Ephemera

The last pictures I have to share with you are the pirates.

Pirates? What are pirates doing at a medieval English Renaissance Festival?

The same thing as the Belly Dancers, African Drummers, dragons, etc.

Well, actually, these pirates were selling weapons. As cheap as the weapons were, I can only assume they were captures booty. The pirates seem to keep most of the gold and jewels for themselves and sell the weapons they take off their victims. (Either that, or they're cheap knock-offs they get at great wholesale prices -- but that's not nearly as romantic.)

I first noticed their store earlier in the day from the other side of the faire.

I saw it from the back and wondered what a pirate ship, or more precisely, half a pirate ship was doing there. From the front I saw that there was a store in the hold of the back half of the ship and the roof was the deck and rigging, including a tight-jeaned mannequin of a pirate wench hanging from the ropes.

Late in the day they hold a raffle and auction beside the ship. They give out free tickets for the raffle and I got one. I also saw a Katana like I kind of liked the look of. It was a pretty good price but I hesitated on buying it. At the auction, in addition to regular auctions, and the raffle, they offer specials. They'll hold up and item and name a price. The first person to raise their hand to say they want it gets it at that price. (Or more than one person, if they have multiples of that item.) The last thing they offered was a "really good deal" for $25. They didn't say what it was, but I'd seen enough bargains go by that I decided to take a chance. The auctioneer looked out and did a quick count, them announced they had 50 of these and everyone with their hand up could get one. Then held up the Katana I'd been looking at. For half the price I'd been considering paying earlier. All in all, I thought it was a pretty good deal.

Here's Captain Red, the auctioneer, and Holly, who was collecting the money.

That's it for the pictures. It was my first time there. I had a great time. I hope to go back, and if I do, I'll try to get better pictures. It runs through the beginning of June, so I might make it back this year.

Posted by khitch at 12:04 PM | Permalink

The Georgia Renaissance Festival isn't overly concerned with overdoing the historical accuracy. I'm sure SCA traditionalists would have a fit. Pretty much anything goes. People are just there to have a good time.

The Celtic band Mickle-a-do are actually pretty close to what I'd think was the theme of the event. I just include them today because got a halfway decent picture. Their music was pretty good and the dancers a lot of fun to watch.

Now, the African Tribal Drummers were a total mystery to me. They tried to offer some sort of explanation of how they fit in, but it seemed too much of a stretch. They still put on a pretty good show. Don't worry about justifying it -- just enjoy it.

They also feature a lot of elves and dragons and other fantasy elements. Including this guy, standing in front of a booth that sold shoulder dragon puppets. Actually, I was kind of surprised to see this. Not that many people would recognize it.

Tomorrow … pirates!

Posted by khitch at 08:47 PM | Permalink

One of the main attractions they advertise for the Renaissance Festival each year is the Birds of Prey show.

This provided me with the opportunity to really show off my shortcomings as a photographer, and luck into a couple decent pictures.

First up, we have what I think is a Horned Owl. (Then again, it could be the Hawk -- I can't really tell.)

One of the handlers walked by with the Falcon and I was close enough to actually get a pretty good picture of the two of them.

The Black Vulture flew up the aisle right next to where I was sitting, but I couldn't get an action shot as he flew past. I did get a shot of him on the handler's arm before he walked back up the aisle to the stage. He wasn't keen on overdoing the whole flying thing.

So, I'm not completely incompetent with the camera.

Posted by khitch at 02:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

This past Sunday I went to the Georgia Renaissance Festival with some friends. Had a great time. Got sunburned. Got a Katana from some pirates. (More about that later.)

I had my camera with me and took some pictures. They didn't come out as well as I'd like, but I figured I share them anyway.

The first set is from the first show we saw -- Rags Sharqi dancers. Actually they only mentioned Rags Sharqi once. Partly because they incorporate some non-tradition dance and costume elements, but mostly because they figure no one would know what it was. So they billed themselves as Belly Dancers. I'd think they'd want to avoid that term to avoid the clichéd misperceptions of what they do. But they seem to prefer the more common term.

I really wish I'd been closer for these pictures. If I go back I'll try to make it a point to get a seat down front. As it was we were trying to stay in the shade -- and that didn't work anyway. Oh well.

Posted by khitch at 03:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Sorry about being so lax lately about posting. Here's a large batch to keep you busy for a while.

• Neat flash stuff:   THE NEEN SAMPLES
  • Particularly this:   clinger.swf
• Stupid comments by (suppoesedly) smart people:   ProfQuotes
  
• Massive amounts of time-wastage:  The Sect of Homokaasu -- GasGames
  
• Want to buy a used bumper car?   I T A L : Used Amusement Rides For Sale
  
• Every see a guy you just want to poke in the face?   o_incomodo.swf
  
• Why they serve acohol at wedding receptions:   Ugly Dress.com
  
• Ever worry that random strangers driving down the street don't know what a geek you are?   H-Wing.com
  
• Yet another new kind of kinky:   Random Girls Eating Banana Pics
  

Posted by khitch at 11:38 PM | Permalink

Just recycling a couple items from years past to show I'm still alive.

Ever wonder where Easter Eggs come from?

This is actually last year's display. I didn't get a pic of this year's (which includes a giant, glowing, inflated Easter Bunny).
Personally, I'm disappointed they didn't have a giant, glowing, inflated crucifix.

Posted by khitch at 03:17 PM | Permalink