It's dumb, but it's a fun kind of dumb.
My brother gave me a hard time once about how I raved about Ren Fest when I was in junior high.
I'm sure I was ridiculous about it. It was an intoxicating blend at that age, a cocktail of fantasy, theater, history, and unashamed nerdiness all served up with a twist of sex appeal.
The Sin Seller was who really hooked me. In hindsight, she might have been no older than seventeen, but when you're a fourteen year old male, a seventeen year old girl is an exotic older woman.
I can't recall what I 'paid' for my sin, I hear the acts can collect tips but not charge a fee. Whatever, the sin seller wore a costume reminiscent of a court jester costume, with form-revealing tights extending from the suggestion of a skirt and plenty of cleavage.
She sold me lechery.
Told me she could see that lechery would be the perfect sin for me, then proceeded to pantomime fitting me with a full body suit of it. I don't think she touched me, but she made me absolutely weak in the knees.
Come to think of it, one of the Bad Influences in my life back then who was probably partially responsible for me discovery the Renaissance Festival is now one of the stars of the show.
Mayhem of the Jolly Rogers was a two years ahead of me at Hocker Grove Junior High and actually was the first one to suggest I go to Lobster Land.
That would have been, what, 1981 or so? Forty years later, he makes at least part of his living as a singing pirate. Some guys have all the luck.
Obviously I had fun with my Nikon on this trip.
Depth of field is still like a new discovery to me. That and being able to capture fast action.
I even enjoyed the joust. In the past, it's turned me off, so professional wrestling.
But I guess I've broadened my horizons to embrace a little bit of sports theater.
Oh, word to the wise: if you are waiting in line for the Mermaid Cove exhibit, make sure your kid's age is a single digit. Mo posed for a shot with the teenaged girl lounging in a large aquarium with a foam mermaid costume, but she was clearly not impressed with it.
I had a big moment of nostalgia when I came across a duo singing Old Dun Cow. I had some Marty Burke tapes when I was in high school acquired at science fiction conventions (part of Marty's circuit back then—the 'filk sings'), and that was always one of my favorites.
I hear Marty passed away a couple of years back, and I seem to recall that it was after a long and debilitating illness. Sad to hear, he was one of the best mood casting performers I've ever had the privilege to hear.
I didn't find Old Dun Cow, but Red Haired Mary will give you an idea about what Marty was all about.
It was perfect weather, too. Looking at the forecast, we might have grabbed the last truly fair weekend of the season to go. Wish my oldest daughter could have joined us, but it wasn't to be.
I guess I went a little crazy with the camera. Three full 8GB cards, actually. I tried to video one of the Jolly Roger's songs, but I'm so unfamiliar with the D7000's video features I couldn't get it running. It's kind of a shame to carry that capability around and never exploit it, though I got the thing for still shots, and would have bought it even if it didn't have video capabilities.
Just shy of a thousand frames, though. Took me most of a week to get around to sifting through them for what I wanted to share here.
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