When I'm burning my candle at both ends... why do people give me explosives!?
I mean, really... I wonder why that is!
You see, many years ago ( about 8-9), I used to be on staff for a LARP called Legends . I, and many other people were very energetic and passionate about this LARP, and we threw a lot of ourselves into it, and many people loved what we did. But, as the saying goes, the only constant in the universe is change. Legends underwent several changes in ownership, and I stuck with it through most of them, because being on staff for a really good, creative LARP gives an outlet to some of the stuff in my head, that writing or film just does not fulfill. I mean, truly, there is no replacement for the feeling I get when a special effect I have come up with shocks or horrifies the people witnessing it for the first time.. it is a very immediate and visceral satisfaction that I have never found a replacement for. It's almost as good as great sex... almost.
But, as I said above, things change.. and I realized I was spending too much time and money on this LARP, so I made the decision to pull way back from the LARP thing, and spend that money and energy on my art instead.
The satisfaction I get when someone admires, or loves, or hates, or is provoked to thought by a piece of my art is no less intense than I get from a good special effect, but it is less visceral and immediate, although it is longer lasting. And there are few 'career paths” that pay less than being an artist...but being an owner or staffer for a LARP is one of them! Steve M, the guy who I love working for at Legends, used to have a joke about this... whenever I would do something completely awesome or fantastic, he would say “great job Steve, as a matter of fact, I'm giving you a raise.. you can add another zero to your paycheck!”
So, I had made the decision to pull way back on the LARP thing, and do much more of the Art thing... and then Marti was diagnosed with cancer Multiple Myeloma , and all those things, and many others in my life just kind of ...stopped. Ones life does that when someone you love is diagnosed with terminal and incurable cancer.
Well, it has been a few years now since that time (approximately 7 I think). Marti is as well as she is ever going to get most likely; her cancer is in a “good partial' remission... and the doctors hope it stays that way until they discover a cure for it, but as of now, that is about all they can do; the fact that they could even do that much is pretty freakin' amazing, actually. So, we are through the worst of that storm, for now. We know there are other storms on the horizon, for as the doctors, in their always upbeat and positive way keep saying... “Really, the only thing we know about this kind of cancer, is that it always comes back, and usually more aggressively.” Geee, thanks for the positive vibes doc! At least they are being honest with us. But, we will cross those bridges when we come to them.
Anyway, I have been concentrating on trying to keep this crazy household up and running, because while Marti may be 'as better as she is going to get”, she is still a lot more limited than she was before.
So, about 3 weeks ago I get a call from Steve M, who I used to work with at Legends, and he asks me if I would be willing to come back and staff for the game, because he is now the general director. So, after making sure that he was aware that I could not put anywhere near the time, energy or money into it that I used to... I said yes, because I have been missing that outlet in my life. So now once again I begin the delicate balancing act between Art, Larp, Life, and the demands of maintaining this household.
So, I made a prop or two, figured out some costuming, and examined my pyrotechnic supplies to see if they were still any good; after all, I had not even open my 'pyro box' for some 7 years. To my great surprise, the unmixed flash powders and smoke powders were still good! This made me very happy, as between the paperwork required, and the hazmat shipping time and fees, getting more pyro supplies before the event was impossible.
So, Friday morning came, and I woke at 8 am (which is sleeping in late for me), finished my props and such, packed my car with the fuel for the firespining/breathing performance that my friend Kim and I were going to do, the pyrotechnic supplies and other such stuff, and headed out to the Legends site.
Spent all day getting re-acquainted with the site and the main module building, and then prepping the module building for use, after that it was being out there and being an NPC or Monster or whatever was needed, and around midnight Kim and I did our fire breathing/spinning/pyrotechnics performance, which was good, but not great by our standards. The few people watching seemed to enjoy it tho. I ended up going to sleep at around 4 am... yeah, I just love those 20+ hour days!
Anyway, during my set up, the guy who was previously doing a lot of the module/indoor FX type stuff at Legends handed me three boxes, all with “hazmat” and “Explosive” signs all over them and said “Here, I thought I might have time to make and use these, but I never got around to it, and I'd like to see it get some use.” Then he took off, as he is a very, very busy man these days! Gads I love it when people hand me explosives, and then tun away! I took a quick look at the contents of the boxes, and it seems to be some kind of “make your own fireworks” kit, with lots of tubs of things like Potassium Nitrate, Potassium Chlorate, and sulfur, to name a few... all labeled with cute little signs that say Warning, technical grade oxidizer, or my favorite: Warning, Spontaneously combustible! And of course, there were no instructions. Realizing I did not have the time to deal with that then, I put the boxes of unknown explosive shyte in my car, to deal with when I had the time.
I had forgotten what a truly strenuous activity staffing for a LARP can be! After spending 8 hours climbing up and down ladders and scaffolding and such, and then another 7 running around in the dark, fire performing or engaging in mock combat... to say I was a wreck when I woke up Sat morning at 8, would be an understatement! I could barely move I was so sore and stiff. Ah well, at least the character I played much of Saturday was an old retired gladiator type, who had a lot of old wounds... so it worked out well that I did not have to fake the limp, or the grimace of pain every time I moved, or the deep sigh of relief when I was able to sit down.
No rest for the wicked however, as Saturday evening I had a date with my dear friend Peg to attend the Festival of Ale at the Higgins Armoury Museum. So I packed up my car, boxes of unknown explosives and all, and headed out to the Higgins Armoury. I was operating on 4 hours sleep, and amazingly sore to boot but thankfully I got to the Higgins an hour early, so after scarfing some Ibuprofen, a couple energy drinks and then napping out for an hour in my car, I was right as rain!
The Festival of Ale was a nice thing, with over 25 brewers, most local, offering samples of their wares, and the venue couldn't be beat! Sadly, however, I have noticed that with the semi-recent explosion of micro-brews and micro-breweries, each one of them is trying to “Stand Out” from the rest... and they usually do this by adding more hops.. adding different kinds of hops, or at different times during the process.. but adding hops. The trouble is, I do not like hoppy beer! So, I sipped many different beers, ales, hefeweizens, tripple boks, stouts, ipas and many other brews did I sample. I did find one that I really liked, the Bombed Blondeshelle Belgian Tripel from the Watch City Brewing Company. There is also a new trend to brew IPA, and some other styles of beers/ales with rye nowadays, they call them RyePAs or RPAs, and I must say, I found these to be completely undrinkable... they smelled so foul that I could hardly bring myself to take a sip of them, and when I did, I was sorry! Yech!
Sadly, I did not find anything I liked better than my good old standard of Dead Guy Ale from Rogue breweries, with a bottle of Midas Touch or Curieoux for special occasions.
But eventually the sobriety of the crowd went down, and the volume of their talking went up... and my dislike of crowds kicked in and I had to leave, but that was OK with Peg, as she is not a huge fan of drunken crowds either. And so, while I did not find any brews that I like better than what I already drink, the price of the ticket is much cheaper than it would have been to buy a bottle of each of the beers I tried, only to discover that it would be doing double duty as a drain opener, and Peg and I had a really great time talking, as it had been a while since I had seen her.
After that, it was home, and crashing out! But again, no rest for the wicked, as I had barely finished my afternoon coffee the next day, when I had to hie off again, as Jaye and I had tickets to see one of my favorite bands, Korpiklaani , as well as Moonsorrow, and two other bands at The Palladium. Now, I've seen Korpiklanni several times before, and they always put on a great show. I must say, I think the song Rauta from their current album is my current fav of theirs... not only is it fast paced and upbeat, but it is about blacksmithing, rather than the consumption of alcohol, which is their usual theme. :) And they are the second band about which I can say “Gotta love that heavy metal Hurdy-Gurdy!” Although to be fair, I still think that Eleuviete does heavy metal Hurdy-Gurdy better!
So, when Jaye and I rolled into the house early Monday morning, even though I went no where near the mosh pit at the Palladium, I felt, and probably looked, like I had been in a mosh pit for the whole week!
Monday, was spent not moving much. Many of the voices in my head, were listening to the complaints of my body and saying to me “We are too old to be doing this kind of shyte!”, to which the part of my mind I actually sometimes listen to was replying “Yeah, you are right... and we would so do this again in a heartbeat!!”
I, Dave, Jaye and Marti really did not do a whole hell of a lot on Monday, which I had, with great foresight, taken off from work, except sit like zombies and stare at the TV. We watched some Babylon 5, and some other thing I do not remember. I did however get up enough energy to patch ( I hope) a leak in our roof, and rack my latest batch of mead ( a peach/ginger concoction) and set it up to clarify and bottle.
Now, it has taken me about a week to recover, from last week... which is a damn good thing, because tonight I have a date with the Gothdaughter to go see Coheed & Cambria at, you guessed it, the Palladium, at least they are downstairs, rather than upstairs, where The Palladium seems to stick all the Folk Metal bands that come their way.
And after that, I blessedly, have no plans! I think I shall sit, and stare at this pyrotechnic puzzle that was presented to me last weekend, for it is indeed like a jigsaw puzzle... but one that you cannot try each piece to see if it fits or where, you have to get it right the very first time, because if you don't, the puzzle goes away... either with a loud bang and much fire and smoke, or by turning into a very expensive and completely non-pyrotechnic pile of foul smelling sludge. But, there was an invoice in the box, which listed the manufactuers web address, so that at least is a place to start. So yeah, sitting and sipping a pint of Dead Guy Ale, and hoping it is not aptly named this day, as I am playing with unknown explosive mixtures... this really is what I consider a good time!
You see, many years ago ( about 8-9), I used to be on staff for a LARP called Legends . I, and many other people were very energetic and passionate about this LARP, and we threw a lot of ourselves into it, and many people loved what we did. But, as the saying goes, the only constant in the universe is change. Legends underwent several changes in ownership, and I stuck with it through most of them, because being on staff for a really good, creative LARP gives an outlet to some of the stuff in my head, that writing or film just does not fulfill. I mean, truly, there is no replacement for the feeling I get when a special effect I have come up with shocks or horrifies the people witnessing it for the first time.. it is a very immediate and visceral satisfaction that I have never found a replacement for. It's almost as good as great sex... almost.
But, as I said above, things change.. and I realized I was spending too much time and money on this LARP, so I made the decision to pull way back from the LARP thing, and spend that money and energy on my art instead.
The satisfaction I get when someone admires, or loves, or hates, or is provoked to thought by a piece of my art is no less intense than I get from a good special effect, but it is less visceral and immediate, although it is longer lasting. And there are few 'career paths” that pay less than being an artist...but being an owner or staffer for a LARP is one of them! Steve M, the guy who I love working for at Legends, used to have a joke about this... whenever I would do something completely awesome or fantastic, he would say “great job Steve, as a matter of fact, I'm giving you a raise.. you can add another zero to your paycheck!”
So, I had made the decision to pull way back on the LARP thing, and do much more of the Art thing... and then Marti was diagnosed with cancer Multiple Myeloma , and all those things, and many others in my life just kind of ...stopped. Ones life does that when someone you love is diagnosed with terminal and incurable cancer.
Well, it has been a few years now since that time (approximately 7 I think). Marti is as well as she is ever going to get most likely; her cancer is in a “good partial' remission... and the doctors hope it stays that way until they discover a cure for it, but as of now, that is about all they can do; the fact that they could even do that much is pretty freakin' amazing, actually. So, we are through the worst of that storm, for now. We know there are other storms on the horizon, for as the doctors, in their always upbeat and positive way keep saying... “Really, the only thing we know about this kind of cancer, is that it always comes back, and usually more aggressively.” Geee, thanks for the positive vibes doc! At least they are being honest with us. But, we will cross those bridges when we come to them.
Anyway, I have been concentrating on trying to keep this crazy household up and running, because while Marti may be 'as better as she is going to get”, she is still a lot more limited than she was before.
So, about 3 weeks ago I get a call from Steve M, who I used to work with at Legends, and he asks me if I would be willing to come back and staff for the game, because he is now the general director. So, after making sure that he was aware that I could not put anywhere near the time, energy or money into it that I used to... I said yes, because I have been missing that outlet in my life. So now once again I begin the delicate balancing act between Art, Larp, Life, and the demands of maintaining this household.
So, I made a prop or two, figured out some costuming, and examined my pyrotechnic supplies to see if they were still any good; after all, I had not even open my 'pyro box' for some 7 years. To my great surprise, the unmixed flash powders and smoke powders were still good! This made me very happy, as between the paperwork required, and the hazmat shipping time and fees, getting more pyro supplies before the event was impossible.
So, Friday morning came, and I woke at 8 am (which is sleeping in late for me), finished my props and such, packed my car with the fuel for the firespining/breathing performance that my friend Kim and I were going to do, the pyrotechnic supplies and other such stuff, and headed out to the Legends site.
Spent all day getting re-acquainted with the site and the main module building, and then prepping the module building for use, after that it was being out there and being an NPC or Monster or whatever was needed, and around midnight Kim and I did our fire breathing/spinning/pyrotechnics performance, which was good, but not great by our standards. The few people watching seemed to enjoy it tho. I ended up going to sleep at around 4 am... yeah, I just love those 20+ hour days!
Anyway, during my set up, the guy who was previously doing a lot of the module/indoor FX type stuff at Legends handed me three boxes, all with “hazmat” and “Explosive” signs all over them and said “Here, I thought I might have time to make and use these, but I never got around to it, and I'd like to see it get some use.” Then he took off, as he is a very, very busy man these days! Gads I love it when people hand me explosives, and then tun away! I took a quick look at the contents of the boxes, and it seems to be some kind of “make your own fireworks” kit, with lots of tubs of things like Potassium Nitrate, Potassium Chlorate, and sulfur, to name a few... all labeled with cute little signs that say Warning, technical grade oxidizer, or my favorite: Warning, Spontaneously combustible! And of course, there were no instructions. Realizing I did not have the time to deal with that then, I put the boxes of unknown explosive shyte in my car, to deal with when I had the time.
I had forgotten what a truly strenuous activity staffing for a LARP can be! After spending 8 hours climbing up and down ladders and scaffolding and such, and then another 7 running around in the dark, fire performing or engaging in mock combat... to say I was a wreck when I woke up Sat morning at 8, would be an understatement! I could barely move I was so sore and stiff. Ah well, at least the character I played much of Saturday was an old retired gladiator type, who had a lot of old wounds... so it worked out well that I did not have to fake the limp, or the grimace of pain every time I moved, or the deep sigh of relief when I was able to sit down.
No rest for the wicked however, as Saturday evening I had a date with my dear friend Peg to attend the Festival of Ale at the Higgins Armoury Museum. So I packed up my car, boxes of unknown explosives and all, and headed out to the Higgins Armoury. I was operating on 4 hours sleep, and amazingly sore to boot but thankfully I got to the Higgins an hour early, so after scarfing some Ibuprofen, a couple energy drinks and then napping out for an hour in my car, I was right as rain!
The Festival of Ale was a nice thing, with over 25 brewers, most local, offering samples of their wares, and the venue couldn't be beat! Sadly, however, I have noticed that with the semi-recent explosion of micro-brews and micro-breweries, each one of them is trying to “Stand Out” from the rest... and they usually do this by adding more hops.. adding different kinds of hops, or at different times during the process.. but adding hops. The trouble is, I do not like hoppy beer! So, I sipped many different beers, ales, hefeweizens, tripple boks, stouts, ipas and many other brews did I sample. I did find one that I really liked, the Bombed Blondeshelle Belgian Tripel from the Watch City Brewing Company. There is also a new trend to brew IPA, and some other styles of beers/ales with rye nowadays, they call them RyePAs or RPAs, and I must say, I found these to be completely undrinkable... they smelled so foul that I could hardly bring myself to take a sip of them, and when I did, I was sorry! Yech!
Sadly, I did not find anything I liked better than my good old standard of Dead Guy Ale from Rogue breweries, with a bottle of Midas Touch or Curieoux for special occasions.
But eventually the sobriety of the crowd went down, and the volume of their talking went up... and my dislike of crowds kicked in and I had to leave, but that was OK with Peg, as she is not a huge fan of drunken crowds either. And so, while I did not find any brews that I like better than what I already drink, the price of the ticket is much cheaper than it would have been to buy a bottle of each of the beers I tried, only to discover that it would be doing double duty as a drain opener, and Peg and I had a really great time talking, as it had been a while since I had seen her.
After that, it was home, and crashing out! But again, no rest for the wicked, as I had barely finished my afternoon coffee the next day, when I had to hie off again, as Jaye and I had tickets to see one of my favorite bands, Korpiklaani , as well as Moonsorrow, and two other bands at The Palladium. Now, I've seen Korpiklanni several times before, and they always put on a great show. I must say, I think the song Rauta from their current album is my current fav of theirs... not only is it fast paced and upbeat, but it is about blacksmithing, rather than the consumption of alcohol, which is their usual theme. :) And they are the second band about which I can say “Gotta love that heavy metal Hurdy-Gurdy!” Although to be fair, I still think that Eleuviete does heavy metal Hurdy-Gurdy better!
So, when Jaye and I rolled into the house early Monday morning, even though I went no where near the mosh pit at the Palladium, I felt, and probably looked, like I had been in a mosh pit for the whole week!
Monday, was spent not moving much. Many of the voices in my head, were listening to the complaints of my body and saying to me “We are too old to be doing this kind of shyte!”, to which the part of my mind I actually sometimes listen to was replying “Yeah, you are right... and we would so do this again in a heartbeat!!”
I, Dave, Jaye and Marti really did not do a whole hell of a lot on Monday, which I had, with great foresight, taken off from work, except sit like zombies and stare at the TV. We watched some Babylon 5, and some other thing I do not remember. I did however get up enough energy to patch ( I hope) a leak in our roof, and rack my latest batch of mead ( a peach/ginger concoction) and set it up to clarify and bottle.
Now, it has taken me about a week to recover, from last week... which is a damn good thing, because tonight I have a date with the Gothdaughter to go see Coheed & Cambria at, you guessed it, the Palladium, at least they are downstairs, rather than upstairs, where The Palladium seems to stick all the Folk Metal bands that come their way.
And after that, I blessedly, have no plans! I think I shall sit, and stare at this pyrotechnic puzzle that was presented to me last weekend, for it is indeed like a jigsaw puzzle... but one that you cannot try each piece to see if it fits or where, you have to get it right the very first time, because if you don't, the puzzle goes away... either with a loud bang and much fire and smoke, or by turning into a very expensive and completely non-pyrotechnic pile of foul smelling sludge. But, there was an invoice in the box, which listed the manufactuers web address, so that at least is a place to start. So yeah, sitting and sipping a pint of Dead Guy Ale, and hoping it is not aptly named this day, as I am playing with unknown explosive mixtures... this really is what I consider a good time!