Dude! Joe's Jottings, Mostly Junk

long season, long weekend, long day.  nice that traffic home (I didn't leave Annapolis 'til after 3) wasn't a problem...in fact, seemed insanely light.  Other direction sucked, of course, but nobody rubbernecked it on my end.

Note to everybody who doesn't know: the MDRF customer service booth knows all, even if they don't see it.  I had 2 3LF'ers miss out on Danse Macabre 'cause they didn't know where it was - the info booth Gerry's always know how to find us and pretty much any other act out there, thanks to all the handy-dandy schedules printed up.  Need to know? They'll know, unless the performer is out wandering street.  They're also among the nicest people on the whole site.

I would have tried harder to "be noticed" but logistics are hell - trying to get each area ready, walk the path once to make sure there weren't any surprises, get a water stop prepped, help get the jack-o-lanterns to the White Hart (sorry T O'K - didn't mean to interrupt but we was in a hurry), and all sort of other things, like say, getting changed for it, all added up to a very busy afternoon.

Parade was huge success, in spite of the missing people.  23 dead danced by the shops in the main food court and through the White Hart perfectly on time (granted, 'cause the Rogues somehow ended early, which never happens...I was told later it was 'cause they got griped at for running over on Saturday, but that's strictly rumor mill quality).  I went bouncy-bouncy during pub sing instead of sticking to my already occupied pole, so instead of one consistent viewpoint I got to see lots of things from lots of angles.  Even sat down at the royal table for a bit, which also never happens.  Weird feeling.  Not quite sure it's "me".  Probably not.

Saturday Morris rocked insanely well.  Our stick's echoes on the rain-conditioned boardwalk took 2 seconds to dissipate - we were louder than the guns on the joust field at that time slot for anybody hanging out back there.  Good crowds catching our more "white shoe" high-energy set.

Then there's the yellowjacket.

13 years and the little shits finally got me.

Also triggered my loudest audible expletive in 13 years, but at least I was in a pub and no kids were around.

Damn finger still itches. (updated - "damn thing still itches" was a little TOO vague)

More later.  Time to sort the garblaundry(tm) and get it started.

Are here...

Highlights:

In spite of it now being October, so far the weather predictions for the weekend have us at once again high seventies, dry, and no rain between now and then.

Not that I ever actually see or know anything about the budgets at all, but hypothetically I would in no way be shocked if I were to see next year's budget have a huge line item for tons of sand to be brought in to replace that which we've all collectively snorted and carved out of our noses over the last 6 weeks.

..will be down on the boardwalk (across from the Fortune Teller booth) at 5:10pm, following the sword fight between messers Sledge and Spike (a fun show, feel free to come early to see it at 5).

Now these were all taken on cheap-ass kodak disposables, so they're not nearly as high quality as the more recent digital shots.  Hey, I just wanted souvenirs, not art...

Shots from 2000 are mostly Otter meet-n-greets and 4 from the cast party.

Shots from 2001 are pub sing shots including Mia belly-dancing and Rex the Pirate (getting hit by water from Zach), plus the wenching/roguing of Josie and (then still) Tyma.

Favs:

Mostly MacBeth and Fight School Reloaded...We're not even sure which of us took them. :)

Highlight shot:

Google maps has updated the satellite shots of Crownsville, MD, and the shots were apparently taken in the winter time: all the trees are just sticks and shadows and so its much easier to see the buildings of the site than in past shots where most of it was just bushy green trees.

of course, it also makes the site seem much dirtier than we know it is, but that may just have been taken right after a rain storm or something...

why september 22/23 has so completely escaped my mind?

for some reason i kept holding on to sep 29/30 as adventurers weekend in my head and not the 22/23rd even though i was pretty sure there was only one weekend in between the special event weekends.

*sigh*

it's almost like i *want* this season to end quickly.  i don't.  i just don't want to deal with tomorrow's 88 + humid days in the wool.  i'm already short-kilting it to keep my sanity intact.

side note: in digging through the accessories bin to find my scottish kilt pin crap, i found my clip clock!

This is the third labor day weekend in a row that I can recall where *everybody* had a damn camera, usually really big ones with huge lenses and all that flash-control crap on it.  Some of them even used real film (oooooohhhh....)!

Is this some kind of club?  Is there a place online where all of these pictures end up?

...I usually have the "oh, they're not there anymore" reaction to seeing old cast people and performers.

But instead, watching Ben Howard's footage from 1997 (the "official" Day in Revel Grove commemorative video released in '98), I'm more amazed at the constants, at who's still there.

There's a lot of people doing different things than they are now, but so many people there are still around, 10 years later, that I don't feel quite as isolated as I did last year when looking back and seeing only faces no longer around.