BITE ME

What this has to do with the Renaissance is beyond me. Someone was walking around in this costume at Artica a couple of weeks earlier, where it seemed more appropriate. Unless there was a little-known Jurassic Renaissance (of what?), this can't be about anything more than dress up and be silly. That's worthwhile by itself.         

THE CHORUS

A group of young women dressed in period costumes, more or less, at the Renaissance Faire. Their sound was beautiful but the picture illustrates a problem for me and, I'm sure, some other photographers. I don't remember what they were singing. I/we can focus so much on getting an image that we fail to really experience what is in front of us. My loss, but I don't multitask well.       

COMBAT

One of the big draws at the Renaissance Faire is fake jousting. Two people dress as knights, whip the crowd up and have at one another on horseback. Unfortunately, there had been some rain and it was announced that the field was too muddy for the horses. This led to other displays of ferocity.             

MERMAID BARBIE

An annual feature of the Renaissance Faire is Mermaid Cove. Women sit by a little fake pond wearing fishy scales and flippers over their legs. What this had to do with the likes of the Medicis, Leonardo, Copernicus, Shakespeare or Montaigne is - well, nothing at all. Kids like it. This one was supposed to be Mermaid Barbie. Maybe poetic license taken to the extreme.           

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT

https://tinyurl.com/mr369u2y  We leave Our flaming Lady of Artica until next year. Next up is another autumn STL event, the Renaissance Faire. The conceit is that our town and Lyon, France, are sister cities (actually true) and it's supposed to be 1400 or 1500-something, I forget, over there. There are events like this around the U.S., mostly run by a for-profit business. It's pretty hokey and people dress up as all sorts of silly things that have little to do with the Renaissance. My granddaughter loves it. 

I believe this chap was heard to exclaim NI!         

I HAVE TO PUSH THE PRAM A LOT

I am so sorry. As I was drafting this post there was something I just could not get out of my head:

So anyway, pretend knights jousting at the Renaissance Faire. Refreshingly, the blue knight is a woman.

Looks like it's going to be too wet to shoot our outdoors Halloween party tonight.         

IT'S THAT TIME OF YEAR

Halloween is a much bigger deal in this country than when I was a child. We would put on something simple and home made, then mooch candy in a couple of the neighboring apartment buildings. Now it's elaborate and sometimes expensive costumes, parties everywhere, outdoor festivals and an increased amount of horror. I don't know if it's a St. Louis tradition, but kids here are expected to say a funny little riddle before they get their loot. (Ellie's favorite: Q Which monster is the best dancer? A The boogie man.) Never had that in Queens.

I'm sure the reason for the difference is commercialism. Anything you can promote to suck in some extra bucks. There is a heavily-promoted outdoor party in Maryland Plaza here tomorrow night, which I may shoot if it's not too cold and wet. Next week I'm meeting our colleague Olivier from Evry, France, on that little island where I was born. We are going to shoot the Halloween parade in New York's Greenwich Village. If it's not too cold and wet. I hear it's just nuts.

This photo is from the Renaissance Faire.               

SCOTLAND THE BRAVE

Lots of places in the US have what they call a Renaissance Faire. The conceit is that an area is supposed to be converted into a slice of 15th or 16th Century Europe. The one here is loosely based on our sister city relationship with Lyon, France.

But that all falls apart quickly. People dress up as faeries, pirates, elves, monsters or whatever suits their fancy. There are lots of shows and they don't necessarily have a thing to do with the Renaissance. This bunch of make believe Bravehearts call themselves Pictus, probably after the people who inhabited eastern and northern Scotland a long time ago. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pictshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picts ). It's a bagpipe and drums with a pretend fierce attitude. For all I know they could be pussycats at home.

Have you ever listened to bagpipes for an extended period of time? I have. It is either A) an acquired taste or B) the road to madness.          

Special Relativity

I wish I could say this. One of many interesting tee shirts at the Ren Faire. (I recently got a tee shirt that says I have a retirement plan. I plan on taking pictures.) But to wear the shirt in this photo you have to be a veritable Einstein or an expert slacker.

TOMORROW IS A BIG MILESTONE FOR ST. LOUIS DAILY PHOTO.                          

                       

So The Light Is No Good?

Almost any photography teacher will tell you to avoid sunny mid-day light. Too harsh, too contrasty. Well, when life gives you lemons . . .

Love the look and especially the hair of the young man on top. James Dean wannabe.                                 

All's Faire

Time to get to some pix from this year's Renaissance Faire. People, sometimes called cast members, wander around in all sorts of strange costumes, not necessarily having to do with the 15th and 16th Centuries. This one is eerie, but if you are old enough you may recognize it as one of the Spy Vs. Spy characters from Mad Magazine.                          

Local Events - Headshots

I never thought I'd say this, but I have more material than I know what to do with at the moment. So, some quickie portraits and head shots from recent events. Only the last is from an occasion already seen, the circus. Let's mix and match for a while to keep things interesting. All will be explained.                   

Anglo-French Truce

As usual, the people from the St. Louis Renaissance Faire were in the St. Patrick's Day parade. I've shot the event several times. Usually the conceit is fake French, mimicking the style of Lyon in the 15th or 16th Century. (It's a little vague.) This year they invited the English - maybe there was a trade of armagnac for whiskey. 

The monarchs were happy to pose together, despite their usual hatred. Their majesties introduced themselves as Hank and Frank, so I assume they were supposed to be Henry VIII and Francois I. Peace at last.

Some of their retinue were hanging around, although few of them appeared to be battle-ready. The gentleman in the kilt is out of order, guarding a couple of cases of bottled water. Anyone else in the parade would have been guarding beer.

Oral Fixation

Thank you for the clinical observation, doctor. You are seeing about one-fourth of the blade of that sword in the first picture. I took a bunch of shots in this sequence and unless the performer was using mirrors, lasers and magic mushrooms to deceive the audience there was only one place for the rest of it to go. Sugoi! as my Japanese teacher used to say when I got something right.

And, by the way, is there a dentist in the house?

There are a couple of good things to shoot today, the street soccer tournament for homeless and formerly homeless people I mentioned yesterday, as well as the Pagan Picnic, the annual gathering of all Wiccans, goddess worshipers, Druids, crystal healers, dream-catchers and telepaths, along with their significant others. It's so great that St. Louis is weird enough to have an event like this. Problem is there is a near-certainty of heavy thunderstorms but no one can say when. Better bring a couple of trash bags  to protect the gear. Maybe for me, too.                                   

Leper

We were sitting on a bench near the end of our visit to the Renaissance Faire, giving Madeleine a snack. When I looked up I saw a man wrapped in bandages, a bell tied to his left hand, walking with what looked like a painful gait. What was this?

It hit me: a leper. This member of the Faire cast was playing a leper. Nothing I will ever see. No idea if this was an ordinary occurrence in Europe half a millennium ago but there I was, gazing at a replica.

I didn't know how to react. It felt cruel to stare but it was just an actor. The man had no actual disease but still it made me cringe. Should I walk over and talk to him about his role? Should I leave him alone? In the end I just sat there and took pictures. Later, I felt ashamed that I hadn't gotten off my rear and made contact.

Note the man on the right, looking through and past the leper-actor. I wonder how he felt.                             

Mysterioso

These two were sitting near the way out of the Ren Faire as we were leaving. They waved - very slowly - at passers-by. The concept was hard to figure out. The first one could be a Venetian carnival costume but I don't know what's up with the second one. The mask looks vaguely like a skull.

Just a bit more from this event to come (I an so short on new material). Tomorrow's post is about something I found very disturbing.                              

Wet Tee Shirt

One of the fixtures at the Renaissance Faire is Ye Olde Dunking Booth. You pay a few dollars, stand in this contraption and a very nice young lady pours a bucket or two of water down a chute and onto your head. Not a contest or a game. You just get soaked.  It seems to be most popular with couples in their late teens and early 20s. 

The allure somehow escapes me but then I'm on the edge of geezerdom. I'd rather shoot it than do it.                     

Special Effects

The Renaissance Faire always has fake jousting and swordplay. When one ne'er-do-well attacked another, the victim ended up with a dagger in the eye and red goo squirting everywhere. Then they get up and do it again two hours later.                                            

Madeleine Monday

My favorite tyke waits patiently for dinner last night while her mom and Mrs. C work the kitchen and grandpa works the Canon. She is rolling around in what the family calls The Tank. Nothing can stop her. 

Her hair-do is something of her own invention, if not her intention. My little punker.
                     

For Jessie and Jilly

A post for my two favorite dog lovers: one whose heart melts for any three-legged pooch in the vicinity of Puget Sound; another who knows the quality and personality of any canine at a glance and was sometimes paid for the skill.

Jessie, I remember visiting some little town north of Seattle with you and Carolyn when you bought your dog a Superman cape. And Jilly, well, what can compare to this?

The dog in this photo may have borrowed the lion's mane from The Wizard of Oz.
                          

Tenor, Baritone, Bass

I can't verify that these singers at the Ren Faire represent these specific ranges of the male voice - I was making photographs, not video - but, hey, I got home really late yesterday and I needed a quick post.