AL3P
Well, it has been a very long time since I have posted here. I think because most of the people I followed and who followed me here have decamped to facebook. However, this is still a better place to do a long post, and we recently went to AL3P at Shaker Village in Pleasant Hill, Kentucky, so I think a post is in order.
Firstly, if you're interested in pix the non facebook bunch can be found at http://www.photobucket.com Enter AL3P as the username and theroadgoeseveron as the password, and there you will find a *TON* of pictures from everyone who was there. You might want to pack a lunch.
The ride up to Kentucky was uneventful, though we got there in barely enough time to change for dinner. Someone had snapped up the East family washhouse before we could this year, and we ended up staying at the Tanyard house instead, which was really nice, but it was at least a half mile from the rest of the action, so we had to drive to the center of the village every day. *sigh* But honestly, I think that was our only quibble with the weekend. Wednesday night was a lot of reunions with old friends and meeting new friends. Tim as Mr Bilbo had said on facebook that he was a maybe to attend the event, so JP as Gandalf had him brought into dinner in a bag. (Wizards can't take a joke!) Ary and several other stout fellows helped with that. Feanor and all of his sons were there and recited the Oath of Feanor, to which M replied with the doom of Mandos. (yay, geeky Silmarillion stuff!) As the after dinner entertainment wound down we moved on to the Dancing Pony (the basement of the West family dwelling) where the real party started. Since this was an after hours kind of thing, a lot of people took it upon themselves to bring their own nibbles and libations, and they were sharing it around with everyone. I kinda felt bad, since we could have easily brought a couple bottles of wine with us, but didn't think of it. Next time I guess. ("Oh, crap!" says Mr Bilbo) We got to chat a bit with our housemate James, who was an ALEP newbie. Very nice guy from Wisconsin, and he brought cheese! Also met a lovely Elven couple from Maryland (?) Alan and Debbie, whom we very much enjoyed chatting with. By about eleven the long drive was getting to most of us and we went back to the house, but Mel and her Feanorian buddies kept partying late into the night.
Slept pretty well in the new place, and I don't think anyone had any ghostly encounters, though the house was reputed to be haunted. There were lots of things to do today, and our group split up to try and get to everything. I think Ary and M went to a dance workshop with Marc et al while I went to EH's first panel on Tolkien inspired music. Chatted with EH a bit after, then joined the others for a quick lunch before the Hobbit hikes began. There was a 3 mile hike and a 1 mile hike. I signed up for the 1 mile because ankle with 11 pins and a plate doesn't make for comfortable long walks. The rest of our group went with the 3 mile group, but it turned out that the only difference between the two was that the 1 mile group drove partway, waited for the 3 mile group to catch up, walked about in the woods for a bit, took lots of pix, then headed back.
Well.....I started this entry back in October, but never finished it. So I will attempt to finish up with what highlights I can remember:
Thursday night was Dwarf night. Our new friend James had a great Thorin costume, but he was a bit of a cosplay newbie I think, and the weather was unseasonably warm. (The first year the weather was perfect, the second year it got colder as the weekend progressed and everyone was wearing capes and blankets the final night, and this year it started hot and stayed hot. Sheesh.) So he overheated and got a migraine and had to go back to the house after dinner, poor guy. I sang in the Dwarf choir which was lots of fun; we did the Lament for Moria (I think from the LOTR musical) and the Lonely Mountain song from the movie, the one that goes over the credits. Both gorgeous songs, and it was fun pretending to be an angry dwarf. :)
Each night after dinner was spent at the Dancing Pony chatting, being silly, sharing food and drink, and Marc Gunn and friends generally had a jam session going on in the front room. I can't really remember much in the way of details, but James's cheese was just lovely!
Friday was the day I joined Donovan for the dancing class, and I think we had more fun just being silly than actually trying to learn the steps. After lunch we went on the steamboat cruise on the Kentucky River, and I got a bit burned on my chest and back because the bonnet I was wearing didn't provide enough shade. Mental note: bring the straw garden hat for the boat ride next time. (Oh, crap! says Mister Bilbo) Tonight was Elf night and I elected to debut my Entwife costume in the costume pageant that we had each night; I think it was pretty well received. (The Dwarf night costume pageant produced an awful lot of hairy women, little and otherwise) The Elf choir sang a couple songs from the LOTR musical, Arwen's song and Star of Earendil. These I found a good bit harder than the Dwarf songs, compounded with having to sing in Elvish on the second one. If I had had the music prior to our two hour practice session, I might have been able to do a better job than I did; also might have helped if I was more familiar with the musical.
Saturday I caught a panel with EH and Dr Drout on the similarities between Tolkien and Lovecraft; not that their works are terribly similar, apart from myth building, but more about the reaction they produce from the people that read them. This led to a funny story Dr Drout had about his daughter playing with a plush Cthulhu that a student had given him. He noticed that she had laid it down inside a little lego house she had built and he asked what Cthulhu was doing. "He's sleeping," she replied, all innocence, and that's when Dr Drout decided to confiscate plush Cthulhu. It's now in his office with a replica One Ring on one of it's tentacles.
Saturday night was Hobbit night and party night at the party tree! I debuted a new overdress which I had a friend make out of an off-white brocade to wear over my yellow wedding chemise, since the Rhiannon gown I wore in our wedding has become rather hopelessly stained with mud from the Ren faire. We had a lovely time and there was lots of dancing, including a few impromptu new dances created that day. The Hobbit choir did one song from the musical and one from the movie this time. I can't remember the name of the musical one but it was an ensemble piece with Elves and Hobbits and rangers, and who knows what all else. The sopranos were the Elves and I found myself getting a little frustrated with it, esp when the composer saw fit to give us a high G from out of nowhere to hold for five measures. But the second song was May it Be, and that one I could do pretty well, and we ended with that one.
Sunday was spent packing and saying goodbyes. Most everybody was tired, but not really ready to go home, so there were a lot of stalling tactics, like having late lunch at the trustees office. Finally we got on the road and headed back.
We all have fond memories of our time in the Kentucky Shire, and by this time there is not only talk of "next time" (Oh crap!) but also in between meetings at the Shire of a more informal nature. We'll see what mischief we can get into there. ;)
Firstly, if you're interested in pix the non facebook bunch can be found at http://www.photobucket.com Enter AL3P as the username and theroadgoeseveron as the password, and there you will find a *TON* of pictures from everyone who was there. You might want to pack a lunch.
The ride up to Kentucky was uneventful, though we got there in barely enough time to change for dinner. Someone had snapped up the East family washhouse before we could this year, and we ended up staying at the Tanyard house instead, which was really nice, but it was at least a half mile from the rest of the action, so we had to drive to the center of the village every day. *sigh* But honestly, I think that was our only quibble with the weekend. Wednesday night was a lot of reunions with old friends and meeting new friends. Tim as Mr Bilbo had said on facebook that he was a maybe to attend the event, so JP as Gandalf had him brought into dinner in a bag. (Wizards can't take a joke!) Ary and several other stout fellows helped with that. Feanor and all of his sons were there and recited the Oath of Feanor, to which M replied with the doom of Mandos. (yay, geeky Silmarillion stuff!) As the after dinner entertainment wound down we moved on to the Dancing Pony (the basement of the West family dwelling) where the real party started. Since this was an after hours kind of thing, a lot of people took it upon themselves to bring their own nibbles and libations, and they were sharing it around with everyone. I kinda felt bad, since we could have easily brought a couple bottles of wine with us, but didn't think of it. Next time I guess. ("Oh, crap!" says Mr Bilbo) We got to chat a bit with our housemate James, who was an ALEP newbie. Very nice guy from Wisconsin, and he brought cheese! Also met a lovely Elven couple from Maryland (?) Alan and Debbie, whom we very much enjoyed chatting with. By about eleven the long drive was getting to most of us and we went back to the house, but Mel and her Feanorian buddies kept partying late into the night.
Slept pretty well in the new place, and I don't think anyone had any ghostly encounters, though the house was reputed to be haunted. There were lots of things to do today, and our group split up to try and get to everything. I think Ary and M went to a dance workshop with Marc et al while I went to EH's first panel on Tolkien inspired music. Chatted with EH a bit after, then joined the others for a quick lunch before the Hobbit hikes began. There was a 3 mile hike and a 1 mile hike. I signed up for the 1 mile because ankle with 11 pins and a plate doesn't make for comfortable long walks. The rest of our group went with the 3 mile group, but it turned out that the only difference between the two was that the 1 mile group drove partway, waited for the 3 mile group to catch up, walked about in the woods for a bit, took lots of pix, then headed back.
Well.....I started this entry back in October, but never finished it. So I will attempt to finish up with what highlights I can remember:
Thursday night was Dwarf night. Our new friend James had a great Thorin costume, but he was a bit of a cosplay newbie I think, and the weather was unseasonably warm. (The first year the weather was perfect, the second year it got colder as the weekend progressed and everyone was wearing capes and blankets the final night, and this year it started hot and stayed hot. Sheesh.) So he overheated and got a migraine and had to go back to the house after dinner, poor guy. I sang in the Dwarf choir which was lots of fun; we did the Lament for Moria (I think from the LOTR musical) and the Lonely Mountain song from the movie, the one that goes over the credits. Both gorgeous songs, and it was fun pretending to be an angry dwarf. :)
Each night after dinner was spent at the Dancing Pony chatting, being silly, sharing food and drink, and Marc Gunn and friends generally had a jam session going on in the front room. I can't really remember much in the way of details, but James's cheese was just lovely!
Friday was the day I joined Donovan for the dancing class, and I think we had more fun just being silly than actually trying to learn the steps. After lunch we went on the steamboat cruise on the Kentucky River, and I got a bit burned on my chest and back because the bonnet I was wearing didn't provide enough shade. Mental note: bring the straw garden hat for the boat ride next time. (Oh, crap! says Mister Bilbo) Tonight was Elf night and I elected to debut my Entwife costume in the costume pageant that we had each night; I think it was pretty well received. (The Dwarf night costume pageant produced an awful lot of hairy women, little and otherwise) The Elf choir sang a couple songs from the LOTR musical, Arwen's song and Star of Earendil. These I found a good bit harder than the Dwarf songs, compounded with having to sing in Elvish on the second one. If I had had the music prior to our two hour practice session, I might have been able to do a better job than I did; also might have helped if I was more familiar with the musical.
Saturday I caught a panel with EH and Dr Drout on the similarities between Tolkien and Lovecraft; not that their works are terribly similar, apart from myth building, but more about the reaction they produce from the people that read them. This led to a funny story Dr Drout had about his daughter playing with a plush Cthulhu that a student had given him. He noticed that she had laid it down inside a little lego house she had built and he asked what Cthulhu was doing. "He's sleeping," she replied, all innocence, and that's when Dr Drout decided to confiscate plush Cthulhu. It's now in his office with a replica One Ring on one of it's tentacles.
Saturday night was Hobbit night and party night at the party tree! I debuted a new overdress which I had a friend make out of an off-white brocade to wear over my yellow wedding chemise, since the Rhiannon gown I wore in our wedding has become rather hopelessly stained with mud from the Ren faire. We had a lovely time and there was lots of dancing, including a few impromptu new dances created that day. The Hobbit choir did one song from the musical and one from the movie this time. I can't remember the name of the musical one but it was an ensemble piece with Elves and Hobbits and rangers, and who knows what all else. The sopranos were the Elves and I found myself getting a little frustrated with it, esp when the composer saw fit to give us a high G from out of nowhere to hold for five measures. But the second song was May it Be, and that one I could do pretty well, and we ended with that one.
Sunday was spent packing and saying goodbyes. Most everybody was tired, but not really ready to go home, so there were a lot of stalling tactics, like having late lunch at the trustees office. Finally we got on the road and headed back.
We all have fond memories of our time in the Kentucky Shire, and by this time there is not only talk of "next time" (Oh crap!) but also in between meetings at the Shire of a more informal nature. We'll see what mischief we can get into there. ;)