*Vivi Yip Art Room, 28 May 2009

Oversized doll heads of little girls dominate the canvas, surrounded by vertical and horizontal lines, and graphic shapes that seep and melt around them. Whimsical creatures who seem to stem from childhood fairytales, peer out of the crowded background, inhabiting the frame. The palette is subdued, with regular sweeps of muted brick reds and matte mustard greens. Part comical, with strains of anime, Badruzzaman’s creations deconstruct human interactions and personalities, always with the slightest dash of discomfort for the onlooker.

On canvas is where Badru plays with elements to adorn his paintings, such as foliage and snaking lines, creating a more tangible impression of space. Extensions of the artist’s graphic design background is apparent in the cubic shapes, hexagons and squares, and tiled spatial details of his pieces. The 27-year-old Yogyakarta-based artist, with his clean and defined lines, is inclined to provide the two-dimensional impression of a sleek graphic novel rather than a work of brushed acrylic upon canvas. But Badru, a native of Lampung, was never predisposed towards comic books or the like, his main influence being the street art that run rampant on the walls of Yogyakarta.
“Our attitude, our instinct,” he said, “was just to paint.”
The artist rarely displays his works, this being only his third exhibition. Though when he does, he prefers to express himself on a larger scale, saying “It seems such a waste to place my themes on a small canvas.”
His paintings veer more towards female characters, whose visages he bases on young women who enter his reality. While his male figures, possessing clown-like features, originate from the playful experimentation of his imagination. But these are not pictures of mirth. There is a sense of melancholy behind the children’s faces and, though resembling jesters in a royal court, Badru’s men hold something sinister behind their smiles.
“People have their own characters, I paint them accordingly,” Badru said.
Though the characters who appear to menace his central characters and invade the background change with each new canvas, one makes a routine debut – a bile-green rotund shaped critter with sharp, eager little dentures. Badru has no name for his creature, simply calling it is a symbol of egoism.
“I feel free to criticize people on canvas,” he said,” without them understanding that I have criticized them.”
His themes, Badru explains, all stem from personal experiences. Life’s daily fluctuations, minor joys, tediums, aches and interactions all play a part in Badru’s final pieces. He dips into his past and uses the memories to actualize his canvas. “I find more satisfaction with personal themes of love, friendship and day-to-day life,” Badru said.

Of a painting entitled “Girlfriend: Saving My Dog”, Badru had drawn on his experience with a former lover, depicting a beautiful woman-child with crimson pillow lips and sad bedroom eyes. In a larger  ontext, Badru does touch on universal themes, such as the desire to be accepted. “Hi…”, one of his earlier works, is a painting of a red-headed girl-child with an unadorned background and Badru’s personal favourite.
“She is a person who is lonely at heart, not accepted by the society around her,” Badru explained.
“I see myself as this newcomer, in a strange place, looking for someone to befriend,” he continued. He offers hope for his protagonist in the shape of a little bird that flies above her, playing with a strand of the little girl’s tresses between its beak. Although there remains some paintings that Badru considers too personal to be displayed for the public to scrutinize or enjoy.
“There are pieces which I’d prefer to keep for myself,” Badru said. “It is similar to how some people keep diaries, except mine is on canvas.”

Badru’s pieces can take up to 2 weeks to complete. Concepts, colours and timing are all swayed by the artist’s moods.
“Emotion plays a factor,” Badru said. “If I am feeling emotional, I tend to use warmer colours.”
With each piece, Badru begins with a rough sketch on paper before spilling his images on to canvas.
“I feel the power [on the canvas] to be more creative. I can add and embellish,” said Badru, who never limits himself to adhere to the original sketches he draws.
Badru has simple ambitions – to introduce his art to the public as he utilizes the canvas to release his past experiences and emotions. What he strives is to maintain a style that is unique to him.
“It is hard to accept comparisons to other artists because I try so hard to create my own style,” said the artist.
Badru, who has no formal training in fine arts, continues to develop his art, finding new techniques, adding and playing with dimensions to add to his eccentric tableaux. When he first started painting, his works were plainer, focusing only on the main characters. His backgrounds were rarely garnished with the detailed landscape and cacophony of critters as they are now.
“I feel I want to try something new, to change the composition, the layouts,” Badru said of his newer pieces. He surrenders to the process of creation, unburdened by style trends or themes that are popular in the art market.
“What is important is to be as creative as possible,” Badru stated. “As for the art being good or bad, that is up to the public to judge for themselves.”

There’s something wonderful about silence. In our modern lives, we so seldom have any of it. When was the last time you did anything — other than see a movie in a theater–without some additional soundtrack–no traffic, no talk radio, no music, no cellphones.  Silence, or at least some muted-volume version of life, is for me way up there as a much valued commodity, which no one has enough of, but is often under-valued. The original TV show “Get Smart” had a silly device for secret conversations between Maxwell Smart and the Chief called the “Cone of Silence.” It always cracks me up, but it makes a point: there are times when you just need some silence.

Story time

Let me paint you a picture. As a freshman at University of Texas at Austin, I lived in the Jester dorm (a somewhat ironic title, but the actual name of the place, no joke)–ten floors, 3,000 of your best friends.  Consequently it was very noisy and I found it hard to sleep, having grown up in what by comparison was the ultra-quiet suburbs. The freshmen neighbors with whom I shared a wall were fond of cranking their music after midnight. I like music, and I like loud music–a lot–but I also realized that I would not be able to survive and thrive on less than 4 hours of sleep each night.  My neighbors also had a habit of bouncing a rubber ball, a Spaldeen to be exact, against the wall at random hours of the day or night. Try reading or sleeping with “pah, dah, pause, dah, pah, pause” –wall, floor, catch, floor, wall, catch–for an hour. (Side note:  neither of these “party hearty” guys made it to sophomore year, but I digress.)

To cope with this noise level, I bought a pair of good headphones, not ear buds, full enclosed earphones. With them on, I could hear practically nothing of the outside noise. Even better, with the Classical FM station on low volume, wearing these in bed at night was something akin to an isolation chamber, but without the mind- and body-altering effects as seen in the 1980 sci-fi/cult/schlock film “Altered States,” in which William Hurt is magically transformed into a caveman by peyote.  With the headphones on, I slept well, passed my classes, graduated and went on the graduate school.

Story No.2

Later in life, I began to work more seriously as a professional writer and editor. I edited a few big books (100,000+ words) for an art museum, reviewing and revising the work of university professors and museum curators. At the same time, I set up a home office and began to work on projects there.  At the time, my kids were little and everyone who has kids knows that containing their volume at home is not really possible without Draconian measures. I remembered my college  strategy for coping with noise, but writing with music on proved too distracting. So I got a pair of ear protectors, like the ones used on a shooting range or flight line. When I put them on I would tell my wife, “I’m going into the ‘Cone of Silence’ for about an hour, so if you need to talk to me about anything important, please come see me face-to-face.” That worked, mostly. It required some give-and-take from all concerned. (In the interest of full disclosure, I am sorry to confess that this spillage of my work obligations into my personal life did not help my parenting or my marriage.)

But the main point is this: sometime you may need to establish your own Cone of Silence to deal with distractions. In the office, I’ve seen people use headphones in cube-land. For those that have an office door, just close it when you need to focus, and to be polite, put a sign outside that says simply “Please knock.” People will realize that you are working on something for which you need to focus and they will generally save non-essential interruptions for a time when your door is open.

For many writers, artists, graphic/web designers and even some computer programmers, they require a quiet place to work, apart from coworkers or family. That’s why people who have the means have private offices within their homes or a shack in the country. In some big cities, there are businesses where you rent a desk. Ginny Wiehardt, a Fiction Writing Guide at About.com, has posted a list of such places around the nation and the world at http://fictionwriting.about.com/od/startingtowrite/tp/urbanspaces.htm (thanks Ginny!) The key point here is that carving out a place and time to focus is a universal desire that you share with many other people.

You just have to make a step forward to try. Try headphones, ear protectors, a private room, a rental desk. The main things is to afford yourself a Cone of Silence that works for you. Send more ideas and examples!!

Ona Stenvaag of Color me Chaos sent me a review copy of the Royal Jester outfit currently in the Lucky Board at her shop.  It’s one of five new Jester outfits at Color Me Chaos — and they’re all adorable.

Each comes complete with the mask, the skirt, and the boots.  You also get the bodysuit on all layers, the corset piece on all layers, and the tights on all layers All pieces are copy/mod and skirt and boots are resize scripted.

The Royal Jester, shown above, is only available in the Lucky Board, or purchasable as part of the fat pack.

The other jester outfits are shown below, These can be purchased separately for 200L$ each, or as a fat pack for 750L$.  You  get five outfits in the fat pack, which is like getting 25L$ off one and a whole other outfit for absolutely free.

What a sweet deal!

• Color Me Chaos:  http://slurl.com/secondlife/Epic%20Sanctuary/33/41/26

I have figured for you the distance between the horns of a dilemma, night and day, and A and Z.  I have computed how far is Up, how long it takes to get Away, and what becomes of Gone.  I have discovered the length of the sea serpent, the price of priceless, and the square of the hippopotamus.  I know where you are when you are at Sixes and Sevens, how much Is you have to have to make an Are, and how many birds you can catch with the salt in the ocean – 187,796,132, if it would interest you.  ~James Thurber, Many Moons

Doodle 257 - Fools Fall in Love

Just another in the week of Elvis song title inspired doodles.  These lovers are like two cards in a deck.

This double pack is missing some crucial cards but it does have some very cool Jokers and the fronts aren’t bad either.

Surely someone can think of a project for these, whether it is wall art, scrapbooking or collage.

One set has a leering Jester, while the other has funky stringed instruments. Did I mention, they are free?

One Person’s Junk… During the month of October, I will be giving away one teeny-tiny item every weekday. For more details, click here. To enter, just leave a comment below.

New image in the red flower photoshop contest

sbs Has sources …
Fat Head Jester Pup photoshop picture

While waiting for my friend to call about Econ HW:

This is a tattoo design I was thinking about since Kevin was throwing around ideas for what he’d like to get inked onto himself.  He wanted to get “Work Hard, Play Hard” tattooed on his back or leg, which would effectively ensure that no one would ever have sex with him again.  I thought the quote was terrible, but then took the idea and evolved it into this drawing.  Warrior on the left and jester on the right, which isn’t really work and play but close enough.

-Bo

Although they rarely figure significantly in our study of History, such study will reveal the existence of members of many royal courts which we know as jesters.  These court entertainers were retained by kings and queens for the express purpose of injecting some levity and on occasion some gravity into what most surely would have been dull, drab, and often boring assemblies of lords and ladies.  Often they were depicted and portrayed by the records as being fools or acting foolish.  They were granted incredible leeway in things they could say about people and things, which might have gotten other persons imprisoned or banished from court, if not sent to the block or gallows.  Either these people were literally mentally challenged or given license to behave as such expressly for the contribution they made to courtly life by their foolishness.

Today, we have some of these same folks in our culture.  We call them by many names, but most often they come in the costume of the stand-up comic or the talk-show host.  The Jay Leno’s, David Letterman-types, and the likes of Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon allow us to reflect on ourselves with humor.  And even the likes of Jon Stewart show how the most serious of our current events break down in the face of the humorous humanity of our life.  I would submit to you, playful followers, that in a world filled with so much political correctness, we need such members of our society to point this out to us, even if it forces us to explore the deeper meaning of our lives through discussion and debate.

One such incident which is still getting exposure in our media is the recent attempt at extortion suffered by David Letterman himself.  This is a man who has played host to past Presidents, sitting Presidents, and wannabe Presidents.  Through his humor, he has pointed fingers at any number of our foibles.  So, I have to admit I was incredibly proud of him when, taking a great deal of power from the extortionist, and cheating the media and press of a chance at a scoop, David used his own show to announce the event.  He even went so far as to declare the “creepy” thing he had done and for which the extortionist planned to embarrass him. 

Now, say about me what you will, I would affirm that David is worthy of recognition as the Chief Jester of the USA.  We have given him license to be entertaining and humorous, and give him great criticism when he fails to do so.  Should he be allowed to break laws?  No.  Should he have had “affairs” with his staff interns?  Well, that probably was not the best thing he had ever done in his life.  No one, however, involved in the affairs was coming forward to complain…remember, this was some network producer hoping to get money to cover his own debts.  These events took place before the marriage of Mr. Letterman to his wife (although long-time girlfriend) who is mother of his five-year-old son.  And he has also made public the price he will have to pay for the damage to that relationship.  But this is no greater price than any of us would have to pay should we find ourselves in a similar situation.  Having been cheated of their “scoop,” most of the news outlets will now fight over the fallout peripheral related news items.  And because he was bold enough to bring the issues out into the public, women’s rights groups will use the occasion to criticise Mr. Letterman and others who have done and do these “creepy” things.  But I will continue to watch Mr. Letterman’s show, because of all the people we have willing to act foolish and look foolishly at how we ourselves can look and be foolish, he has proven to me he has the guts and the talent to handle the job.

Puppet Master (also known as Puppetmaster and Puppet Master I) is a 1989 horror film released on October 12th 1989 and was written by Charles Band and Kenneth J. Hall, and directed by David Schmoeller. It is the first film in the Puppet Master franchise and stars Paul Le Mat, Irene Miracle, Matt Roe and Kathryn O’Reilly as psychics who are plotted against by a former colleague, using puppets animated by an Egyptian spell. The film’s cult status has led to the production of nine sequels. Originally intended for theatrical release in summer 1989, before being released on home video the following September, Puppet Master was ultimately pushed to a direct-to-video release on October 12, 1989, as Charles Band felt he was likely to make more money this way than he would in the theatrical market.

William Hickey as Puppetmaster Andre Toulan in his workshop

Puppet Master has been reissued several times. It is available in a box set featuring the first seven installments of the series, an 18-disc Full Moon Features collection and a Spanish-subtitled import collection of the first three Puppet Master films. In 2007, Razor Digital released an uncut DualDisc version of Puppet Master, featuring both the standard and stereoscopic versions of the film. The uncut version restores a number of deleted scenes, including additional footage of Frank and Carissa having sex, extra frames added to Dana’s death which make the slash across her throat more visible, and Neil’s death scene being extended to contain more gore. In December 2008, Band authorized Puppet Master for digital download through the iTunes Store; his first foray into the digital market.

Buy this Title on DVD

The film starts in 1939 Bodega Bay, California with an old puppeteer named Andre Toulon putting the finishing touches on a living puppet called Jester. A living oriental puppet stares out of the window at Blade, another living puppet, as Blade scouts the grounds of the Bodega Bay Inn that Andre is staying at. Two Nazis get out of a car and head for Toulon’s room but Blade beats them there and Andre puts Blade, Jester and the oriental puppet into a chest, before hiding the chest in a wall panel. As the Nazis break down the door, Toulon shoots himself in the mouth with a pistol. The oriental puppet is not seen for the rest of the movie.

The film now cuts to 1989, with a psychic named Alex. Alex has a dream that there are leeches on his stomach. Seconds later, he dreams of a man that he recognizes putting a gun to a woman’s head. The film cuts to Dana, another psychic, who has visions of being slashed across the throat with a knife. Carissa and Frank, two other psychics who are apparently lovers, are reading the mind of another woman when they get a call from Alex. Frank tells Alex that they also got a call from Dana, and the four psychics assess that the visions they’ve been having were sent from a former colleague, Neil Gallagher.

The psychics meet at the Bodega Bay Inn that Neil is staying at and meet Neil’s wife, Megan, as well as the housekeeper, Theresa. The psychics are skeptical that Neil took a wife but it is forgotten when Megan tells them that Neil shot himself. Theresa, Megan, Dana, Carissa, Frank, and Alex leave the body and Pinhead, another living puppet, jumps from the casket.

Later, Carissa has visions of Neil violently attacking a woman in an elevator. Dana warns Theresa to stay away from the fireplace and later, at dinner, Dana makes several remarks about Neil that causes Megan to leave the table. Alex goes after her and explains about the powers of he, Dana, Carissa, and Frank.

When night falls, Theresa goes near the fireplace and is murdered when Pinhead hits her with a poker. The psychics hear a scream and find Megan passed out nearby Neil’s body that has been moved into a chair by someone. Carissa and Frank spend some intimate time together in one of the hotel rooms but two more living puppets, Tunneler and Leech Woman, enter. Tunneler kills Carissa by drilling into her face and Leech Woman vomits leeches onto Frank’s body, which drain his blood. Meanwhile, Dana sits around with her strange, dead and preserved dog until she has her leg broken by Pinhead. Pinhead chases her and repeatedly strangles and punches her until she manages to knock him away, only to have her throat slashed by Blade, using his knife-hand.

Alex has recurring nightmares of Megan having a gun put to her head by Neil and the other psychics being found dead, but is eventually awoken by Megan who takes him into the room that Andre Toulon was in, and tells him that Neil found Andre’s secret to bringing inanimate objects, such as puppets, to life. Alex has a vision and they go downstairs to find the dead bodies of the psychics sitting around a table. They are stopped by the newly resurrected Neil. He explains that “metaphysically speaking”, he did commit suicide, but he used Toulon’s formula to give himself eternal life. He fights with Alex and beats him up, until Neil hurts Jester and the puppets revolt against him. They lock him in an elevator and murder him by having Pinhead hold Neil’s head as Tunneler drill into his neck, Blade cut off his fingers, and finally Leech Woman vomits a leech into his mouth.

The film cuts to Alex saying goodbye to Megan and leaving the hotel. Now alone, Megan picks up Dana’s taxidermic dog, and by the following scene, the dog becomes completely animate, indicating that she too has learned Toulon’s method (although the film’s sequel dispels that she has become the next Puppet Master).

Blade from Puppet Master

Cast

Paul Le Mat – Alex Whitaker

William Hickey – Andre Toulon

Irene Miracle – Dana Hadley

Jimmie F. Skaggs – Neil Gallagher

Robin Frates – Megan Gallagher

Matt Roe – Frank Forrester

Barbara Crampton

Kathryn O’Reilly – Carissa Stamford

Mews Small – Theresa

Barbara Crampton – Woman at Carnival

David Boyd – Man at Carnival

Peter Frankland – Assassin #1

Andrew Kimbrough – Assassin #2

Voice Performers

Ed Cook – Pinhead

Linda Cook – Leech Woman

Tim Dornberg – Tunneler

Bert Rosario – Blade

Michael Laide – Jester

Featured puppets

Oriental puppet

Blade

Jester

Pinhead

Tunneler

Leech Woman

Make Up Department
  Valerie McKnight … makeup artist
  Steve Neill … special effects makeup artist

Special Effects Department
  Mark Rappaport … animatronics engineer
  Patrick Simmons … special effects makeup

Tunneler

Visual Effects Department
  Dave Allen … puppet animator
  Dave Allen … visual effects supervisor
  Sally Chow … puppeteer
  Paul W. Gentry … effects photography
  Dennis Gordon … puppet fabrication and miniatures
  Beth Hathaway … puppeteer
  Justin Kohn … puppet animator
  Donna Littleford … visual effects production assistant
  Harvey Mayo … puppet fabrication and miniatures
  Jene Omens … puppet fabrication and miniatures
  Mark Rappaport … animatronic engineer
  Patrick Simmons … special effects makeup
  Cindy Sorennen … puppeteer 
  John Teska … puppet fabrication and miniatures 
  Brett B. White … puppeteer

Amazon Specials!

a magick spell, cosmic joke, & zen koan all wrapped up in one…

Click here

Last years costumes are back in the store… for FREE! Come by and grab ‘em!

http://slurl.com/secondlife/SandyBeach%20West/26/182/23

This is jest a section of the outer wall of the Christchurch Casino.

Well since I’ve been reviewing some of my favorite games lately, I’ve decided to write a review of another favorite of mine… Devil May Cry. Well unfortunate for me that I don’t have a PS2 so I am not able to play DMC1 and DMC2. For some reason Capcom didn’t port those 2 to the pc. But I’m hoping to play those 2 using an emulator sometime. So I am gonna start of with Devil My Cry 3.

Well just to give you a little background, Devil May Cry started of as a supossedly sequel to the Resident Evil Series, which is one of my favorite as well. But since the gameplay and plot of the game differs a lot to the main RE series, they decided to make it an entirely new game of it’s own. We are lucky that Capcom didn’t decide to scrap the idea, like what happened to RE 1.5 and RE 3.5(hooked man), and now we have Devil May Cry. There is a strange timeline to this game as the games were released not in their chronological order. DMC3 is supposed to be the first of the series, followed by DMC1, DMC4 and DMC2.

DMC3 introduce us to Dante who is just starting of his business as a devil hunter. Here he goes on to stop his twin brother, Vergil, from using the power of Sparda. At the end, it was actually the Jester who’s playing with them all along and shows up as the true enemy. But the game doesn’t end without an epic Dante and Vergil fight. This game also introduce us to Mary(Lady), although she is not playable the whole game.

The diffculty of this game is really high. But I’m proud to say that I’ve finished this game on my own. Although some of the secret mission I was not able to complete. As Dante, you’ll have to fight through numbers of monsters and bosses from the underworld. On the PC, which is where I’m playing, the controller for some reason is not fully compatible with the game. Even the keyboard keys can’t be change. So I had to use Joy2Key in order to sync my controller to the game. The big bonus for the pc version is that you get to play as Vergil if you manage to beat the game. But I find it difficult to use Vergil sometimes as his moves are different to Dante’s. Aside from the controller issue, all in all the game is fun, action packed and entertaining. I actually wanted to upload some gameplay videos but I’m not sure what would be the best recorder that I can use. If you know a good one, please let me know. My score for the PC version would probably be 8.5. I had to deduct some points for the controller issue and because of the mid quality videos.

Students around campus, save perhaps the freshmen, have become used to seeing blood buses around campus asking for folks to donate. Today, I am going to write about what I perceive to be a tragedy for the blood banks who come every semester to draw blood and save lives.

Alpha Phi Omega, an organization I have been a member of for two years, hosts MD Anderson and the Blood Center of Central Texas every semester for one of the largest student-run blood drives in Texas. Traditionally, APO has three locations spread throughout campus for an entire week open from 9am to 5pm each day (in addition to the Jester location, which is open from 9am to midnight with a one hour break in the late afternoon).

In recent weeks, officials at Jester and the Parking and Transportation Services have decided to refuse access to three of APO’s traditional four locations. Although I am awaiting information from Jester officials as to why they have decided to close APO’s flagship location after decades of cooperation, PTS has told APO officers that the other locations block traffic. PTS also cited that the high amount of construction on campus creates a greater need for space, which the buses would use up.

Currently, APO is looking for alternate locations on campus but concedes that the loss of the Jester location is devastating to their efforts. Their lone remaining location on Speedway is secure for now, but it should be noted that they recently lost their FAC unexpectedly.  I will continue to follow this breaking story as it develops. Check back for quotes from officals and changes in the status quo.

9 days left…

So I recently requested, nay, demanded, of esteemed Channel 4 Action News meteorologist Erin Kienzle that I be given a suitably enjoyable forecast for the weekend.

Why?

Because my knight in shining armor and I decided to go to the Renaissance Festival y’all!

Upon learning of my faire intent, I was immediately asked if I was going to dress up. I gave the questioner a bit of a blank look. “But I’m just going for the day,” I replied.

Little did I know.

I do have a nodding acquaintance with the Lords and Ladies and giant turkey leg set up of these kinds of fairs, thanks to their place in pop culture (and a feature story I seem to recall preparing back in the day for the first station I worked for). But I’d never actually gone to one just to see and be seen!

So, good gentles, one Saturday on the morrow (or is it “in” the morrow… whatever), we jumped into our strange metal chariot and headed for the Faire.

Located just off I-70, the Pittsburgh Renaissance Festival is a relatively short drive from most of Pittsburgh’s suburbs. Signage is pretty significant, thanks I’m sure to the fact that the festival is made up of a lot of permanent construction. The parking lot is not paved, but it pretty solid for a meadow and let me just take a moment to give a massive “huzzah!” to the parking attendants. I LOVE the fact that they guide cars right into the next logical spot – no wasted spaces or giant mini-vans parked diagonally across three lanes. Seriously, it’s these little things that make for a great experience. Wait until I start talking about the bathrooms.

Oh let’s talk about them right now!

If you read The Backyard Tourist enough, you will soon learn I have a thing about bathrooms. Maybe because I’m a girl and nice facilities really mean something to me. I always get quietly nervous when I see porta-pottys at an event… I’m sure I don’t need to go into detail as to why. But here’s the thing about the fair – these had to be just about the nicest portable toilets I’ve ever used. They flushed! And outside most of the bathroom bays, there was actual running water, soap and paper towels! And on another bonus note: port-a-johns are unisex. Meaning a line of women isn’t standing with quiet urgency, staring daggers at the empty men’s washroom (seriously, why don’t designers get it? The Dixie Chicks do – click this for what I’m talking about).

OK, to the festival!

The theme begins as soon as you enter the grounds, from the castle over the entrance, to the actors greeting you while you wait to pay your admission (which I think is a good price, given all the shows you get). And this is the point where I began to understand why I was asked about costuming. Along with the people who are actually part of the fair, lots of people waiting in line were in costume. Especially little kids (I think there was a costume contest that day). If you have a little girl – at long last! A place where her Disney Princess costume will be appreciated, unlike at the grocery store.

In fact, if you have kids that are into the Goth or the Emo or the whatever the dressing-in-black-with-dragons-and-crystals-and-stuff is called right now, this fair is actually a pretty good place to send them. I saw a number of young couples, who might otherwise stereotypically be seen writing poetry in a graveyard, enjoying the sunny day. I hope they were wearing sunscreen.

Even if you have no plans to slap on a pair of elf ears, or wind yourself into a steel-boned corset (more about that in a minute), the fair is really fun. According to the lady at the information desk, the owner of the fair requires the bulk of what merchants are selling be handmade. There are some pretty impressive artisans and craftspeople displaying their wares, so bring ye olde credit card.

And then there are the shows! Along with the expected jousting knights (which was good, but could use a bit of a tech overhaul – microphone problems), there are musicians, comedians, musical comedians and Cast In Bronze.

Backyard Tourist super-favorite alert!

So you know church bells, right? How in some of the larger churches they actually play songs? The instrument used to make really big, beautiful music is called a carillon. Looks kind of like an organ keyboard and you hit the keys with the sides of your hands. But seeing as how it’s attached to church bells, not very portable. Except for the one that is.

The musician who plays the only portable carillon in the United States has parked himself right in the middle of the Pittsburgh Renaissance Festival. And it’s four tons of awesome.  Each of his sets is a little different (and some of the tunes very recognizable) and he combines a backing track of voice and other instruments that makes for a compelling performance. We bought three of his CDs.

Of course there’s also the food, which I thought was pretty reasonable in price. And, as I’ve remarked before, this expat Canuck can not get enough of the fact  that one can enjoy a bottle of Michael’s Tough Citrus-Infused Beverage while wandering the grounds, instead of being confined to a tasty adult beverage “garden.”

But I did have to put my giant turkey leg down for a few minutes to try on a couple of things. Including one of the super-fancy elegant lady dresses available at the fest. I do love costumes, and I love pretty, sparkly things. So why not give one of the gorgeous dresses a try?

Which is how I came to be standing in front of a mirror, being winched into a steel-boned corset by a man dressed like Captain Jack, while my charming husband continued stuffing his face with a bread bowl. Along with the attraction of achieving a waist size I haven’t enjoyed since I was nine years old, the outfit was so pretty I now understand why some people love having a place to dress in garb that would never fly at the office.

Common sense (and concerns about the dry-cleaning bill) won out, and the dress stayed on the rack.

Also, my new tiny waist did require me to give up things like deep breaths of oxygen.

But at least I can keep eating the turkey legs. For the turkey legs have no carbs!

Personally it seems negatory,
my bigshot importance what holds my precious badluck,
and lost in loneliness is the favourite,
the favourite pain,
favoured of the woe begotten–
ah! such blah blah blah.

Blah blah blah,
she says with her eyes screwed up,
her tongue flashing,
blowing me raspberries,
and this to poke a hole in that stuck up,
his shadow a pin cushion,
his lord black the proud–
to him is indignant,
to him is her forgotten,
to him she pokes fun,
makes faces,
cracks him down with a laugh.

He shudders and twitches and falls apart,
the old man breaks apart,
bricks dropping off in sweats,
his shell a complete wreck,
and revealed underneath is him the child,
him the kid,
him the boy made anew:
my self the pure,
my self the innocent,
my self the lover,
my self the one–
beloved the jester destroyer.