Sunday, November 23, 2008

Password reset

So, I haven't posted recently because I forgot my password. I had to notify google to get a new one, and they sent me a url to do that. Unfortunately, I clicked on it a couple of days later (today) and they expire after an hour. That wasn't really a problem. I submitted for a new one, got it a few minutes later and got a new password. I actually think it is my old password, I just finally remembered it. But now I can blog again.  So I'll do that some time this week, not to sweat.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

The Rest of Day Three

So, as I mentioned, for most of the rest of the day we all pretty much walked around.  There were always at least two of us working in the tent, which was really all we needed.  I tried working when there were three of us in the tent and I'd feel in the way.  If I was a third working the tent who wasn't showing merchandise or taking money, I'd stand outside and be the "Wal-Mart greeter", as I liked to describe it.  I didn't really need to hawk our wares.  The pretty colors and shiney ribbons pretty much spoke for themselves.
One of the things Brigg wanted to do when we first walked the fair (before it had opened) was archery.  There was an area devoted to archery lessons, and it was somewhat popular.  It came in waves, or as I like to say:
 "Everyone gets the same great idea at the same time."
By this time, we were all pretty low on our faire money, so when we walked by, Brigg said she didn't want to do it.  One of us asked how much it cost, so I looked at the sign: $3!  Along with our booth, this was probably one of the best deals at the faire!  So we all chipped in a dollar and paid for Brigg's archery lessons.
Photo opp!
When Brigg got in line, there were only a few people in front of her.  Once she was the second person in line, the line was super long.
So, you go onto the field with seven arrows.  An instructor shows you how to hold the bow, how to place the arrow between your fingers, etc.  Brigg was a really good shot!  All but one of her arrows hit and stuck the haystack, and the instructor immediately took the credit. "She couldn't have done it without me!" He boasted, so we all applauded him.
This is my artsy-fartsy movie poster-type shot.  I like it.
So Brigg got to do her archery, and we walked around some more.  That was pretty much how our last day at the faire went.  I forgot to mention that on Saturday, we had also seen this show on the Field of Honor called "Blood of Heroes", I think.  It was essentially tag football with armor and (real) weapons.  It was pretty cool.  Our team lost, but it was lots of fun.  After the first play, one of the men from our team proposed to his wench in the audience.  One of the players brought her down onto the field, and the guy got down on one knee.  He was literally her knight in shining armor!  It was awesome, she said "yes", they kissed and the crowd roared!  In the next play, a guy got injured.  He was okay, but couldn't play anymore and had to be escorted off the field.  While we felt bad for him, everyone was extra-relieved it wasn't the guy who had just proposed to his girlfriend.
Once the faire closed, it took us about an hour to take the rest of the merchandise down and pack it up.  But Brigg's uncle insisted on taking down the tent and loading the trailer by himself, so we sat in the van for another three hours.
Once we got back to the room and into our present-day clothes, Brigg's aunt wanted to go out onto the strip.  So all of us ladies went out to Excaliber, Luxor and Mandalay Bay.  We didn't do anything crazy, we just walked around.  If you ever want to go to a coffee shop with great service at midnight, go to the one at the Luxor.  Our waiter was great!  We were really craving ice cream, but there was any listed on the late-night menu.  Our waiter said he thought he could get us some, and when I was a waitress we had to get it ourselves, which could be a time-waster on busy nights.  He came back with these huge sundaes for us!  Jan asked for chocolate ice cream, and he served it to her in a large martini glass with a chocolate swizzle stick!  Put simply, it was above and beyond what we were expecting, so he got a generous tip.
Walking through the Luxor while it's going through it's "ix-nay on the amily-fay" remodeling was interesting.  I hadn't been to Las Vegas in about four years, and the last time I had I stayed at the Luxor.  So seeing it go from it's golden/archeologist theme to it's blue/Chris angel theme was a little bumming, but not so bad.  
After all of the walking we did, we headed back to the hotel for some rest. 

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Day Three, Continued

More shots from the last day of the faire.

It's the group that shoot the cannons at that little boat made out to look like a ship!
The Romans.  Yes, the Romans.
These girls danced a lot that day.  I just didn't think they had enough enthusiasm.  I know, when you think ancient Egyptian, the first word that comes to mind isn't usually "enthusiasm".  Still, they weren't my favorite.
This was during the jousting show on the Field of Honor, the arena our tent was right in front of.  We heard this show so many times, we decided to go and actually see it.  Pictured above is the MC.
Random crowd shot.
Did I mention Lord Fred?  He sat beside our tent, and attracted children and adults, alike.  The story for Fred goes that he once ruled over a piece of land in Europe, when a wizard came and stole the land from him.  Poor Fred was turned into a gargoyle by the wizard, and he's been stoned ever since.
 
Brigg and her sister, Bran, who came on Saturday and helped us on Sunday.
Brigg's Aunt, the lady who made all of the wonderful stuff we sold.
We walked around again, and saw the warriors posing for pictures. I decided it was time for a photo opp!
The first time, Brigg accidentally pushed the button too soon.  The warriors were kind enough to pose again.
There we go.
After the picture, the big guy on the left motioned to give me a hug.  I went to hug him back, and the warriors started to close in on me!  It was fun.
I noticed that the atmosphere was much more relaxed and cheerful on Sunday.  Maybe it was just me?  Maybe it was because it was the last day?  Maybe it was because the weather was finally starting to improve?  Who can say.
The heathens love the Romans.
These gentlemen are the King's Swordsmen.  I saw them earlier this year at the Koroneberg Festival in Corona, CA.  They fence to a few Shakespeare scenes that normally don't have fencing in them, such as the wooing scene in "Taming of the Shrew", as shown here.  Richard, the gentleman on the ground, is Kate.