend Kris described it as "springtime in Death Valley". He was OMFG RIGHT! By the onset of our second round of classes, I was already feeling the heat pretty badly. My group leader pulled me aside to ask what was wrong with me. He was under the impression that I wasn't happy, but it was really just exhaustion due to my heat sensitivity. The entire group met up at New Market Gazebo by the front gate to run through scenario and group introductions. Right in the middle of our rehearsal, one of the epic sprinklers came on and SOAKED half the cast and our belongings. Normally, I would have been pissed, but this... THIS FELT AMAZING! Soon enough we were all running through the sprinklers screaming and laughing like small children. It would have been great, you know, if I would have thought about the fact that I was wearing a WHITE TANK TOP! OOOPS! After the run through, it was a quick run over to Dove Meadow for fight call. At about 7, I realized that my feet were no longer doing what my brain was telling them to do. My arms were failing (which is dangerous when you're flinging a sword around) and I lost the ability to stand for awhile. Ty and I made it back to the trailer and went IMMEDIATELY to the shower. Cold water in the shower trumps ANY of the lurking mosquitoes in the bath house LOL! Cleaned up and ready to cook, I headed back to Tango Lima for the potluck. I called Capt. SIN in Baton Rouge so he could talk me through getting the gas turned on in the trailer so that I could light up the stove and oven. Dinner was soon ready, and the ravenous ladies of cast all made heaping plates. We laughed and ate and drank wine till we were all in food comas. During dinner, one Jack Welker (the young Prince James Stewart of Scotland- 14 and completely full of amazing and attitude) escaped his mom for the evening to hang out with some of the Barbarians. They quickly put him to work in helping them build their camp, called Blue Base. We caught him walking out in the dark and invited him into the hen house, where he proceeded to eat cuppiecakes like crazy. Darling Jack got a little mouthy, so I put him in his place (read as, I tackled him, roughed him up a little, then Da'Rel drug him outside for mouthing off to him, then he did it again and I beat him with a camp chair until my arms got tired). At one point, I vaguely remember calling his mother as torture LOL! Bed came early for us, and sweet sleep was easy to come by.
Sunday was Fight Call again, and we had to get our fights nailed down to be filmed. Ms. Adele and I were running our fight near the ATM at the Greek Agora when we were called to have fight notes given to us. We were told that the slap was not believable, so we needed to work on it. My group leader is also the principal fight choreographer, so he took a little extra time helping us out. It very quickly turned into giving me a lesson in slapping the crap out of my best friend for kicks, and so that it wouldn't hurt near as badly as if I'd have done it for real. While I repeatedly slapped Adele around, we were greeted by the strangest thing I've ever seen.... a squirrel with HUGE nuts! Seriously, this squirrel had such a problem, it walked funny. Not only did this squirrel have retardedly huge genitalia, but it CAME UP TO ME AND SNIFFED MY HAND LOOKING FOR FOOD!!!! We played with the squirrel for about 10 minutes before we decided to get back to business. By 1, we were all exhausted and ready to call it a day. The girls and I had some downtime and more leftover pasta, then made it safely back to my place for some epic girl hanging out time.
It was only this morning that I woke up and OMFG I couldn't move. SORE WARCAT IS SORE!!!!! The man has been kind enough to give us this upcoming holiday weekend off, so I will take this time to work on fights and sit around in my underpants. I couldn't be happier :D
Awesome read.
Splendid!
Sounds like you're having a lot of fun right now, preparing to have a lot of fun in a month... ;) :D
But, just in case someone gets hurt during your fight scenes, you should probably have some of these Bacon Shaped Bandages (http://www.amazon.com/BACON-shaped-themed-Adhesive-Bandages/dp/B000SSV8AA) on hand. :o ;D
Take Care,
David Baldock
Poor Adele... :D Sounds like you're all having an awesome time, and I know it will be an amazing show! You might want to invest in epsom salt for your bath after you get home from fight rehearsal.. and some Phoenix Balm (http://amazoniannaturals.com/?page_id=99), as well!
Sounds like a lot of work getting ready for the faire. Cant wait to see you in action Warcat.
Our WarCat was a handful BEFORE she was on cast...
*Not in the face, Niki!* :D
But she gave GREAT hugs. Now she can't (as easily) as it would be out of character....
Maybe she could make a hug look like a strangulation. Would that still be in character? ;D
You'd have to know our former Empress of All Evil.... ;D
Quote from: Glaodian on September 05, 2011, 02:11:57 AM
Maybe she could make a hug look like a strangulation. Would that still be in character? ;D
Don't give her ideas....
Quote from: Laird Fraser of Lovatt on September 05, 2011, 09:03:01 AM
You'd have to know our former Empress of All Evil.... ;D
FORMER? Who the eff said I wasn't still sitting on that pile of bodies and bones ruling over all that is Evil and Awesome?
I thought you dropped the title... for other considerations... :D ;)
Prepare for thy flogging, Fraser! LOL!
The WarCat is STILL an Empress of Evil, turdmonkey! PREPARE TO BE PUNISHED!!!
*starts throwing chunks of ice, since she can't throw fire right now*
Hey, we're in the middle of a burn ban! I gotta watch out for my environment :D
Quote from: WarCat on September 05, 2011, 11:11:51 PM
The WarCat is STILL an Empress of Evil, turdmonkey! PREPARE TO BE PUNISHED!!!
*starts throwing chunks of ice, since she can't throw fire right now*
Hey, we're in the middle of a burn ban! I gotta watch out for my environment :D
Still? ;D
Oh Niki...love you dear, but years have gone long past since I even had a small inkling of fear of you.
The Empress has gone soft.
I don't even care if you ARE my sister... I'm gonna cut you.
Quote from: WarCat on September 06, 2011, 06:13:49 PM
I don't even care if you ARE my sister... I'm gonna cut you.
Be careful what you promise. I have photos of fight call. Muwahahaha.
Zaubon
Week FOUR
Our rehearsals were cancelled this weekend due to the fires. I suppose this gives me the time to work on some character stuff at home, AND get my house in order for the upcoming faire season. Love to all of you, and I'll have more to report next week.
Yup rehearsals are cancelled... but taskmaster has called German rehearsal in Houston tomorrow. We can't afford another weekend off apparently! lol
Week FOUR
Due to the fires, we missed our rehearsals last week. This week, it was back to the grind. I spent the night with another castie on Friday night so that I could grab a ride into rehearsals on Saturday morning. 7:15am came verrrrry early. Stephen and I cranked up the stereo and headed down the road with a quick stop to pick up the trailer key from my roomie. The closer we got to Magnolia, the more of a haze there was. Soon, there was a subtle smell of woodsmoke on the air. As we drove down 1774, I was shocked to see the devastation. You could clearly see the way the fire jumped across the road at several points, and it was heartbreaking.
We arrived to Dance Call and ran through things until about 10:30, when my "daughter" in my court and I went to the pass office to get our paperwork in. There was a tiny snafu in her paperwork, and she had to leave me there to get it handled. 30 minutes later, she finally made it back to me, without getting the problem resolved. Oh well, mine was good to go, so maybe next weekend for her LOL! Lunch was a sandwich and Cheetos with members of my court and Stephen. Laughs, music, and TRF homework at a cozy table behind the EB. Ace came up to bring some lasagnas for our dinner, and build my camp (cause he's awesome). The afternoon brought our classes, where we worked on some of our bits and ran through scenario. We also did a lot of work on our patron interactions. Hard work was HARD. Our scenario rehearsal at 4:30 ran until 7pm, so our evening fight call didn't happen. I was tired and cranky and decided to cook, eat, and go to bed. Somehow, I wound up "Jacksitting" while his mother and sister went to their group dinner. He's a great kid, but we're REALLY gonna have to keep an eye on him when he gets older LOLOL! Spent the evening in the kitchen at Tango Lima cooking while Pride O Bedlam rehearsed out on the porch. The ladies came home to the trailer early and we shared some laughs and jokes before bed. Ace charmed them all (as usual). I was asleep by midnight with Ace in my arms.
I was up at 8am and out the door to an early fight call. Adele and I fought all afternoon until we were both sore and covered in dirt and sticks. Home by 4ish, and into the bath and bed. Thank god. I'm exhausted and bruised. Well, time to do it again next week.
Hey he can always come along to dinner with us... i don't think he wants to... wants to hang out with the big kids! Yes the longgggggg scenario rehearsal... that is what happens when you miss a week folks... 4 steps backwards!
And best of all I woke up this morning to the tinkling of rain on my trailer roof! It was amazing!
Week FIVE
Saturday morning, Mister Dodd and myself picked up Miss Drea on on our way to rehearsals. We stopped to get breakfast on the way, as we were ridiculously hungover from Dodd's brother's birthday party the night before. We three headed down 1774 with the music up and blasting, singing and dancing the whole way. Upon arrival to the faire, we piled out of the car and headed to Dance Call. We ran all of the dances, over and over and OVER again, and they decided to change the way our sets are positioned. So now, we have to dance in a different direction. I know that it seems simple, but when you're used to lining yourself up between this tree and this stump and this pinecone and you learn it that way for a month, changing it up throws everyone for a loop. Our dance instructor wasn't much of a happy monkey this weekend, but it's alright. Everyone has their days. Dance call was finally over, and my friends and I made it back to the Entertainment Building for lunch. My court and I had lunch behind the EB- sammiches and chippies. I was happy to spend time with my "family". My husband made it out to finish building my camp, lovingly known as the KATHouse. I'm sharing a camp with Kelly, a member of the French court, and Stender (happy awesome photog extraordinaire). Ace brought the kiddos out with him, so they were with me for my afternoon classes. I had to explain to Evie that we were actors, and we were all playing characters. She thought we were watching a play LOL! Evie and Brinson both got along REALLY well with Jack (14 y-o Prince Jaime of Scotland), and he and Brin talked about video games during the walk to Mockingbird Stage. Right after the class intro, my kids came with me to the Sea Devil to watch some of our path work. They laughed at our jokes and helped us out some. I even got the chance to send them after my group leader with the Transylvanian Paddle (which, was HILARIOUS). I looked around the corner just in time to see my children tear off around the corner, paddle in hand, running from Jonny. I promised them cake for a job well done. Our afternoon set brought a "pop quiz", where Jeff has us perform our greeting, parting, and reverance. This is an excercise to test our preparedness because, a lot of times, this is the only real interactions that we have with our patrons. Quick and simple "Hello, my name is, I'm here to, nice to meet you and goodbye." After our quiz, we did character interviews. These are all based on character personality and history sheets that are completed through the course of the rehearsal process. They have us fully flesh out our character's background so that we get a better feel for who our characters are as people. That way, we can interact and respond truthfully to patrons and situations. At around 5pm, we headed up to the front gate to rehearse Scenario, which ran until about 6:30. Adele and I took a quick break to grab a bite to eat, then it was off to Fight Call (which USUALLY goes from 5-7). We arrived at Fight Call and started running our fight. She cartwheeled over me and landed straight onto my lower back, which sent spasms running up and down my spine. While laying completely still facedown in the grass in EPIC pain, I started feeling stinging on my arms and legs. Come to find out, I was trapped in a pile of ants. My arms started swelling and I was FINALLY able to get myself off of the ground and laid flat onto a bench. Jonny sent me back to camp and told me to rest up for the evening and be back in the morning. I went to Tango Lima, cooked some dinner, took a short break to sing a song at karaoke, then back to the camp before midnight.
9am came early this morning. Adele and I huffed it back to Fight Call to run our fights for show and tell. We made some slight changes and cuts to the fight, and made it run fairly smooth. She and I worked it over and over, getting the finer points of the fight tweaked. My back was still sore, and the ant bites were giant and throbby, but we worked through it and presented our fight for El Jeffe. After it was all said and done, she and I staggered back to Tango Lima for chili dogs and corned beef/cabbage. We ate until bursting, then sat out on the deck with some of the other casties and had a post-rehearsal beer. Shortly after that, I was found napping in a corner of the trailer. I don't remember falling asleep, but I remember waking up and realizing that everyone was gone and the place had been cleaned up around me (thanks, Ace). We locked up, took out the trash, then started the long journey home.
Next weekend is our DRESS REHEARSAL! We're also participating in a promotional appearance at The Stroll in Magnolia next Saturday. The entirety of the cast will be there. Come on out and have a good time! We can't wait to entertain you!
Dance groups looked good yesterday morning.
Thanks, Ravic! It was a hot mess for a little while, but I think we got things moving in the right direction.
Always proud of our cast.
Not sure how you do it all. Whilst working on my booth yesterday, I discovered that I do NOT have my faire legs ready for this season. owww
I sure don't have my faire legs ready either... the 2 week break was what did it!
We went to the Astro's game so we didn't get to rehearse.. the Germans had an extra rehearsal last night and today to make up for it.
Oh dance call was a blast! with all the stress and yelling!
Good to hear out dance sets looked good... thats not quite what we were being told.... but we want to look awesome so I understand the expressiveness of out dance instructor.
There was a skunk in my camp last night and I had to wait for it to run away before I cold re-enter my trailer.
Cute little thing it was but I'm sure being skunked wouldn't have been so cute!
DAMN! I knew I forgot about something... SKUNK BATTLE!
Have someone tell the office about the skunks NOW!! Those little MF's lived under the booth next door to us last year. Stinkbombed that entire row of booths across from the POW.
You're not lying there.
We actually went to the shop a couple of months ago and put rigid steel mesh all the way around the shop.
We dug down into the ground around almost the entire perimeter, and made it damn difficult to get into at the other spots.
So far there's been no skunky smells on the work days since.
I'm hoping they take the time to trap whichever ones are left before the season starts.
Of course, with the fires, faire was probably one of the safest places for woodland critters to run to, so we'll just have to see.
btw, still no idea what's happening with Wenches. Haven't seen anyone there at all the times we've been down.
What wenches?
Wenches at Work, the shop on our other side from the booksellers.
WEEK SIX
This would be the end of my adventures during rehearsals. This past weekend was our dress rehearsal, where everything is run like a faire day. Learning the subtle ins and outs of scheduling, figuring out how everything will run, and putting the finishing touches on our costumes and material. This rehearsal season has been great for me. I've forged close friendships, tested myself as a performer, and pushed myself as a person. We all have worked very hard to bring you the best entertainment that New Market has to offer, and we all cannot wait to show you what we've got.
Please, as patrons, approach us! Play with us! Let us entertain you, and let us make you smile. Join in the fun and you will NOT be sorry :D
and get hit with a shoe! :D
*just kidding, WC*
I've really enjoyed your performer's diary, War Cat ... see you soon!
Read every word of your diary,thanks so much. At least we know about what a performer goes thru.
See ya Saturday Blue. Save a hug for me.
See you tomorrow, WC. Much luv.
Diary of a TRF Performer during the great TRF flood of 2011-
Performing in the rain sucks. But getting even one smile or laugh from someone who is braving the rain to experience TRF makes it ALL worth it.
WC, Fae, what is the best way for a patron to interact with the cast?
Quote from: Tink on October 10, 2011, 09:43:00 PM
WC, Fae, what is the best way for a patron to interact with the cast?
Bring them Chocolate? ;) ;D
Come up and say hello who are you... we will play back! :) We don't bite!
I suppose it depends on the character. Strike up a conversation with the person based on who they are. Transylvanian? Talk about world domination, torture, and spooky things. Remember that everything is backwards. French? Discuss cheeses and perfumes, and surrender LOL! Elves? Discuss the rights of elves and how they're NOT leprechauns. Barbarians and Germans? BOOZE! LOL! It all just depends on who you want to interact with.
I had considered letting the diary go after Rehearsals, but why? Don't you all want to know what we do as performers??? OOOOO YEAH!!!!
Saturday
Woke up at 6:30 to get dressed and makeup'd. Miss Kelly and I sat in our wardrobe and readied ourselves for the masses. 8:30 and we were prepped for morning meeting. 9am... PLACES, THE CANNON IS GOING OFF!!!!! We began with our morning proclamation, then headed to get iced tea for the day. After tea, we swung through Mask Parade to drop off a care package for Meg. By 9:30, we were in our area, waiting for the first patrons to arrive. I still had no idea what I was going to do first, but I thought a rousing game of Transylvanian Risk would give me some time to figure it out. I sat in front of that map for awhile until we had some children arrive and play. They LOVED IT! We played Risk for almost the entirety of the morning. We attempted to recruit patrons to our military forces, and gained a couple of good soldiers for the fight. The only drawback was that I had no idea that I was sitting in a pile of fire ants... AGAIN! I now have bites all over my calves. Parade time came, and we mosied that way. Afternoon proc went off, and we made our way back to Transylvania. More Risk, then we performed Romeo and Ghouliet. Our group was spread thin through the afternoon, but we made it. I spent some time on the joust hill with Scotland, just to shake up the distribution. We made it to the Barbarian area by about 3:45 where we fought, we jousted, then we wrestled. It was at that moment that I realized that I was most definitely a "heel" character LOL! Evening proc happened, there was dancing and music and frivolity. We processed to the joust arena to watch the laser show, which was interesting. That evening, I got out of my costume, ate a quick bite, ambushed Jack for his birthday, showered, then went straight to bed before midnight.
Sunday
Woke up at 7, cursing being late. Kells and I got dressed just like the day before and headed out to meeting. During our morning proc, it started raining. By the end, it was POURING. There I was, soaking wet and wholly cranky. I spent my morning talking to patrons underneath cover, and sitting out in the rain. I was wet already, what the hell did it matter. The dress got heavier and heavier, and by parade time, I believe I soaked up about 50lbs of water LOL! I picked up my hoop and CARRIED the damn dress all the way through parade in the pouring rain like a BOSS! EVERYTHING on me was soaked straight through, and my court said that I literally had a river running from behind my dress. I made it back to the EB and got out of the wet thing, only to not be able to pick it up due to all the water. We wrung it out and hung it to dry with everyone else's costumes and I went to one of the seamstresses to ask if I could put another dress on. Thankfully, they gave me another dress and I was able to go back out on path and work for another couple of hours. I had to finally give up when my boots were soaked all the way through and my body was weary from carrying all the extra water weight (the cloak I wore soaked up A LOT). About 4pm, I was released and came home. When I got back, I realized that my insteps were bruised, my hips and thighs were WRECKED due to the weight of the first wet dress, and EVERYTHING HURT! You know what? If I would have had another pair of boots, I would have been back out there in a heartbeat.
Tune in next week to get the "behind the scenes" LOL!
Well since Niki posted I guess I will too. Here is what it is like to have a THEME weekend. She gets one of those in 3 weeks... they are... interesting.
I am so happy the weekend is over. It is a double edged sword. It is fun to have your own weekend but it is also the hardest work you have to do all season. I really tried to keep my character going but when keeping up with all my responsibilities I found I had to push her back a bit... or more like... she had been given the job of contest manager... and she takes jobs bestowed on her very very seriously!
I made it. I took the yellow contest book... I wrote down all that entered the contests... I found people to enter the contests... I begged I pleaded I threatened to stake them and we actually had a decent turn out at the Polka on Saturday... 5 couples I believe. Masskrugstemmen ( the bavarian stein holding endurance contest) and Bratwurst eating were filling up fast on Saturday.
I hosted the Polka... I was SHAKING... I had NO IDEA what I was doing but I just tried hard to remember what I had seen the mistress of the revels do the past 2 seasons. The great king was walking around and I asked if he would judge the contest. He agreed and then we had a brief snag when I told all the contestants to follow me to where Gypsy Guerilla Band was. I thought it was QUITE obvious they were setting up over by the feast hall... but apparently 2 of my group members and one set of contestants didn't quite get the information and they walked all the way to Scotland. I lost a LOT of my contest running confidence after that hang up.
We paraded and then it was straight on to hawking the Masskrug. Masskrug filled up and I explained the contest got them all organized and then ran it. I gained back ALL my confidence after that because it ran very well.
After that I still had 2 spots on my Bratwurst list open and no alternates so I started trying to fill that one up, I don't need to mention that my Germans were FANTASTIC and were constantly sending people my way and signing people up. Bratwurst eating contest ran pretty well. Last years mistress of the revels was there to give me tips which I super appreciated. I stepped up on a tree ring to start the contest and saw Mr. Entertainment director himself. I FREAKED. I was all bubbly in my stomach, nauseated and I was shaking and nervous. I did NOT want to do this in front of him but... it was happening. I sucked it up and pretended as hard as I could he was not there and hosted. We got through it and TADA. No one died or threw up on anyone and there was a winner. I suppose I did alright.
Apparently other than not being able to scream over all the bratwurst contestants and spectators ( my voice was shot) and herding my contestants instead of having them find me ... I did fine. I swore to make Sunday WAY better. I felt like I could do it.
I had a good afternoon. I went and got my wooden roses. And I talked to a guy who had fangs and tagged him with my business card. I talked to patrons and FINALLY really got to try out my new character. She is a blast and a half!
Evening proc. was AWESOME. We got to premiere "Beer Beer Baby" something we are quite proud of... it seemed to go over well.
At fireworks I played a drunk and was being all sacrilegious and drinking my Holy water and pretending it was much better than beer. It was great and the patrons around me loved it until I hit my bottle against a bench and legitimized it and made it true "hole-y" water.
Sunday. Well my pigtails were perfect and I was ready to rock it. THEN it rained. A LOT. We couldn't do the polka... because our mother Christmas had already broken her arm and we deemed it unsafe. I told my group leader I did not want to march parade because breathing in all the wet colder air would no doubt increase my already increased chances of bronchitis and I am asthmatic. She told me to sit it out. I got to dry off a little... when everyone came back all the Germans started stripping and the rain was still pretty heavy so I just sat in the EB... I assumed going out wasn't a good idea. Well I heard the Masskrug was a go and at 12:45 ish I started demanding Germans get dressed and head back out there to hawk it seeing as we had NO CONTESTANTS.
I SHOULD have left our Princess Amelia alone. I saw her shivering and I demanded she get dressed anyway. I sent all the Germans out and we found her a new chemise and bodice... I gave her 3 cloaks and we went back out. Props to my group leader for gathering contestants for the competition while I tried to get Princess Amelia squared away. She didn't last. We sent her back in after the Masskrug. I feel so bad for even making her come out but I thought the change of costume pieces would help. :(
Anyway. The Masskrug in the rain was actually wicked fun. I enjoy that competition.
After that 2 of my group members took me to the joust. We ended up walking through the middle of the arena. Papa almost slid down the hill and I kept getting stuck in the mud. I didn't lose a shoe but I did have an inch of mud in each shoe when I finally got to the dais. No worries... I dealt with my muck shoes until the joust was over and then I washed them out with the jug water behind the dais. Jug water that is FREAKING COLD. I had been going barefoot since after parade. So now I had a 10 pound cloak that was muddy and I carried it all wrapped up and I had freaking freezing feet along with the fact that my skirt would have fallen off if it weren't for my hip bones... but DAMN it was trying to prove that it was stronger than my hip bones.
We had heard the Bratwurst competition was cancelled before we left for the joust. We came back and suddenly it was back on. I had been told all kinds of mixed up information about everything all day and was at the end of my rope. We managed to scrape up 6 contestants. Once again someone won no one died but someone did puke... he made it to the trash can though so all was good!
I enjoyed that. Apparently contests in the rain make my day.
After that I filled out the yellow book... which I had kept all day at the info booth to keep it from getting destroyed so it would be usable for all other weekends. I got the book returned and I took a break for 15 minutes and then headed back out and mucked about down by Scotland for awhile and then ate some cheesecake and had some cider before the very brief evening proc. It was sad to see how many people on cast had been dismissed by the end of the day.
We had lost 2 members of the court to being cold and sick. 1 had been released with our joust maiden and Jack...her kids. 1 had been told to be at proc at 5:45 and we ran it at 5:30 so it was me and 2 others at the very end.
But we did it. We got through it. I know now how INSANE the rain can make everything and am glad that if it happens again this season we just have to be German in it. Not THEME GROUP. But we did it.
And I now bow down to the former mistress of the revels. I cannot express how unappreciated and undervalued she was. I think at least 7 other people will understand her a lot better by the end of all of this. Maybe they won't who knows!
But I DID IT!
It's easy sailing from here!
Sorry we missed the contests. We spent most of our day hiding in shops. Fortunately for the shop keepers, we were spending money there as well. We finally hit our rain limit about 2. We let the little ride the ponies then we sloshed our way back to our camp.