Realm of the Imponderable

Wazs down at Southfield performing for some Hurricane Katrina evacuees last saturday... apparently they've been cooped up in a hotel there and they're getting bored so someone had the bright odea to organise a picnic/bbq/ whatever sessions for them to perk their spirits up. Would have worked out fine except that the weather threatened rain and hence there were more organisers and staff there than there were actual attendees... I kinda don't blame them, after what they've been through I think they've had enough rain for a while.

So what's the best way to get attention if you step into the role of street performer? Hell I don't know... Obviously banter isn't working (at least for me it isn't) but I've seen buskers in LA who are just downright in-your-face and any nearer or louder and you can call the cops on them and cry "Harassment". (Kinda works more effectively if you're a girl) But one thing stays constant the world over: People are amazingly attracted to fire. Play with it and you'll see crowds just flocking to you like moths to a lamp totally oblivious to the danger. Well, I'll let you in on a little secret here: When you see a juggler with some fire props, chances are if you stand nearby you're in a much more dangerous position than he is. You know why? Cos' he knows exactly what's going on with the fire, and if the shit hits the fan he knows what to do so that he's not in the fire. And the "what to do" part often involves fire flying in every direction other than himself. Sound sensible? Absolutely. Why do you thinkg stage jugglers who play with fire stand so far away from the audience? And those guys who pull stunts like having some poor sod stand in the middle of a passing pattern? Well, they're both really skilled and really stupid. Or foolhardy. Kinda like Jacky Chan. (I meant foolhardy, not stupid. I love Jacky Chan films.)

And on a completely random note, the computers here are retarded; they can access every single web page I call up except my email. And the email's on the same server this computer's hooked up to.

So I've gone a few days without touching my devilstick with serious practice in mind..
bad... er well, not good at least. And no, truth be told the greatest danger doing the albert toss is not to me (or my future generations, if you will) but to whoever may have the misfortune of standing behind me or to my left. Having established that behind is a bad place to be, I got into the habit of checking behind myself first. That was when I discovered that not only has the stick the capability to fly backwards completely not like how I intend it to, but to the side as well. And I nearly broke a nearby street lamp in the process. (Not that this kind of thing happens rarely here... you can see broken street lamps pretty easily if you're looking for them)

And joy of joys, this is the first weekend in a month that I didn't have to devote half of it to working at Renfaire. Know what that means...ZZZzzzzZZzzzzzz...
Yeah. On renfaire days I have to wake up at an ungodly 7am on a sunday morning. That's bordering on sacrilage. Sundays are for sleeping in, not for waking up early (well, that's unless you're a church goer and you chose a church that starts service at some ungo... errr... unearthly hour of the morning. In which case I'm inclined to say "you asked for it")

I'm presently working on a new fight scene, extract from the movie Princess Bride (which I have yet to see) with some other Ring of Steel members. And I should go ask the Meastro if there's an opening for my to slip a fire devilstick performance in our upcoming open house next month.

Oh, and last but definately not least, Happy Birthday, Jo!

Chug the meat grinder

Yep.. school has started again. And they're not laying off the homework or any of that stuff... In one class: First class, receive first assignment, assignment is due in 2 days. woweee... I think I'm going to have a fun term here....

Was working at Renaissance Faire again last monday. As usual, there were crowds, there were the same old performances and having seen them a couple of times over I can safely say that each and every one of them is VERY well rehersed and almost exactly the same. They apparently don't like improv. and don't seem to leave open ended points in the show where they change their act depending on the audience reaction or whatever. Kinda makes it totally not worth going for repeat performances.
And disregarding advice given from fellow Ringers on Renfaire: Don't bring money beyond what you need to spend on lunch and whatever food. You're just going to find something you like and spend it and then when you get home later you wonder why the hell you actually spent you money on that thing. It's true, the ppl there are experts at parting you from your money...
Well, this time around I was actually searching for something appropriate as a birthday present for a friend and so I had a purpose and direction to my otherwise aimless wandering during my break time. And when you're actually looking for something instead of aimlessly wandering around, it's a whole new shopping experience. Come to think of it, maybe that's a fundamental difference between the way guys and girls usually shop... hmmm? So suffice to say, instead of aimlessly wandering around like I used to I ended up really lightening the load in my wallet, another victim of the Renfaire sales monkeys...

So work at Renfaire is up, school is up, welcome to the meat grinder