What be left of me piratical soul anyway. Harrrr.

Went to the Midievil Festival at, Fort Tryon Park/The Cloisters, yesterday. Do not let anyone tell ye that NYC does not know how to throw a party. Yeeeee HAWWWW. heheheh.

Fer those that have no inklin', the festival, is a one day, jumpin', FREE, street faire/party in Fort Tryon Park, which is just north of the George Washington Bridge in Washington Heights. A very northern section of NYC proper. The park is located on a hill that commands stunnin' views of the Hudson River and the GWB. at the very pinnacle of the hill is, The Cloisters. A museum comprised mostly of authentic Midievil cloisters, built in the 12th century. It was shipped over from Europe, stone by stone. Tis an amazing' collection of things to look at. Gardens, tapestries, crypts, statuary, alters, gold artifacts, etc. etc. Admission to the cloisters proper isn't free though. There be a donation required to enter, like most NYC museums.

Tis also an amazin' place to have yer picture taken, while in garb. Gives ye a feel for what it truely looked like back then, if yer garb is fairly true to period.

Anywho, back to the festival. Tis also a last seasonal huzzah fer us NYRF/Tux'ites. One last chance to get together and reminisce about the past season, before we all go mostly our seperate ways till next NYRF season. Tis also a chance to see cast members playin' different parts.

There be food and strong drink, there be song and joustin'. There be street theater and shoppin'. Good friends and lots and lots and lots of people. They have run this festival fer 9 years and they average over 40,000 people attendin' for just the one day. IT IS INSANE. The cameras, OMG/WTF all the cameras. If yer in garb, even if yer in, first attempt home made garb, there would be at least 20 cameras aimed at ye, at any given time. Stop to talk to a friend, or a patron and expect to have at least a dozen folks come up and ask to have their picture taken with ye. Heheheheh.

Of course, I really do not mind the cameras, as ye can tell from me profile pic. heheheh, but it is just crazy.

The weather was perfect, the crowd, mostly friendly and havin' a good time. The local law enforcement was out in force, but they looked like they were enjoyin' the show and weather as much as everyone else was.

If yer ever in NYC towards the last weekend of September, check to see if the festival is on that Sunday, because yer goin' to want to attend.

Where did the season go. NYRF is over??? Already???? WTF????

I was there everyweekend, but it seems like it only opened last weekend.

I can't believe how fast it went by. I had sooo much fun. Hangin' with my fellow FoF'ers, Rogues, friends, wenches, cast members and 'danes'. It just went by way to fast.

At least I will get to sleep in for a little this saturday, thats a plus, but I have a Tennants Assoc. picnic later in the day and I am the pres of said Assoc. so I can't skip it to go to another faire*sob*.

At least I have the Fort Tryon Park Medievil Festival to go to on Sunday, so I won't be stopping "Cold Turkey". heheheh.

For those that care, my schedule for the next 2 months.

Sunday, 9/30/07: The Medievil Festival at Fort Tryon Park. A must if you want to get your picture taken, in garb, in an actual midievil Cloister. The Festival is free and the museum asks for a small donation to enter. Weapons must be peace tied in the park and no weapons are allowed in the cloisters proper. You will be asked to check them at the door. If you have ever seen pictures of the "Unicorn" tapestry in art books, this is the place to see them for real.

Sat. Oct. 8th: CTRF. Only been to the new site once. Tis very nice and I thought I read that they have alcohol now. Could be wrong, but is a good faire anyway.

Oct.20, 21: The Maryland Renaissance Faire in Annapolis MD. The one they call the "Rennies" mall. Prepare to shop. Great stuff at great prices. The food and drink are very good and very reasonably priced as well.

Oct. 27, 28: Closing weekend at PARF. This faire is a must. Dedicated grounds, owned by a Winery estate and used year round for many "Rennie" friendly events. The free wine tasting alone makes the trip worthwhile. heheheh.

Nov. 10, 11: Final trip of the year for me. CRF. North Carolina. A very nice faire and you can't beat the weather in NC in November, unless you live way south, or south west. Heheheh.

Oh, on another note, check out my new profile pic. Out of all the candid pictures taken of me over the last several seasons, I really, REALLY like this one. This photog caught me in character, whenI was really bein' me inner pirate. Harrrr.

So, caire vie, me hearties. Mayhaps I shall blog again soon.

*caire vie bein' Manxie fer fair winds.*

One of the local papers came up to NYRF/Tuxedo on Labor Day weekend.

Of course, the one day that the photog decided to take a picture of me and me piratical wife, would be the Day of Wrong, when I am wearing a Cowboy hat and boots. Heheheh.

The caption was something like, Patrons dressed in period costumes lead cheering at the joust.

Cowboy hats and boots were period??? Hmmmm. :P

Part of our duties as FoF at NYRF is to help cheerlead at the 2 daily jousts. We usually cheer for Sir Frances "Ducky" Drake. I think in that picture, we were taunting Sir Walter "Don't ask me about Roanoke" Raliegh's(spelling?) crowd. Most likely something along the lines of "Hey Tobacanist. What happend at Roanoke?". As you can see from the photo, the crowd wasn't quite into cheering yet. They were a tough bunch but we got them going eventually. Made us work for it. heheheh.

Ye dress as outrageously as I be and yer friends still can not find ye. Heheheh.

I had a co-worker come to faire on Saturday and the faire was packed, bein' Labor Day weekend and all. Now NYRF/Tuxedo is not the largest faire in the country, not by a long shot, but it is still of a nice size.

He and his family got there late in the day though, so that sort of worked against him. Later in the day I am on the move, seein' to some last minute things before second joust.

They did not attend the joust, so they really had no chance of findin' me then. heheheh.

Oh, speakin' of the joust, even staged jousts are extremely dangerous. We had 2 jouster hurt in as many days. Sir Francis Drake (Paul) took a nasty fall when his saddle let go and then took a splintering lance to the face. They pulled a good sized splinter out of his face after and Sir Guy du Gisborne (Nick) hurt his arm rather badly on a staged un-horsing. Not sure if it was broken, as they rushed him off to the hospital and no-one had heard anything by the time I left faire. I have a lot of respect for both of these guys. Both of them finished the joust and the scenario, though Nick was carted off as he is dead at the end. Instead of the stately walk off in the cart, they hustled him out.

Ah, another fun weekend at the shire of Sterling Forest.

NYRF FoF had it's last general membership meeting for the 2006/07 season and held general elections as well. No major changes to the "Board of Directors", but it did bring up that we need to address the way we hold our elections. It was also FoF's "Pyrate Invasion" weekend and those of us that chose to, dressed accordingly. Fer me, that not be hard as I already be piratical. Harrrr.

This is FoF's 3rd season at NYRF and we grow larger every season. We have plans to start seperate guilds within the group, as the other FoF groups do in Bristol and SoCal. If we keep growing the way we are, I may even be able to convince someone else to take my position on the Board of Directors as well. Then I would be FREEEE, FREEEE, YARRRRR. heheheh. Oh, I be Director of Volunteers if yer wonderin'. As of right now, I can not even give the position away. *sob* :P

It was also the first weekend that our friends from the "Pennsic Wars" returned and I was introduced to Iron Molly Black, by me good friend Mordred. Tis always good to meet the people from the other side of the electronic screen.

One of the things that has always drawn me to the faires is, the people. I have made a lot of good friends at faire and it helps when me piratey wench wife is away from home. Me friends are always great company and they keep me mind off of missing me wife. Well, untill they start askin', "Hoy, Macko, where be Captain Lizzie?" Then I have to explain that she be off movin' an office of 400 people and will not be home fer another 2 days. They usually says somethin' like, "Ouch", then, "Hey, lets go to the Blue Boar, yer buyin'." Heheheh.

Something that really made me miss me wife this weekend was, FoF asked us if our (me wife and me) ship, the Diamond's Rule, could be FoF's official ship. We agreed, so part of this weekends invasion was all of us going to the Queen and getting a "Letter of Marque" signed by her. We presented the articles to her, stated our cause and she signed them. So our ship and crew are now fully sanctioned Privateers fer the Queen. Me wife is the captain and I bein' the First Mate and S.O., I had to stand in fer her and present the articles. I did not mind this, as I most likely would have done it anyway, since me wife is not really big on actin' as I am, but I missed havin' her there and was sorry that she missed her ship bein' endorsed by the Queen. She be home now, so do not feel to sorry fer me. heheheh.

Me character, Macko, is comin' along quite nicely. Whilest playin' with the patrons, I do not break character, I can keep me accent and language goin' ie: I remember to use the "Manx" phrases I spent so much time researchin' and the children be askin' me for me autograph in the pirate's section of the little passport thing NYRF gives to the children. I guess they do not notice I am not wearing the badge that is worn by the actors in the employ of the Queen, or they do and ask me anyway.

Gods, I read this and realize I really be a terrible writer and had better not quit me day job, unless I be hittin' the lottery, or I land a role in a film that pays me like I had just won the lottery. heheheh. So on that note, I will end yer misery. Next time I will post in non-pyrate mode. Harrrr
Caire Vie me hearties.