Where I have been, part two

Vanessa subjected King Henry to her feminine wiles, and he was no match for her sweet words, her gentle tone of voice, and her gentle touch of hand. He softened his message, saying that perhaps he could make an exception for her. But the rest of us should make every effort to wean ourselves off this terrible habit. And with a shake of his head and a furrowing of his brow, the Tudor monarch left us.

Many and wondrous were the experiences had over the weekend altogether, and I am not up to task of relating them all. I can give some highlights that may serve to illustrate what made it so wondrous. I got to wear my two new outfits, which were both a big hit - on Saturday, my yellow brocade doublet with navy blue tights and a dark burgundy chaperone or cockscomb; on Sunday, my olive velour jack with dark green tights and an olive sock cap. Of the two, I would have to say that the latter was more comfortable and successful overall. The jacket has slit sleeves, so that as the weather warmed up during the day, I was able to remove my arms from them and let them hang freely.

And speaking of the weather, both days it was certainly wonderful. High 60s at the peak, plentiful sunshine, a cool breeze now and then. Usually I am sweltering at Ren Faire, but I was comfortable the whole weekend.

Food was the usual sort of thing - turkey drumsticks (tasty but smaller than others I've had), fish sandwiches and chili dogs were among the things I ate. I had heard there was a dessert cart somewhere but I never found it, which was just as well since I am trying to stay away from desserts! As for drink, I had plenty of softdrinks - iced tea, bottled lemonade, for ex. - and also a few beers, mostly a really nice bourbon cask ale they had on tap at the pub my friends prefer.

For entertainments, I just saw a couple of acts - the DaVinci Brothers, a fellow who puts on "operas" with the help of members of audience - quite charming and a lot of fun - and I saw Emrys Fleet's Rat Show which I've seen many times. Emrys just exudes kindliness, and his jokes are sometimes less funny than the way he delivers everything. He is also always a big hit at Pub Sing, the entertainment that ends the day, where all the acts get to do one piece, and lots of the music is the kind of thing the audience can sing along with. As soon as the emcee announces Emrys's name, the audience starts smiling and chuckling. You can tell that there is a lot of genuine affection for him among the regular patrons of the faire.

And of course, we puckers have a special regard for him, since he is our leader, rules maker and breaker, arbiter of disputes, chief troublemaker and all around good friend. Pucking takes place at regular times during the day, usually 10:30 (first puck) and 3:30, and there are some who like to meet unofficially and puck at 1:30 (stud puck) and 5:30 (drunken puck) as well.

My friend Steve is a master pucker, having last season won the coveted Crimson Rat (given to the winner of the tournament held on the last weekend of the Faire). His girlfriend Vanessa and our friend Sarah are among the people competing for the Crimson this season. There is also an Augusta Green rat given to grand masters - that is what Steve will be shooting for this year. I am not shooting for anything, since I am a rank amateur and won't be here for the tournament anyway. I just do it for fun. At some point, maybe I'll start to get good at it...

More later, I am sure! Time to eat my takeout Veitnamese dinner that I bought from a shopping center down E. Fowler, the street my hotel is on.