Scarlet Fest

A must-see event!

The full name is actually Scarlet's Mid-Winter Renaissance Festival. Lane and I attended this event because Dotti’s two belly dance troupes were dancing. She had warned us it was kind of weird. Man, oh man! We all came to the conclusion that they hold this thing just so they can have a reason to dress up in their costumes during the off season. And I don’t mean just the participants. A great many people who had simply come to look around were in costumes. There were the typical things you’d expect to see … Lords, Ladies, wenches, etc. There were some really great costumes and some that people had just barely made a pass at making a costume. And then there were all the …. um ….. “others”.

* Pirates were the largest representation by far. I suppose pirates at least fit into the era in which this event is supposed to represent. Jack Sparrow himself was there. Honestly, this guy had the look, the costume and the movements down! All except for the jeans he was wearing. Seriously. If you're going to go to THAT much work to duplicate a character, why would you not find some breeches? Not to mention that faire rumor is that the guy really thinks he's Jack Sparrow.

* We observed at least two Ninjas. This seemed "off" but then again, no one said this was limited to Renaissance Brittan.

* Zorro? Ditto the above I suppose

* A few men in kilts, including a Braveheart wannabe who slapped on a kilt with his work boots and Fruit of the Loom tee shirt and painted half his face red. Still, you'll hear no complaints from me on this one as I love a man in a kilt.

* A couple of revolutionary war soldiers. These just missed the renaissance by nearly a century.

* A cave woman. This chick missed the time-line mark by several millenia.

* Mermaids. Well, mermaids are just timeless, aren't they?

* A bear-trainer with his bear which was both cool and appropriate. Except that the bear actually acted like a bear. He was never cute and friendly with the myriad kids who came up to see him. So, was this guy very good in sticking in "character" as a bear? Or like Jack Sparrow and thinks he's really a bear? Seriously, at most events you would assume the former. At this one .....?

* A guy in a fox costume that is generally believed to be a “furry”. This would have been kind of funny (in a creepy way) except that, at one point, Lane said "I think that Fox is staring at me." And we think maybe he was.

* Several people that we had no idea what they were trying to be. One girl was wearing red and white striped socks that came up over her knees, a short, black skirt that had points and made you think of someone trying to dress like a sexy witch, a kimono blouse with a bustier over the top and a pirate hat. It's anyone's guess what she was supposed to be.

* Last, but not least creepy, was Marilyn Manson. Seriously, it had to have been him.

Honestly people, if you leave anywhere near Oklahoma City, please go to this event next year. It's fairly (pun intended) small so not a lot of things to do. You won't need them. Park a chair in a corner and watch people walk by. I promise you no end of amusement.

EDIT: Some chick posted this very shaky video of some of Scarlet Fest on You Tube. Sadly, most of the nuttier characters are not featured. You do, however, get a brief glimpse of Marilyn Manson and, more importantly, my beautiful sister dancing. At about 4:21 notice the one on the left in the purple. That's her.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDZ4MYY7ahg

Ma'am, I Salute You!

I was at the grocery store yesterday picking up a few random items. In the produce section, an older woman stopped me to ask a question. She had to have been 70 at the bare minimum and I'm guessing that's a pretty conservative estimate. After a short chat, she introduced herself as Theda Lastnamewithheld. She then laughed and told me that her brothers were John, Joe and James. With three such traditional boy names, her silly parents named her Theda Bara. I believe I actually goggled.

"But," I sputtered, "She was a ... a .... "

"Vamp?" she supplied.

"Yes!" Still goggling.

She just laughed. "Yes, she was."

It was at this point that I finally gathered my wits about me and closed my gaping mouth but couldn't quite restrain a laugh. I told her that was hands-down the coolest thing I'd heard in a very long time. I mean, no offense, but for someone of her generation to name a child after someone as racy as Theda Bara ... well, that just rocks.

Pally Poems

Levi was pretty bored in one of his classes Friday. It's one of those that give waaaaay too much time to get assignments done. So he wrote the following poems about his Paladin. Enjoy!


Some call us zealots,
wielders of the light.
Some know us as protectors,
the will of vengeance.
Those who would oppose us
say we are fanatics
of a lost cause
and a blind devotion.
But know this,
enemy of the kingdom,
scourge of humanity ...
none can withstand our faith.
- January, 2009


Foes lurk behind every corner, demons in every shadow.
They will strike with brutal force in their desperation to stop us.
Every man who falls shall have peace,
knowing he died in the restoration of sanctity,
order and sactuary for our kingdom.
Ready yourselves, my brothers.
Hammers of our righteous vengeance shall soon thunder across the land.
The crusade begins at dawn.
- January, 2009

[The preceding works are unpublished and all rights, including copyrights, are retained by the author.]

Frankie

From Rags to Riches

Remember the kitten Steve found a few months ago on the highway late one night? Scraggly, starving, parasite-infested. We nearly lost her as she was too young to even eat solid food. Luckily, we discovered this in time and got her on milk replacer.



Well, after getting her cured of all her ailments and fed up, three months later, she's growing into a gorgeous kitty, huh?

Of course, I had forgotten how much having a kitten in the house was like having a toddler again. She's into everything all the time and, thanks to her, by Christmas there were virtually no ornaments left on the bottom one-third of the tree. Lucky for her she's so cute.