READY FOR HALLOWEEN

 

Now that’s eye contact. Halloween is a big, commercialized deal in the United States and this visitor to the Renaissance Festival looks ready to dish out more tricks than treats. No knocking on her door.            

MARAUDERS

 

So-called renaissance festivals have become a fixture around the U.S. and, I think, Europe. We took Ellie yesterday. People dress in all sorts of strange costumes, very loosely in line with the theme. This man attended with his nephew. He told me he had immigrated from Denmark about four years ago (although his speech made it obvious that this was made up) and started a farm in the region. Friendly, garrulous and happy to pose, but he kept addressing me as grandfather. Is it that obvious?                  

BEGONE, SATAN

Well, uh, this was just the last good photo from the Renaissance Festival. The man, who was running the swing-the-big-hammer-and-ring-the-bell amusement, probably doesn't know a thing about karma. 

We spent much of Saturday on a long and unusual boat ride on the Mississippi River. Images to follow.  

THE DECLINE AND FALL OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION

Every generation thinks that its children and grandchildren are degenerate and will bring about the collapse of all accomplishments of the past. That hasn't happened so far, although the older people in charge now might actually accomplish it. Still, the power to openly and massively express contempt for what has gone before has bloomed in the last 50 years. It's the doing of my generation. (I was at Woodstock, etc., etc.) 

And now we have this. I'm sure they are perfectly nice young people behind the shirts but, virus or not, we're not inviting them to dinner.          

FAIRYLAND

There is always a back area at the Renaissance Festival known as the Fairy Village with lots of variations on that theme. There are usually people in costumes who take on the role but the scale was reduced this year for obvious reasons. As I approached this figure I thought it might be someone who coated herself in gray and stood still as a statue, like the street performers you see in Leicester Square or Times Square. We wandered the area for some time but saw not a twitch. I assume it was a mannequin.             

TAUTOLOGY

An exercise in formal logic at the Renaissance Festival. If A = B and B = C, then A = C. Trump doesn't drink so draw your own conclusions.            

RAPTOR

Entertainment and education. There are still hawks in this area but there are environmental and population pressures. Young hawks have difficulty surviving. The man works for an organization (the name escapes me) that finds hawk chicks, literally trains them to hunt, and then releases them back into the wild. 

We did some hawking once in Ireland, an experience we will never forget. https://tinyurl.com/y3udp4ys              

KIDS, DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME

After Ellie and this performer were finished their stunt, he went on to do other amazing things. This ladder goes a couple of more rungs past the bottom of the frame. There was nothing to brace the bottom while he rocked gently left and right. Note that his left leg is in front and his right leg is in back. Then he did this thing that would put any dragon to shame. He explained briefly how it's done but I was too busy with exposure and framing to remember.

But it made me think: how does someone learn to do this? At what risk of horrible injury? And how do you find a teacher? He said that he tours the festival circuit during the warmer months (he somehow makes a living on this from tips) and spends the winter practicing and learning new tricks. I think law school was easier.         

 

MADELEINE MONDAY

Ellie had a great time at the Renaissance Festival, going to shows and riding every amusement in sight. She is not shy in the slightest and volunteers for every audience participation stunt. She really liked this juggler-fire eater. When he asked for a child to assist him, she stood, waved her arm and magic wand and out-shouted a couple of other kids. Once onstage, the performer asked her a couple of times if she was up to this. Oh yes. Ellie looked nervous for a moment when she thought that she might have to eat the fire but she didn't leave. Now, at the critical moment, see the look of wonder and delight on her face.

This kid is brave. Sometimes I worry that she might be a little too brave but if she keeps holding her hand up and waving her wand, she may get what she wants out of life.              

Gratuitous Violence

The Renaissance Festival always has a jousting show, but it was different this year. After a few runs on horseback with lances, the knights dismounted and engaged in hand-to-hand combat. It got nasty.

These pictures are in chronological order. It felt genuinely dangerous. Never before did one knight slit the throat of the other and leave him to die, spouting fake blood, in the dust. I thought it was horrifying, perhaps reflecting the darker side of America. The audience was  full of children. Madeleine, of course, was too young to get it but she did look over my shoulder while I was editing these shots. "He's mean!" she exclaimed. 

Yes, really mean.              

In Days Of Old When Knights Were Bold

 

The Renaissance Festival always has jousting, a crowd-pleaser but about as real as American professional wrestling. There's more build-up than action - lots of trash talk, boasting and killing time. But once the competition begins, well, stay out of the way.

It's usually pretty tame but this year's version became graphically violent and, you know, there were lots of kids in the audience. More about that tomorrow if time permits. Two major annual photo ops overlap this weekend, Artica and Studio Open House. I want to catch as much of both as I can but I also need uninterrupted time at work. We'll see how it goes.

              

Something New

There were some additions this year to the Renaissance Faire or Festival or whatever it styles itself these days. One of them is Mermaid Cove. A few young women in costume hang around a concrete water course making noises like porpoises at a Sea World show. A bit bizarre but good for photographers.

This has about as much to do with the Renaissance as Donald Trump has to do with humility. The event is turning into a weird costume party with lots of beer swilling. (In one of my shots the second mermaid is knocking down a tankard.) 

If you don't care for this, we haven't gotten to the blood in the sand yet.       

Aux Armes, Citoyens!

That's what I think of when I look at the top picture. I tend toward loose associations, which can be a good or bad thing. But there's really nothing revolutionary here. It's just one of the acts at the Renaissance Festival. The conceit is that these two ladies are washerwomen is some vaguely pre-industrial time and place in England. It's a comedy routine, very silly, with lots of audience participation (some of which is involuntary). A little bit bawdy but none of the children in the audience were shooed away. We enjoyed it.             

Repose

Lounging in the so-called fairie area of the Renaissance Festival. The outfit and the chair already has an old fashioned look so I thought a sepia treatment would fit well. The thick hair, deep, languid eyes and slack posture make me think of a young Lord Byron.  However, the youth doesn't look old enough to have anything stronger than Coke in that tankard.      

Why Do They Dress Like This?

Many people wear eccentric costumes to the Renaissance Festival. When chatting with one of them, Mrs. C mentioned that we attend almost every year. Why don't we wear costumes then? she was asked. I dunno. Never been into costumes.I guess I'm secure enough in my own identity.

There was one shirt for sale, though, that I might try next year.                  

Madeleine Monday

We haven't had the moppet on here much during a busy summer. She came along to the Renaissance Festival, of course, which is starting to have about as much to do with the Renaissance as Donald Trump's tweets have to coherence. Anyway, there was an area for children to interact with animals. Madeleine was particularly taken with this hefty python. It must have been full because it was pretty soporific. And she'll be introduced to Monty, but not for a while.

The day was cloudy and the tones cool but she can still  light up a picture.                 

Passing The Torch

It's the time of year again for the local Renaissance Faire, now subtly re-branded as the Renaissance Festival. (Why?) We took Madeleine out, more about which tomorrow.

The first act we encountered was this fellow who calls himself Crazy Boy Coy. Sure, everyone has seen fire eaters/breathers but I still haven't a clue how it's done. Obviously there is a technique but can you imagine trying it for the first time?