I was watchin' the "Flirts of Fancy" at NYRF/Tux and I noticed a gent stealin' me soul with a very large video camera.
Now I have seen cameras like that before and I've even made road cases for them in a past life, but it didn't register, till I saw the women with the microphone. Ruh roh, news crew.
Now I am in garb and in full pirate mode and they interview me and me piratey captain wife. Fairly short and sweet and I think I didn't come off as a complete putz, but... I didn't get to see it on TV. *Sob again*
Ah well, I was told they opened the bit with the "Flirts", so it was a good plug fer the faire at least...BUT I DIDN"T GET TO SEE IT... Blah. heheheh.
That makes 3 times I have been on TV and once on film and I have yet to see meself. I was on the Uncle Floyd Show twice, way back in the late '80s. I was in the Music biz fer 20 years and Floyd brought me on as a source of advice for fledgling bands back then. I was also interviewed by a college student, doing a documentary film on rennies. I'm glad I didn't see that, as I am sure I did come off as a complete putz there. heheheh.
The 2nd weekend of NYRF/Tuxedo was a blast. I got into character very quickly this time and had a great time playing with the patrons and the cast. I even had some friends from Portugal come in.
More of the cast know who I am now, so I have more interaction with them. This is the first year that Friends of Faire and the guilds have become minor players in the cast and a lot of the major cast didn't really know about us till we showed up for classes. Some of them still really don't know us, but they are really good sports about it. NYRF may be a larger faire, but like any small town, news travels very quickly.
I was going to write about this past weekend yesterday, but I came home from work and polished of the 15 year old single malt, that was still in my flask. So needless to say, I wasn't really in much shape to make a coherent post. Not that I ever really am, even when I am sober, but I really try not to torture other folks in the process. heheheh.
So, here we are, 2 days later and I am still buzzing. Still sort of stuck in pirate mode. Mostly because I really detest my RL job and would love to be able to work faire for a living, but I make to much money and carry to much debt at this point in my life. I really need to simplify, but I digress.
NYRF/Tuxedo never fails to surprise me, thrill me and dissapoint me on opening weekend. New vendors, or at least new stalls opened by old vendors, but with new product lines and such. There were new vendors too, but there was also a disturbing lack of other vendors that had been there for years and rumors flying everywhere.
The same could be said about the entertainment. There was a new story line for the Queen and such, but it seems like the Robin Hood thing is sort of falling by the way side. I did see Friar Tuck runnin' about and several what looked like Merry Men runnin' around as well, but I didn't see the usually skits they used to do for the children, but then I wasn't lookin' for it either.
Some musical acts were gone and not replaced and other groups that have been there for years have changed. On the other hand, some of the entertainers have expanded what they do and show an incredible range of talent. Blankenshear the Curious is an example. I never knew the shire illusionist was such an accomplished musician.
The construction crews and grounds crews did an amazing job in the last several weeks to get the grounds into shape for opening weekend. The rain during the week made it very difficult for them, but they pulled through. Several water features from the old State botanical garden days were up and running. 2 geysers that spewed water I'm guessing at least 40 feet in the air were running and a multi-tiered water fall that is just majestic was also running.
Planting areas that were just mud, rock and weeds a few short weeks ago, were cleared and planted. Booths had new roofs and fresh coats of paint. A new themed pub was erected, where a tired, old pub had collapsed. They even put a small deck hangin' over the main pond, with a couple of picnic benches, so you could grab a pint and sit and admire one of the geysers and the water fall.
Friends of Faire got off to a running start this season as well. We started with 45 members from last season and with a lot of our returning membership still either at Pensic, or out of the area till the 3rd weekend, we signed up 46 members. So it looks like we may at least double our membership this season. yarrrr. Fresh m.....errr new blood. heheheh.
I ran into a lot of old friends, made some new friends and cut my 'intentional' acting teeth all on the same weekend. I have been a playtron for a long time, but this was the first weekend where I actually had the blessing of the faire management to go forth and create mayhem. It really was a lot of fun to actually have a good part of the cast react to me as me piratey self, other than just another playtron runnin' around like a madman.
I accosted the faire mascot, a dragon, by drawing my flintlock and accusing it of trying to eat the children, only to have the mayor step in to save it by talking 'down' the crazed pirate. heheheh. This was done in front of the joust crowd, while a few of me crew mates and I were warmin' the crowd up for the joust. I let the reptile and the mayor go and went back to workin' the crowd. I think next time I am going to accuse it of being an alligator and see how the dragon and the mayor react.
That was sunday, which was a beautiful day out. We had a very good crowd at faire that day. Saturday was so humid, that it was almost like working to get a reaction out of a lot of folks. Tis not very condusive to workin' a crowd freelance, when they just be shufflin' around melting from the heat and such. Got a lot of smiles but not a lot of laughs that day. I think a lot of it could have been me too. It took me a little bit to get completely submersed into my character. Just being at the first day of my home faire was a huge distraction, for the reason stated much earlier in this endless post.
I hope I didn't bore you to badly if you read all the way down to here. So I will end it here to show some mercy to you all. Heheheh. Caire vie* me hearties.
I really want to post some of the changes, but I really don't want to spoil it for those of you who don't know all of the goings on, during the off season.
Lets just say that for the 30th anniversary season, NYRF has come up with some really nice things for us.
As always, we say goodbye to some long time friends, but we greet new ones as well. I will say this, my wallet is in serious danger this season. heheheh.
Can't wait. Ironed out me backstory, got an amazin' reaction from me improv coach about it too.
At one point, he asked who was English, meanin' our characters and asked all the pirates when some of them didn't react, includin' meself. When he got to me, he asked me if I were English and I replied, "Nay sir. I be from Ellan Vannin." A look of confusion came over him and he said, "Where?" I repeated, "Ellan Vannin, but ye bein' an Englishman would know it as the Isle of Man."
He was still a bit confused, so I elabortated, "Tis an island, smack in the middle of the Irish Sea. Between England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland." He then asked, "Isn't that an English Island?" to which I replied, "Tis an English Fiefdom. We are not really a part of England. we have our own ruler, an Earl, who's ancestor was granted a seperate crown, but about 100 years ago(now, in character, I be referin' to somewhere in the area of the 1500s) The then King decided tis better to be a great Lord, then minor king, but he still retained sole soverignty of the island. We had a Norse King way back when, so I be not fond of the Spanish, English, Irish, Scotts, or the Welsh." I didn't add that the current ruler was refered to as the Great Earl, as he was tryin' to run a revolution against Elizabeth, but that none of that really applied to me anymore, since I was currenty based out of the Tortugas, only because of time constraints of the class.
His reaction to that was, "WOW, that is really cool." HARR. He then said it was great because it made me a neutral character and I could roll anyway I wanted with the alliances of the cast, which was my goal, bein' a pirate. heheheh.
So, here it is Monday night and I can NOT wait for Saturday to roll around for openin' day. This is goin' to be the first year, out of the 30 years I have been goin' to NYRF, that I will actually be a minor character in the cast. Even though I have no official part in any of the story lines, I will be recognized by the actors as my character and reacted to accordingly and me and the other members of NYRF FoF who are doing this, along with selected Guildsfolk, have the blessing of the management co. to go forth and play with the actors and the 'dan...errr' patrons. We just need to know when to stay in the background, such as during set pieces and such.
So, to make another endless post, even longer, I learned a lot in just 3 short classes and me pirate character has taken on a life of his own finally. I am trying to learn a little Manx, as that was the language on the island at the time of Macko's childhood. A form of Gaelic that broke from the Irish main very early in the island's history. I think it was about the time the Vikings ruled the island. The hard part is learning the pharases well enough that I don't stutter on them when saying them. Gaelic in any form is strange to my tounge and I will need to work on it..a LOT. heheheh.
Fair winds mates. I will let ye know how I did after the first weekend.
Gods I was late. Late, late, late. 30 minutes late to a 2 hour class. *sob*
Ah well, couldn't be helped. Went to SCRF which made me late coming back, as I had me small clan with me. Got whacked with traffic just before the Tappan Zee bridge, which made me wish I had gotten my folks moving a half hour earlier, but they were all tired from partying very hardely with our friends at the faire.
Met Shayla and her mates at the pub, well met all. Ran into some vendor friends we haven't seen since last season, which was a lot of fun. Lusty Leather's excellent leather craftsman altered my baldric I bought from them about a month ago, with no questions and a smile. Thanks mate, you are the best. And what can I say about T.O. The Mad Black Bard. An excellent showman and a great drinkin' companion.
The other performers were a lot of fun to watch, or great to listen to. The pub and the food vendors were affordable and had excellent fare and our friends from NYRF FoF that live out that way and showed up later in the day, made for a very fun outing.
As to the class, at least I got there in time to participate in an interesting excersize. I was an artist and using one of my classmates as a living statue, I was to pose him in a way that I thought my charecter looked. Turns out that sub-consciously I hit on a key point to my persona, both at faire and in RL. At first I thought I had gotten something across that I wasn't looking to portray, but after thinking about it, it was true and was really scary to see how this excersize brings things out.
It was really fun seeing how the others did the same with their living statues. Some where static like mine, but some folks created animated works. It really was eye opening and a lot of fun.
Need to work on my backstory a little, as my ships cook pointed out a slight historical timeline discrepency. Sort of worked in my favor too as my backstory took on a more interesting twist to it. I posted it up in the Pyrate Group, but if ye are interested in seein' it, post a comment and if enough folks are interested, I will post it as a blog entry fer all to see.
Next week is dress rehearsal. This is going to be a lot of fun. Yarrrr. 2 weeks and NYRF opens. I am soooo lookin' forward to this season. Hope you can make it out there if yer able.
