Vakkotaur

I used to go to the Minnesota Renaissance Festival (MnRF)* multiple times per season, and for a few years even sprung for the season pass. Eventually I gave up on that as having the pass made it seem an obligation to "get my money's worth" out of it every weekend that had halfway decent weather. And after seeing all the little Iowa faires that used to be, and Siouxland, and WiRF when it was (and even a few truly bad faires that were one-shots or ought to have been) MnRF paled in many ways.

But it's been several years since I went, I had the time this year, and opening day/weekend generally has the most enthusiasm with the least crowd, and my mother and a friend of hers and my sister would all likely be there. So today I went. Before I caught up with folks (admittedly more by chance than plan) it was alright, but did seem like it would be a rather "meh" day.

After that, well, it was this fellow's first RenFest and he was excited about almost everything and that certainly helped things. Having family around didn't hurt either. But I suspect that my one day at MnRF will be enough for this season. A few things struck me:

1. The prices. I know I've not been to anything besides Siouxland for some time, and I was expecting "faire prices" but not quite as bad as what I saw. I think the only thing on par with other places were the pickles.

2. The gravel for pathways is really coarse. I don't recall noticing that before, but then MnRF was my first RenFest and what I went to often so I may have been used to it then. Now I am used to other places and what MnRF has seems of really poor quality. I now wonder how they don't have more ankle injuries and the like.

3. I met Anna (of Siouxland) for a moment and the brief conversation rather confirmed the feeling I've long had, which is that everyone (patrons, vendors, entertainers) has more fun at Siouxland. Evidently at one after-faire gathering someone had tried to poach some the folks who performed at Siouxland only to get told, in essence, "You don't get it. We('d) pay to be here!" (Not that the folks at MnRF aren't having a good time. It's that at Siouxland they have an even better time.)

Was it a bad way to spend a day? No. I might do it again. But not this season. I'd much rather save up time & money for Sioux City Riverssance in October. And if I miss MnRF next year, well, I won't be upset.

I used to get "faire fever" after an extended time of not going to renaissance faire. Used to. Last year jmaynard and I decided that we wouldn't get season passes to MNRF. He didn't make much use of his last year, though that was a result of his work and his Jimmy Kimmel appearances rather than avoidance. I found I went every weekend as sort of felt I had to to get value out of the pass. Also, I did visit with rillaspins and others.

I didn't even go opening weekend of MNRF this year, and I like the opening weekend as it's generally the least crowded and the most enthusiastic (others still have faire fever, and haven't lost their voices yet on the first day). Rilla isn't doing her spinning demos this year, I've seen many of the acts, and as for most of the shops, well, it is like paying to walk around a mall. The magic I used to feel, isn't quite there. Maybe it's the sausage problem: I know a bit too much about what goes into it. Or maybe it's something else.

Jay and I did see Zilch, who is good as ever (and one of the trees shed an acorn or such onto a wooden bench in perfect rimshot timing at one of his non-story comments). We saw the Dew Drop Jugglers who had some new stuff and it was good to see them on dry land, even if they did keep the torch count down to nine then. Vilification Tennis had an unexpected zinger as the first group started with a "Your mother is so fat..." insult, and the guy's mother was in the audience (she got pointed out, and pointed herself out, objecting) this got quite a crowd reaction. We stayed late enough to catch the first Ten Seconds of Harmony show R-rated singing. They're good (though they could lose the "house band" intro bit which was more loud than good).

We also stopped and watched the end of a large walk-on (but not living pieces) chess game. It was mildly interesting, but something I could easily have walked away from. Somewhere in the day I encountered one of the faeries, who was playing a pair of recorders or such from time to time, as she went about, and giving some small trinket (I didn't get a get close look) to younger kids. I followed her for a while, seeing how long it would take for her to notice me or for someone to point me out. I was surprised at how long that took, but someone did eventually point me out. The faerie turned, acted slightly scared and more indignant, and then I went along with her playing music to lull me... so she could run off. That's probably the bit I'll remember most from this year.

Mistress Bawd was not performing at MNRF as she who plays Mistress Bawd has evidently had enough with some of the nonsense. She'd perform there again, but as she always had, not with some changes she sees as being disadvantageous for both her and her audience. I don't blame her. The surprising thing was seeing her at all, as she just moved to Ireland.

On the way out, Jay and I decided we really don't need to go back to MNRF again this year. We might, but we'd need reason to, which wouldn't be MNRF itself, but seeing some folks we might not otherwise see. I can't really point out any specific thing, as each act I saw was good, we did visit a few folks, and nothing was outright bad. Yet when we were passing time (Ten Seconds of Harmony's first show is at 3:00) I was looking forward to leaving. I'm not to the point of not going to faires anymore - I still enjoy Siouxland, and I wish Waterloo and Salisbury (Des Moines' last real renfaire, I think) and maybe another of the Iowa faires were still around. But when the idea is money first, and maybe someone will be entertained, well, it shows, and it's disappointing.

* At work during the heavy rains last week, I felt the curious feeling that I normally only notice in the Winter during a storm. I can't really describe this feeling, but I recognized it right away, and it was odd to have it during a Summer storm.

* On the way to MNRF (Saturday September 18) the car passed the 90,000 mile mark on the odometer. This post shows that 80,000 miles was passed on January 5 this year. I'm putting more miles on the Corolla this year since I'm driving more than the last couple years. The last couple years, Jay drove his RX300 on most longer trips. But he's not been around for much of time I'm on going any distance this year.

* I am amused by going to a RenFest and getting offered a computer, or parts thereof. It seems a bit surreal. Not that I'm complaining, mind. I already have a use in mind, should things work out. And after seeing how things have gone with jmaynard since April, it's not all that surreal.

* Also amusing were the couple guys, in garb, who came up to me in the morning at MNRF and treated my walking stick as if it were a real horse, even being careful not approach from behind.

* Having a cooler of icewater available on the drive home helped considerably. I can drive up to Shakopee in the cool morning without needing water, but the hotter afternoon demands more hydration. I got home and felt pretty good.

* It's finally Fall, or Autumn if you prefer, and that means an end to annoyingly high temperatures. Sure, it has been a bit cooler this Summer, but the peaks were still annoying. I'm feeling more alive again. I like this season. It cools down, the humidity drops, and the bugs disappear. October is pretty much the ideal month, to me, in regards to climate.

It seems like I spent most of the day talking to, or listening to, rillaspins but there was more to the day than that. I might not have done all that much in the way of watching acts, but I had fun with what I did do.

I got started a bit later than planned, so I didn't see how the opening ceremonies were done without the King, but I'd heard later that it was pretty much the same concept as last year, only with just the Queen. Also, the trumpeters supposedly actually played some music rather than just fanfares. I might try to see (and hear) that at least once this year.

Once inside, I was making my way to Rilla's grove and encountered the unicorn as I did. I had to play a bit and scritch the unicorn and "kiss" her hoof - that got a good reaction from her. I don't know if anyone was watching, so if there was any more reaction, I didn't see it. This was repeated later in the day when I saw the unicorn again and I was told that was the new person learning how to go about things. The second time we weren't in a crowd and I heard the handler compliment the unicorn on her silent interaction. I did not try to make off with the unicorn as in a previous year...

I had the feeling that I had forgotten something. I had. There were some photos from Siouxland that I intend to give to Mistress Bawd. They completely slipped my mind until I was talking with Rilla. I'll have to find those photos this week and have them ready for next weekend.

There was a new street bit this year. Or at least I saw one new street bit yesterday. There might well have been much more, but I was in or near Rilla's grove most of the day. In this bit two fellows hold up a canvas hung from a horizontal pole. On this canvas is a picture of two large draft horses who've been dubbed Chestnut and Buttermilk. There are two cutouts so it's a bit where you can get your picture taken (your or your friends' camera) as a horse. But that's not all, folks. Then they turn it all around and it's a picture of two horses from the other end, tails up flying in the breeze. It's surprising how many people are willing to have their picture taken that way. There were a couple couples who wanted their picture taken but didn't have a third member of the party and one person can't hold up the canvas alone, so I got drafted into taking a couple pictures. One guy tried to tip me (did I look like part of the bit? I may have.) and eventually I just accepted - and then put that in the tip basket since I wasn't part of the bit, at least not officially. Not that I didn't have my fun with it, too. When it wasn't too active I'd look out from behind the canvas (when it was front-side out) and ask people who came by "Is this my good side? Would you like to see my other side?" but that didn't seem to get much. Rilla had brought out some carrots and celery for a few folks at one of the picnic tables near or in her grove. I was offered, and accepted. I did get a couple good reactions (looks, a smile or chuckle) when I stood behind the canvas and looked through it (again, front side out!) and ate a carrot. I got Rilla to take a couple pictures of that, but I have quite a bit of that roll of film to shoot before I get it developed.

Later I made my way to Sunrise River (they say they'll have their web site better in a while...) and was looking at (and sniffing) the varieties of soap displayed. The layout is such that my back was to checkout area. As I was looking I heard from behind me, "That's the wintermint guy!" and a quick explanation that I bought a lot of their wintermint (wintergreen and peppermint) glycerin soap. A moment later a young lady addressed me, "I bet you're looking for wintermint." Surprisingly, I was actually looking for something else, which I was told they had, but it wasn't wrapped and ready for display. That didn't stop them from making a sale, however. I was offered what I wanted, and asked if not being wrapped and labelled would be a problem. I assured her it would not be. She also told they were discontinuing the wintermint glycerin soap. They would still have wintermint, but in the lye soap form. I took advantage of this to buy most of the wintermint glycerin soap they had at a steep (at least 50%) discount. When checking out I expressed some disappointment at the change and was assured that the new version would be as good as the old. I replied that I'd be the judge of that. They laughed and told me if it wasn't, I could special order a batch of the glycerin version. We'll see. They did not have the new, lye version yet, so I won't know for a while if it really is as good.

That was pretty much the day, at least as I can remember it.