Ren-nerding and a cuteness.
November 16, 2008
Filed under:Lotso Pics
Been a while, but I always say that don’t I?
Lots goes on, but meh, if it’s that important I’ll email you about it. Mostly, I play with kids and work lots and sometimes I even get to go to the park and fly a kite.
Then, occasionally I get my juice up and get createy. I get leather scraps and a stitcher and some scissors and a lumpish half-formed idea and I make something for my reenactment stuff. Latest, I made boots. And they’re actually kind of cool.
The Scottish Highland Fest in Armadale wanted us back again this year and was giving us timeslots for 3 shows, which was awesome, and then the club folks thought we should do a Dark Ages nod to Scotland and asked if anyone wanted to be King Macbeth. Much like the old Gomer Pyle shows, where the entire unit takes a step back and it looks like he’s just volunteered, I got picked.
I’m totally kidding, I poked my little patty up in the air straightaway and hopped up and down while shouting “Ooo! Ooo! Me! Meeeeeeeee!!” The gave my current Celtic outfit a once-over and were all “Um, you need to clean yourself up a bit, if you’re going to be a king. Maybe have a shower too.”
I’m kidding again. They figured that the leather armour and the new shield I made (yep, from scratch, ‘cept I didn’t cut down the tree for the wood - not that kind of scratch) would make me alright, but there’d need to be a new tunic to be all kingly and not the Celtic White Trash that I was previously. I figured I could knock something together, but with fancy braiding and such it might make me curse a lot and punch stationary things. That’s where my sis-in-law Roni stepped in and, once again, rocked so hard that I would offer to marry her, or at least lift heavy things for her, if I weren’t already married to and lifting heavy things for another.
(Photo courtesy of Leanne Petersohn)
Can’t see ‘em, but I made some leg armour too. Looks pretty slick, but when I drew the Celtic knotwork pattern on the leather I used the only Sharpie I could find, a red one. Then I carved out the design and went to wipe off the Sharpie with a scrubber. The resulting effect is a nice inlaid over-under knotwork, in pink. Took some extensive cleaning and a little bit of explaining to the other warrior types.
(Photo courtesy of Leanne Petersohn)
Here’s my brother-in-law Sam, as “Hamish” the dryly sarcastic and rebellious Highlander, who continually evades the law and anything resembling a good nature. During one of the shows, he and I argue about cattle thievery before fighting a bit and my kicking him squarely in the balls (not really, Ron would never forgive me).
(Photo courtesy of Leanne Petersohn)
I changed outfits between shows and became significantly more comfortable if not more stylish as well. Thems the boots I made this week too.
(Photo courtesy of Jax Telford)
This is yet another epic battle between the Scottish Highlanders and the hated English officers. I forget how it started, but winner got to be first in line at AJ’s Ice Cream truck and I got bubblegum flavoured.
(Photo courtesy of Jax Telford)
Me and “Hamish” disagreeing with the idea that he can use his sword to lop my head off only after I’ve put mine up his bum.
(Photo courtesy of Leanne Petersohn)
Matt (left) is “Captain Doyle”, an English officer and Bill (right) is “Roberts” another officer of a slightly higher rank (I forget). If you look close, you can see that on the white mantle around Matt’s neck there’s some lace, making it look quite fancy and earning him the nickname “Captain Doyl-ee” (and yeah, I gave it to him).
(Photo courtesy of Leanne Petersohn)
More of the Dapper Doc, being dry and sarcastic again. Highlight of the Show was him fighting an officer of the Crown (Bill) who was an old mate of Hamish’s. They swordfight while continually trading insults and threats until Hamish accidentally kills him. It was a beaut. My favourite line was Bill, after smacking away Sam’s weapon and in a perfect Northern English accent “Now Hay-mish, I doon’t went to hert ya!” To which Sam replied by screaming “You’re doin’ a bloody poor job of showin’ it!” and then charged at him angrily. Bill’s response, “I doon’t went ya to hert me aye-ther!” while Hamish pummeled him and took his sword.
Classic.
(Photo courtesy of Leanne Petersohn)
Me and Captain Doyle get into it. We clang and bang for a while and then he tried to headbutt me, only to injure himself. He stumbled away and punch-drunkenly announced, “Never headbutt a Scotsman!” The crowd liked this, so I played up the thickness of my skull for ‘em. Not that this needs played up…
(Photo courtesy of Leanne Petersohn)
One of the final fights of the show, where most of the English officers stumble upon us Jacobites at our camp. We fought well, though I can’t really vouch for that as I was clearly dead on the ground. So maybe Sam fought well. Maybe he ends up dead on the ground with me, I don’t remember, but that kind of thing happens a lot to he and I. I did kill the fella on the ground next to me, I think.
All up though, it was a great day. There were lots of stalls and some athletics and a “Bad Piper” in a leather kilt with a bleached mohawk. Not quite the Estes Park Highlands Fest that I’m used to, but it was still a blast to be a part of the performances.
And Yes, before you ask, I did NOT go commando under the kilt. Knowing I’d end up like I did in the picture above, I didn’t want to give the kids in the front row too much of an early education in anatomy.
—————————–
This is just a side bit, of cuteness and stuff that I haven’t had the time to put together from all the different cameras and phones and other image-capturing devices.
(Photo courtesy of me, and BOY am I courteous!)
Jadey loves cuddling fuzzy things and rubbing her face in them. She also likes random hugs. When George is wearing her fuzzy bathrobe, it’s win-win for the Bug.
This one I’d forgotten about, and is part of a series that I’d taken while we were babysitting Corbin. He’s Ron and Sam’s youngest, to refresh your memories, and NO he isn’t doing a Jay Leno impression, hiding softball-sized acorns or stung by mutant killer bees. Its a lymphangeoma, and blah blah medical-sounding crap. He’s beautiful and likes when I steal his nose.
This one is a video I just got in the back yard this evening and captured on my phone. Jadey has watched me blow bubles before, months ago, and worked the lid off the bottle herself. I saw her from across the yard going “pfft! pfft!” on the empty plastic rings, somehow remembering that was sort of what you do.
As you can see, she can’t quite keep from putting it sort of in her mouth, and then nods about the great taste of soap suds. She’s ever-enamoured with seeing herself in video, so once she notices she can see herself in the little display on the phone, she really starts to perform.
—————————–
That’s all for now. Take care of yourselves and do something interesting within the next few days. If it’s something that I would’ve done, and enjoyed, then write me and tell me about it. I love stories.
Smooches.
Share with Teh Intraweb how much you love me:
Balingup Part II
September 13, 2008
Filed under:Lotso Pics
The next day at Balingup was more of a free-for-all with people fighting in Later Period stuff. This show was “Dueling Through The Ages” with Dark Ages Vikings and 15th C. Armoured Knights duking it out one-on-one (in separate fights, of course).
Me and the Doc had been practicing our duelling with cutlasses to maybe do a Pirate Show (remember when I got my black eye?). Turns out, we had enough to put two costumes together and even enough leftover tawdriness that we could gear up a buxom wench, that sis-in-law Roni so graciously volunteered my wife to be.
Dapper and pretending to be a bit drunk in a bar in Tortuga (is that even a real place?).
Buxom wenchage, my wife, bringing drinks to the Doc, who flirts a bit and riles me up. I say something, he hits the mug out of my hand. I take the tray off Jo and smack him with it while she hurries off (bystanders aren’t allowed while we’re being swordy).
Then, he headbutts me and ruins my headwear.
I try to be tough about it but that buzzard drunkenly weaves and taunts me while drinking his “rum”.
We fight intermittently while we’re trading insults. I believe I called him a “Scurvy Scallywag” or even a “Poopyhead” or some such.
Weaving drunkenly helps explain why we so rarely actually sworded each other.
Until he hits me with his mug. Not all of it even spilled, so he threw that in my face.
And punched me.
And tries to cut my head off.
Then throws the mug into my groin (unintentional aim, but a perfect shot). Stunned, I attempt to explain why that wasn’t cool and he HITS me.
…and hits me again. And again. And knocks me down.
Then taunts me, pours whats left of his “rum” and says, “That was fun! Same time next week!”
*********
Later in the day Doc and I were a couple of brigands beset upon by one of the King’s Men. He was quite a dandy and we were drunkenly weaving again. I’m sensing a trend.
I yell lots and make some jokes about his hat and his pants.
In response, he parries away my shot and slices me up the arm.
I politely tell him that it hurt. And then tell him he should go after the guy that’s playing with his hat.
He does. Whups the Doc’s buttocks a bit, and then I step over and kick Doc for drunkenly getting me in trouble again.
In all humility and sincerity, we’re awesome.
The crowd LOVES that kind of stuff, and it’s an absolute hoot to do. We got some laughs and had a righteously good time.
*********
A candid shot. We didn’t even know there were image-capturing machines nearby while she gives me my Kiss For Luck before our show.
Some poserific shots were taken. More than this, but Wife doesn’t even know I’m posting this one, I better be good and not do the others until I ask her.
Isn’t she absolutely beautiful?
*********
These were a CLASSIC. Uncle Shutterbug, Grey Company’s photographic artist extraordinaire, set these up with some of the older gals that were helping stitch a replica of the Bayeaux Tapestry.
Buxom wench being all buxomy and wenchy, showing she’ll have nun of that being pious nonsense.
Then the nuns show her what’s up underneath those habits. HAHHAHHAHAHHA…
*********
Lots of the other pics are here on Flickr too.
All up, a great time, and it makes me kind of sad that’s its only once a year because there were so many pictures and stories over the weekend that it could’ve been a month long.
That’s all for now. I have to go pick up a fridge in my newly purchased 4WD.
What’s that? Oh, I’ll tell all about those things and how we were able to afford them later.
Smooches and hugs all.
Share with Teh Intraweb how much you love me:
Balingup Part I
September 13, 2008
Filed under:Lotso Pics
Time for another random update that begs the question, “Why does it take so long for him to update?” or even “Why does he only do so when he’s got enough pictures to clog my bandwidth and raise the roof on my interwebs?”
A few weeks ago was the annual Balingup Medieval Faire, and The Grey Company nerds made it most excellently awesome once again. The fella that took most of these has them on copyright, so I’m going to say that here as well as show the first image on the CDs he put out to the club… just to show off a little too. Heh.
The two shows we put on on the Saturday were a nice little history lesson on England in the year 1066. First off was some Vikings coming in to try and take over because the Kingery was in some question.
That’s me starring as about the only Viking idiot not in chainmail. I grin because I’m so tough.
Then, I’m so tough that I let others run ahead of me.
Here I’m so damn tough that I let them fight and die too.
Then, they decided that I was so tough I had to fight too.
See? Tough.
Alright, all kidding aside. THIS is tough. This is my brother-in-law, the Doc, who spends most of his days being so nerdy that he nerds harder than any nerd that ever nerded. On his off-time, he’s about the biggest badass out there (fighting as Saxon against us Vikes).
And yeah, he killed me again.
But not before I kilt all these buggers.
Alright, no I didn’t, but I DID kill him too even if there’s no photographic evidence of this.
***********
The second show was about the invading Normans who went after the Kingness weeks after the Saxons whupped up on the Vikings. If you know your history, you’ll know they laid the whuppin’ this time.
The show opened with some nasty Norman Knights setting fire to villages and terrorising the wee folk in an effort to get King Harry to bring his Saxons out to fight.
That’s my nieces and sis-in-law pretending to be scared of me while I don’t really have to pretend at all to be a vicious brute.
A couple of the Saxon Fyrd cruised in to protect the innocent farmer types that I was busy poking with my sword.
So I poked him too, only really hard.
And then taunted his dying self. It was awesome.
There were lots of little fights, setting up the story, and then we had a big one, during which King ‘arold gets an arrow in ‘is eye.
I brutally slay another Fyrd and then helped hack up the body of Ol’ King ‘arold.
Who is dead on the ground at the NEW King’s feet. Doc got to play William, Duke of Normandy, and was proclaimed King of All England when we were done killing ‘arold lots.
Ham that he is, the Doc had me believing that he really was the New King, though that may have more to do with the fact that he’s always ordering me around anyway.
Awesome fun, and the rest of the pics are in the next installment - Balingup Part II.
Share with Teh Intraweb how much you love me: