Faire Times in Louisiana

Falconer at LA Ren Fest

After 3 years of planning, Joy and I finally made the pilgrimage to Hammond, LA, to visit their Renaissance faire. Sara Dunlop and her daughter have booths there ... as do several other people who we know from other faires. The trip proved rather long; the directions from Google were accurate, but without a map you never quite know how far you've driven (or how long you have to go). We stopped several times after dark because we didn't know where we were -- well, we knew we were going east on 190, but we didn't know where Baton Rouge might be. It turned out that we were driving along the northern edge of the Achafalaya Swamp. We crossed the mighty Mississppi and then started looking for a hotel ... and I knew we were not in a good neighborhood. It felt like Oak Cliff -- but whether it was the safer side like the older neighborhoods near Sunset or the rougher side like Roosevelt's, we couldn't tell at 10:30 at night. All I know is that the Motel 6 had a security guard who warned off a shabby-looking dude who approched the night clerk's window. 'Nuff said.

Fog haunts the state. It crept up silently as night fell and stayed until the sun was high in the sky. The drive into Hammond was uneventful ... We passed the high school and rounded a corner -- and there were the signs!

As we drove up, I noticed a guy in a kilt. It looked like -- yes, it WAS Marc Gunn playing his autoharp. Alas, we were stuck in the opening ceremonies, whether we liked it or not. Other playtrons wore garb, so we didn't stand out ... Finally, Queen Elizabeth welcomed us into the town of Albright, and the Faire was on!

Inside the gates, we passed Marquise & Ima Nutt from Foolhardy. They had performed at Four Winds years before ... they looked well, but they were going to greet patrons (and we didn't quite fit that bill). Next, we were accosted by Gypsy Storytellers (no problem -- everyone needs the shills to start the day) before we once more ran into Marc talking to 2 fans. The faire stretched both ways -- we could see the lake (alas, much depleted by the summer drought), so we strolled along its edge ... and there was Deb's shop (and Jeff) from Four Winds and Sara's doll shop. Many greetings and conversation, then we wandered on our way ... and ran into Arlene who has a shop 2 doors down from us ... Her friend Larry also has a shop (We saw him later.) on the other side of the lake. We shopped a bit, mainly looking since most of our money had gone into travel expenses ... However, Joy found a small Christmasy owl to go with her Roddy griffin puppet; I got a print by Sara's friend. After years of "squashed fairy" mugs, she has rediscovered her love for illustration.

We eventually found the falconers' tent; Joy took a photo with their Euroasian owl Artemis, then we stayed for the show. The theme song is "Ladyhawke" by Julia Ecklar ... Unlike the man who's the head falconer at Scarby, the woman at LARF treats her birds as if they're friends -- maybe pets with very sharp beaks and claws. As one who's been bitten by cockatoos, I can sympathize. She showed kestrels, hawks, a barred owl (above) in the free flight show. Alas, their lovely peregrine was killed by a hunter ... a hunter who knew that he'd done wrong because he cut off the bird's talons to take the jesses & transponder. They're posting around the faire & in town -- and now the Feds are involved because falcons are a protected species. Handsome birds and friendly handlers create a great show.

Then we watched Foolhardy's show ... I remembered it of old. Marquise & Ima worked the crowd with all types of bad puns and feats of magic. The audience (young and old) loved them. We missed the "Untrained Dog Show," but I know it was hilarious.

Eventually, we circled the lake and, to our surprise, we found Neid Fyre playing her violin. Although it was the end of the show, we settled in to watch ... and talk a little bit after the crowd dispersed. She's coming to Four Winds in April 2012, so we can talk more about her little daughter and personal doings then. Ah, we'll waddle up to the new tavern for marvelous music.

After some homemade soda (carbonated sugar water with great flavors), we returned to Sara's booth. Everyone seemed to wander in and out; she's the fairey grandmother at LARF as she is at Four Winds ... even moreso because we spotted younger people coming in and out. Marc stopped in to say good-bye to her; the owner dropped in ... all sorts of folk wanted to speak with her ... Joy and she talked about BJDs. (We had brought her some 12" bunny boys to dress.) The sun slowly set -- and we realized that it was almost closing time. Bidding Sara, Rod, Deb and Jeff farewell (at least until March 2012), we headed into the mundane world.

In Hammond, we didn't find our original highway, but we did find a nice hotel. It was an early evening -- and I crashed before 9 o'clock. So sad ...

Monday saw more fog, plus a long trip home. This time, we went through Houston; the directions were quite simple, but the distance was longer and added another 1-2 hours. Still, we got home before the heavens graced us with some rain. Tired and content, we settled in with birds (Joy) and kitties (me). There's no place like home.

Remembering Our Vets

11-11-11

Students wrote letters of gratitude instead of reading on 6th period ... I got some silly ones, some partial ones, and some very good ones. Yes, we're doing the "Operation Writehome" letters as part of a project. I just didn't write the grant to get money from Sunset alumni to buy the suupplies we need to create cards. We even had a few letters to faculty members who've served -- and the Sunset Purple Marching Machine led the Veterans Day parade in Dallas. I hope someone took pictures; I was stuck in #339.

At the end of the day, Coach Stirman and I discussed our dads' involvement in WWII. His dad fought in the Pacific front; his troops arrived at the front just about the time the Japanese gov't surrandered. My dad fought in the European front with the Timberwolves under General Terry Allen. They went in D-Day plus 90 and fought their way into Germany, where my dad was wounded by shrapnel and sent back to the States to recuperate. Sharon's dad fought too; his name is listed on the Sunset roster next to the Registrar's office ... Our building -- just like North Dallas -- has many plaques that commemorate teachers & students who passed through the double doors on Jefferson Boulevard. Unfortunately, the portraits of the Honor Society students on the third floor were taken down during construction; I hope they find a hallway where they can be displayed again ... and that Sunset doesn't choose to forget its past just because the students are a different ethnic group from the ones who currently go there. They keep bucking to add black too the official colors -- so far, they haven't succeeded. I suspect the alumni would never agree to that break in tradition.

Here's a virtual toast to our American heroes, past and present: the thanks of a grateful nation.

School Posting

This blogging comes live while the anime club plays Yu-Gi-Oh and "Gundam Wing" plays on the TV ... The second 6 weeks ends on Friday, and it seems that I'm still telling certain classes that they need to do some basic things if they don't want to have a negative ending at least once a week ... Some folks find silence a challenge, and sitting at their table still worse. Sometimes the juniors are worse than the sophomores! [Yes, I read the composition about how Mom abandoned the family; yes, I understand why you crave attention, especially from a female figure; still -- grow up!! ] [Yes, I know the class studies the same stuff you studied 2 years ago; you should've done the work -- or gone to summer school -- the first time!]

The manga library moves fairly regularly, since I find books that the kids don't often see ... and I have about 5 more ready to bring -- we shall see how they react to my eclectic mix.

My throat feels scratchy; I only hope I didn't catch something from the nasty slime that came off the bannister onto my hand yesterday. So many germs, so few innoculations that work.

Ah, time to bid the kids a fond sayonara!

A Stellar Saturday?

Must ... Grab ... It ...

... or there's no escape.

That's how I feel on this "Stellar Saturday" -- wrapped in vines and far from home. The intentions of a SS are good, but the execution is weak. Supposedly we're jointly planning for the upcoming 6 weeks. In reality, we're hearing the same old stuff that we heard in earlier staff development sessions. If I have to "unpack" another student expectation, I may scream -- and my team members' attitudes do not help. One follows the loudest voice, and the other doesn't worry about tomorrow until the crisis is upon us ... Neither has taught in a low-performing school in the inner city, so neither knows that torments that TEA can inflict upon a faculty of a UA school. Been there, done that -- and got the school off the list, but it took everyone doing his or her part, in all departments. Oh, well, my asst. principal (and evaluator) asked me to go since she can't (and the guys didn't volunteer). Once more into the breach, dear friends!

Speaking of Shakespeare. the second performance of Midsummer Night's Dream was more trick than treat. The cast blew lines and entrances while Doc H and Mrs. B watched from the front row. He commented that he couldn't understand what they were saying and, worse, they sounded like a bunch of Mexicans ... Also, Ms. W had prejudiced them against the play; she implied that the blocking was inappropriate and that parents had objected ... Really? I do sympathize with the theatre director -- At FDR I heard the same complaints year after year, except that the kids were using ebonics. Truly, theatre is the red-headed stepchild of the fine arts in high school.

Still, alas, the performance did NOT go well. The crew didn't set all the set pieces -- I spotted that and told someone to put the stool off-stage. (He didn't.) The energy was off -- the audience just sat there -- and too many people shifted this way & that, distracting people trying to watch the play. Worse, someone got into the dressing room & stole money -- THAT destroyed everyone's concentration ... It seems that someone (custodian, construction worker, teacher, student) left the side door open, so anyone could come down the corridor, get into the room, and leave without being seen from my post stage right. Then the clowns blew their scene, which could've saved the show -- and one clown was clowning onstage when he wasn't supposed to!

Again, that's the problem when you have teen actors on stage -- will they remember to do what they're supposed to do? Will the crew remember? We got disqualified last year for running over time -- all because the tech guy wasn't paying attention. He's gotten worse, not better, as the year's progressed -- only into his rap music on his i-pod. I don't know whether he'll find teachers to intercede and keep him at SHS for his senior year ... which might not matter since I think seniors can choose which school they want to attend.

Nest week, the second 6 weeks will be history ... then only 1 week until we're off for Turkey Day! We will survive!