Great Western War wrap up
Oct. 10th, 2011 06:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gurdymonkeyThe fire has burned low
Yet still we sit sharing cups
And conversation.
How quickly the moon hastens
To set on the gleaming lake.
Decided to take the long way on Thursday, for what turned out to be a semi-extraneous side trip to the Ranch 99 in Milpitas, then cut over to the I-5 by way of Pacheco Pass. Was thoroughly frustrated by a grand, pile of thunderheads forming a Maxfield Parrish sunset over the reservoir because there was nowhere safe to stop to try to photograph it! It was after nine by the time I arrived onsite, collecting hugs from Alfar and Ketiley who were on their way out of the registration as I showed up. I had planned to head back up the freeway and snag a motel room if I couldn't find the Caidan shire I was to camp with. Fortunately, the land-allocation folks had listed all pre-registered groups on a large map and I found the Katayamas in short order and made pitched the House of Cheerful Monkeys under a tree with a scenic view of plastic crates and flats of bottled water in what may be the biggest camp kitchen I'd ever seen.
FRIDAY: More of Jane's family arrived in camp, including granddaughter (five) and grandson (eight). (Both adorable and fairly well behaved: more on that later.) Did some hurdy gurdy laps, then back to camp after a bite of food court lunch to change into kosode and mobakama and drag a wagonload of drums out for my taiko class. Had two takers and they enjoyed themselves. Pallidus happened by about then so I got to tell him how to find me for Saturday night's party. I was mildly mortified at the comments by one of my students as he walked away. Go ahead, admire the view, just have some class about it, ok?
Ran into Baron Vail from the Far West, who had another friend along from Japan that I'd not met previously. The ominous words, "I have something for you" were inevitable. After the gift exchange at Estrella, I had to wonder what the next stage of the omiyage death spiral had in store, and I promised to catch up with him later. Flagged down Lash and his lady as they were passing our camp's gate - turns out they were camped on the lake shore practically right behind us. I promised to come find them later that evening, then headed down to the Food Court for a crepe.
I was sitting alone in at a table with my spinach, bacon and cheese crepe when I saw a familiar silhouette and the glint of silver crown approaching the Chinese food stand - unattended. I waited and watched as the Queen of the West ordered a bowl of something, paid for it and came my way. I stood up and said, "Did you slip your leash, Your Majesty?" Her attendant was still waiting for a cheese steak. Aine and His Majesty turned up moments later so we chatted as I finished my meal, then I excused myself to go find![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
sasha_khan and C. "What if I say you're not excused?" His Majesty grinned. "Then I would be delighted to stay with you, Your Majesty." "Court's at eight."
Hung out at Cok Guzel in Merchant's Row for a bit, then went to court. (I felt I had to - not only had TRM invited me, I'd had a previous similar "invite" from Their Highnesses of Cynagua earlier in the evening.) Very pleased for Colin's being made a Knight Bannerette, and even more for Niall's Silver Mantle http://heralds.westkingdom.org/Awards/SilverMantle.htm. I met him at his first event when he was an eager puppy of a college student who was proud of having made himself a tunic. "Better Crusader kit I have not seen," the King said so. Everyone in attendance not already a Defender of the West was herded before the thrones and made one, which I thought was wonderful: you show up at a war, you're part of the war effort. (After all, I got MINE for doing A&S stuff at wars.) Managed to pass the bottle of St. George Spirits absinthe into Vail's hands right afterward and con Staffan into walking me down to Dragon's Gate. He declined not to stick around, having previous plans. Spent the rest of the evening with Lash, Sholeh and their friends. The supermarket sake went like soda pop, then some Macallan made the rounds. Lash and I were the last ones still sitting there on fire watch after the rest had headed off to their beds, nattering about shoes and ships and chili cheese Fritos.
SATURDAY: Jane's sons fired up the stove to fry up sausage, bacon and some eggs for a proper breakfast. Vail turned up with a small package of green tea and a pretty metal canister to put it in. I thanked him (with relief that he hadn't tried to present me with the keys to Osaka Castle or something) and made up a pot to go with breakfast. It was very nice and I saved the package so I can look for more. It's made by Ito-en and some of their teas do show up in our markets.
I dragged out some handsewing and sat on the grass for a bit. Alex (the eight year old) sat with me telling me all about the epic mythos of a plastic, Transformer-like critter named Natalie Breez he was playing with. Tara, the five year old, sorta hung with us too. Kids like me, Kannon alone knows why.
Went on walkabout down to the battlefield for a bit to watch some of the fighting. Spotted Lash pretty easily in his red armor, as well as Pallidus and Takeshi-ko in their new dou maru and took a few pictures.
(Left, Pallidus and Lash making small talk during a hold. Right, Pallidus looking too pretty to die.)
During a break between battles I found Pallidus, walked up beside him and knocked on his sode (shoulder armor) so I could compliment his new kit. It's freaking GORGEOUS. He introduced me to Takeshi-ko (AKA Raj) and they promised to come for sake that evening. Went visiting on Merchant's Row a bit - well, I actually did some of that all three days because I have friends who make and sell stuff. I managed to be VERY good this war. My sole purchase was a pair of onyx earrings with 24k gold dragons on them, from C at Cok Guzel because they were too beautiful to pass up.
Had a full class of four for Saturday afternoon's taiko session, including a young lady from Artemisia named Nana who recently joined the Tousando forum. They were all pretty quick learners and I got them through the drills in such good shape that I taught them "Matsuri" and got them to try making up variations on their own against the basic back-beat. Great fun!
Back at camp the Katayamas were making preparations for their party, This included cooking vast quantities of beef and ribs, setting up a full bar and cranking up the Honda generator so a rice cooker could be plugged into it. I plated mochi, dorayaki and other goodies and set up the HOCM in its usual configuration.
Got a nice crowd for sake in my corner of camp - including the two grand kids. Lash and Sholeh brought three of their Dragon Watch camp mates, Sasha and Cristobal, Pallidus and Takeshi-ko, Naxos and Yama - armor merchants from Calontir - and Nana from taiko all came by. Tara came over pretty early on looking cold (I think her parents were busy with party prep for the post-wedding-reception the Katayamas had going) so I pulled my wool blanket out of the tent and put it around her. In short order I had a five year old leaning on my pouring arm. Naxos expressed interest in a cup of tea when I offered. When I got up to put some water in a teapot, Alex said rather hopefully, "I like tea," and Tara perked up and said, "me too." I let him sniff the leaves in the can. "Is this the kind of tea you like?" No on the sencha, but the Assam (which was the closest think I had to a familiar black tea) got a yes. I made a pot of each, poured each child a cup of Assam (no milk, no sugar) and put a plastic "lacquer" plate under each. They drank their tea and tried some treats and were on their absolute best behavior among the grownups. Alex insisted on trying a piece of wasabi laden Nori-ten. "It's hot," I warned, broke off a small piece, told him it was ok to spit it out on the ground if he didn't like it and had a cup of water to hand when the inevitable happened.
The rest of my guests enjoyed what we had on offer and lots of good, even productive conversation ensued.
Things wound down after a bit, I got some beef from the buffet, noticed there was still an Imperial crapton of food not being eaten and asked if I could pass the word to neighbors to come help make it go away. I stopped at a couple camps before I hit Dragon Watch. They didn't want meat, thanks. And (sigh), Lash was waving a bottle of Moonstone plum sake at me. (Oh noes! Whatever shall I do! Waylaid by the mercs again!)
SUNDAY: As is my wont on the last day of an event, I triage my camp right after I get up. If most of my stuff is put away and ready to go for teardown, then I can go "play" for a bit. I got a dishpan of soapy water and washed sake cups sitting on my bit of carpet while my campmates cleaned up their kitchen as well. Tara, having been shooed away by parents who were trying to pack down the contents of a tent, came over where I was. I gave her a dish towel and let her wipe cups and plates. I let her put some Sunny D in a sake cup while she was at it too. At one point her mother looked out the door of the tent, saw her kid cheerfully drying dishes and froze with this "What have you done with my kid?" look on her face. I grinned and shrugged.
Made a final pass through Merchants' Row with George and the hurdy gurdy. Went back to camp to change clothes, found my stash of monkey tokens and went over to Dragon Watch to induct the entire group into the Order of the Cheerful Monkey. They were gobsmacked, but in a good way.Took only a few pics, but they're at http://www.flickr.com/photos/70104978@N00/sets/72157627734122327/with/6229354202/
No idea who those children in the first two are, just thought they were cute.
Yet still we sit sharing cups
And conversation.
How quickly the moon hastens
To set on the gleaming lake.
Decided to take the long way on Thursday, for what turned out to be a semi-extraneous side trip to the Ranch 99 in Milpitas, then cut over to the I-5 by way of Pacheco Pass. Was thoroughly frustrated by a grand, pile of thunderheads forming a Maxfield Parrish sunset over the reservoir because there was nowhere safe to stop to try to photograph it! It was after nine by the time I arrived onsite, collecting hugs from Alfar and Ketiley who were on their way out of the registration as I showed up. I had planned to head back up the freeway and snag a motel room if I couldn't find the Caidan shire I was to camp with. Fortunately, the land-allocation folks had listed all pre-registered groups on a large map and I found the Katayamas in short order and made pitched the House of Cheerful Monkeys under a tree with a scenic view of plastic crates and flats of bottled water in what may be the biggest camp kitchen I'd ever seen.
FRIDAY: More of Jane's family arrived in camp, including granddaughter (five) and grandson (eight). (Both adorable and fairly well behaved: more on that later.) Did some hurdy gurdy laps, then back to camp after a bite of food court lunch to change into kosode and mobakama and drag a wagonload of drums out for my taiko class. Had two takers and they enjoyed themselves. Pallidus happened by about then so I got to tell him how to find me for Saturday night's party. I was mildly mortified at the comments by one of my students as he walked away. Go ahead, admire the view, just have some class about it, ok?
Ran into Baron Vail from the Far West, who had another friend along from Japan that I'd not met previously. The ominous words, "I have something for you" were inevitable. After the gift exchange at Estrella, I had to wonder what the next stage of the omiyage death spiral had in store, and I promised to catch up with him later. Flagged down Lash and his lady as they were passing our camp's gate - turns out they were camped on the lake shore practically right behind us. I promised to come find them later that evening, then headed down to the Food Court for a crepe.
I was sitting alone in at a table with my spinach, bacon and cheese crepe when I saw a familiar silhouette and the glint of silver crown approaching the Chinese food stand - unattended. I waited and watched as the Queen of the West ordered a bowl of something, paid for it and came my way. I stood up and said, "Did you slip your leash, Your Majesty?" Her attendant was still waiting for a cheese steak. Aine and His Majesty turned up moments later so we chatted as I finished my meal, then I excused myself to go find
sasha_khan and C. "What if I say you're not excused?" His Majesty grinned. "Then I would be delighted to stay with you, Your Majesty." "Court's at eight."Hung out at Cok Guzel in Merchant's Row for a bit, then went to court. (I felt I had to - not only had TRM invited me, I'd had a previous similar "invite" from Their Highnesses of Cynagua earlier in the evening.) Very pleased for Colin's being made a Knight Bannerette, and even more for Niall's Silver Mantle http://heralds.westkingdom.org/Awards/SilverMantle.htm. I met him at his first event when he was an eager puppy of a college student who was proud of having made himself a tunic. "Better Crusader kit I have not seen," the King said so. Everyone in attendance not already a Defender of the West was herded before the thrones and made one, which I thought was wonderful: you show up at a war, you're part of the war effort. (After all, I got MINE for doing A&S stuff at wars.) Managed to pass the bottle of St. George Spirits absinthe into Vail's hands right afterward and con Staffan into walking me down to Dragon's Gate. He declined not to stick around, having previous plans. Spent the rest of the evening with Lash, Sholeh and their friends. The supermarket sake went like soda pop, then some Macallan made the rounds. Lash and I were the last ones still sitting there on fire watch after the rest had headed off to their beds, nattering about shoes and ships and chili cheese Fritos.
SATURDAY: Jane's sons fired up the stove to fry up sausage, bacon and some eggs for a proper breakfast. Vail turned up with a small package of green tea and a pretty metal canister to put it in. I thanked him (with relief that he hadn't tried to present me with the keys to Osaka Castle or something) and made up a pot to go with breakfast. It was very nice and I saved the package so I can look for more. It's made by Ito-en and some of their teas do show up in our markets.
I dragged out some handsewing and sat on the grass for a bit. Alex (the eight year old) sat with me telling me all about the epic mythos of a plastic, Transformer-like critter named Natalie Breez he was playing with. Tara, the five year old, sorta hung with us too. Kids like me, Kannon alone knows why.
Went on walkabout down to the battlefield for a bit to watch some of the fighting. Spotted Lash pretty easily in his red armor, as well as Pallidus and Takeshi-ko in their new dou maru and took a few pictures.
(Left, Pallidus and Lash making small talk during a hold. Right, Pallidus looking too pretty to die.)
During a break between battles I found Pallidus, walked up beside him and knocked on his sode (shoulder armor) so I could compliment his new kit. It's freaking GORGEOUS. He introduced me to Takeshi-ko (AKA Raj) and they promised to come for sake that evening. Went visiting on Merchant's Row a bit - well, I actually did some of that all three days because I have friends who make and sell stuff. I managed to be VERY good this war. My sole purchase was a pair of onyx earrings with 24k gold dragons on them, from C at Cok Guzel because they were too beautiful to pass up.
Had a full class of four for Saturday afternoon's taiko session, including a young lady from Artemisia named Nana who recently joined the Tousando forum. They were all pretty quick learners and I got them through the drills in such good shape that I taught them "Matsuri" and got them to try making up variations on their own against the basic back-beat. Great fun!
Back at camp the Katayamas were making preparations for their party, This included cooking vast quantities of beef and ribs, setting up a full bar and cranking up the Honda generator so a rice cooker could be plugged into it. I plated mochi, dorayaki and other goodies and set up the HOCM in its usual configuration.
Got a nice crowd for sake in my corner of camp - including the two grand kids. Lash and Sholeh brought three of their Dragon Watch camp mates, Sasha and Cristobal, Pallidus and Takeshi-ko, Naxos and Yama - armor merchants from Calontir - and Nana from taiko all came by. Tara came over pretty early on looking cold (I think her parents were busy with party prep for the post-wedding-reception the Katayamas had going) so I pulled my wool blanket out of the tent and put it around her. In short order I had a five year old leaning on my pouring arm. Naxos expressed interest in a cup of tea when I offered. When I got up to put some water in a teapot, Alex said rather hopefully, "I like tea," and Tara perked up and said, "me too." I let him sniff the leaves in the can. "Is this the kind of tea you like?" No on the sencha, but the Assam (which was the closest think I had to a familiar black tea) got a yes. I made a pot of each, poured each child a cup of Assam (no milk, no sugar) and put a plastic "lacquer" plate under each. They drank their tea and tried some treats and were on their absolute best behavior among the grownups. Alex insisted on trying a piece of wasabi laden Nori-ten. "It's hot," I warned, broke off a small piece, told him it was ok to spit it out on the ground if he didn't like it and had a cup of water to hand when the inevitable happened.
The rest of my guests enjoyed what we had on offer and lots of good, even productive conversation ensued.
Things wound down after a bit, I got some beef from the buffet, noticed there was still an Imperial crapton of food not being eaten and asked if I could pass the word to neighbors to come help make it go away. I stopped at a couple camps before I hit Dragon Watch. They didn't want meat, thanks. And (sigh), Lash was waving a bottle of Moonstone plum sake at me. (Oh noes! Whatever shall I do! Waylaid by the mercs again!)
SUNDAY: As is my wont on the last day of an event, I triage my camp right after I get up. If most of my stuff is put away and ready to go for teardown, then I can go "play" for a bit. I got a dishpan of soapy water and washed sake cups sitting on my bit of carpet while my campmates cleaned up their kitchen as well. Tara, having been shooed away by parents who were trying to pack down the contents of a tent, came over where I was. I gave her a dish towel and let her wipe cups and plates. I let her put some Sunny D in a sake cup while she was at it too. At one point her mother looked out the door of the tent, saw her kid cheerfully drying dishes and froze with this "What have you done with my kid?" look on her face. I grinned and shrugged.
Made a final pass through Merchants' Row with George and the hurdy gurdy. Went back to camp to change clothes, found my stash of monkey tokens and went over to Dragon Watch to induct the entire group into the Order of the Cheerful Monkey. They were gobsmacked, but in a good way.Took only a few pics, but they're at http://www.flickr.com/photos/70104978@N00/sets/72157627734122327/with/6229354202/
No idea who those children in the first two are, just thought they were cute.
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no subject
Date: 2011-10-11 06:41 am (UTC)I had a great time. and far prefer your quiet parties to the raucaus champagne-guzzling that goes on in my camp.
no subject
Date: 2011-10-12 02:33 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-12 04:16 pm (UTC)More like Albra and Fia...
no subject
Date: 2011-10-13 12:21 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-13 01:12 am (UTC)I lost rack of how many cases of champagne were destroyed, but it was an impressive number considering that we were under 20 in camp...
'twasn't the cheap stuff, either.